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iPad Android Alternatives?

A

Ashton

2[H]4U
Joined
Nov 13, 2004
Messages
2,514
Ok, to be frank I love my iPad2, but I'm growing less fond of iOS every day. Works great, Smooth as silk, fast, but so little control over content, a very annoying interface, lack of file-system access, and issues with syncing with my Linux Desktop... not to mention no expandable storage...

I used CyanogenMod on my EVO and loved it and was able to do everything I wanted... but obviously, the screen size left something to be desired for larger web-browsing, reading, or videos...

Are there any decent alternatives running Android?
 
ASUS Transformer (with KB dock or not), ASUS EEEPad Slider (slideout KB), Galaxy Tab (7 and 10 inch). Acer A100, A500 (7&10 inch Tegra 2 models), are the decent ones that come instantly to mind. All are powered by decent dual core SoC designs.

I know, personally, for fact the ASUS transfer ships with vanilla Android Honeycomb (now 3.2), with only a few ASUS widget added in.
 
Ouch. Most of those are ~$800... I was hoping to trade or come out ahead on cost... though the Acer A500 isn't that high, looks like an option. Thanks!

(Anyone else? Really hoping for a $300 or less deal here, but $500 is acceptable)
 
There's a lot of discussion on all of these. Since you've got the luxury of already owning a tablet, you know what you want and what you don't want in the device, unlike a few that jump into the form factor brand new.

Check out these threads for some lengthy discussion on a lot of the tablets:

Recent "Looking for a tablet" threads:
http://hardforum.com/showthread.php?t=1635207
http://hardforum.com/showthread.php?t=1637301

Best Under $400 Tablet Discussion:
http://hardforum.com/showthread.php?t=1631794

Lengthy Transformer Discussion Thread:
http://hardforum.com/showthread.php?t=1603272


Really any question you have is probably answered in one of those threads or in the plethora of others. For the most part, the hardware inside of a lot of Android Tablets is pretty much the same. Differences exist and now that the market has a few more 7" in it, along with a looming Tegra refresh with new tablets coming as soon as late October/Early Novemeber (if I remember what I've read correctly), the hardware is getting a bit more diversified. But the best recommendation I have is to go to Best Buy and play around with their display units.
 
Check out getting a Touchpad maybe? Cyanogen has a port on the horizon, and it can be had for sub 300 ... hell sell the iPad and you cover the costs easily
 
W.Feather said:
Check out getting a Touchpad maybe? Cyanogen has a port on the horizon, and it can be had for sub 300 ... hell sell the iPad and you cover the costs easily
Click to expand...

You have NO idea how sore I was when I read about the $99 touchpad deal today... I spent an hour trying to find anyplace that still had them... and of COURSE ebay is selling them $299-$499 despite the massive liquidation... That was what kicked me back into looking for one...

That's my plan, which is why I was saying "$800 is too pricey" since I'll probably only get around $500-$600 tops for my 32gb iPad2

Bomo said:
There's a lot of discussion on all of these. Since you've got the luxury of already owning a tablet, you know what you want and what you don't want in the device, unlike a few that jump into the form factor brand new.

Check out these threads for some lengthy discussion on a lot of the tablets:

-Snip-

Really any question you have is probably answered in one of those threads or in the plethora of others. For the most part, the hardware inside of a lot of Android Tablets is pretty much the same. Differences exist and now that the market has a few more 7" in it, along with a looming Tegra refresh with new tablets coming as soon as late October/Early Novemeber (if I remember what I've read correctly), the hardware is getting a bit more diversified. But the best recommendation I have is to go to Best Buy and play around with their display units.
Click to expand...

Wow, people are absolutely singing the praise of the Asus Transformer... my only issue with it is that eBay wasnts ~$700-$800 for it... (watching a few $200-$300 and keeping my fingers crossed)
 
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I do not know where the hell you are looking dude, I see them much cheaper than that on ebay. And I got my 32gb on amazon for about 370, unopened. Oh yeah and I love it.
 
I got my TF for $299 at Office Depot during the Staples coupon for $100 off tablets, price matched that sucker. Very happy with it, I wasn't a big fan of tablets initially and I still think none of them is worth over $400 (yet most retail for $500), but I gotta say it is indeed pretty relaxing to kick back and read on one... 'Specially with a great IPS screen like the TF. Samsung's are the only other ones I'd consider right now, everything else has missed the mark slightly imo.

