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Hi All,
I'm seeking the opinion of current Rose owners.
The north american version of the Rose is about to be released in Canada (labelled as HTC S743) It looks to be identical in all respects to the S740 except that the radio is adjusted for north american 3G frequencies.
I'm currently using the S730 and I used to have a VOX until my wife decided that she liked it. When I look at the specs for the S743 and the reviews online, my initial reaction is that I MUST have one. But before I go out and spend that kind of money, my questions for you Rose owners are:
Do you find it more responsive than its predecessors? (Wings, Vox)
Does it fit comfortably in your pocket or would you recommend getting a belt-case?
How is the battery life given moderate use? (~1 hour talking each day, bluetooth always on, Directpush mail enabled during working hours)
If you could change one thing about your Rose, what would it be?
I appreciate any opinions you have to offer.
Thanks,
Canuk
Canuk said:
Hi All,
I'm seeking the opinion of current Rose owners.
The north american version of the Rose is about to be released in Canada (labelled as HTC S743) It looks to be identical in all respects to the S740 except that the radio is adjusted for north american 3G frequencies.
I'm currently using the S730 and I used to have a VOX until my wife decided that she liked it. When I look at the specs for the S743 and the reviews online, my initial reaction is that I MUST have one. But before I go out and spend that kind of money, my questions for you Rose owners are:
Do you find it more responsive than its predecessors? (Wings, Vox)
Does it fit comfortably in your pocket or would you recommend getting a belt-case?
How is the battery life given moderate use? (~1 hour talking each day, bluetooth always on, Directpush mail enabled during working hours)
If you could change one thing about your Rose, what would it be?
I appreciate any opinions you have to offer.
Thanks,
Canuk
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Not sure if i am a good reference, since i am absolutely in love with this device. am still trying to answer your questions:
More responsive? absolutely so. owned a vox before that, and these two devices are worlds apart. both processor power and ram wise (ran out of ram on the vox on several occasions resulting in program crashes when simultaniously running nav software and pocket player for example. never happened with the rose so far, and doubt it ever will. not even gonna start talking about lockups on the vox because of the rather feeble processor.)
Will it fit a pocket? depends on your pocket i suppose. fits fine in mine (i do not wear baggy pants. its not really that large anyways. compared to the vox: same depth, slimmer, but a bit longer.)
battery life moderate use? mine lasts for about 24 hours. not sure if that could be a reference point tho: fairly heavy browsing, 3g and bluetooth and ActiveSync push on 24/7, tons of progs running in the background, a2dp stream for 2-3 hours, sometimes some wifi. itll definately last from morning till sometime around midnight.
if i could change one thing? acquiring my baby ripped quite a big hole into my pocket back then...
hope that helps,
.-ombre-.
Released in Canada by whom, and where???
I just got one last week. If you like the Vox & Wings then you'll absolutely love the Rose.
This phone is very responsive. The typical annoyance of HTC smartpones like: unresponsive keypad, d-pad that occasionally missed when action key is pressed are gone. The addition of GPS is a big welcome.
Regarding the size, It's a bit longer but narrower, so it felt good on the palm and can be easily slipped into the pocket. I use a landyard and carry it naked.
Regarding battery life: I push my email and let my messanger on all day and the battery can last for the whole day. So the battery is good.
If I could change one thing: I wish it has video call ability like the wings.
Thanks for your feedback. I really appreciate it and you have helped me make my decision.
Ombre - I share your pain on the cash outlay! Fortunately this would qualify as a legitimate business expense for me so I don't have to shoulder the entire $$ burden myself.
Kardboard - It was supposed to be released on Expansys this Monday, but I've just checked the site and it seems we are going to have to wait for a couple more weeks.
Thanks again!
Canuk
AVE...
I'm using HTC S740 for two months now. It is polish language version(I'm from Poland) and there are few things a bit irritating.
First of all, the WM6.1 apps, like Comm Manager, IE, QuickGPS and such, can't be closed other way, than by using task manager. There is an option in Comm Manager labelled "Close" but it doesn't work.
Office, which was installed by HTC, is useless: I can't copy text from any text files. Yesterday I wrote long letter to my friend using Office, I wanted to send it via MMS. I couldn't copy the text, and when I sent her the whole file as attachment to MMS, she got some squares instead of letters.
IE and Opera are terribly slow. Opera is also terribly unstable. I can't login to some sites because even if I select the "log in" button, I can't "click" it. Odd.
CHome Configurator can't edit most of panels on my screen. I can't either add new panels.
And there is also battery cover, which is not holding to the phne well enough, but I think it's only in my phone. Besides, the plastic lens protector is often hard to clean-up and is distorting the photos. It should be made of glass...
And it would be nice to have push-to-talk available as it is rather software-made. The commercial software for PTT can't interface with standard protocol used by my GSM operator, because it uses its own standards and can work only with other phones with proper software installed. And because my friends are using Nokias with native PTT support, I can't communicate with them via PTT...
Urgon said:
AVE...
I'm using HTC S740 for two months now. It is polish language version(I'm from Poland) and there are few things a bit irritating.
