Today you can buy Nvidia Shield K1 8inch tablet for around 200USD. It's a almost two year old model, but it came out originally with kickass specs and cost 400USD. In 2016, it's a good value.
For something more high end, consider the 2016 Galaxy Tab S3 which is going to be announced any week now.
The update problem was actually fixed. You just need to buy a Google Nexus device. They get the fastest and the most frequent updates. The way I see it, for the people who care about guaranteed fast security updates, there is only one choice, Apple or Google Nexus. On top of that, the Nexus devices often give a very good on the money spent.
Well, google had this formal (or perhaps informal) agreement with the hardware companies and a promise to the consumers that all Android devices get two years of updates. I am not complaining that you get no update (supposedly it's coming). What I am saying Samsung takes almost like a year to give an update, which is ridiculous. I remember they did the same when rolling out Android 5.0.x (it took almost a year), and then they completely skipped the 5.1 and went for 6.0, which is now almost like a year old.
Most of those serial updates get new smartphone every year, because people will buy anything if you give them a credit and an installment plan. That's how it works.
It's been 9 months since the general availability of Android marshmallow, and yet the Galaxy Tab S still haven't received this update. I understand that most manufacturers these days treat tablets and tablet users as an unwanted bastard child, but the Tab S was basically Samsung's flagship tablet until almost one year ago.
That's a good find, but I gotta tell you that the 5 dollar service certainly does not get the stuff I watch. (Why does the Slashdot crowd think again and again that ESPN is "all sports"?). Formula 1 racing, for example, is only on NBC or Univision Deportes, as were the previous Olympic games. I also want CNN, Fox, AMC, FX, Fox sports, Travel channel, etc. Seems like the $25 a month package gets that, which seems like a decent value, although you still need an internet connection. People getting their internet from cable get a fair discount. I pay like 40USD to cable company for 40Mbps broadband.
That's entirely fine, except I have no idea what could talk to you at a dinner table, but if that's the case don't tell the 80% of the Americans who do watch the live sports to cut the cable, because it's just pointless.
So you are saying that you have zero interest in any sports or news? I think that's fine, but if that's the case, please don't tell the other 80% of the Americans who do watch live sports to cut the cable.
Personally, I only watch NBA, Formula 1 and IndyCar regularly. These are not available live pay per view on the internet. I also watch the major international soccer competitions, as well as big events like Olympics, and so on. Most of that is not streaming on the internet.
If you don't care about sports, then that's fine. But please don't tell the other 80% of the Americans who do watch sports and live news to get rid of cable.
I personally a big fan of politics and political news, including on international level, and having a variety of sources such as CNN, BBC, RT, and Al Jazeera can be an asset, as you can often immediately see the spread in the tone and options. Besides, what do I watch on the big 60 inch screen as I do the dishes or cook something in the kitchen? Don't tell me netflix or some kind of crappy internet streaming "news".
I am sorry, but what you mean by a "sports nut" is something like 80% of the USA population. I guess you don't take interest in any sports at all.
Next onto the news, I am a big politics buff, and I like to receive news from as many sources as possible. Only then I can start seeing the big picture on the international news front. On the surface, CNN, Fox, MSNBC, BBC, RT, and Al Jazeira and many others are entirely subservient to the elites that control them. On the other hand, after skimming through a few of them you get a nice picture of the events that the internet won't always deliver. Moreover, what sort of news can internet show me as I am cooking something in the kitchen? Don't understand the importance of regular TV news.
Which part is not true? All I am saying is that there exist micro/pico/mini distributions of opengapps which allow you to install as big gapps collection as you like. There is one of them that allows the play store and that's pretty much it, which should really be the only option.
My comment makes entirely sense. I think you didn't read it carefully, that's why you're saying exactly what I said. I was replying to a statement that says that "google crap" is supposedly good. Not. Check out how many Google apps are pre-installed by default on a typical google Nexus smartphone. Dozens. I mean, literally many dozens. And many of them do cause problems because some apps, even when you never use them, still have services running in the background which wake up your phone and make it drain its battery faster at idle. This was a very serious problem under Android 5 "Lollipop". I did a study to find out why my damn tablet used 25% of battery charge in 24 hours while sleeping, and the top culprits were gmail and hangouts. Ok, I get the gmail thing because I configured it myself, but Hangouts? I don't even use the damn thing.