P.S. Ebay prices sound like a rip off, the TF retails for $400, the Thrive is pretty low too, and none of the 16GB models ever go for more than $500 (except the Xoom at launch)... Dunno why we even have 32GB models when most of them have microSD slots (except the Samsung 10.1).
 
Ashton said:
You have NO idea how sore I was when I read about the $99 touchpad deal today... I spent an hour trying to find anyplace that still had them... and of COURSE ebay is selling them $299-$499 despite the massive liquidation... That was what kicked me back into looking for one...

That's my plan, which is why I was saying "$800 is too pricey" since I'll probably only get around $500-$600 tops for my 32gb iPad2



Wow, people are absolutely singing the praise of the Asus Transformer... my only issue with it is that eBay wasnts ~$700-$800 for it... (watching a few $200-$300 and keeping my fingers crossed)
Click to expand...

I highly recomend not buying through eBay unless you're buying used and significanly under MSRP. Asus, a company I am generally a fan of, tends to be really hit or miss (leaning more towards the miss side) when it comes to tech support/warranty support/product support. Don't risk not getting it through an authorized retailer, just in case there are problems. Most of the time their issue is response time and flat out ignoring problems, not really rejecting warranty claims, but I wouldn't take the risk. Plus it's much cheaper to buy it through an online retailer at or slightly below MSRP (It was down to $375ish on Amazon a while back, I think).

That said, I am a huge fan of the Transformer. But I absolutely hate the onscreen keyboards for tablets, so the dock including a physical keyboard, more ports and an extra battery is largely worth the $150 extra that it costs. Had I not gotten my iPad 2 as a gift, I would have bought a Transformer back in June. Now I'm pretty much bought into the iOS realm (literally, a bit of a pretty penny spent in the app store).

Android still really interests me, and I could see myself getting into a 6 month refresh cycle (October-ish with the Android tablets, if Tegra 3 really is coming out soon, though I've seen very few rumors recently, and then March with the iPads). I do really like both eco systems, and my Nook Color is getting pretty long in the tooth (not to mention some touch screen issues that have been popping up lately).

Anyways, so long as you know what you're getting with a tablet (which it seems like you do), you don't skimp out on the cheap ePad/aPad knock offs, and get something running Honeycomb, you'll be fine. It's easy to tout each Android tablet as being better than others, but there are enough differences in feature set, accessories and price point to keep them all as viable options. For me, the Transformer makes the most sense, but the Galaxy Tab is a sexy device, and the Acer is a beast in terms of ports and connectivity out of the box.
 
Bomo said:
I highly recomend not buying through eBay unless you're buying used and significanly under MSRP. Asus, a company I am generally a fan of, tends to be really hit or miss (leaning more towards the miss side) when it comes to tech support/warranty support/product support. Don't risk not getting it through an authorized retailer, just in case there are problems. Most of the time their issue is response time and flat out ignoring problems, not really rejecting warranty claims, but I wouldn't take the risk. Plus it's much cheaper to buy it through an online retailer at or slightly below MSRP (It was down to $375ish on Amazon a while back, I think).
Click to expand...

I'm watching an auction for $400 for Transformer + Dock.

The fact that there are no USB ports on the device makes me want the dock, and the added battery is never a bad thing. I'm looking for retailers that will offer me a $400 deal like that. If so, I'll gladly buy retail.

My only experience with ASUS support was a MoBo that had a bad BIOS and they were fiarly quick and responsive. The other time I had an ASUS MoBo problem I dealt with the middle-man (Tiger Direct) and had a good experience. Surprisingly, none of my 4 Asus netbooks had any problems...

My biggest problem with iOS is iTunes. 100% of my media does not come from itunes and shows up wrong in the iTunes library. Most of it is "Unknown" by "unknown". I've spent my life organizing using Folders (i.e. "c:\music\soundtracks\Back_To_The_Future\Power_of_love.mp3") and completely ignoring the ID3 tags, now with several thousand songs to my name it's a PITA to re-list them, and every time I add new music I have to manually add it to iTunes, manually configure the tags, then manually sync it. on Android I just turn SAMBA on at night and let MS Sync Toy do the rest.
 