First of all, the WM6.1 apps, like Comm Manager, IE, QuickGPS and such, can't be closed other way, than by using task manager. There is an option in Comm Manager labelled "Close" but it doesn't work.
Office, which was installed by HTC, is useless: I can't copy text from any text files. Yesterday I wrote long letter to my friend using Office, I wanted to send it via MMS. I couldn't copy the text, and when I sent her the whole file as attachment to MMS, she got some squares instead of letters.
IE and Opera are terribly slow. Opera is also terribly unstable. I can't login to some sites because even if I select the "log in" button, I can't "click" it. Odd.
CHome Configurator can't edit most of panels on my screen. I can't either add new panels.
And there is also battery cover, which is not holding to the phne well enough, but I think it's only in my phone. Besides, the plastic lens protector is often hard to clean-up and is distorting the photos. It should be made of glass...
And it would be nice to have push-to-talk available as it is rather software-made. The commercial software for PTT can't interface with standard protocol used by my GSM operator, because it uses its own standards and can work only with other phones with proper software installed. And because my friends are using Nokias with native PTT support, I can't communicate with them via PTT...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Maybe you're using Opera 9.5 for the PPC and not the SP one (there's no opera 9.5 for the SP).
Just use Iris Browser, latest versions are very good.
Urgon said:
AVE...
I'm using HTC S740 for two months now. It is polish language version(I'm from Poland) and there are few things a bit irritating.
First of all, the WM6.1 apps, like Comm Manager, IE, QuickGPS and such, can't be closed other way, than by using task manager. There is an option in Comm Manager labelled "Close" but it doesn't work.
Office, which was installed by HTC, is useless: I can't copy text from any text files. Yesterday I wrote long letter to my friend using Office, I wanted to send it via MMS. I couldn't copy the text, and when I sent her the whole file as attachment to MMS, she got some squares instead of letters.
IE and Opera are terribly slow. Opera is also terribly unstable. I can't login to some sites because even if I select the "log in" button, I can't "click" it. Odd.
CHome Configurator can't edit most of panels on my screen. I can't either add new panels.
And there is also battery cover, which is not holding to the phne well enough, but I think it's only in my phone. Besides, the plastic lens protector is often hard to clean-up and is distorting the photos. It should be made of glass...
And it would be nice to have push-to-talk available as it is rather software-made. The commercial software for PTT can't interface with standard protocol used by my GSM operator, because it uses its own standards and can work only with other phones with proper software installed. And because my friends are using Nokias with native PTT support, I can't communicate with them via PTT...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
To do Cut/Paste, switch/Kill taks, use Smart Tool Kit, it's free:
http://smarttoolkit.wordpress.com/download/
About CHome, I can add windows Live, Contacts (several pages) without any problems.
Opera for smartphone is only version 8.5. Use OperaMini, it's really good and free.
AVE...
[email protected]
This program is great. Thank you.
And yes, I used wrong version of Opera. But for now I'll use Iris...
There are also two programs I wish to recommend for any Rose user:
Mobipocket Reader - for ebooks;
Palringo - for IM.
I used Mobipocket Reader before with Nokia E50(Symbian s60v3) and I must tell you: it's very good piece of freeware.
On the other hand Palringo has limited functionality. It can connect with many IM protocols(unfortunately not with Gadu-Gadu), but it has some functions I like: it can send voice messages and photos to anyone on IM contact list and it works well with Jabber transports. I tried few Jabber clients, but they didn't worked well enough...
[email protected] said:
To do Cut/Paste, switch/Kill taks, use Smart Tool Kit, it's free:
http://smarttoolkit.wordpress.com/download/...QUOTE]
I must say, also for me is it a nuisance (and incomprehensible) that you can't select text in Word Mobile to copy/cut/paste it.
Actually it makes Word Mobile a useless app.
So I tried Smarttoolkit, but I have a few major problems when running Smarttoolkit (S740 often slows down / freezes, programs folder is empty) and I can't find the edit function.
So, while it seems to have some nice tools, is seems an unfinished product and the option I installed it for doesn't seem to work (or maybe I'm a bit stupid).
Anyone have another solution to select text in Word Mobile ?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I'm fresh from a nokia e61, here's my take after about a week's worth of use:
Responsiveness is as fast as most smartphones on the market today. Not exactly dumbphone-snappy, but not nearly slow enough to get in your way. The only thing that might bug you is the one-second delay you get when you slide the thing open and shut on anything except the home screen; personally, I didn't mind it that much.
Does it fit comfortably in your pocket or would you recommend getting a belt-case?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Funny you should ask that…when I first cracked the box open, it had a sticker on the screen that said, I quote, "remove phone from pants pocket before sitting down." Found it kinda ironic, as it's not nearly hefty or bulky enough to actually warrant such a label. To be fair, it's rather hefty compared to most phones, and in fact about as thick as a whiteboard marker. I've found the design hides its bulk quite well (the faceted back cover in fact makes it look slimmer than it is).
Battery life was disappointing, frankly, but as a disclaimer, my previous phone had a ridiculously long-lasting battery for a smartphone. I'm able to pull about a day's worth of usage with auto-checking email every 5 minutes, about 8 texts in and out, 3G on, and light wifi browsing.
