This phone is great and so is the camera. I spent couple of hours trying things out and I'm very impressed. I like the video stabilization and the zoom quality while recording. Coming from S10e with crowded controls on smaller screen, this one is much better to operate. However, a gimbal would be a nice addition to video stabilization to avoid any 'jerkiness', it is still a phone after all.
Now, I stumbled upon something I cannot explain: I stored part of today's vids and pictures on internal storage and other part part on external microSD to see later on the differences in files transfer speed between UFS3.0 and the ordinary SD. I created two separate folders on my desktop for each. The pics from the internal storage opened w/o problems but the videos wouldn't(Windows10) telling me that I need additional HEVC codex from Microsoft store for .99 cents.
But my desktop's default player is VLC and when I opened the folder with vids & pics files that came from external microSD the videos started right away.
I had the same settings on the phone for either storage(both HEVC) so, what do you think of that? Well, I'll investigate it later.
edited I moved all videos from one desktop folder to another and I can play the videos that wouldn't play initially.
Re:#4 - What kind of wasp is that? Took it with about X5 zoom.
I have HEVC codec installed as part of standard Win 10 installation, but maybe due to licensing fees it is provided by computer manufacturer instead of MS(check under settings/apps&features/HEVC Video Extension)? But VLC or MPC should come with own major codecs installed and work fine even without Win10 codecs. BTW Win 10 is messed up and does a lot of strange things (for example use different program to open a file than set in preferences).
Am gonna be looking into that. I don't mind using VLC at all. I built this computer by myself few years ago as Windows 7Pro(Asus Z-97 mobo,Intel Core i5 4690K) and just recently installed Windows 10Pro for free. Funny, because I paid only $99 back then for the Windows 7Pro installation disk and now I just followed up on some article I've read somewhere on the web, how to get Windows 10 - uh, here it is: https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/software-download/windows10/#34de222e-6944-44aa-8f45-8e96988880a4
and I downloaded that Win 10 Pro installation from there. I didn't need the .iso files, I just ran the disk as DVD and it installed over the whole OS with my old id # valid for 10Pro. Sooner or later everyone will have make the switch.
I actually like Windows 10 after rather heavy hand personalization, getting rid of many things I didn't like.
Sure, after you disable automatic updates (they fail on my computer every single time), disable all the tracking, spying and advertising (programs get installed on your computer without your knowledge), fix Windows search function (for example you search for some file on your computer and you get random advertising suggestion from web totally unrelated to your search query as the answer), get rid of metro apps since some don't work (I had picture viewer unable to open standard jpeg file for example), don't turn on ransomware protection (will break some of your programs) and do some other tweaks, Win10 can actually work reasonably well. At least you don't have to break into your own computer to make those changes, like getting root access on Android. BTW to play video files I prefer MPC over VLC (have both) and don't use Windows Media Player which could start dropping frames on 4k video even with fast CPU.
a flea market bat that i modified.
Sent from my SM-N975U1 using Tapatalk
A few taken yesterday. Night Mode is good but it does take ages to take an image .
I really like the wide angle. Been difficult not to. The pictures are super saturated but I kinda like that. The steady cam feature is incredible. I shot something driving in a pick up truck through rutted roads and it came out gorgeous.
Related
Before I splash out on the galaxy tab 10.1, i really would like some advice on whether it's a major hassle trying to get video files onto the tab.
Specifically, most of the files I've downloaded are either .avi or mkv, some DivX, I've already had to convert to mp4 to play on itunes on my mac/iphone so my first question is these mp4's already converted for itunes/apple, will they also play on the tab 10.1?
2nd question is getting the files onto the tab. Kies seems to be beyond a joke, so is my only option, wifi transfer and how quick is this to transfer to and from the tab for say a 1.5gb file? I downloaded Kies 1.0 and then upgraded after i'd tried 2.0 and this failed to see if I could get stuff onto Kies ready for transfer, but apart from music/photo's, no video would attach itself (most .avi, mp4 were greyed out in the first place) and the one's that weren't said 'no files found. It's not a good experience when this is the tab I had set on.
Ultimately i'm just looking for this tab to take on holiday and to connect to my TV to watch stuff that's been downloaded...I have a MAc Book pro (leapoard I think 2009) and really don't want the ipad or anything more to do with apple, but what's MAC users experience of using the tab 10.1, especially with getting video onto it?
Would really appreciate any responses from MAC users and how they've found the compatability before I splash out for the 32gb wifi version.
I really hope ipad2 isn't what I have to end up getting due to all the issues I seem to read about 10.1 and MAC's....!
UK BRIT said:
Before I splash out on the galaxy tab 10.1, i really would like some advice on whether it's a major hassle trying to get video files onto the tab.
Specifically, most of the files I've downloaded are either .avi or mkv, some DivX, I've already had to convert to mp4 to play on itunes on my mac/iphone so my first question is these mp4's already converted for itunes/apple, will they also play on the tab 10.1?
