Tablet Talk

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Horus
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Tablet Talk

Post by Horus »

No, not a section for hypochondriacs, :lol: but because some of you and latterly myself have acquired one of these devices, I though I would start another thread where we could post anything we like about using tablets of any kind from Kindles to ipads and in my case a cheapo Chinese imported one. As these tablets use a variation of operating systems, many of which were designed for use on mobile phones and others that have been purposely developed for a particular device they all have idiosyncrasies peculiar to that device, so maybe sharing tips and ‘Apps’ may help us all to benefit from shared experiences.


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Re: Tablet Talk

Post by LovelyLadyLux »

My latest aquisiting is a cheapy Android - Pandigital. The primary purpose is for the kids to be able to read their story books and to play their educational games. I was easily able to sync all the books from my Nook to this Android and then download the story books.

My problem is trying to figure out how to do the same with the apps. I have numerous apps for kids educational games and just have yet figured how to get them moved over.
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Re: Tablet Talk

Post by Horus »

I can't help you on that as I am still getting to grips with this Android ICS operating system, but I am making good progress :up
Can you not just go to the 'App' store (it used to be called Android something, but now called Google Play) and download them from there?

I have had a couple of days intensive exploration of my tablet, mainly because the instructions that came with it were utter crap and all those touch screen menus whilst being great, can be a mystery to find at times. I have already managed to beat the system by downloading the Kindle app and then putting lots of my none kindle books that are in .mobi file format into the Kindle reader library, so I am well chuffed about that. I was also determined to understand how to transfer music and picture files from a USB stick plugged in to the mini USB port and then transfer them over to the extended memory storage of the Micro SD card. I spent all day messing around and i was convinced that it should have worked, but I kept getting some strange results and the files never showed up where I thought that they would be. I gave it a rest and went for my tea and sandwich, but before I did I switched the tablet off, when I turned it back on again everything was as it should be and I could access all the pictures and music files, :D so it seems to be that this system needs to re-boot itself in order to impliment those changes, so another lesson was learned.
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Re: Tablet Talk

Post by Kiya »

I'm none the wiser with my Android that I got last Xmas & the instructions manual is crap, I've no idea if I could get a manual on line.

Horus like you I hate that wee keyboard on screen & using the little plastic pointer thingy :( so as part of my b/day my daughter got the case with the little keyboard with another plug in thingy & usb stick, now altg it sits on a table like a miniature computer..........I still prefer being at my desktop :)

I can see all the forums/FB in the usual way as my desktop but I do find the Android much slower to work :(
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Re: Tablet Talk

Post by Horus »

I totally agree Kiya, there is no way I would use a tablet over my desktop or laptop PC's especially using the smaller 7" tablets. They have their uses and I am happy enough that this one I have seems to do what I wanted it to do, scroll pictures, play music, read my camera's sd card, read the forum if I am just dossing about the house, even doing a bit of web browsing or catch up TV and of course the Kindle App in my case, but it could never replace my PC. The Android operating system from what I have seen so far is very good once you get your head around things, but it is case of finding out from other people because there does not seem to be a decent set of instructions available although if you browse the likes of You tube on your PC there are lots of videos, so I just watch a few and then see if my tablet does the same thing ;) The other thing is of course they are not as fast as a PC because they (mostly) have less powerful processors, but as they improve they get better and of course more costly and eventually become just a laptop all over again, so whats the point?

I have ordered up one of those combination keypads/wallets that plugs into the USB port so I will let you know if its any better than the onboard virtual one which I now find a bit better to use other than having to 'shift' between cases and numbers all the time. My biggest gripe about it was trying to set up my internet stuff and entering usernames and passwords, it was real pain and I failed on most attempts, when I got back onto my desktop PC I had a message from Yahoo saying that someone was messing about with my account so would I please reset my passwords :lol: :lol:
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Re: Tablet Talk

Post by Grandad »

I think I have already mentioned that I purchased an Archos 80 G9 Turbo a few months ago. I had to connect it to my PC with a supplied usb cable to 'sync' the two devices. What I didn't expect was that during that sync process all of my favourites, links, and even passwords and Google+ were also transferred so when I first switched on everything was up and running just like the PC.

I agree that the keyboard is inconvenient but I only use it for email and posting on E4U so I can put up with it.

Horus, when I connect to my PC with the usb I can manage all the files on the tablet and set it up remotely from the PC. Perhaps you can do the same as you said you were having problems.

I actually find it quite fast and can stream things like F1 and iplayer without any problems.