Change? I only wish there was some kind of quick-launch panel on the main menu that would let me scroll through and fire up any application I want. Also, kinda ties into the previous point, but a more efficient task-switcher would be welcome. I've noticed the home button doesn't do much else aside from…well…take you home. It would be nice if they mapped a long press of that button to some kind of juiced up task manager.
Another thing that bugs me is the inconsistent function of the "back" button. In some apps it deletes, in other times (like menu navigation) it takes you to the previously viewed menu/app, some other times it serves as a back button from within an application.
As for fortes, I think the best feature would be HTC's homescreen GUI overlay. It's extremely functional and logical, listing clock, calendar, missed calls and alerts, messaging, mail, etc, etc. I've found it to be so functional, in fact, that I hardly ever dive into the (admittedly rather unsightly) underlying WinMo menus. For most information you might need at-a-glance from your mobile, the homescreen certainly delivers.
Just my take. Hope it helps you, or if not, some other forum-lurker or prospective buyer.
peseta said:
[email protected] said:
To do Cut/Paste, switch/Kill taks, use Smart Tool Kit, it's free:
http://smarttoolkit.wordpress.com/download/...QUOTE]
I must say, also for me is it a nuisance (and incomprehensible) that you can't select text in Word Mobile to copy/cut/paste it.
Actually it makes Word Mobile a useless app.
So I tried Smarttoolkit, but I have a few major problems when running Smarttoolkit (S740 often slows down / freezes, programs folder is empty) and I can't find the edit function.
So, while it seems to have some nice tools, is seems an unfinished product and the option I installed it for doesn't seem to work (or maybe I'm a bit stupid).
Anyone have another solution to select text in Word Mobile ?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Try Vito CopyPaste.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hi ninethreetwo,
Thanks for the input. I definitely prefer to carry the phone in my pocket. I've had some larger phones in the past that were too big for pockets (Blue Angel, Harrier, Palm 700wx) and I just couldn't find a convenient place to put the belt case. I was always catching in on things or crushing it when I got in to the car. One of the reasons for buying a Vox was the compact and "pocket friendly" form factor.
ninethreetwo said:
Change? I only wish there was some kind of quick-launch panel on the main menu that would let me scroll through and fire up any application I want. Also, kinda ties into the previous point, but a more efficient task-switcher would be welcome. I've noticed the home button doesn't do much else aside from…well…take you home. It would be nice if they mapped a long press of that button to some kind of juiced up task manager.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I can relate. My one complaint about many of the smartphone interfaces is that it oftentimes takes too many clicks to get what I want. On the Wings I modificed the HTC interface slightly to include the recent apps gui (like in the default interface) which helped tremendously.
Thanks again for your feedback! I appreciate the time that you and the other contributers to this thread have taken to provide such considered and detailed responses.
Thanks,
Canuk
AVE...
I must say, also for me is it a nuisance (and incomprehensible) that you can't select text in Word Mobile to copy/cut/paste it.
Actually it makes Word Mobile a useless app.
So I tried Smarttoolkit, but I have a few major problems when running Smarttoolkit (S740 often slows down / freezes, programs folder is empty) and I can't find the edit function.
So, while it seems to have some nice tools, is seems an unfinished product and the option I installed it for doesn't seem to work (or maybe I'm a bit stupid).
Anyone have another solution to select text in Word Mobile ?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You can select text in Word Mobile. As Master Yoda would say: "use the [shift] key, Luke". Simply open file, select EDIT, place cursor where you want to start your selection, hold down [shift] and scroll down with D-Pad.
Next, for SmartToolkit work you must install RC8 version. Also in Control Panel>General set "On Homescreen" to be "SmartToolkit Taskbar", and in Control Panel > Hotkeys set [Clipboard] to be your D-Pad button. This way you will be able to use your standard options on Homescreen made by HTC and in the same time use SmartToolkit. And in Control Panel > Gadgets you can create easy-accessed shortcuts and Pop-up Launcher lists with your programs, it's very useful.
It looks like this:
ninethreetwo said:
Change? I only wish there was some kind of quick-launch panel on the main menu that would let me scroll through and fire up any application I want. Also, kinda ties into the previous point, but a more efficient task-switcher would be welcome. I've noticed the home button doesn't do much else aside from…well…take you home. It would be nice if they mapped a long press of that button to some kind of juiced up task manager.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You can use CHome Configurator (grab the CAB from the Excalibur board) to add shorcuts to favorite applications at the home panels (See attached screenshot). It's very easy, here are the steps:
1. Open CHome Configurator
2. Show 'CLinks' and hilight it and press action to customize
3. Then Go to 'Menu/Page/New'
4. Then in the new page, click 'Menu\Template\Application Launcher'
5. Select the application that you want, set the name & icon
6. Repeat the procedure for as many shortcut as you like
7. Once finished, save at exit.
Other alternative is to use quick launcher application like xBar, RightMenu, SmartToolKit or just use a different theme which use rjshorcut plugins. The best place to get S740 themes is here:
http://www.nectun.com/galerie.php?langue=en&id_type_skin=-1&id_type_tel=15
Use this free Theme Changer to compliment the themes that you download:
http://www.ifihadadollarforeverytimesomeonesaidthatiwouldhavemyownwebsite.com/ThemeChanger/
To remapped the home key, you can use software like AEButtonPlus or Hotbutton Plus
Cheers!