Anyways, there is a HUGE benefit to simply be able to install just the play store and then add the apps as you need them.
The Netflix streaming service is just like any other premium cable TV channel, except that if you have HBO/Cinemax/AMC/etc you can watch those either over cable or stream it on your laptop or smart TV or tablet, while Netflix is available only as a steaming service. On top of that, you can't get news or live sports from Netflix.
I agree. Perhaps Google should try should offer "universal" Android distribution that supports the relevant drivers for all modern hardware to the OEMs, and then see what happens. At least, give an option to the Nexus device users to run it. I suspect there are several "pure hardware makers", like the Chinese company Oneplus, who'd love to get out of the business of creating and maintaining the ROMs, so the idea will take off at least with them.
I can't believe the establishment couldn't find anyone besides Jeb Bush. It just shocking that they thought somebody with this toxic name was still electable.
Romney was not a clown. A moderate conservative politician whose Massachusetts "Romneycare" was used as a blueprint by Obama. The problem with the Romney's campaign in 2012 is that it was derailed by the radical wing of the Republican party, which threatened to mow down every candidate who dared not to oppose Obamacare and everything else the incumbent president stood for.
The BIG difference between the Google apps package for alternative ROMs like CyanogenMod and the Google apps installed on Nexus phones by default, is that under ROMs like CyanogenMod, you can install a very _limited_ google apps selection. For example, you can have basically just the google play store, and that's it. No Hangouts, Gmail, Google app, Chrome, Drive, etc, etc.
Cyanogen Inc and its CyanogenMod project is basically the RedHat and Fedora of the Android ROM world. While losing CyanogenMod, in the worst case scenario, is going to be a loss and an annoyance in the short term, other ROM projects will take their place.
Speaking of alternatives, wasn't OmniROM supposed to be an alternative to CyanogenMod? I have had a good experience with older OmniROM ROMs, but their list of supported hardware is very short. Hope it gets better with time.
Slashdot Mirror
Today you can buy Nvidia Shield K1 8inch tablet for around 200USD. It's a almost two year old model, but it came out originally with kickass specs and cost 400USD. In 2016, it's a good value.
For something more high end, consider the 2016 Galaxy Tab S3 which is going to be announced any week now.
The update problem was actually fixed. You just need to buy a Google Nexus device. They get the fastest and the most frequent updates. The way I see it, for the people who care about guaranteed fast security updates, there is only one choice, Apple or Google Nexus. On top of that, the Nexus devices often give a very good on the money spent.
More and more streaming and financial applications do not work on alternative ROMs. Confirmed with Uverse.app and Cyanogenmod.
I saw this coming.
Well, google had this formal (or perhaps informal) agreement with the hardware companies and a promise to the consumers that all Android devices get two years of updates. I am not complaining that you get no update (supposedly it's coming). What I am saying Samsung takes almost like a year to give an update, which is ridiculous. I remember they did the same when rolling out Android 5.0.x (it took almost a year), and then they completely skipped the 5.1 and went for 6.0, which is now almost like a year old.
Most of those serial updates get new smartphone every year, because people will buy anything if you give them a credit and an installment plan. That's how it works.
The flagship Samsung smartphones cost pretty much the same if not more.
It's been 9 months since the general availability of Android marshmallow, and yet the Galaxy Tab S still haven't received this update. I understand that most manufacturers these days treat tablets and tablet users as an unwanted bastard child, but the Tab S was basically Samsung's flagship tablet until almost one year ago.
Backup your files. Go back to Windows 7, then restore.
That's a good find, but I gotta tell you that the 5 dollar service certainly does not get the stuff I watch. (Why does the Slashdot crowd think again and again that ESPN is "all sports"?). Formula 1 racing, for example, is only on NBC or Univision Deportes, as were the previous Olympic games. I also want CNN, Fox, AMC, FX, Fox sports, Travel channel, etc. Seems like the $25 a month package gets that, which seems like a decent value, although you still need an internet connection. People getting their internet from cable get a fair discount. I pay like 40USD to cable company for 40Mbps broadband.
That's entirely fine, except I have no idea what could talk to you at a dinner table, but if that's the case don't tell the 80% of the Americans who do watch the live sports to cut the cable, because it's just pointless.
So you are saying that you have zero interest in any sports or news? I think that's fine, but if that's the case, please don't tell the other 80% of the Americans who do watch live sports to cut the cable.