You can get apps like Media Monkey to tag your stuff based on directory structure... I suggest biting that bullet at some point. It has a nice review screen for changes if you wanna go album by album or something. I've been using MM even when I just had an ipod touch, it's sooo much more flexible and configurable, I detest iTunes. MM's filters and watched folders and custom auto organization rules blow it away, along with most everything else I've tried.
 
There's some accessories to add a usb port or an SD reader without the dock btw, but they just became available in EU last week, have yet to see anyone selling them stateside. I imagine it won't be long, tho the dock is very very nice.
 
Impulse said:
You can get apps like Media Monkey to tag your stuff based on directory structure... I suggest biting that bullet at some point. It has a nice review screen for changes if you wanna go album by album or something. I've been using MM even when I just had an ipod touch, it's sooo much more flexible and configurable, I detest iTunes. MM's filters and watched folders and custom auto organization rules blow it away, along with most everything else I've tried.
Click to expand...

I may try it. Does it work under Ubuntu? (if I have to I can use my windows server but I prefer to do it on my linux desktop) I do plan on keeping my iPod Touch (Where else can I find an MP3 player that gives me 100+ hours of playback on a single charge?) and while I suspect I'll be going with a Nexus or a Galaxy, I *might* go for an iPhone 5 when my contract's up with Sprint (not likely but, eh, wont say "hell no")

EDIT:
Impulse said:
There's some accessories to add a usb port or an SD reader without the dock btw, but they just became available in EU last week, have yet to see anyone selling them stateside. I imagine it won't be long, tho the dock is very very nice.
Click to expand...

I knew in time it would happen. I was suprised when eBay didnt turn up any chinese adapters, I guess it will simply take time.

Depending on how it works, that might solve my problem as long as I can plug in USB + Power at once. The dock is still nice and adds battery life (not to mention I could have another SD Card in the dock for added storage) But if I can slash the price from $400-$500 down to $200-$300 it might be worth sacrificing...
 
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Word is the next iPhone will be available on Sprint and if so it might be the only one with truly unlimited data on a new contract... Sprint's 4G network expansion has stagnated but there's apparently a big announcement regarding that (and Clear and/or Lightsquared) due this month. I'm sticking with them as long as they got unlimited data and cheaper plans (23% student discount helps, without it AT&T is pretty close cost-wise).

The recent loss of upgrade options and whatnot was a bummer but cheap and unlimited is their biggest selling point right now, if they lose one of those I'll start looking.

Dunno whether MM supports Linux, it works so well I haven't visited their site or boards in a while... I only started frequenting it when I was learning how to use it and/or whenever an iOS update broke compatibility (is that seriously necessary Apple?). The iPod touch's battery life is indeed awesome tho, I do wish they'd fix the BT stack so that it accepts track playback controls tho.

I'd go back to using it as my car player if that was fixed, rather than my phone, it's not like music payback burns a lot of battery on my EVO but it's still something.

Has anyone heard solid rumors on Kal El (quad core Tegra successor)? I know some were saying oct or nov but is that the time frame manufacturers get the SoC parts or actual product release... I just don't see anyone releasing next gen tablets before Ice Cream Sandwich comes out at the end of the year. I mean Samsung is still trotting out 8.9" models and whatnot...
 
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Ashton said:
My biggest problem with iOS is iTunes. 100% of my media does not come from itunes and shows up wrong in the iTunes library. Most of it is "Unknown" by "unknown". I've spent my life organizing using Folders (i.e. "c:\music\soundtracks\Back_To_The_Future\Power_of_love.mp3") and completely ignoring the ID3 tags, now with several thousand songs to my name it's a PITA to re-list them, and every time I add new music I have to manually add it to iTunes, manually configure the tags, then manually sync it. on Android I just turn SAMBA on at night and let MS Sync Toy do the rest.
Click to expand...

Windows 7

Go to your MP3 folder, press CTRL-A (select all), right-click "Properties".

In the "Details" tab. You'll be able to set the tags of all the selected files at once.
 