Thenext1 and Urgon, thank you for your replies.
I downloaded Vito CopyPaste version 1.3 and installed it.
It does work (e.g. in Mail), however for some reason doesn't in Word Mobile.
Very disappointing
The selection method of shift+D-pad works, so at last I can edit text afterwards.
However copy/cut/paste with ctrl+C/X/V doesn't work in Word Mobile.
This (regular) option however works in other apps (e.g. Mail, SMS, Contacts).
I also installed SmartToolkit RC08 and changed the settings as suggested.
It certainly works now very well and isn't intrusive for the Home screen with HTC sliding panels. It also (for now) doesn't slow down or freeze (like I experienced with RC09).
But, while I can get copy/cut/paste working in other applications, also this doesn't work in Word Mobile.
Is somehow in Word Mobile the possibility of using copy/cut/paste blocked ?
AVE...
It shall work, certainly works for me. You have to hold down the D-pad button for 0,5 seconds to access clipboard menu. It may be also required to restart your phone in order to make it work.
Below you can see my clipboard menu in Word Mobile.
BTW, the whole Office package is useless, because you can't create new documents.
Urgon said:
AVE...
It shall work, certainly works for me. You have to hold down the D-pad button for 0,5 seconds to access clipboard menu. It may be also required to restart your phone in order to make it work.
Below you can see my clipboard menu in Word Mobile.
BTW, the whole Office package is useless, because you can't create new documents.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I agree, especially Word mobile is completely useless, even for opening documents created on a PC.
Excel sort-of works when opening documents.
Powerpoint instead is near-perfect.
Well, I tried copy/paste again with SmartToolkit in Word Mobile and now it worked. Must have done something wrong before.
That Word Mobile is a very crippled text editor is certainly true.
But sometimes you really need a text-editor and beggars can't be choosers.
On my reliable iPAQ hx4700 I use Textmaker, almost as powerfull as the Windows version, which is one of the best alternatives for MS Word. The same is true for Planmaker (PPC an Windows versions) as alternative for Excel.
The problem of not being able to create a new document or worksheet in WinMo 6 Standard can be solved easily bij copying an empty .doc and an empty.xls file from your PC to your Smartphone. Use these files and save them as another file afer editing (so you keep the empty files unchanged)
A more elegant solution is the free donew (I believe I saw this tip in one of the threads in this Rose forum, so credits where they are due): it creates 2 extra links in "Office Mobile" to an empty Word and empty Excel file.
Canuk said:
Do you find it more responsive than its predecessors? (Wings, Vox)
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I only had a few moments with Vox, but I would say that difference is quite noticable. Especially RAM is an overkill on Rose.
Canuk said:
Does it fit comfortably in your pocket or would you recommend getting a belt-case?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I always carry it in my pocket without a problem. It isn't the thinniest phone in the world, though.
Canuk said:
How is the battery life given moderate use? (~1 hour talking each day, bluetooth always on, Directpush mail enabled during working hours)
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I would say 1.5 day on average. Mine lasts between 1 to 3 days depending on usage.
Canuk said:
If you could change one thing about your Rose, what would it be?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hard to say really, it doesn't miss much. I would like it a little bit thinner.
hello world.
i'm a new owner of a htc hd2. i'm happy with it except of one thing:
many applications don't work properly or important functions are not possible to use.
for example: i've got problems with the shipped browsers (opera, internet explorer)
if i am on a website that has drop-down-menus with many entries that need a scrollbar to show the other items, it is not possible to use that scrollbar. every time i'm trying to scroll in that drop-down-menu the whole page is scrolling.
also it's not possible to use the scrollbar if i activate the text-selection-mode in the browsers.
but thats not the only thing i don't like.
also i'm missing the classical selection of multiple files at a time (hold and select, not tapping and single-mark the files one after the other).
i just want the old-style windows-mobile-stylus-control back.
there must be any registry tweak to deactivate that sliding-stuff?!
i was looking for a solution for days but i couldn't find anything, only that many people have the same problems - but no solution.
thanks for any tip
schildzilla said:
hello world.
i'm a new owner of a htc hd2. i'm happy with it except of one thing:
many applications don't work properly or important functions are not possible to use.
for example: i've got problems with the shipped browsers (opera, internet explorer)
if i am on a website that has drop-down-menus with many entries that need a scrollbar to show the other items, it is not possible to use that scrollbar. every time i'm trying to scroll in that drop-down-menu the whole page is scrolling.
also it's not possible to use the scrollbar if i activate the text-selection-mode in the browsers.
but thats not the only thing i don't like.
also i'm missing the classical selection of multiple files at a time (hold and select, not tapping and single-mark the files one after the other).
i just want the old-style windows-mobile-stylus-control back.
there must be any registry tweak to deactivate that sliding-stuff?!
