Have e-Readers been superseded by Tablets and Phones

[DiapDealer]

Originally Posted by QuantumIguana

So, if you think e-ink is better, you need to add "IMO", however, if you think LCD is better, no such disclaimer is needed. Got it.

And as soon as you point out a post suggesting that LCD is the universally accepted "better" choice for reading, your snarky misrepresentation of the argument at hand would be appropriate.

[booklover6]

Originally Posted by sl42

It's a Lenovo. I think it's an L2107??

Well from my control group of 1, I'd say that is the problem. I got my daughter a Lenovo A2107 for Christmas, intended as an upgrade from her Nook Color. I thought it was horrible. Sold it after 7 months and got her something else. I would never buy another Lenovo tablet.

There is absolutely no comparison between a Lenovo (at least the one we had) and the Google Nexus 7.2 (2013 model). I would recommend that hands down for anything you want to do on a tablet. I find I enjoy reading on eink better, but it is quite good reading on the Nexus. So if you ever want to try a tablet again, that is the one to get. Right now you can find them at good prices, refurbs or sales....look around til you find a price you like. I use mine for news apps, ebay, web browsing, a couple of games, things like that. Great for streaming movies and music, too.

[conan50]

Lenovo A 2107 truly was a horrible tablet. The only thing I liked about it was that it was made so solid you could throw it against a wall and not break it :-)
I think it is a given that e-ink is far superior to cheap tablets regarding screens and resolution. But I think Amazon is changing that, and even some cheap tablets today are better than tablets a couple of years ago.

[sl42]

Originally Posted by conan50

Lenovo A 2107 truly was a horrible tablet. The only thing I liked about it was that it was made so solid you could throw it against a wall and not break it :-)
I think it is a given that e-ink is far superior to cheap tablets regarding screens and resolution. But I think Amazon is changing that, and even some cheap tablets today are better than tablets a couple of years ago.

I'll agree it handles being thrown rather well - which is important considering how often (per day) it inspired throwing. Also, it has survived a garage door being dropped on the screen and came out of the experience no less functional than before. Now, if that kind of durability could be combined with a working device and a usable operating system, that would be pretty awesome.

[conan50]

Originally Posted by sl42

I'll agree it handles being thrown rather well - which is important considering how often (per day) it inspired throwing. Also, it has survived a garage door being dropped on the screen and came out of the experience no less functional than before. Now, if that kind of durability could be combined with a working device and a usable operating system, that would be pretty awesome.

I thought that often before finally selling it on ebay. That build quality with a decent screen resolution and good processor and without being crapped up with useless software--might have been awesome.

[sl42]

Originally Posted by conan50

I thought that often before finally selling it on ebay. That build quality with a decent screen resolution and good processor and without being crapped up with useless software--might have been awesome.

The worst part is the operating system. This is the only Android device I've ever used - but it is so impossibly bad and horrifically unstable that I can't understand how this tablet ever shipped. Nothing actually works - EVERY app I've installed crashes - constantly, except for one text editor (an older version of Vim Touch, the version in Google Play Store crashes), and one ebook reader (FBreader). Hell, even the file manager that shipped with the thing crashes. In two years I never got to watch a single Youtube video all the way through without a crash, no matter how short the video. I never got to read a single article in a web browser without multiple restarts (and of course the browser fails to reload the tab it had open when it crashed roughly 99.9% of the time). I find it simply incredible that such a horrible operating system could have been created - especially since it is based on Linux! As a Linux user, I naively expected Android to be, basically, a customized Linux distro - not something quite different and completely broken and unusable.

I've been told that basically every other version of Android is better, but I find this hard to believe. This is the first and last time that I will ever buy hardware that I can't just install Linux on. I wouldn't care about them shipping a broken OS if I could replace it, hell every computer I've ever bought (except for one Mac) shipped with Windows - but I haven't actually had to run that particular piece of software since around 1995 This tablet is stuck as exactly what it is - it can't be fixed

[conan50]

I also like Linux. Android ICS on the tablets I had was hit-or-miss. Jellybean has been quite good. Kitkat even better. The two Amazon tablets I've owned were stable and reliable, though a bit limited in apps choice without Google Play.

[Mivo]

Originally Posted by sl42

The worst part is the operating system. This is the only Android device I've ever used - but it is so impossibly bad and horrifically unstable that I can't understand how this tablet ever shipped. Nothing actually works - EVERY app I've installed crashes - constantly

You're basing this on your apparently faulty device, though. Android has only crashed a few times for me, and exclusively when Chrome was running and I tried to forward a web page's URL via e-mail, which I believe was a bug in Chrome, not Android (it rebooted the device). I never had any "stopped responding" errors where apps shut down, and I run a lot of them. even fairly demanding ones (3D games, for example).