Those accessories are ASUS OEM btw, my guess is since they took forever to come out no one could reverse engineer them for cheap without first seeing the original, since the dock connector isn't standard and all... The stock charging cable can easily be extended with a cheap USB 3.0 extension btw, it's quite short but uses the USB 3.0 pin out on the USB end. The extra pins is how the charger differentiates between the tablet and lower voltage devices with USB 2.0 plugs, like phones, so it can safely be used for either; quite clever on ASUS' part actually.
 
Impulse said:
Word is the next iPhone will be available on Sprint and if so it might be the only one with truly unlimited data on a new contract... Sprint's 4G network expansion has stagnated but there's apparently a big announcement regarding that (and Clear and/or Lightsquared) due this month. I'm sticking with them as long as they got unlimited data and cheaper plans (23% student discount helps, without it AT&T is pretty close cost-wise).

The recent loss of upgrade options and whatnot was a bummer but cheap and unlimited is their biggest selling point right now, if they lose one of those I'll start looking.

Dunno whether MM supports Linux, it works so well I haven't visited their site or boards in a while... I only started frequenting it when I was learning how to use it and/or whenever an iOS update broke compatibility (is that seriously necessary Apple?). The iPod touch's battery life is indeed awesome tho, I do wish they'd fix the BT stack so that it accepts track playback controls tho.

I'd go back to using it as my car player if that was fixed, rather than my phone, it's not like music payback burns a lot of battery on my EVO but it's still something.
Click to expand...

I'm lucky enough to be on an old Sprint SERO plan. I had the EVO 4G for several months untill I lost my job and had to cut back on expenses. (if you havnt, you need, NEED to install CyanogenMod, it's one of the best, possibly THE best Pure AOSP rom out there)

4G expansion suprises me. I live in a dinky little town where ATT doesnt even have 3G, much less 4G, Sprint/ZVW are the only 3G options, and we all know what bastards VZW are with Data (And no, VZW LTE is not really here, it's one or two towers that dont half work and dont provide true 4G speeds). I was told when I got my evo around march that Sprint 4G was planned for my area "within 10 years" A few weeks ago I went to a sprint store ~20 miles away and they had 4G reception and told me my area would have it in "less than 2 years, likely less than 1"

The "Big Announcement" is either faster 4G deployment (which I was told IS happening and sprint planned to roll it out even faster soon as per employee training) or the switch from WiMAX to LTE for support roaming onto VZW's 4G networks. Though the employee at the sprint store implied the switch was much further down the road, I'm not so sure...

Apple has crippled Bluetooth on purpose. It keeps the device from pairing with phones for DUN purposes (so you will buy an iPhone) and also stops a lot of other devices like non-apple remotes from being used.

I'll check it out, I can probably use WiNE if all else fails. So far every program I've used with it works perfectly (except for a bug in networking protocol that keeps AirVideo from being able to broadcast over the Net... or well anywhere if it's not visible on the desktop)

Sly said:
Windows 7
Go to your MP3 folder, press CTRL-A (select all), right-click "Properties".
In the "Details" tab. You'll be able to set the tags of all the selected files at once.
Click to expand...

Did not know Win7 could do this, would have made my life easier when I was using it, but I got sick of having to reinstall windows regularily, cleaning the registry, and all the viruses. Latest Ubuntu has solved all those problems so far... (but I'll still be running windows on my server (delicious irony there - linux desktop, windows server) so this will help me.

Impulse said:
Those accessories are ASUS OEM btw, my guess is since they took forever to come out no one could reverse engineer them for cheap without first seeing the original, since the dock connector isn't standard and all... The stock charging cable can easily be extended with a cheap USB 3.0 extension btw, it's quite short but uses the USB 3.0 pin out on the USB end. The extra pins is how the charger differentiates between the tablet and lower voltage devices with USB 2.0 plugs, like phones, so it can safely be used for either; quite clever on ASUS' part actually.
Click to expand...

True. China is good but not fast. I remember the hell I went through when I got my iPod last year finding a "chipped" video cable for cheep. In the end I had to buy the $30 Apple-sanctioned Griffen one from Wallyworld... since I'm used to no USB/KEyboard from my iPad I could manage without it for a few months till China gets it's knockoffs rolling ;) lol (though if I can get the whole package for the same price as *just* the tablet itself...)

Good to know. is the device USB 3.0 compatable too? In either case will save me some trouble in the car for sure!
 