2nd question is getting the files onto the tab. Kies seems to be beyond a joke, so is my only option, wifi transfer and how quick is this to transfer to and from the tab for say a 1.5gb file? I downloaded Kies 1.0 and then upgraded after i'd tried 2.0 and this failed to see if I could get stuff onto Kies ready for transfer, but apart from music/photo's, no video would attach itself (most .avi, mp4 were greyed out in the first place) and the one's that weren't said 'no files found. It's not a good experience when this is the tab I had set on.
Ultimately i'm just looking for this tab to take on holiday and to connect to my TV to watch stuff that's been downloaded...I have a MAc Book pro (leapoard I think 2009) and really don't want the ipad or anything more to do with apple, but what's MAC users experience of using the tab 10.1, especially with getting video onto it?
Would really appreciate any responses from MAC users and how they've found the compatability before I splash out for the 32gb wifi version.
I really hope ipad2 isn't what I have to end up getting due to all the issues I seem to read about 10.1 and MAC's....!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I'm a Linux user so I'm subject to many of the same limitations you are.
1) MTP support on this device is wonky. I still can't get it running under Linux
2) ADB (Android USB Debugging) works perfectly - rock solid and consistent and worked right out of the box with my existing ADB installation. It's a little slow though. 802.11n wireless transfers are faster. Yes, with various apps you can transfer files via WiFi.
3) MP4 (H.264 video + AAC audio) is the preferred video format for this device. If it is playable on iPod/iPhone it should be almost guaranteed to play in the Tab. However there are some issues with playing back high-bitrate Main/High profile H.264 video, so some videos encoded for iPad might be choppy. There's a Handbrake preset for H.264 baseline profile video created by me floating around on these forums that works very well.
4) The Samsung USB adapter + a thumb drive is even faster than WiFi and is how I transfer video files now. My personal opinion is that you are far better off with a 16GB tab than a 32GB tab.
16GB tab $500 + $20 USB adapter + two 32GB USB sticks at $40 each = 80GB for $600 with a small convenience penalty (swapping files out every few hours).
32GB tab $600 = 32GB for $600.
i just use kies to transfer from my mac to the tab
I have a mac and a windows 7 netbook - the mac is an absolute nightmare to get files off for the tab. But I am still glad I have the device it is just hard work. I have been putting things onto a USB drive and then onto the windows pc and then onto the tab. I haven't been able to get the wireless transfer to work nor Kies, which is a truly awful piece of software.
I am also disappointed that as an owner of a GS2 I cannot get the two devices to talk to each other either over wifi or bluetooth. I have a 32gb card on the phone which I would love to be able to stream things over to the tab with, but I can't find a non-app way to do it. And even then I am not sure an app would enable me to, either. I think the wireless sharing option is going to be added to the tab in future (at least I hope), but untill it is be warned that it's hard work with a mac as your main media storage system. On the plus side, the files all play just fine, and it is still totally worth it over an iPad 2.
File manager or es file explorer work excellent for transeferring files over wifi. I have a Mac and can transfer and view files on my Mac, NAS, phones etc. All over my wi fi.
File manager is made for tablets but ES has better image viewing from remote locations. I have them both, but use file manager most.
Sent from my GT-P7510 using XDA Premium App
HOWTO: RAW photo management on android / tf201
one of the original reasons i wanted the tf201+dock was for digital camera management while traveling. the dock's SD card slot is really what makes this practical. if i'm traveling and shooting 500-1000 photos then having the ability to manage these files out-of-camera becomes very useful. in various cases i would like to:
- review and discard photos
- copy or move photos from the original SD card to internal memory, or a microSD card, or a USB key
- run a slideshow on screen, or hdmi out
- share via email/etc
- upload videos to youtube
if you own a typical point-and-shoot digicam then android is more or less ready to handle all these tasks out of the box. in my case i am shooting with a canon DSLR, the 550D more specifically, in RAW format - as is the case for most 550D/600D/7D/5MD2/1D* owners along with equivalent nikons/etc. each of my RAW files are 25MB and that generally only increases as the cameras get better. RAW files are also raw, meaning the raw CMOS sensor data has not yet been processed and rendered into an image file. this is why working with RAW files is a pain in the ass on every platform - it pushes the limits of both CPU and I/O.
i just spent a chunk of time evaluating what works and doesn't in trying to do all these things with the current state of software. figured i'd share the results in case other RAW shooters come out of the woodwork.
working with RAW photos
RAW files come in various manufacturer- and even model-specific formats which means that android out of the box has no idea what to do with them. nothing in the entire android stack currently recognizes or handles RAW files, at least as of 4.0.3. so you need apps if you hope to do anything other than move the photos around.
at current time in the android market it looks like only 3 apps really try and provide a somewhat complete environment for viewing and handling RAW files. my experience with each of them was as follows:
- Photo Mate - supports viewing, rotating/mirroring, resizing and converting to JPG, backing up, slideshow, ratings, and sharing - all useful features, but amazingly there is no multi-select, meaning you can't do most of these things in bulk. this is a real limiting factor. in a few cases you have the option to do a task on an entire directory, but for most DSLRs this will mean every photo on the card and is unlikely to be what you want. speed of raw thumbnail rendering is fast, rendering of full images a couple seconds so not the best for just flipping through quickly. however the renders are full-res and the processor looks good which means it is excellent for zooming into the 1:1 pixel-level and scrutinizing sharpness and clarity.