This model had some criticism when first released but the features critcised have all been addressed and I am more than happy with mine.....only disappointment, I paid £200, you can now get the same model for around £130. :(
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Re: Tablet Talk

Post by Grandad »

Oh! And it came with about 100 Apps preloaded......one of which is 'Angry Birds' Shame on you Horus, I had not bothered with it until you mentioned it.......now I am stuck on level 10 and try as I might I cannot get off it. :xx :xx :xx
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Re: Tablet Talk

Post by Horus »

:lol: :lol: @ Grandad, yes it should come with a warning.
The connecting to the PC was the main problem Grandad, I just could not get it to be recognised by my PC. I had expected that it would show up as just another device like a camera or a Kindle, but for some reason it does not, so I suspect that it may need some sort of driver. I got around the problem by using a File Manager App, but it meant that I have to do everything on the tablet rather than on the PC screen, I suppose it is because it's only a cheapy. Yours cost a lot more than mine did, but I suppose that if I like it and use it on a regular basis then I may invest in something better, but for now it's just an experiment.
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Re: Tablet Talk

Post by Horus »

I have just found out that you can also plug a USB mouse into this tablet and it works everything by clicking on the screen including the keyboard keys. This post was written and sent from my tablet using this method.
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Re: Tablet Talk

Post by Kiya »

That sounds better than that pointy plastic thingy but it would still be slower than keyboard at desk & using 2 hands :)

I think I can add a mouse to mine but would have to check :)
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Re: Tablet Talk

Post by Horus »

Oh its not very fast to use, but at least it was very accurate especially for clicking those tiny icons in the corners. it was just something else I found out and if the mouse has a centre scroll wheel it moves up and down the forum posts as well. :up
Anyway what do you mean typing with two hands? in my case it's two hands and two fingers. :lol:
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Re: Tablet Talk

Post by Kiya »

I'm not a typist by any means :( have tried with 2hands+2fingers & that for me feels awkward :? watching myself I'm more 3fingers left + 4 fingers right :lol: :lol: so daft looking :( :lol:
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Re: Tablet Talk

Post by Grandad »

Horus wrote: Yours cost a lot more than mine did, but I suppose that if I like it and use it on a regular basis then I may invest in something better, but for now it's just an experiment.
I would have liked an ipad but could not justify the £400 odd for a toy. But they don't have 3G capability nor memory slot or any USB sockets so I think my tablet compares very well. The dual core processor is the same speed.

Having said all that, my eldest son was given an ipad3 last week for achieving some target and one of the grand daughters was given an ipad3 by the school. They have just moved into a brand new school and all year 11's have been given them to help with their school work. (More likely to be Skyping the boyfriends I expect) :lol:
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Re: Tablet Talk

Post by Phantom »

I love my kindle, and it is what it is, it's a book, and for that purpose it's wonderful. I had always wanted an I pad, and also couldn't justify the amount of money so bought a Chinese thing. It was absolutely useless at anything but games and was so frustrating that it sailed very close to the window many times.

I now have my wonderful I pad, which does all of the things that I wanted the other thing to do, but unless you're a computer expert won't.

Anubis is happy enough just using it to play games on though and uses the big computer for serious stuff.
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Re: Tablet Talk

Post by Grandad »

While extoling the considerable virtues of the Archos I forgot to mention that it has bluetooth, built in Sat Nav, and the Google maps with Street Level work extremely well.

TBH, the only thing that ipad has that my Archos lacks is a second camera. And I must give credit, the ipad camera is pretty good. :up
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Re: Tablet Talk

Post by Kiya »

Just trying out my mouse from desktop & yip it does work :) with my Android, it is much faster than the touch screen & for scrolling up or down with the wheel on middle of mouse.
The little keyboard with case I can manage fine the only problem I have is.....how do I get rid of the onscreen keyboard ?
I can see the problem the men would have using the little keyboard with having bigger fingers/hands
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Re: Tablet Talk

Post by Horus »

Kiya, does the keyboard only pop up when you need it, or is it on all the time?
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Re: Tablet Talk

Post by Grandad »

Kiya there may be a little 'down' arrow at the bottom of the screen to hide the keyboard.
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Re: Tablet Talk

Post by Kiya »

It pops up as soon as I start to use my keyboard, once its up it stays up :o

Grandad I'll check to see if there is a down arrow, it is on charge at the moment.
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Re: Tablet Talk

Post by Horus »

As Grandad says you may just have to close it by clicking an arrow, but I suspect that there may be a setting somewhere that stops it initializing. I have one on order so if it happens with mine I will see if I can find an option to disable it when a manual keypad is connected and report back.
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