Arc First few days with Arc

[coreslogic]

Ok, that title sounds weird but anyway, I just want to share a few experience about unboxing, configuring and using the Arc.

I got the 64gb white one and unboxing it feels so exciting for some reason. I didn't bother with manual reading (since i heard it is pretty content thin) and go straight to pressing the power button.

The setup process is nothing more than straight forward and slick. The only complaint is the system update (319mb) took more than I think it should and the update progress bar was "stuck" at one point and had me reconnect to my Wifi only to find out it is already 60% ahead of what it should be. Anyway, it was good. Manage to setup my google account without a hassle even with 2-factor authorization.

Without typing long paragraph to bore people, i'll type my pro & cons below for actual usage experience

Pro
- Awesome edge around the screen for holding. Works very well with my hand size
- Screen rocks , crisp and bright colors. Text rendering is wonderful. ( i lack review-jargons)
- Performance rocks for what it is. I have YET to experience slow down given the 7-8 applications i run simultaneously.
- Magazine will bring the best out of the screen. If you see quality problems, it is definitely the pdf's problem because the MAXIM sample one is out of the world.
- Default apps are fine. They are snappy as it should. You can uninstall bloatware if you don't like them and just inconvenience.
- SRS audio. Even the go-to-work alarm sounds beautiful. I actually turn the thing upside down so the speakers are in my face but that is my preference.
- No software problems. Everything (mainstream) working as they should. Gmail, Facebook, Dropbox and some others. Not gaming fan but you don't really buy a Android for heavy gaming do you?
- Book reading is comfortable and text is fine for me give the few pages I "flip" through so far.
- The rubber texture back rocks. I have no regrets and feels safe placing it on anywhere.

Con
- Not even a real con but only slightly heavier than I thought it would be. It is VERY difficult to test this at store because they have those security thingys attached to them.
- The main UI takes some time to get used to but it is still straight forward for its intention. A nice wallpaper will keep you distracted and happy.
- I treat the discovery bar like an ad-support component of the UI.....
- Battery lasts forever (if you turn off wifi during sleep). Android is victim to battery drain but mostly from the stuff you install and widgets on main screen.
- Graphics rendering on magazine took a good second to render and so are large pictures in chrome like flyers. It is not a big deal to most probably but i'm impatient so these little things bugs me a lot.


There are many things waiting to be tested but so far the purchase is a no doubt correct choice!

[JD Gumby]

Originally Posted by coreslogic

- Not even a real con but only slightly heavier than I thought it would be. It is VERY difficult to test this at store because they have those security thingys attached to them.

According to my kitchen scale, the Arc is about 350g (13oz). Not too bad when you consider that most lower-end 7" tabs are generally weighing in at or above 400g and that 10" tabs can be up to 1.5lbs (675g or so).

[coreslogic]

Originally Posted by JD Gumby

According to my kitchen scale, the Arc is about 350g (13oz). Not too bad when you consider that most lower-end 7" tabs are generally weighing in at or above 400g and that 10" tabs can be up to 1.5lbs (675g or so).

I agree and that reminded me to add a pro about the rubber-texture back, so awesome!

[scrapking]

Originally Posted by coreslogic

- Awesome edge around the screen for holding. Works very well with my hand size

This is, without a doubt, one of the biggest pluses on the Arc. The current-gen Kindle Fire and Nook tablets have these *massive* bezels around the screen. What's with that? Trying to make their 7" tablets feel like 9" tabs? I don't get it.

Add in the front-facing speakers on the Arc, and the Arc's industrial design is *worlds* ahead of competing tablets from the other e-reader companies.

[JD Gumby]

Originally Posted by scrapking

This is, without a doubt, one of the biggest pluses on the Arc. The current-gen Kindle Fire and Nook tablets have these *massive* bezels around the screen. What's with that? Trying to make their 7" tablets feel like 9" tabs? I don't get it.

Probably to A) make them more hardcover-sized, and B) to give room to use cheaper (and thus bulkier) components.

[ppowell002]

I have been enjoying my first few days and have very few cons and lots of pros. The jury is still out on Discover but I'm hoping it will get better. All in all, I am liking the Arc.

No fault of the Arc but I'm finding it a little hard to adjust to a smaller screen than my iPad but I wanted a 7 inch tab to cart around with me every day on which I could read ebooks and my digital newspaper subscription. The iPad is just too heavy and big for my handbag. After finding a better app than the Globe2Go app, the newspaper reading has been much better.

[coreslogic]

Just a small update on the Arc experience...

ran the following apps recently
- Dead Space (0.99$ sale) - smooth gameplay without any problem
- gReader - RSS feed without any problems. Portrait view is pushing but that is just due to nature of screen size. Landscape works very well.
- ezPDF Reader - quick rendering (Office Suite is terrible at pdf loading)
- Tapestry and Discover bar - still trying hard to know them better
- Zinio browsing and purchasing - no problem at all. magazine loads quickly and image quality is bang on gorgeous. Each page (maxim) took half a second to render which is quite fine to me. Moving around while zoomed in has no delay which is excellent.
- Kobo reading - easy on eyes and dictionary/wiki lookup is streamlined. Tried to read the same thing on S3 and i can notice the difference right away.

Played with my friend's n7 over the weekend and immediately the feel and casing tells me Arc made some right decisions. Love it love it.

[Gernella]

I've had mine for about two weeks now and after being a bit grumpy at first I am quite pleased with it. Discovery bar, waste of time, don't even bother with it. I thought 7 ins would be just right but I didn't realise that like pc screens they measure from corner to corner, so I think I shall maybe look for larger.

Having said that the rest works extremely well, better than the Nexus or BNoble. I like the fact I can get my books from anywhere with no hassle. It is quite fast doing anything and the only gripe I have is that battery life with the internet on is not so good. One afternoon when I was playing around with it, it died within about 2.5 hours. Turning it off while reading is your best bet.

It is good to hold as well although when the specialised cases come in I'll have one. Any 7inch screen will have limitations, especially if you want to use it as a full blown computer, think again. For carting around in your bag though, it is perfect.

My biggest want now is finding a reader app that is easy on the eye, best so far is the Kindle, with a top and bottom gap. Text filling the screen is not good, like reading something with no paragraphs.

I can't understand why it has not hit the tech reviews yet, they seem to aim for the Barnes Noble, which with a 'buy our books only' view is not what we want. I would give it 9/10, maybe they might bring out one a tad larger say 8.9.

[JD Gumby]

Originally Posted by Gernella

It is quite fast doing anything and the only gripe I have is that battery life with the internet on is not so good. One afternoon when I was playing around with it, it died within about 2.5 hours. Turning it off while reading is your best bet.

Huh. You must have a bad battery, or are running it with screen at full brightness (I keep mine at maybe 20-25% most of the time and it's still more than bright enough). In a 5-hour session of reading (both comics and a regular novel) while streaming music over wi-fi the other day, the battery only got down to around 40% for me. So far, the Arc is turning out to be a plug it in before going to bed type of device for me, even with wi-fi on.