i was looking for a solution for days but i couldn't find anything, only that many people have the same problems - but no solution.
thanks for any tip
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
there is a capacitive stylus for HD2, but it isn't as precise as the traditional stylus for other older devices. the thing is HD2 uses capacitive touch screen(skin acts as capacitor), not resistive (pressure) touch screen. imprecision is one of the draw backs i suppose.
schildzilla said:
hello world.
i'm a new owner of a htc hd2. i'm happy with it except of one thing:
many applications don't work properly or important functions are not possible to use.
for example: i've got problems with the shipped browsers (opera, internet explorer)
if i am on a website that has drop-down-menus with many entries that need a scrollbar to show the other items, it is not possible to use that scrollbar. every time i'm trying to scroll in that drop-down-menu the whole page is scrolling.
also it's not possible to use the scrollbar if i activate the text-selection-mode in the browsers.
but thats not the only thing i don't like.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
i've noticed this behavior in opera mobile 9.x and 10.x. it is truly annoying and i haven't heard of any work around. i suppose you could try the affected sites in internet explorer.
also i'm missing the classical selection of multiple files at a time (hold and select, not tapping and single-mark the files one after the other).
i just want the old-style windows-mobile-stylus-control back.
there must be any registry tweak to deactivate that sliding-stuff?!
i was looking for a solution for days but i couldn't find anything, only that many people have the same problems - but no solution.
thanks for any tip
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
there are many threads about this problem...none of them suggest a "free" solution to get around it. the gist of the issue is that if the list of files in file explorer fit in one page, then the drag-select gesture works as expected. if the list of files in file explorer exceeds one page, then the annoying scroll behavior kicks in. the "work around" is to get a better file manager, like resco explorer (highly recommended but you have to BUY it!!!).
rihui said:
there is a capacitive stylus for HD2, but it isn't as precise as the traditional stylus for other older devices. the thing is HD2 uses capacitive touch screen(skin acts as capacitor), not resistive (pressure) touch screen. imprecision is one of the draw backs i suppose.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
the OP is asking about how to get the behaviors back from the old days of stylus-based windows mobile. he isn't asking about which stylus products work or why the HD2 uses a capacitive screen or any debatable drawbacks of a capacitive screen. the fact is, capacitive screen or not, the new behaviors in windows mobile are coded to do a scroll operation with the drag gesture in most applications.
i know that a capacitive needs a special stylus but for the moment i'm not missing the stylus, but the old windows mobile control-style.
now i tried the newest opera mobile 10 from the opera homepage.
the drop-down-menu-scrolling is working perfect in that browser. first solution is found.
you don't use the scrollbar in the drop-downs, because after opening the drop-down you just slide up and down with the finger within the list. it's really easy to use now.
but i still want the classic control-style in other and as specially older apps back.
I have ordered a Zenithink ZT-180-102A and plan to use it to view sheet music for the band I play in, and turn the pages with a USB foot switch that sends a PgDn key to Acrobat Reader.
Has anyone tried this before? Any gotchas?
I would think that the tablet will be (just) big enough to view A4 PDF sheet music at 10.1" (would have preferred slightly bigger)
I'm hoping Adobe Acrobat Reader for Android can go full screen and respond to PgDn messages
Battery life seems a bit light, but figure I can run it from the power adapter if required
Hopefully no outside gigs, as I don't know how well the screen would work in sunlight
If I'm reading the foot switch description right, I can configure the key press via the software on a Windows machine, then plug it directly into the Zenithink as a standard HID device. Anyone tried anything like this?
Zilch said:
I have ordered a Zenithink ZT-180-102A and plan to use it to view sheet music for the band I play in, and turn the pages with a USB foot switch that sends a PgDn key to Acrobat Reader.
Has anyone tried this before? Any gotchas?
I would think that the tablet will be (just) big enough to view A4 PDF sheet music at 10.1" (would have preferred slightly bigger)
I'm hoping Adobe Acrobat Reader for Android can go full screen and respond to PgDn messages
Battery life seems a bit light, but figure I can run it from the power adapter if required
Hopefully no outside gigs, as I don't know how well the screen would work in sunlight
If I'm reading the foot switch description right, I can configure the key press via the software on a Windows machine, then plug it directly into the Zenithink as a standard HID device. Anyone tried anything like this?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hi, did you get this set up yet? I was looking at something similar for my band. Does the ZT180 have usb slot in it for the foot switch?
Yeah - that particular tablet is pretty iffy in build quality and design. I posted some details on it here.
The main limitation is the screen size for displaying A4/Letter. Since it's a 16:9 (or 16:10?) ratio, you get black bars at the top and bottom if you display the full page, so it's more like A5 size. For most of my music that is readable, but not ideal.
In landscape the size is about right, but you can only see half the page at a time.
The Adobe Reader software lets you do Cntl-N to move to the next page (dunno why PgDn doesn't work). The cheap footswitch I got of eBay works fine (you set it up once with some Windows software and then plug it into the USB port of the tablet)
I've ordered a 3 pedal one to try though, (cheaper than the 2 pedal ones strangely) so I can do Forward/Backwards, a maybe some sort of Scroll with the middle switch if I have it in landscape mode.
