Alternative 7" tablets to the Vox

[Psyke]

Originally Posted by JD Gumby

Yeah, if you have to go through so much trouble to enable a feature that there is no reasonable excuse for not including (and "to make people more dependant on our paid cloud services" is not reasonable), the device isn't worth it in the first place.

Actually, they are reasonable "excuses", at least from a business standpoint, that consumers may or may not agree with. Apart from trying to keep the cost down, Google, along with other vendors, are trying push consumers to cloud services(they aren't all pay services BTW...), whether we like it or not. Personally I don't, but overall find that the device has been worth the inconvenience.

[renee0986]

Originally Posted by Reader Paradice

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Renee, the SoC (Tegra-3) will thrill you with its speed and ability to run ANYTHING you ask it to. The display on the N7 is stunning, whether you watch videos, view static pictures, and of course text/font rendering. I get a constant 7-8 hours of use, actually no matter what I combine of the above activities. You do NOT need to disable one feature or radio on the device to see this battery life. Three (3) hours to fully charge it up from low-warning with the included Asus adapter. I have had this for a month, and it is a complete knockout! I actually enjoy to watch (laying in bed before sleep) Netflix and other downloaded movie content, whether HD or not. This was the best usage of under 300.00 that has been spent so far in the portable tablet realm. The feature/power for the dollar ratio is totally loaded in the user's favor.

If you decide upon one, and want to use a headphone (great sound BTW) with the N7, I just want to comment that the first time you put the plug into the socket at the bottom of the N7, it is a good fit, and so make sure that you use enough force to completely see/feel the plug seat itself into the socket. Some new users thought there was something wrong with their unit when they had 'thought' it was fully seated and only got sound from the right channel. I also did that when using the socket for the first time...but knew that I obviously had not fully seated the headphone plug and pushed a little more to overcome the good fit, and felt the plug travel that little more to fully and truly be seated. I then had full left and right channels being sent to the headphone.

I just thought to comment.

My Kobo has been sold and after much research I have decided to go with the Samsung Tab 2 7.0. After 2 weeks of use on the Tab 2 I am so happy that I decided to make the switch. I may even switch from using the Kobo app to the Aldiko app (at least for reading my side loaded books). I find the Aldiko app better for ease of use since it has a library search feature - I now no longer have to scroll through hundreds of books to find the one I am looking for. I've been far less frustrated with this device than I was with the Vox and it is also much more compatible with the rest of my technology which is mostly Samsung.

I do prefer to have my whole ebook library on a microSD card and loaded into my ereader as I can never really plan ahead on what I want to read. Not being very tech savvy or having much patients for constantly having to connect the device to the computer it is easier for me to just have everything I need on there. Also, the tab 2 came with 50 GB of free dropbox space for one year. The only advantage of the N7 appeared to be better game play and since I would only be using the tablet for moderate internet/email use and ereading, the n7 with it's lack of expandable storage and the newer version of Andriod which did not support flash wasn't very appealing once I did my research.

[oldyellr]

Originally Posted by renee0986

I find the Aldiko app better for ease of use since it has a library search feature - I now no longer have to scroll through hundreds of books to find the one I am looking for.

After using the Vox reader, Kindle and Overdrive, I find Aldiko the most versatile. Just wish it also had Overdrive's picture zoom feature.

[taming]

You don't need to root your N7 anymore to be able to stream from an SD card or USB thumb drive. See this app: https://play.google.com/store/apps/d...ususb.importer. You will need to spend a buck or two on a cable.

[Psyke]

Originally Posted by taming

You don't need to root your N7 anymore to be able to stream from an SD card or USB thumb drive. See this app: https://play.google.com/store/apps/d...ususb.importer. You will need to spend a buck or two on a cable.

yeah, and I think there's another one as well; I'm still waiting for my cable to try it with, but so far, the amount of space I have will do as I do stream most of my content; I mainly want to test it as an alternative to the 11year old's Vox as we rip DVD's and place them on device for longer trips, and we'll probably have to start doing the same for the 3-1/2 year old soon enough too (she's already stealing my N7 as it is...)

I did bring my N7 camping with us this weekend... Was able to play games on it, do a bunch of reading, and stream some songs off of Songza at campfire and still had plenty of Battery to boot when I got home this afternoon (my phone however had to swap the battery at least once, using it as AP, and to take pictures). Very happy with the N7 as is.

[TonyToews]

Kobo announces new versions of tablet and ereaders.
http://www.mobileread.com/forums/sho...d.php?t=190120

[JD Gumby]

Originally Posted by TonyToews

Kobo announces new versions of tablet and ereaders.
http://www.mobileread.com/forums/sho...d.php?t=190120

Despite the specs on the Arc, I have no confidence that it won't turn out like the Vox and be very underperforming for its specs. Especially with the lack of a dedicated GPU being listed (which will make a HUGE difference in general, not just game, performance).

[suedenim]

Originally Posted by JD Gumby

Despite the specs on the Arc, I have no confidence that it won't turn out like the Vox and be very underperforming for its specs. Especially with the lack of a dedicated GPU being listed (which will make a HUGE difference in general, not just game, performance).

Looks like a great processor to me,
http://www.anandtech.com/show/6158/t...01-xs-review/3

I don't like the fact it has no SD card slot and I'm not sure how Tapestry will work out - is it a fancy app or heavily modded OS. I'm disappointed with the obstacles the community encountered because they changed the OS for the Vox and possibly internally as well.

[tantomile]

The Google Nexus 7 totally rocks! I absolutely recommend this 7" device. It's not priced a lot differently from the Vox, but has a whole lot more horsepower, great high def screen and runs Android 4.1.1. Lots of cool features as well, including GPS that you can use offline - just download the maps from Google. completely robust Wifi; Kobo works wonderfully; i just can't say enough about this gadget.

[Psyke]

Originally Posted by taming

You don't need to root your N7 anymore to be able to stream from an SD card or USB thumb drive. See this app: https://play.google.com/store/apps/d...ususb.importer. You will need to spend a buck or two on a cable.

I did try the USB importer, and while it doesn't work, it's not very versatile, although good for those who want something simple and don't want to root their devices.

I ended up rooting my device (took a couple minutes after backing up the system), and installing stickmount, which works exactly like other devices that have a micro SD slot. While I know it's not most peoples cup of tea, it does work, and works well.

[taming]

Psyke--I made the same choice you did.

Have you tried hotspot shield on your N7? All of the sudden we Canadians have all sorts of Google Play goodies. I used it on my desktop, got the uploader app, transferred my music, and now I can stream it on my N7 and on my Android phone. And with it on my N7 I have full access to the Play shtuff.

[filmo]

Has anyone tried using PogoPlug with Vox or KT?