You might want to check out the Sony Tablet S

I got the 16gb wifi version here in the UK for £399 (ipad 2 16gb wifi is £399)

I then bought a 32gb SD Card for £29 making the Tablet S a 48gb £429 peice of kit. Its already on honeycomb 3.2 and you can use it as an ir remote if your into that kind of thing. Its also a different design that stands out from the crowd and much easier to hold than any other tablet out there.
 
Ashton said:
Ouch. Most of those are ~$800... I was hoping to trade or come out ahead on cost... though the Acer A500 isn't that high, looks like an option. Thanks!

(Anyone else? Really hoping for a $300 or less deal here, but $500 is acceptable)
Click to expand...

Do you live someplace far away - Tajikistan or somewhere? The Asus Transformer, even without the Staples $100 off (dead) has sold at times for $350. Other first quality tablets for around $400 include:
Toshiba Thrive (new thinner model coming)
Acer Iconia Tab
Asus Transformer Slide (keyboard - pre-order at Amazon)
Samsung - be careful, the 7" non-3g tablet is crippled.
Motorola Xoom - nice specs but screen sub par.

All of these in the $400 ball park and prices will be coming down from now to Black Friday.

Amazon 7" tablet shipping next month for $249. Their own flavor of Android and new Archos Android tablets for well under $300 shipping soon.

The HP Touchpad with WebOS is selling on Ebay new in box for $200 shipped - 16GB version.
http://www.ebay.com/itm/HP-TouchPad...=US_Tablets&hash=item56462c97d8#ht_2380wt_932

There you go!
 
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Nah, the TF isn't USB 3.0 capable, I'm not sure the internal flash on these devices is even fast enough for it to matter anyway. The changing/sync cable just uses those extra pins in conjunction with the stock charger for identification purposes (i believe the tablet charges at like 14V), like I said before, but they're dormant when it's plugged into a standard USB port on a PC (3.0 or otherwise).

I heard the upcoming Sprint announcement (s) might also reveal an interim EVDO Rev. B rollout with HSPA+-like speeds, possibly intended for areas that are further away from actual 4G for now, part of their Vision scheme etc. I really dunno, here in Puerto Rico they've got literally like two 4G towers near a mall in the metro area (a mall where typically even lower 3G frequencies don't penetrate at all, from any company), so it's pretty much useful in a couple of parking lots only, lol...

Around the island there's like two smaller towns that are seeing spotty coverage, and there's like another random swath of coverage near a highway. I'll tell you this much, if they ever get some worthwhile coverage & speeds up, they'd make a killing. I'm paying like $50 in DSL for 3mb down and 0.5mb up, because it's unlimited. Cable is slightly better at $35 (if you have cable TV already) for 5mb down but they have a ridiculous 40MB monthly bandwidth cap.
 
I ended up going with the Asus Transformer with Dock. I paid an extra $50 to get the 32gb version (which included an "accessory pack" of Screen Protector, Case, and 16gb MicroSD) Will let you all know how it turns out.

What has suprised me is that I cant find ANY place selling the Datacable except Asus themselves (and this was $17 each plus shipping!) I was wanting one for home and one for car (because we all know that if you have 1 it will always be in the opposite location to where it's needed) but I'm not paying $40 each to get one with a charger (since I assume the Apple 10W charger will charge up the Transformer fine if not, well...)

@ impulse:
That's what people are doing around here. The DSL is roughtly the same as what you have (except often it doesnt get above 2mbps despite claiming 3) but there is VZW LTE in many places and a lot of these people are older and have grandfathered-in plans to get them unlimited data. Also more than a few of us are waiting to see what happens when Sprint rolls out 4G up here, I was averaging 5mbps download when I was in 4G last time, and with paying $55/month for that (unlimited) VS paying $60 DSL or $70 bundle PLUS my cell bill, I'm looking seriously at dropping the DSL in favor of Sprint if it happens.
 
nice going i switch from an ipad2 to a galaxy 10.1
now i'm wondering what am i going to do with an ipad 2 :)
 
I've seen the TF charger + cable at Office Depot for $30... Still a little more expensive than I'd like tho so I passed on it for now and just went with the USB 3.0 extension, there's a list somewhere on Xda of some third party chargers that work.
 
mtruong1 said:
nice going i switch from an ipad2 to a galaxy 10.1
now i'm wondering what am i going to do with an ipad 2 :)
Click to expand...