- cr2-Thumbnailer / nef-Thumbnailer - has fewer features than Photo Mate but is faster for casual browsing and does more things in bulk. thumbnails render very fast, full-screen images renders quite fast, sub-second. the price is that these are not full-res renders, meaning when you try and zoom you won't find the full resolution to scrutinize.
- RawPal Gallery - couldn't find any way to set the read location to /Removable/SD. even tried editing the shared_prefs.xml via terminal and putting it in myself; app borked on it and reset the field. so, DOA, at least for now.
none of these have any basic developing features like crop or brightness/contrast/color/sharpness adjustments, so they make it to the point of "handler and converter" and then stop. once converted to jpg, if you need to crop something down then the built-in gallery actually does a fine job of this. it's an extra step, so things can start to drag out, but it's definitely usable at least for the one-offs.
working with HD video
videos on some of the more recent DSLRs are encoded in gigantor full 1080p and can chew up 300MB per minute, even more on some models with 60Hz rate. but increasingly codecs are starting to converge on a few and players are getting better compatibility for it. so the issues related to working with DSLR HD video files are about the same as playback of a variety of downloaded content.
in my case, both MX Video Player and BS Player Lite were able to play my 550D's videos correctly (HW accelerated as well). the built-in video player did also play but couldn't select the right audio track so it was silent (and with zero configuration operations, therefore DOA).
uploading to youtube also worked fine through the youtube app.
backup/move/prune files
i was almost surprised to see copying and moving files around between various partitions and physical devices all worked as i would have hoped/expected. the built-in file manager app can be used to pretty easily copy and delete files around the fs. other similar apps like ES file explorer and root explorer also fine of course. operations done via shell in terminal app, also fine. all as expected. the relevant locations that you will be working with are:
/Removable/SD - dock's SD card slot
/Removable/USBdisk1 - USB memory stick via dock's USB port
/Removable/MicroSD - tablet's micro-SD card slot
/sdcard - tablet's internal storage (27GB volume on the 32GB models)
in my testing, copying files across all combinations of these devices worked as expected.
of course, handling files in standard file managers and in shell means no thumbnails which means having to go off perfect memory of file numbers... which is annoying. this is why i'm hoping apps like photo mate will eventually get more multi-select functionality.
Thanks for the research on that! Look forward to seeing these sorts of apps get better.
Did you try Photoshop Touch? http://goo.gl/lPXMX
There is no support for RAW files and it only supports image resolutions up to 1600x1600px (enough for FB, blogs,...) ...but it's probably the best app for photo editing.
For RAW files I hope adobe will make something similar to bridge(+camera raw)/lightroom soon.
Thanks for the info on working with raw files. I want to add one more program to the mix and it is NEF-Thumbnailer which is for those of us that are working with Nikon raw files. It is done by the same people that did the CR2-Thumbnailer program which was reviewed in first post so the same limitations and features apply. Also wanted to note that the RawPal Gallery program let me access my removable card but it seems to need root to do it.I was not to impressed with the program though. RawPal also picked up my DropSync program and did galleries of all my pictures on Dropbox.
Being a professional photographer I would never attempt to use a tablet as a processing platform, NEVER! Firstly, even though the prime is the fastest tablet out there its not enough to run batch process on RAW files even if there is an app for it. Secondly you cant calibrate the colors on any tablet. You mentioned already the file sizes and I have 0 patience on the speed of the SD reader built in to the dock, like usb 1.0 speeds. I shoot a Canon 1D MkIV and 1Ds MKIII that both have enormous files and USB 3.0 reader.
I do use the tablet for previewing images but thats it. I shoot both raw and jpeg and with the Pro series bodies you get CF and SD card slots so I save RAW to CF and jpeg medium to SD. To preview I just insert the SD card and have smaller files for preview purposes. If I need to process images I use my laptop if Im away or desktop at home. Both have the processing power and displays needed for professional results that you cant get out of a tablet.
esm922 said:
Thanks for the info on working with raw files. I want to add one more program to the mix and it is NEF-Thumbnailer which is for those of us that are working with Nikon raw files. It is done by the same people that did the CR2-Thumbnailer program which was reviewed in first post so the same limitations and features apply. Also wanted to note that the RawPal Gallery program let me access my removable card but it seems to need root to do it.I was not to impressed with the program though. RawPal also picked up my DropSync program and did galleries of all my pictures on Dropbox.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
thanks i added information about nef-Thumbnailer to the OP.
i have root on my tf201 but wasn't able to get it to look in the /Removable directory, maybe i missed something. if you want to share instructions on that i can add them as well.