You should have returned your device.

[Anthem]

Originally Posted by sl42

The worst part is the operating system. This is the only Android device I've ever used - but it is so impossibly bad and horrifically unstable that I can't understand how this tablet ever shipped.

I've had 5 Android devices and only 1 (one) of them was "unstable". And that wasn't Google or Androids fault... it was the device manufacturer.

Originally Posted by sl42

I find it simply incredible that such a horrible operating system could have been created - especially since it is based on Linux!

Your mistake is blaming the OS for problems that are not it's fault.

Originally Posted by sl42

As a Linux user, I naively expected Android to be, basically, a customized Linux distro - not something quite different and completely broken and unusable.

This tablet is stuck as exactly what it is - it can't be fixed

There aren't any customized ROMs available for it? Like Cyanogen?

Originally Posted by conan50

The two Amazon tablets I've owned were stable and reliable, though a bit limited in apps choice without Google Play.

That has actually improved quite a bit in the last year or two. It is still no Google Play Store, but it doesn't feel quite like a barren desert anymore either.

[booklover6]

Originally Posted by Anthem

There aren't any customized ROMs available for it? Like Cyanogen?

Speaking WRT the Lenovo A2107, which I have not researched since I sold it, no. There was nothing. I searched all over XDA to see if I could wipe it and put on a fresh copy of Android with none of the Lenovo bloat ware. Searched the web, too. I found nothing. I sold it late summer 2013, when I realized the prices were dropping fast on those.

[conan50]

Anthem,
I agree about Amazon's improved app situation. Also there are basically a handful of apps most people will ever use on their tablet, and Amazon has those covered pretty good now. I hope the distance between Amazon's version of Android and Google Android will continue to to diminish. Amazon video on Android recently was a move in the right direction. I would love to see Amazon apps available to cast on Google's Chromecast, that would be awesome.

[conan50]

Originally Posted by booklover6

Speaking WRT the Lenovo A2107, which I have not researched since I sold it, no. There was nothing. I searched all over XDA to see if I could wipe it and put on a fresh copy of Android with none of the Lenovo bloat ware. Searched the web, too. I found nothing. I sold it late summer 2013, when I realized the prices were dropping fast on those.

I couldn't find anything for it either. The best I could do was disable as many of the Lenovo junk apps as possible, and use it to stream music and youtube. They could have done such a better job with that tab. It really turned me against anything Lenovo.

[Anthem]

Originally Posted by conan50

Anthem,
I agree about Amazon's improved app situation. Also there are basically a handful of apps most people will ever use on their tablet, and Amazon has those covered pretty good now. I hope the distance between Amazon's version of Android and Google Android will continue to to diminish. Amazon video on Android recently was a move in the right direction. I would love to see Amazon apps available to cast on Google's Chromecast, that would be awesome.

Well, Amazon has Instant Video apps on a ton of platforms that are TV oriented, the Chromecast being an obvious exception. I mainly use the Chromecast with Play Store wares, other than that I primarily use my Fire TV... which obviously has all the Amazon stuff built right in.

One of the things that I love about Amazon and their relationship with Android is their emphasis on creating a holistic tailored experience. The mass drove of Android devices are perfectly analogous to the Windows dominated PC world of the last couple decades: a basically generic system with nothing to really distinguish it from the choices of it's rivals aside from their choice of included demo-ware and the logo on the case. There are some differences, of course... but they were mostly just "whatever".

Amazon, for the better or for the worse depending on your perspective, has decided to go far beyond a mere skin of Android. They are building up their own sets of services on the platform, APIs to program against, and a general philosophy for their "version" of Android that truly sets it apart and makes it distinct.

I like this. It creates a rocky experience sometimes, but I'm sick of slab after slab of plastic and glass manufactured by god knows who with the Google Play Services simply slapped on to it. Or the even worse alternative... a simple quick skin with a few half-assed apps to "replace" Google apps. Amazon eschews this method, and prefers to dive in head first when building up their version of Android. Something that is highly preferable, I think.

[saoir]

Originally Posted by Anthem

I like this. It creates a rocky experience sometimes, but I'm sick of slab after slab of plastic and glass manufactured by god knows who with the Google Play Services simply slapped on to it. Or the even worse alternative... a simple quick skin with a few half-assed apps to "replace" Google apps. Amazon eschews this method, and prefers to dive in head first when building up their version of Android. Something that is highly preferable, I think.

My experience is the opposite. Amazon adds nothing to Android because it is such a ghastly OS to start with. Amazon adds more confusion and sub standard quality 'enhancements'. The results are products that are barely worth the money and really only suitable as children's toys.

[DiapDealer]

I love my ghastly children's toys. I even manage to do some big-people reading on them occasionally.