A proper A4 one would be nice though. I think I would actually take an eInk based one in preference - if I could find a reasonably priced A4 one - as the battery life would be so much better. Or maybe a Windows tablet so I could also run GuitarRig or similar for FX/MIDI stuff at the same time. Still thinking about it though. Let us know how you go.
Any update?
I would love to hear how this is going.
I am planning on getting a tablet for guitar music and would love foot pedal options.
Any suggestions? Tablets, apps, pedals etc...
I haven't used it much to be honest. The screen is a bit small, esp at 16:9 ratio for A4/Letter sheet music. The pedal idea works pretty well though, I'm using on my Thinkpad (sitting on it's side on a a music stand) for now.
I'll revisit when some genius invents a tablet which is greater than 10.2", and when a decent build quality model with Gingerbread is out.
I have to admit I'm slightly tempted with the 14" (?) EEE Windows slate that has come out recently. I think it's an i5 or so, and this would allow me to run guitar rig etc while viewing sheet music.
I purchased a Viewsonic G tablet for this very same purpose. I can read my music using Adobe in the Portrait mode ok but I would like to put it in landscape mode and use my cicada by page flip foot pedal to do a page up and page down. Have you come across anyone who can remap the keyboard to recognize page up and page down or as you have found out control N for page down.
I got my Gtablet a few weeks ago and have been playing with a few apps.
Chord Reader (pretty much just a phone), eSongBook and GuitarTapp
The each have nice features but I really need a combination of the three. I don't own a foot pedal but would like to have that feature and hear how that is working for other people.
Features I would like:
1. Change keys
2. Make setlists
3. Nice, big display
How are people mounting this for a stand? Or do you just set it on a music stand?
Best rig would be with a 13 inch macbook I believe. Check out Modbook http://www.axiotron.com/index.php?id=modbook
New Sheet Music Reader: MobileSheets
For anyone that happens to come to this thread looking for information, I recently released an android sheet music reader app called MobileSheets. It's currently only available for 10'' tablets. The app is designed to let you take images or PDFs you have (either from scanning, taking a picture with the tablet camera, or from files obtained on the internet) and create songs from them. You can organize your library based on album, artist, and genre, and create setlists. It also comes with a built-in metronome, and companion app for your PC. Please check out zubersoft.com/mobilesheets for more information.
One of the best reasons to get a tablet ever! How does the footswitch work?
An update is coming out this Sunday, Dec 4th that's going to add support for any bluetooth pedal for hands-free playback. Examples of supported bluetooth pedals include the Cicada PageFlip and the Airturn BT-105. I'm going to start offering a deal soon where if you buy the Airturn BT-105 through a link on zubersoft.com/mobilesheets, you will be given a free copy of the paid version of MobileSheets.
As for how the pedal works, the previously mentioned devices have two pedals. My app supports multiple modes - the default mode is the left pedal goes back one page, the right pedal advances a page. Another mode is the left pedal scrolls the page while the right advances to the next page (great for landscape mode). Once you try hands-free page turning, you will never want to go back
hmmh... this seems to be just what i was looking for... i am planning on going completely digitla on my students, as in: have 'em watch their sheetmusic on the tablet in lesson (in this case motorola xoom), then afterwards send 'em the sheets for them to print out by themselves. i'm just sick of lugging 10+ kg of sheetmusic around all day actually i was planning on buying an inexpensive printer and hook it up to the zablet via usb, wifi or bluetooth and print the stuff for them on site, but as there's no pc or router nearby and usb doesn't semm to work either, i settled for the paperless approach (which does have it's pros and cons).
one thing i'd like to know about your program though: i've got several realbooks in pdf form that i'd like to use, each containing around 2-300 songs on about as much pages. how would i go about organizing those? simply bookmark each song seperately? or would i have to split the huge single pdf into small, single ones?
[/quote] from blue powder --- one thing i'd like to know about your program though: i've got several realbooks in pdf form that i'd like to use, each containing around 2-300 songs on about as much pages. how would i go about organizing those? simply bookmark each song seperately? or would i have to split the huge single pdf into small, single ones?[/QUOTE]
I use ezPDF viewer. (available on Android Market) It allows me to use my foot switch (cicada page flip) and allows me to mark my .pdf sheets with notes for corrections or whatever. I agree with a previous poster, once you use a foot switch you won't want to go back. I am in a JAM that has about 500 songs. It took two 3 inch binders to carry them every night. Well we have now converted 16 of the 21 members to electronic viewers. It is the only way to go.
As far as organizing my folders I simply created 26 folders labeled "A" to "Z". Then every time I add a new song I simply put it in the appropriate folder. You can leave them all in one giant folder but it takes longer to find the song you want later. I found a little pain up front saved a lot of pain later.