Justin_Thyme said:
Being a professional photographer I would never attempt to use a tablet as a processing platform, NEVER! Firstly, even though the prime is the fastest tablet out there its not enough to run batch process on RAW files even if there is an app for it. Secondly you cant calibrate the colors on any tablet.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
never say never... tablets are just computers like any other and there's nothing fundamental that will prevent them from eventually being good RAW processing devices. quad-core tegra3 clocked at 1.3ghz is already in the vicinity of the minimum power needed to process RAW files in a reasonable amount of time, provided that the RAW processing engine is sufficiently multi-threaded. by next year you'll see 2ghz quad-core tablets hitting the market. it's really only a matter of time until the software starts to strengthen and these devices become viable for real RAW work.
once we have the right software then the limitation becomes the fat-finger interface to a touchscreen for making fine adjustments. the tf201 dock adds a touchpad that remedies that problem. other tablets could be paired with bluetooth mice to gain the same functionality.
and then there's color calibration. well, tablet screens are using current display technology like any other and can be calibrated once the software supports it. it's already the case that one of the programs i listed above supports its own color calibration settings.
Thank you! Photomate is nice and appears to have some bulk features now.
Anybody know if any app take panasonic or olympus's raw file? M4/3 shooter here.
If you are canon user, DSLR controller is a must!! Too many features to use and the developer has more planned. Some of my favorites are the timelapse and HDR features.
Justin_Thyme said:
Being a professional photographer I would never attempt to use a tablet as a processing platform, NEVER! Firstly, even though the prime is the fastest tablet out there its not enough to run batch process on RAW files even if there is an app for it. Secondly you cant calibrate the colors on any tablet. You mentioned already the file sizes and I have 0 patience on the speed of the SD reader built in to the dock, like usb 1.0 speeds. I shoot a Canon 1D MkIV and 1Ds MKIII that both have enormous files and USB 3.0 reader.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Get back on POTN you jack-ass..
[ <-- BrandonSi ]
I guess being a professional photographer as well, I'll go ahead and disagree with you.
Unless you're printing, color calibration isn't *that* much of an issue, especially if you can profile with sRGB. I would prefer to edit in LR on Windows, but in a pinch, I'd be OK editing on a tablet, especially the prime, with the dock + mouse and keyboard.
It's not an editing machine by a long-shot.. It's not even a laptop, but for a instances where you're traveling or are on-location and want to do a quick edit here and there, it can handle the job.
Whatever the case, having a fast track device to preview, show the client and perhaps even the rate the images before your full blown PC/MAC based workflow is a benefit.
There is a good article in this quarter's C'T digital Photography magazine (German Mag, aimed at world Wide audience) about the benefits of tablet aided photography. Most of it is aimed at the iSlab's with a small excerpt about Android. (See here for a preview)
Android based photography is definetly under exploited and we need more apps out there. If the small developers keep innovating, perhaps the big players (Adobe, Canon, Nikon etc..) will take notice and understand we benefit from such tools. Then there's the niche players like Leica, Panasonic, Fujifilm etc.. where there's very little RAW support.
I'll be watching this thread.. Keep the RAW , Tethered shooting etc.. recommendations coming in.
Some of my recommendations :
- Eye-Fi card for Wireless RAW preview
- DSLR Controller app by Chainfire....
I use RawVision myself, its not expensive for the pro version either.
Makes it a lot easier to show my clients the raw files I just shot on a larger screen. My laptop was much too big to carry around. The Prime is perfect.
I shoot with a 1DmkIII and 7D... So I shoot CF cards. I want to use the transformer to weed out photos and dump the CF cards onto a portable HD. With that said, how do you all have you setup? Will a USB hub work with the CF card reader and HD hooked up, or is the androids still unable to move files from one storage device to another like the case used to be? I want to get rid of the laptop while traveling and I typically shoot 400gb in a week.
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No one has tested this out?
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I have the TF101, regular Transformeer (not the Transformer prime).
With the keyboard dock, the built in SD card reader can be used to read SD card contents and a RAW viewer app can then render the images.
If you don't have the Dock on you - and I would imagine out in the field you want to be as light with the kit as possible - you could purchase the Asus USB host dongle or the Asus SD card reader. Both work well for me.
It's nothing cutting edge. The SD card shows as a mounted drive and you can then view / copy the contents using a File Explorer or Raw viewer.
Justin_Thyme said:
Being a professional photographer I would never attempt to use a tablet as a processing platform, NEVER!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Agree, it would be like bringing a Fiat 500 and try to quality for F1 races.