Personally, I only watch NBA, Formula 1 and IndyCar regularly. These are not available live pay per view on the internet. I also watch the major international soccer competitions, as well as big events like Olympics, and so on. Most of that is not streaming on the internet.
If you don't care about sports, then that's fine. But please don't tell the other 80% of the Americans who do watch sports and live news to get rid of cable.
I personally a big fan of politics and political news, including on international level, and having a variety of sources such as CNN, BBC, RT, and Al Jazeera can be an asset, as you can often immediately see the spread in the tone and options. Besides, what do I watch on the big 60 inch screen as I do the dishes or cook something in the kitchen? Don't tell me netflix or some kind of crappy internet streaming "news".
Sorry, I mean "don't underestimate"
I am sorry, but what you mean by a "sports nut" is something like 80% of the USA population. I guess you don't take interest in any sports at all.
Next onto the news, I am a big politics buff, and I like to receive news from as many sources as possible. Only then I can start seeing the big picture on the international news front. On the surface, CNN, Fox, MSNBC, BBC, RT, and Al Jazeira and many others are entirely subservient to the elites that control them. On the other hand, after skimming through a few of them you get a nice picture of the events that the internet won't always deliver. Moreover, what sort of news can internet show me as I am cooking something in the kitchen? Don't understand the importance of regular TV news.
Which part is not true? All I am saying is that there exist micro/pico/mini distributions of opengapps which allow you to install as big gapps collection as you like. There is one of them that allows the play store and that's pretty much it, which should really be the only option.
My comment makes entirely sense. I think you didn't read it carefully, that's why you're saying exactly what I said. I was replying to a statement that says that "google crap" is supposedly good. Not. Check out how many Google apps are pre-installed by default on a typical google Nexus smartphone. Dozens. I mean, literally many dozens. And many of them do cause problems because some apps, even when you never use them, still have services running in the background which wake up your phone and make it drain its battery faster at idle. This was a very serious problem under Android 5 "Lollipop". I did a study to find out why my damn tablet used 25% of battery charge in 24 hours while sleeping, and the top culprits were gmail and hangouts. Ok, I get the gmail thing because I configured it myself, but Hangouts? I don't even use the damn thing.
Anyways, there is a HUGE benefit to simply be able to install just the play store and then add the apps as you need them.
The Netflix streaming service is just like any other premium cable TV channel, except that if you have HBO/Cinemax/AMC/etc you can watch those either over cable or stream it on your laptop or smart TV or tablet, while Netflix is available only as a steaming service. On top of that, you can't get news or live sports from Netflix.
You can stream any movies you want, art house or not, directly from amazon pay per view.
Wow. That's 19 degrees higher than the "Texas normal" 110F in August.
I agree. Perhaps Google should try should offer "universal" Android distribution that supports the relevant drivers for all modern hardware to the OEMs, and then see what happens. At least, give an option to the Nexus device users to run it. I suspect there are several "pure hardware makers", like the Chinese company Oneplus, who'd love to get out of the business of creating and maintaining the ROMs, so the idea will take off at least with them.
It's indeed a fine question.
I can't believe the establishment couldn't find anyone besides Jeb Bush. It just shocking that they thought somebody with this toxic name was still electable.
Romney was not a clown. A moderate conservative politician whose Massachusetts "Romneycare" was used as a blueprint by Obama. The problem with the Romney's campaign in 2012 is that it was derailed by the radical wing of the Republican party, which threatened to mow down every candidate who dared not to oppose Obamacare and everything else the incumbent president stood for.
The BIG difference between the Google apps package for alternative ROMs like CyanogenMod and the Google apps installed on Nexus phones by default, is that under ROMs like CyanogenMod, you can install a very _limited_ google apps selection. For example, you can have basically just the google play store, and that's it. No Hangouts, Gmail, Google app, Chrome, Drive, etc, etc.
Cyanogen Inc and its CyanogenMod project is basically the RedHat and Fedora of the Android ROM world. While losing CyanogenMod, in the worst case scenario, is going to be a loss and an annoyance in the short term, other ROM projects will take their place.
Speaking of alternatives, wasn't OmniROM supposed to be an alternative to CyanogenMod? I have had a good experience with older OmniROM ROMs, but their list of supported hardware is very short. Hope it gets better with time.