Enjoy
do you mark your pdf's using a pen? if so, which one? if not - how DO you do it? that's one thing i would be missing in a purely digital surrounding, being able to mark up certain things etc. i don't think i'm going to have much need for a footswitch in a teaching situation, though, and as far as gigs are concerned, i play mainly jazz, and most of the leadsheets i get are a page long. if not - tough luck, i'll play better from memory anyway ;-)
the folder a to z folder-approach seems absolutely feasible, i'd probably go even more ballistic and create several mainfolders (like fingerpicking, theory, leadsheets etc), then have the a to z folders inside those. something like that. i'm more worried though that my students will be turned off by not getting physical handouts anymore. may take them a while to get used to it
ezpdf app and boxwave pointing devices
bluepowder said:
do you mark your pdf's using a pen? if so, which one? if not - how DO you do it? that's one thing i would be missing in a purely digital surrounding, being able to mark up certain things etc. i don't think i'm going to have much need for a footswitch in a teaching situation, though, and as far as gigs are concerned, i play mainly jazz, and most of the leadsheets i get are a page long. if not - tough luck, i'll play better from memory anyway ;-)
the folder a to z folder-approach seems absolutely feasible, i'd probably go even more ballistic and create several mainfolders (like fingerpicking, theory, leadsheets etc), then have the a to z folders inside those. something like that. i'm more worried though that my students will be turned off by not getting physical handouts anymore. may take them a while to get used to it
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OK first I would recommend looking at ezpdf on the android market. The developer has been very quick to make certain changes. I can say that the program has really improved 800 % over the past 4 months I have been using it. The developer updates the product about every 4 days. New features and bug fixes. Granted I don't use all of it's features but I think it is better than Adobe. I tried to embed a copy of the annotations page but I could not so go here "https://market.android.com/details?id=udk.android.reader&hl=en"
Pen - I do use a pen/pointer to write on my pdf's. I use the boxwave products as they were rated the best and most reliable on a capacitive screen. I have bought others but I keep coming back to the boxwave products. I even have one with an actual writing pen on the other side of it so I can take paper notes if I have to.
Folders - I do the same thing with my music folders. I have it broken out to Christmas music A - Z, Our Regular Music A - Z, Then stuff that I am practicing for my self A - Z.
Sheet Music - If you are going to stick to one page and you are young enough to be able to see clearly then forget the foot pedal. It is just one more thing to have to carry. I am 60, the old eyes are not as sharp as they used to be.
Students - I don't know how you are planning on giving them the files or where you teach, ( private classes, class room setting, high school etc) But - Hey when I was learning (still am) I would have loved it if the instructor gave me a downloadable file with all of my music for the semester. Then I could either print it or put it on a tablet. My choice. Most parents today think that if they don't buy their kids the latest gizmo they will be stunted or social outcasts, so I bet most of your students already have tablets.
Another thought - Another thing to keep in mind. My buddy teaches banjo. He was going to get a tablet for himself then we talked and he decided to get a tablet and a notebook and a projector. He then calls up the sheet music on his laptop and projects it on the screen for the class of 6 students. He uses the tablet for private instruction with out the projector.
Hope that helps.
Really take a look at ezpdf
Hello -
My solution to this problem was:
1. Scan in all my sheet music as high resolution files (300 or higher).
2. Use a photoshop technique on each image to eliminate grey and make sure the blacks are black and the white background is white - (there is a great way to do this with the eyedropper tool which you can find on youtube). At this stage I also straighten the image of each page.
3. Use a photoshop action to import the individual scanned image of each page as 'layers' on a single photoshop document --- and then save as a photoshop document.
4. Use a photoshop action to stack each photoshop layer (on a given document from step 4) out in a long continuous sheet of music and then flatten the image and save as a bitmap (so now the image would look like a flat, opened out, long, scroll).
5. Use a photoshop action to set the canvas size the correct dimensions and dpi for your given display/tablet.
6. Manually open each 'scroll' and move around the systems of your music to fit in the window you have made in step 5 ---- and save each window as a high res jpeg. Save the jpeg as the name of the piece followed by the page number.
7. Use a photoshop action to add a text layer of the same value as the file name. Save as a pdf.
8. Combine the individual pdf pages into a single pdf document for each individual piece.
9. All done. I now have 3 hours of music as PDFs that are perfectly viewable in my tablet AND can be searched for using the find feature of the PDF reader (thanks to step 7). What could be easier!
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The lenovo A4 size tablet is an ugly looking brick - I wouldn't like that compared with this ipad solution
Fakebook
For many of the above reasons my favorite gigging tool is the Fakebook. It does PDF very well (even importing and indexing huge collections like a real book or vocal book), but at the same time it has thousands of built in chord charts (transposable). Nice annotation or scribbling, search, links to YouTube and Spotify performances and great playlist editing.
Best $1.50 spent on my Google Play account! play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.skrivarna.fakebook.android
The Adobe Reader software lets you do Cntl-N to move to the next page (dunno why PgDn doesn't work). [/QUOTE said:
Yes. ctrl + n gDn. But what could be the code of PgUp?? If anyone knows the answer, please describe it is very important to me. . And there's a code table of Adobe Reader for Android?
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Hello,
I'm new to Android and a new Viewsonic user.
Anyways, I'm having an issue getting my g tab to work how I'd like to with a specific application.