I think most of us here are not proposing it being used as a full photographic workflow or fine editing.
Think of it as a preview tool to help save time when you do come to your true workflow.
Surely there's benefit in rating some of the images on the train ride home ? Yes you couldn't fine edit or view the images on calibrated monitor, but for composition and exposure alone, rating upfront would save time for final workflow.
I agree, no need to fully edit your photos, but some sort of preview and rating app would be awesome.
If you take a couple of hundred, or even thousands, of shots on a trip, then it would be a real timesaver to be able to go through your shots and discard the bad ones, maybe have a three star system for good pics/ great pics, need editing/ excellent pics, need only some tweaking...
And if it could somehow implement a layer of some sort, on the image, where you could scribble down your first thoughts and ideas for editing. The same way you can open pdfs in a few apps and write comments to the text.
Now that Nikon has announced the optional WU-1a Wi-Fi module that can be used with the new D3200 DSLR and an app for android, maybe we are closer to getting apps that can handle raw-images on our devices.
W.Z.
Dark Knight said:
I think most of us here are not proposing it being used as a full photographic workflow or fine editing.
Think of it as a preview tool to help save time when you do come to your true workflow.
Surely there's benefit in rating some of the images on the train ride home ? Yes you couldn't fine edit or view the images on calibrated monitor, but for composition and exposure alone, rating upfront would save time for final workflow.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hi jaypm,
Nice list but I'm surprised you didn't mention RawVision.
Indeed it does support multiple selection for deletion, jpeg extraction, import (to empty your card for example), it has support for Eye-Fi transfers. Finally you will be able to quickly share with other apps (flickr, facekbook, dropbox etc...).
Regarding videos, it give a preview but you will still need MX Player (my fav) to read the video properly.
As everyone agrees here, the goal is not to make photo post-processing as we would do on a desktop, but rather to check the photos, sort and share them in a convenient way.
Still, there will also be quick retouching options: crop, straighten, brightness, contrast, B&W/sepia conversion etc... Don't expect U-points, but rather quick image enhancing features.
It can also give more interaction during a shooting by presenting the photos to the model or photographer as soon as it is taken. I think of Eye-fi, but also WT-1 or the Canon equivalent, which will be supported in the future, as well as usb host support, though 3rd party apps can help to mount usb devices, that will then appear in the filesystem.
wernerzero: about taking notes on a photo, e.g. you could extract a JPEG and then send it to the very nice 'Skitch' application (made by the guys of evernote)
Tested and works fine on Nook Tablet 8gb 1.4.2.
0. http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1005633
Buy a Sandisk MicroSD card like this thread suggests to prevent read/write problems due to a slow card. I simply went with a class 4 Sandisk 16gb from Microcenter. Not the fastest loading big movie files, but cheap and works fine.
AVOID 4GB Microsd cards!! One that I had was just a few 10kb short of fitting the CM7 below. >_<
1. http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1529553
Follow the instructions for Option 1 to root the tablet.
a. http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1529553
Get the SD CARD VERSION of from here.
CHECK THE MD5 checksum of this download to make it MATCHES THE ONE IN THE THREAD ABOVE! This is to prevent problems if the image isn't the same as the original.
b. Write the image to the Sandisk card above. No need to format it beforehand.
On windows, Option 1 noted using win32diskimager linked works fine.
http://nookdevs.com/Nookie_FroYo:_Burning_a_bootable_SD_card
c. Power the Nook off per instructions after making sure it has sufficient charge!! I'd say at least 25% to be safe even though it takes only two minutes. And boot from card per instructions to root.
d. After rooting, feel free to boot without the card in the nook, then insert.and format the card in the nook.
2. http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1481826
Now, download the CM7 sd card image. Make sure MD5 checksums match. Write to SD card. It won't fit some 4gb microsd cards because some are a little too small.
4partitions will be created. They'll show up as fat32 for partition resizing later.
Follow the instructions to boot from this CM7 card.
Simplest way to ensure it boots from card is to power off the nook, the plug in the nook usb cable that is plugged into the ac power adapter, or pc. If you don't, it may ignore the card and boot back into the original OS.
3. Optional if you are using a card larger than 4gb.
Once you've booted successfully into cm7, you can power off and eject the card. Take it to a PC and download Easeus Partition manager for free. Launch Easeus and stick the card in. Refresh if needed to make it show up. Select the last partition (one adjacent to any unallocated space on your card) and resize it.to fill up the rest of the card. Apply, eject card and boot the Nook from it. Should still work and you can now use all available space.
4. Now that you're in CM7, go launch NT Hidden Settings app that comes with this. Hacks ->BLock OTA updates to prevent BN from disabling all this fun. You don't need to do it from the Nook OS after this here (but you can if you choose not to do it from cm7).
x-xx Whew. That all is just to get the.cm7 up and running.