I'm not a huge fan of Samsung, but what little I played with their Sprint devices I was adequately impressed.

my Ipad2 32gb, Black, Wifi only went for $575 + $15 shipping, so you can be the judge of wheather to sell yours. Depending on how much space you have and how you sync your devices you might consider leaving it in the car for long trips (or long commutes if you live near ATL or similar nightmarish cities...)

Impulse said:
I've seen the TF charger + cable at Office Depot for $30... Still a little more expensive than I'd like tho so I passed on it for now and just went with the USB 3.0 extension, there's a list somewhere on Xda of some third party chargers that work.
Click to expand...

Dont have an OD here we have an Office Max though and a Staples in the next town over, I might try there depending on how happy I am with the Apple Charger's performance. If it works I'll pay $17 from Asus.

Will be watching prices on the extention. I rarely use a device more than 6 hours, usually 2-4 so I'll probably be able to make do with the 3' cable Asus gives me (and there's always the option of a 5' AC extention cable for $1... ;)

I'll have to check it out
 
Just bumping this to say I recieved my Asus Transformer (32gb) today and so far I'm very happy. It's already rooted and running the Prime ROM.

The Screen is going to take some getting used to. Most tablets I've used had the old spec "almsot square" screen, but the transformer uses the widescreen format (which makes it feel a bit narrow and long when turned on it's side for reading)

Blazing fast speed on everything I've tested.

Have not had a chance to try the HDMI-out yet because I dont have the right cable... (anyone know if it's Full Mirror or just "certain apps" like most stock roms?)

The one thing that suprised me and is a little annoying. The "Internal Storage" is listed in the file tree as "SDCARD" which makes me wonder if Asus took the old Nook approach of just slapping a MicroSD card in for the primary drive (which makes me think upgrades could be quick-and-painless and that maybe I should have gotten the 16gb version and saved my $50 towards a 64gb MicroSD to slip inside it for the primary drive...)

Also, Apple Charger charges at normal 1.5v USB (i.e. does not charge unless Screen is OFF), so it's worthless. I'm going to have to buy a second ASUS charger @ $30 to have one for car and one for home.

One dissapointment is I learned Android does not support bluetooth tethering. So, for now, I've had to reactivate my EVO (@ roughly $1/day more than my current cell) untill I can snag a Cradlepoint (Phone USB->WiFi) at a good price.
 
Android does support Bluetooth tethering... Some phones even support it natively when paired with stock HC tablets, on others you might require an extra app. There's PAN & DUN tethering tho, I dunno if both are supported and what your current phone supports. I haven't tested the HDMI either but I can test it tonight if ya want, I got the necessary miniHDMI adapter at home.

As far as the internal storage, I've seen lots of Android phones that report internal storage the same way, so it doesn't necessarily mean anything... You can probably find pics of the internal layout to peep at somewhere tho.
 
Impulse said:
Android does support Bluetooth tethering... Some phones even support it natively when paired with stock HC tablets, on others you might require an extra app. There's PAN & DUN tethering tho, I dunno if both are supported and what your current phone supports. I haven't tested the HDMI either but I can test it tonight if ya want, I got the necessary miniHDMI adapter at home.

As far as the internal storage, I've seen lots of Android phones that report internal storage the same way, so it doesn't necessarily mean anything... You can probably find pics of the internal layout to peep at somewhere tho.
Click to expand...

Bleutooth DUN, which is what most simple phones use, is not supported nativly. Bluetooth PAN, which is what smartphones use and a few high-end feature phones, is supported.