The application... viewing PDF's. I can view PDF's fine, the issue is with scrolling while viewing PDF's. I'm not sure if the culprit is the software (adobe reader) or the speed of the machine itself.
To eliminate the latter I'd like to send a file to anyone using Calkulin (from what I've read this is the highest performing in terms of speed).
What I am seeing with the current version of tap n tap/adobe is that only the viewable area is loaded, if you scroll 1-2 pages you have a blank page and have to wait 1.5sec for that image to load. My hope was that it'd be more fluid.
With my desktop at work (which is nothing stellar) I'm used to seeing, while scrolling fast, around 75% of the image is viewable instantly and around 2 secs later the entire image is displayed.
My g tab isn't working the same way. Don't get me wrong, I think it is a great product, but for my application it isn't working as I had anticipated. The ability for me to "preview" 75% while scrolling is a must for me. Without it I'm kind of navigating blindly.
If anyone has insight, suggestions, or willing to help me experiment I'd appreciate it greatly.
The ability to view PDF's on the go is my primary reason for purchasing. I'm a service tech, I hoped for this to be a library of parts/service manuals I could navigate easily.
Thanks,
Jim
sure pm me with your details and I would be glad to help you out
I am using Calkulins G-Tab 1.1 ROM and Pershoots 2.6.32.39 Kernel and can't thank them enough for the great work that they have done. I have downloaded several PDF files and viewed with Adobe Reader. I was able to scroll through a 12 page document in what I would say is a quick pace. If you scroll to fast you get a blank page while it catches up. Takes less than a second for it to catch up but that is depedent on fast you are scrolling. For me I think it is quite acceptable. I have been very impressed with this ROM and Kernel and would highly recommend. It has been very fast and stable. I am getting Quadrant scores around 3500 and Smartbench scores around 4200.
webman418 said:
I was able to scroll through a 12 page document in what I would say is a quick pace. If you scroll to fast you get a blank page while it catches up. Takes less than a second for it to catch up but that is depedent on fast you are scrolling.
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I'm getting similar to what you are describing... load times are probably longer on my end. The issue is the docs I am viewing can easily go up to 200 pages and with them being completely blank when i scroll to them, it slows me down big time.
If there was some point of reference that was visible instantly I'd be happy, but being that I don't know the manuals well enough to say what comes after the next page and you times that by 200 it becomes tedious.
After reading your post I think my issue is more rooted in adobe than in the speed of the tablet.
Personally, I like to use the e-book reader "aldiko" to read PDF's. I like scrolling control plus I like the brightness control (slide your finger up and down the left side). To annotate PDFs, I like to use Repligo reader.
Just comparing the PDF documents I have in front of me, I would say adobe is the slowest and aldiko and Repligo are the quickest for scrolling.
Thanks Poy, I'll have to try those.
just a quick question... am I wrong in thinking it is more of a software issue than a hardware issue? I know ram is lower than what i have on my desktop... could that be causing my issue?
when I first picked up the gtab, i thought 512K memory was going to be an issue in general but after I downloaded a system monitor, it seems like it is not a big deal. Two related thoughts: the android apps seem to be fairly lightweight (versus PC apps), and if the OS does swapping, the "disk" behind the scenes is flash-based so it should be quick.
If you are at all technically competent, I say "jump into the ROM pool" and try everything out yourself. If you can follow instructions, you shouldn't have any troubles. It has been a fun couple of months.
I got it working, thanks to all the help.
I tried a variety of PDF readers, I ended up going with repligo. For whatever reason I couldn't get aldiko to work.
That and I installed calkukin.
Works good.
My only complaint is with repligo... if I view landscape it shifts the image so 3/4 of the image is outside of the viewing area. To alleviate this I'll just switch to portrait or zoom out.
Thanks again.
I have an android tablet I'm trying to use for a presentation. I have about 10 or 15 slides I need to use, but they aren't in any particular order. I may need to see slide 2, then 4, then 9, then back to 4, etc. It will always be different. I have been able to find programs that can display full screen photos, pdfs, powerpoints, or whatever, but none of them seem to allow more than up or down (forward, reverse). I could do that, but it isn't very elegant or pleasant for the viewers.
I purchased tasker and have used it for a variety of things. I would like to be able to link a button on my keyboard remote to specific slides (jpg, pdf, whatever). So, when I hit the "A" it goes to slide 11. I hope that makes sense. It seems I could use a tasker profile to make button presses, but not to have button presses link to actions. I assume I am wrong, but I can not figure it out.
Does anyone have a good solution to this? Are there other programs available that would be easier to set up? I could use pdf, powerpoint, any type of image, or even something I haven't thought of. I've even wondered if I would be better off using an old phone to connect with bluetooth and make tasker "buttons" to perform specific tasks, but that seems more complex and more prone to breaking than a hardware remote.
I have a few photo viewers that work reasonably well, but many like to do strange things to the formatting or still show the menu bar or have stuff pop up over the images.
I previously did this with a windows machine and made eventghost switch backgrounds based on remote buttons. However, I'm leary of doing that as android seems to be rather poor at correctly formatting a background image without zooming/cropping oddly.
Any help would be great. Thanks for even reading down this far.