5. Start up Google Market or Play app and let it update as needed. (optional, if you desire. Lots of other Android Markets and download sites with the same stuff-eg. getjar.com,.amazon market, etc.-if you don't like setting up a google account)
6. Search the market for QQ. This is the Chinese keyboard, and for english, I like it far better than the default keyboard. You can slide a key up to access.the alternate key. eg. slide up on n to type ?.
7. Search and download Multiling Keyboard along with the Chinese, Japanese keyboard plugins and Handwriting plugin. This is ThE only keyboard I've see for Android that allows pen input of kanji and chinese without driving you nuts, and works for kanji AND hiragana characters AND Japanese varients of Chinese characters like 気 气 氣. Yes, even the iOS can't do this!! :-D (only within Midori can it input Japanese kanji version, but not systemwide).
8. Search and download Adobe Reader, Adobe Flash, ComicReader, MX Player, AEDict, wwwjdic, and EBPocket to start. I like Opera Mini as well.
These basic apps get you up and running on the Japanese dictionary side. Load epwing dictionaries, videos, books, cbz, etc through usb.
9. To view pdf, adobe reader works well because it can also display text only. Zip folders of your jpg book scans, if they're not in pdf yet, and Comic Reader will nicely let you browse tons of ebook scans of texts, magazines,.etc fast! Customizable tap zones let you read right to left books just fine.
Download Xplore to manage your files. TubeMate to download tube videos offline. Winamp to play mp3s.
Firefox is good for option to save pages as pdf.
MX Player just rocks on videos. Fast, subs support, and 1080videos in mp4 at 8000kbps play fine on the Nook 8gb.
---
Whew. Lots of setup for a first week Asian Nook Tablet user to make it useful for the lot, but nice thus far for a useful mobile language study, ecomic and book viewer, and tube downloader.
Will update later on as I get into the Nook more, but works fine and fast with 12gb of book, mp3, mp4, etc content and Chinese/Japanese IO.
Tested apps for Chinese/Japanese study, and a bit more for the Nook Tablet 8gb.
Top Chinese study apps
---------------------------
Pleco - Nice Dictionary, must have.
Pinyin Lite - pronounciation practice
Trainchinese - Dictionary & flash cards
Xiaoma Hanzi - Flash cards
Top Japanese study apps
----------------------------
EPPocket Free - Load it up with EPWing dictionaries (Genius, Kenkyusha), must have if you have EPWing dictionaries to load.
NariTra - Voice translator (30+ langauges to 30+ languages!), must have internet and for travel.
AEDICT - EDICT Dictionary, Must have.
JA Sensei - kana, kanji, vocab, etc.
INPUT KEYBOARDS
----------------------------
Must haves for Chinese/Japanese input:
Multiling + Chinese/Japanese/Handwriting plugins - pretty much does it all if you decide never to install anything else. Handwriting input is nice, free! Must have for inputting Asian characters/kanji!
QQ - Fastest keyboard I've found for typing by thumbs in English or Chinese! Almost perfect layout for rapid typing with very few mistakes in portrait. To die for!
To try:
7notes - Interesting handwriting input, but can be less accurate than Multiling - try the demo out to see if you want to buy this.
Swype - If you must slide input, this solid keyboard does it well on the Tablet.
Tools
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ADownloader - Torrents, fast, nice.
App Manager/Explorer - Nice, can run Java MIDLETS on the Tablet.
DroidWall or Avast - both have nice Firewalls.
Kingsoft Office - a free, but decent Office program for the basics - taking notes, typing in outlines, etc.. (see other XDA thread for that huge 7 program Android Office comparo for alternatives)
X-Plore - the only MUST HAVE file manager!!! The best ever!! Very powerful.
Programming
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AIDE - When you're bored, create APK programs on the Tablet itself in Java! Yep, no need for external PC for compiling or editing.
MEDIA
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Flipboard - nice use of the tablet to read news from various categories and sites.
MX Player - plays just about everything it can play without a hiccup. Other players can handle more formats, but never as quick or nice. As long as you encode to 1080 or less at Level 4.1 High or less H.264 at 8000kpbs or less, the Tablet will generally play it.
NHK World TV/SPB TV - catch up on news from around the world.
Talkatone - free Google incoming/outgoing calls.
TubeMate - The BEST youtube downloader ever. Much like MXTube for iPhone.
TuneIn Radio - Nice online radio app.
WinAmp - Like the desktop app, good for listening to language audios.
Browsers
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Opera Mobile - solid, fast, can easily turn on/off features. Logical layout across all mobile platforms from Android to iPhone to Symbian to Java phones.
Firefox - only because you can add adblock plus plugin to block ads.
Default browser - Sadly, you still need this to access some free WiFi login pages.
Viewers
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Adobe Reader - default PDF viewer. Can extract and view just text in Japanese/Chinese, but won't handle every PDF out there.