My phone only supports the old DUN srvice, which, from my research, was not included due to pressure from major carriers. I've spend hours searching the internet and the android market, but I've found nothing that will let me tether my phone using bluetooth (though for anyone who has a non-android smartphone, I learned there is a PDAnet for Android now so it can recieve data from WM/WP/Palm/BB/etc devices)

At the moment, I reactivated my Evo (only to find that for some reason it can NOT get mobile 3G data, I got the sprint reps scratching their heads too, have not tried 4G, will find out tomorrow since I'm taking it in to the service center) I've got mixed feelings on this since it's going to (1) give me my EVO back, and (2) give me faster internet, but on the other hand, it's going to cost me $20/month more on my cell bill, so.... looking at alternatives ---

I'm also exparimenting on my iPod Touch using iBlueVer (Bluetooth DUN to phone) along with MyWi (3G -> Wifi) in an effort to make a bridge. I've read this is possible but so far I only managed to crap up my touch doing it and am waiting for it to restore... (currently it only boots in "IT SAFE MODE" which dissables most of my add-ons, including ibluever)

Last option: I'm watching a Cradlepoing on eBay. the Cradlepoing plugs into the USB cord of the cellphone and initiates a DUN session (connects to cellular internet) then feeds it into a WiFi router to give access to the internet to other devices. These run anywhere from $19.99 for some of the older ones, all the way to $299.99 for the latest-and-greatest.


Sometime when I'm bored I'll look for the teardown. I'm in no rush since 32gb is the largest SDHC card possible (64gb is SDXC, and has compatability issues as of right now) It's more just curiosity at this point, since I do know that some android devices did this in the past and it would amuse me if ASUS had taken the same rout...

EDIT:
Thanks, I'd love to know which. I'm planning on getting a DAC (Digital-to-Analog Converter) for my old projector so I can patch this in to watch movies on it! Not to mention I'm sure any future TVs (and most monitors) I buy will have HDMI-In on them, so...
 
Sorry I didn't get back to you sooner, busy weekend. The HDMI output does straight up mirroring, lock screen and all. I tested Angry Birds and an HD trailer for Battlefield 3 and both played back on my HDTV very well. There was some overscan but it's probably due to my particular TV model, it's an older 720p Vizio.

I noticed the TF automatically adjusts it's own screen when you plug in an HDMI cable, probably to compensate for the aspect ratio change... The command/notification bar at the bottom becomes taller, said bar never shows up on the TV so you get full screen apps, convenient. I didn't find any way to adjust for the overscan. The Youtube and Gallery apps only play back on the TV, leaving the controls on the tablet. Games and whatnot were displayed on both tho.

Also, my miniHDMI adapter + Monoprice HDMI cable hung off the edge of the tablet more precariously than I'd like... I might try to find an L shaped mini to regular HDMI adapter or a standard mini to regular cable. I think the miniHDMI port on the tablet is upside down so it might be tricky to find the right L shaped adapter.
 
Btw, were you able to get Bluetooth tethering working on the EVO without using any other apps or were you using PDAnet or WiFi Thether? (the latter also does BT, or did in earlier versions) I briefly tried getting it working on my EVO 3D but even though both devices paired and I could transfer stuff over BT, the tethering service didn't seem to be recognized. I plan to root it soon so I figured I'd wait until then to figure it out.

I was able to tether my netbook over BT to my rooted EVO 4G in the past, and even my old Sony Ericson... Dunno what's going on between my 3D and the TF.
 
Thanks for testing that for me, I'll probably end up just using the TF in tablet-mode (undocked) so the HDMI can just lie on the table (since it's plenty far away from the charging port that it wont conflict with plugging both in at once)

I took my EVO in today, amazingly 4G works fine (and I learned that I can surf AND talk if I'm in a 4G area) but the 3G modem will NOT respond to anything the repair center, or Sprint's phone techs could do... So I gave the $35 charge and they're ordering me a replacement, should be here tomorrow, might be Wed... (They said this is acctually semi-common, but usually it's the 4G modem that stops responding, not the 3G, so... *shrug*) I did test WiFi Tether over 4G to my TF and it works fine.

I re-activated my dumbphone, so I tried using the iBlueVer + MyWi on iPod Touch, but MyWi does not apparently work (neither my TF nor my normal Vista Laptop could see it) after some searching I found MyWi is hit-and-miss on android, most tablets cant see it...

