Tablets...and other such strange things...

[Fozzer]

I have just purchased one of those new-fangled? Tablet thingies!

A Year 2013, 32 GB, Google Nexus 7, 1.5 GHz 4-core, 2GB System Ram...£240!
...'cos everyone keeps telling me that if I want to be "hip", and be the Dog's doo-dahs, I really must have one!

..well..I've been fiddling with this gadget for the past 2 days, expecting it to work similar to my Desktop Tower Computer, but in a much smaller package, and I'm slowly finding out that it doesn't work that way at all, for all sorts of reasons!
After working with various Personal Computers for the past 33 years, trying to master one of these Tablet thingies is like going back to Computer School all over again!

It certainly doesn't take the place of a proper Windows computer, and I just end up with grubby finger-marks over its glass screen before its bloody battery dies on me!... ...!

I've just downloaded, and printed, its Instruction Manual...72, A4 Pages!... ....That's an awful lot of reading...sleepless nights, and headaches... ....!

Paul...poking and prodding...and trying to get "things" to work... ....Why, oh why, did I do this, I ask myself?..... ...!

...more details later...perhaps.... ...!

[ViperPilot]

Paul,

Don't expect the Nexus to be a 'replacement' for a PC. It's a nice interface for checking e-mail, or using Google in the sitting room; a desktop or laptop it ain't.

For FS, it makes a nice Electronic flight bag. Find some Aviation apps that let you view Sectionals (PilotWxChartJr. is a good one), find some Approach Plates in .pdf form,
and have fun! I use mine to stream LiveATC (free app), or stream a radio station (TuneInRadio Pro) when I'm using the Sim. That frees up resources on your PC to do
other things.

Give it a chance, Fozz... you'll be surprised! And... deep six the Owner's Manual; you know how to turn it off and on, and where to charge it, right? That's all that matters!

Oh, and get some Screen Protectors!

[Fozzer]

Dwayne Alan... .....

After 2 days of trying to get it to display "Web pages" on its main display screen, I've finally figured out that I needed to install a; "browser"!... "Firefox for Android", (like Firefox is on my Tower computer, to display Web pages!).

And trying to retrieve my usual, computer "Freeserve" e-mail on it, is proving impossible so far!

It works fine on my desktop computer ("Freeserve" E-mail), but not on this Tablet...(only "G-mail", which I don't use)!

...and as for U-tube?.. .....I'm still struggling with that...no "U-Tube search" window, and no "full screen display" option!

...Percy Vereance is not my middle name!... ...!

Paul...at my trusty Tower Computer!.... ...!

[OldAirmail]

I had the same problems when I got my Samsung Galaxy Tab. I was very tempted to return it.

Just keep working with it and, eventually, you'll get comfortable with it.

As ViperPilot said they're not the same thing as computers. Well.... They are computers, just not the same.

I actually use mine far more than I thought I would at first.



Now the next question. When you bought the tablet, did you buy any chalk?


Good thing he can't hit me.

[Fozzer]

I had the same problems when I got my Samsung Galaxy Tab. I was very tempted to return it.

Just keep working with it and, eventually, you'll get comfortable with it.
As ViperPilot said they're not the same thing as computers. Well.... They are computers, just not the same.
I actually use mine far more than I thought I would at first.

Now the next question. When you bought the tablet, did you buy any chalk?

Good thing he can't hit me.

Apparently, I was very lucky... ...

I managed to get that last remaining one, off a bloke called Moses!.... ...!

He had two, and the last one was on special offer... ...!

...he never said anything about "Chalk" though, so maybe that's the problem?.... ...!

I'll tell you what...It's bloody heavy. No way could I get it into my back pocket!.... ...!

Maybe I got the wrong thing?..... ....

Paul.... ... ... ...!

[G.K.]

I felt the same way when I bought the tablet, they really are an overrated product. Excluding phone calls and texts I have a smart phone, nexus 7 and a PC all doing duplicate jobs although the tablet and phone doesn't do them half as well. I suppose the advantage of tablets and phones is one of mobility. If you want to stay "connected" (and not everyone does) taking tablets on holiday is quite useful.

The one thing I do like the tablet for is watching BBC IPlayer and 4od in bed with the ear phones in. Currently watching Hill Street Blues before ZZZZZZZZ, still very watchable.

.....overall and in retrospect: I don't Need one, whether I actually want one is still very marginal.

[Fozzer]

My Sister has always been terrified of Desktop Computers. in case she does something wrong, or it fails for some reason, and she has to pay someone to fix it for her... ....
...so this year she was encouraged to buy a Google Nexus 7 Tablet...(£199)... which she loves to bits!
She uses it for obtaining information on all sorts of "things", via Wikipedia, etc, saving visits to the local Library; and she loves watching U-Tube...and "G-Mail" is handy for her to e-mail me, to my Desktop Computer!

So for her, the Tablet is Perfect.... ...

...for me, the "Desktop PC" takes pride of place for everything I need to do!

Horses for courses!

Paul... ...!

..still desperately trying to find out how to "Delete" unwanted stuff on my Tablet!....(Oh, for a click-able+scroll-able Tablet Mouse!)... ...!.... ....!

...and a proper QUERTY Keyboard..... ...!

[Zaphod]

Hey Fozz..
I'm trying to think of an old saying....
Something to do with elderly canines and tricks??

Zaph...

[Fozzer]

Hey Fozz..
I'm trying to think of an old saying....
Something to do with elderly canines and tricks??

Zaph...

... ... ... ...!

...tell me about it, Zaph... ...!

I've just been browsing this thread on the Tablet, and I'll tell you what..there is no way I would be able to type a reply on it.... ...!

I had to go back to my trusty PC to type a reply!

I poke that glass screen on the tablet 'till I'm blue in the face, and mostly nuthin' happens....!

...or I accidentally switch the bloody thing off...and have to start all over again...

There is no substitute for a proper PC and proper QWERTY keyboard...and a MOUSE....trust me!... ...!

...Tablets.... .....and I've just broken the bloody chalk in half, in frustration!

Paul.... ... ...!

....and I'll tell you something else I miss on the Tablet....the little "scrolly wheel", or the "progress bar" to let me know that something is "Happening"......or not....mostly...NOT...!!

[ViperPilot]

Fozz,

You're experiencing the first time Droid user's quandary... how am I supposed to do stuff on this thing?

Give it some time... the tablet has to get used to you, and vice versa.

After a time, you'll be using it all the time in front of the telly, and think about how portable it is!

DEFINITELY use the tablet for FS... you can find some neat-o apps that work well when using FlightSim, and will enhance your sim experience. Download the LiveATC.net app, and listen to ATC comms. Get TuneIn Radio Pro, and you can stream radio stations all over the world. Another app to get is Dropbox (you can put it on your PC's, too), and you end up with 5Gb of free cloud storage, and an easy way to transfer files between PC's and the tablet. If you have Approach Plates saved as .pdf files, you can bring them up on the tablet. Use PilotWxChartJr, and you can pull up Sectionals, Airport Info, Runway headings, and a whole bunch of other stuff.

The easiest thing I can suggest, Fozz? Go to your local bookstore, and find one of those magazine looking "Guides to Android" in the Newsstand section... it's the easiest and most painless way to learning your way around the Droid GUI.

Barring that... if you have a question pose it, and I'll try to answer the best I can.

Keep on Truckin', pard... you'll get it!