PerfectViewer + PDF plugin - handles those PDFs Adobe Reader can't.
ComicRack Free - Very nice image/comic viewer. Simply ZIP up a folder of pictures and voila! You can flip through them like a book. Handles standard CBZ/etc. comic formats as well. You can scan in all of your Language books as JPG, then ZIP up the folder. (Note: Mac ZIPping sometimes creates zips that don't work - use a PC!) Must have.
CoolReader/EbookDroid/FBReader - handles those other EPUB/DJVU/etc. formats.
QuickPic - Fast picture viewer. Quick, logical, fast.
Games
========
Ataroid, Gensoid, PianoPerfect, Cut the Rope - Some of the better emulators/games out there. Gensoid is totally perfect for Sonic the Hedgehog!
Thoughts for the 1st week.
Very easy to get a hacked system up and running. Faster than the iPad since you don't have that ugly 700+MB ROM image to download for the usual Sn0w.
Very little OS protection. Thus, backup a clean image of the MicroSD card once you've got it setup and running. No root password even! What was G thinking?!? Would not trust the tablet for credit card/etc transactions since you really don't know if it's been hacked from outside or infected due to OS weaknesses. (Not like BB or Symbian where it's far, far, far, harder or impossible to be hacked/infected from the internet if you've got the device secured. Can't remember a single virus report for the Symbian platform in the past couple of years...)
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Powerful HW - thus, 1080i H.264 videos playback fine after encoding on the PC. Screen is iPad quality, nice at all angles. Bright enough for everything except outdoor daylight use. Sound quality over headphones is decent, speakers could be better and placed in front/side - otherwise can be muffled.
Dual core sometimes lags as you load up more programs at the same time, so install and bring the SYSTEMPANEL LITE app to KILL ALL programs fast! HIGHLY RECOMMENDED APP!!
BRIGHTNESS LEVEL widget for the home screen is another nice app to install since it doesn't have auto-brightness control.
WiFi sees routers and connects quickly. Nice, no trouble here.
Lack of Ad-Hoc means you can't connect it to a phone that's sharing on such. Might try the Ad-hoc fix....the reports of it messing up the OS and resetting everything isn't enticing however...
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Runs most things like they ought to run - like a mini-version of Windows. That said, it isn't Windows and you do bump up into the usual limitations of the Android OS quickly.
Browsers quickly run up against the usual 'tablet' but not 'pc' issues - sites are not formatted correctly, don't come up right, can't open, don't run, etc. Thus, trying multiple browsers like Opera and Firefox is the only way to access some sites, while others are simply not available.
Can't run a DOS game easily (virtual keyboards block what you see, must get an external keyboard then), can't program in C++ in a VS-like editor on the tablet, can't run Java apps without converting to APK, and.... none of the zilliions and zillions of apps already out for the iOS platform.
That's probably the biggest lag - you can find everything, often better, for the iOS platform, but not for the Android platform. This is where the iPad mini will take $$$ away from millions of users as they switch over when it arrives.
Even a simple program like GoodReader alone is enough to make or break. For language study, Midori and Japanese on the iOS is awesome vs. anything out for Android.
Also, it's not Windows, so when the sub 1lbs Windows 8 tablets arrive later this year, many will switch over just to get 'real' work done along with full desktop app access - VS, Office, etc.
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The $150 price point is great! Can't say anything about it other than Best Purchase Ever for This Price Point in a multimedia tablet device. It won't do everything an iPad or Windows Tablet can do, but nothing they've released sells as cheap as $150. Thus, for the 90% of Tablet tasks, this one does them all quite nicely - the best iPad alternative for the time being until the iPad mini arrives.
Form factor is just about perfect for the lightweight, one-handed, quick net access and ebook reading. iPad is just too heavy; Windows Tablets even more so.
As long as you don't need the GPS, cameras, bluetooth, etc. of other Android tablets, this one will do fine, cheaper. (probably never since my phone will do all that)
Plus, it's one of the BEST Sega Genesis Sonic the Hedgehog emulators I've ever played! Responsive, fast, crisp, nice!
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16GB MicroSD is just barely enough to hold several dozen music videos and several dozen scanned langauge/ebooks. JPEG ebooks take space and that's the reason. Otherwise, if it's just PDFs, you can get much more free space. Would rather have stuck in a 32GB card as a heavy multimedia user...
While class 4 is slow to load vs faster cards, once the media is loaded, they all play and access fast and fine. No problems scrolling through 2 hour videos in an instant.
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Tested a few converters thus far.
Handbrake on the Mac can make playable videos, but now and then, for no reason, the video won't play. Not sure what's the cause yet, but still looking into this. Probably one of the advanced settings or something...
IMTOO on the PC works fine as long as you set the LEVEL to 4.1 or less for H.264 conversions. It'll convert to 1080s that play fine on the tablet all the time. Recommended.