I even tried firing up my Vista laptop, tethering my phone, then making an ad-hoc network for the TF, but again it could not connect. (Research shows that there is very poor support for adhoc networking in Android --- why it will see the WiFi Tether network I cant guess, but I'm glad of that)

So what I've ended up with is ordering the Cradlepoint. It cost me $40 -$10 ebay discount, so I paid $30 for it and it should be here probably next week. Until then I'm going to keep my EVO active (once it's replaced) so I can use WiFi Tether. Once I get the Cradlepoint set up I'll be deactivating the EVO and going back to my $35/month plan instead of $55/month (though if I can get a decent paying job I may go ahead and burn that $20/month to keep my smartphone, I really hate my dumb flip-phone and it's just very invonveniant trying to pair it and my Touch to use apps...)

The EVO will only support Bluetooth DUN if you install PDAnet on the EVO and PDAnet Desktop on your Windows Laptop. Otherwise there is no way to BT DUN into the EVO or OUT of the EVO. There are some people working on it over on XDA, but so far all they have are a few raw scripts that have to be run (and thus, typed out each time) in Terminal, so for now the only good answer for me is the Cradlepoint of paying for the EVO to stay active...

Your successful Tether was likely using a Bluetooth PAN instead a Bluetooth DUN (PAN uses an already-established connection, DUN literally works like an old POTS modem and has the phone call a number (#777) and send/recieve data just like a 56k modem did back in the day. Because most phones (outside of smartphones and a *few* feature-phones) only support DUN, Android removed that feature from the BT stack to keep carriers happy and subsequently cut back on unauthorized tethering (though with all the "no more unlimited!" I'm not sure who's going to care much longer, after all the faster you burn up your 2gb of bandwidth the faster your carrier can charge you for 2 more! (I literally when I had a prepaid ATT plan was told I could tether all I wanted --- because when I used up my 2gb they would charge me another 2gb and it was profitable for them to allow tethering on limited plans)
 
Thing is, there ARE Android phones that support BT tethering with Honeycomb tablets, completely stock... HTC's phones may not (I'm not sure, their BT stack differs in a few ways) but others do. I've seen people reporting their Xoom and TF could tether over BT with other phones, for data use... That's what I wanted to try out, specially because for some it even works without root, but also because I imagine it's less of a toll on battery than Wifi tethering.
 
eh, it depends on the hardware and drivers. On my old eee 900a, if I used bluetooth the battery lasted about 2/3 as long as with WiFi, but this was an older device. Others I've noticed bluetooth does use less power (you can also turn down the power on the wifi card in some cases, since it's made to do upto something liek 2000ft on some specs and your only needing to go a few feet (I think I had mine cut down to 10% without a problem, but its been a while so it might have been higher, I know for a fact 80% works and I would certainly push it down to 50% if the device(s) were all within 10ft of eac other...)

what i dont like about bluetooth is the bandwidth. This may not be as much of an issue on newer device, but on older ones, the limit was, i believe, 400kbps, and most 3G connections are 600-3000 (theoretical) so there is a noticable smowdown in internet speed.

EDIT:
if its power consumption your concerned about, the best option (provided drivers are avalible) is to use USB tethering. less strain on the notebook/netbook and it charges the phone as it goes, so you dont run into low battery when you need to make a call or use the phone standalone.
 
I think 2.1 BT is closer to 1mb, could be mistaken (or I could be remembering theoretical bandwidth), either way it's still a bottleneck with 4G looming in the future... I just wanted to test it either way (vs Wifi), never got around to doing it with my old EVO, just gotta get it working on the new one. USB is obviously best, tho also the most cumbersome if you're on the move.
 
True.

If your wondering, I'll be switching back to my dumbphone tomorrow. I can at least tether it to my ipod touch. When they replaced my EVO they gave me the latest f***ing revision that can NOT be rooted. (And you know, if it was *just* tethering they were preventing, I could live with that, this is what happened with Windows Mobile 6.5, and I lived with that 1 restriction, but when 2/3 of the software is crap, and I cant remove or replace it, then I'm pissed) EVO will be going on eBay sometime in the next few days and when I'm eligible for an upgrade in March I'll find a different phone that's rootable, since HTC had to destroy the EVO for me...
 
Ok, I was working off old Info. Somone needs badly to go through and purge all the old threads on Android Forums, XDA, etc saying you cant root the latest EVO. (For anyone reading this, you have to use "rEVOlutionary" now --- unrEVOked will not work anymore --- then flash a new SU-enabled package (provided by rEVOlutionary) then your back to normal root'd use)
 
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