Nero Recode doesn't work if you select all of the advanced options like 8x8, etc. on that one page before starting the encode. Still working through those settings as well.
Naturally, if you upload to YouTube then download it using TubeMate, it'll generally play fine.
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BEST/CHEAPEST Screen protector film ever?
Daiso stores in the USA and Japan sell the KO-11-P10/D-139 No. 31 LCD Protection Film A4 size for $1.50. Cut it yourself and you can make 2 screen protectors. Applies very easily, sticks perfectly, no bubbling at all, barely a color or tint shift, and thin. (Just don't crease it or you'll get a bubble after applying. Use removable Scotch tape to take off a dust particle on your screen if it lands as you're applying. Make sure the screen is perfectly clean beforehand - use removable Scotch tape across the entire screen after it's been microfiber wiped.)
I use my desktop somewhat. Play games once in awhile...But mainly use my Prime...It plays games that I like. I stream Netflix for movies, tv shows etc...Why do I even need a desktop anymore.
Would I miss it if it were gone? Not sure.
Have any of you ran into this dilemma?
Well i play games on mine plus i have 3tb of storage that i use to stream movies to two TVs in the house. That and i had a desktop before the prime and resell value sucks so not worth the hassle to sell it for a low amount. And i still use ms office on the desktop.
i actually don't have a desktop...or pc anymore. Completely abandoned them for the Prime. Why? Well first it was because I wanted to see if Android was self sufficient yet - could I do the same things I do on the Prime that I do on my PC...and the answer was an overwhelming YES.
There are lots of wishes though - I wish I had USB 3.0 more than ever. I wish there were at least 2 USB ports on my prime - but the hub seems to temporarily work. Most importantly, however, I wish there was an automatic editing program like Kingsoft or QuickOffice Pro that offered an in-program printing solution. This is probably my #1 complaint.
I use PrinterShare (paid key) for Docs and PDFs (do a lot of printing of those) - and for my photos, I use Canon EPP which works well when I print pictures. However, neither of these programs offer the customization of printing within Windows - such as auto center for pdfs or High Quality color printing within Canon EPP.
Now I know either Acer or Toshiba is coming out with a tablet with built in printing - to any printer!! that's news to me, I only hope it can work effectively, as I still cannot print collate documents all the time.
But why do you have a desktop? Probably because in time you will still need it - or you haven't forced yourself to use Android consistently. Flash is working well for me, one way or another, in either Opera Mobile Browser or ICS Browser +. I haven't used Dolphin in a while but most flash applications and java intensive work well within Opera and Browser+.
I also tend to use OnLive for streaming windows desktop - If i REALLY need something. I know in terms of games with GaiKai system coming it is going to be very different in the future - and one day when I have a fast enough internet connection sure I'll play Skyrim streaming. My big wish was that the Padfone came over to the US before the SGS III - but it hasn't and it won't. I truly wanted to be the all-in-one. I'm tired of checking my android phone when it beeps if it's a text message or email - and then to check my prime for the same thing. I do wish I could have bought the padfone - I think it's a fantastic idea and I dont even care that it's that thick - I just hope they did enough hardware enhancements that the hinge isn't too bad and they added enough counter weights to the keyboard dock. I definitely thought the pricing, for what it offered, wasn't bad at all.
Sorry to go off a little topic but - with your desktop you can do one thing very well......
Be productive!!!
(running 4.0.4)
Hi, skip to the next paragraph if you only want to hear about the hulu problem. I broke down and tried another Chinese off brand android device due to the price (under $40 with shipping) and I'm actually pretty happy this time. This is the best one yet. Had a couple minor things but I was able to fix them (annoying keyboard overlay kept coming up even with an external kb so I killed the process, then it did the same with voice rec typing so I disabled that process too)... flash was clunky but I was able update it, in the market no less, and it was better. I'll finish the mini review with netflix works well.
But, finally, to the problem. Hulu plus goes sideways once the first set of commercials tries to run after the video starts (re: the commercial/s before the show are ok). It tries to run the commercials at the same time as the next segment of the show. Looks sort of like two separate windows with the commercials on top. Waiting out the commercials does not work / the overlay wont go away. I'll add; the hulu video quality looks great. Much better than my older single core a9 device which seems to have a low frame rate. Also; I'm not trying to block the commercials and I can't find any ad blocker software on my device.
Any ideas? This would be a pretty cool device if Hulu worked on it (read my kindle books on my big tv, surf the web, keep and eye on my email, supports all the meeting software apps and has a good Citrix VM client piece...).
PS
HBO Go also works but video quality is bad. I think it is on HBO's side. They probably have the resolution set low for phones and pads; not high enough for a larger TV.... They just gave in on HDMI video so maybe they'll fix this soon...
thanks
Well; didn't seem to be ad blocking related in the end. I switched to Hulu 2.6.2 and it is working. Down side is screen refresh seems slower than the current version... but it works.