Develop Bugs

Reader?

What do you owners think about using the tab as a reader?
I'm thinking about investing in either the 8.4 or the 10.1 as the reader. Simply for things like news articles, blogs, and maybe even using the Amazon Kindle app to read books. How much stress would it put on the eyes?

It's not stress on the eyes I would worry about...it's the weight of the device. The screens are mostly the same on these devices but the extra weight of a full size tablet might making extended reading sessions difficult. I would suggest getting the 8.4. I just upgraded to one from an LG G Pad and use it mostly for reading Kindle, Feedly, and Play Magazines.

I'm pretty sure there was a setting I saw that said Reading mode or something to that effect.
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mattskr said:
It's not stress on the eyes I would worry about...it's the weight of the device.
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I second this. The NotePro 12.2 is amazing for reading, I really like the sharpness of the text. Been using the Newsweek app a lot, read some magazines, comics, etc. View angles are good and you can adjust brighness easily.
There is the "reading mode" indeed but so far I don't see any difference when I turn it on and off.. not all apps support it.
The weight is indeed the problem, don't expect to be holding it up for long, as you would with a very light e-reader or a paper magazine. It will have to rest on your lap (even that way it can tire wrists a bit) or a stand.

I've tried all of the current 8" tablets for extended periods of time for reading. I own (or owned) the mini, the mini retina, the LG G Pad, the Samsung Tab 3 8", the Samsung Note 8", thus Asus Memo HD 8" and currently have the Tab Pro 8.4 on order.
I also had other slightly smaller tablets like the 7.7" Toshiba AT270 and the Samsung 7.7"
They all work fine for reading. Weight with a thin 8" tablet is negligble. In fact if you compare any of these to the top end reader available, the Kobo Aura HD, they only weigh on average about 100 grams more. That is not a big weight delta.
The Samsung tablets (the tab 3 8") and the new Tab Pro all have a reading mode. I used the Tab 3 8" for about 6 months and left it on by default. Wasn't really sure how it helped (or if it did at all).
Two things are important for reading under various conditions, max brightness/dimness and DPI. Max brightness is important if you are reading outside (one of the main reasons I got rid of the LG G Pad), max dimness is handy if you are reading in bed in the dark and don't want to wake up the wife with an 8" flashlight...
DPI, the higher the better as it increases the sharpness of text. As a reference, the Kobo Aura HD is 1440x1080 (6.8") with a DPI of 259. The Tab Pro has a 359 DPI....

I think 10.1 is the best size now that they're so light. I had an iPad 3 (retina) and then went for the first mini. Loved it for reading books, but not so much for Zino magazines, various PDFs that I needed, even web pages. Oh, heck, the occasional comic too. Just too small. I went to the iPad Air to get the size back after it hit 1lb. Two weeks ago i decided I was sick of iPhones and their size (I have big hands) and got a Nexus 5. Loved it so much I just sold the air and got the Tab Pro 10.1. I think the sharpness of current screens nullifies some of the 'lcd' tired eyes syndrome, and I've preferred the ability to turn to night mode in books to something like a paperwhite when it gets dark out.

100% i won't go with the 12in.
Still cannot decide if i want the 10 or 8.

If you are reading primarily books (as I do), there is no real benefit to a 10" tablet. It has more surface area than a page in a hard cover book.
If as mentioned above you read comics or magazines, the bigger surface area is handy.
The benefit of an 8" tablet is that it is extremely portable. I can fit mine into a pocket inside my coat. Try doing that with a 10" tablet...

Love my 8.4 for reading.
Sent from Galaxy Tab Pro 8.4

RobilarOCN said:
I've tried all of the current 8" tablets for extended periods of time for reading. I own (or owned) the mini, the mini retina, the LG G Pad, the Samsung Tab 3 8", the Samsung Note 8", thus Asus Memo HD 8" and currently have the Tab Pro 8.4 on order.
I also had other slightly smaller tablets like the 7.7" Toshiba AT270 and the Samsung 7.7"
They all work fine for reading. Weight with a thin 8" tablet is negligble. In fact if you compare any of these to the top end reader available, the Kobo Aura HD, they only weigh on average about 100 grams more. That is not a big weight delta.
The Samsung tablets (the tab 3 8") and the new Tab Pro all have a reading mode. I used the Tab 3 8" for about 6 months and left it on by default. Wasn't really sure how it helped (or if it did at all).
Two things are important for reading under various conditions, max brightness/dimness and DPI. Max brightness is important if you are reading outside (one of the main reasons I got rid of the LG G Pad), max dimness is handy if you are reading in bed in the dark and don't want to wake up the wife with an 8" flashlight...
DPI, the higher the better as it increases the sharpness of text. As a reference, the Kobo Aura HD is 1440x1080 (6.8") with a DPI of 259. The Tab Pro has a 359 DPI....
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I like using a tablet for reading but I think you've made some unfair comparisons. First, the Aura HD is a "premium" ereader but if you look at the mainstream model, the Aura, you drop the weight from 240g to 174g. That puts the Tab Pro 8.4 at nearly double the weight (174g vs 331g). I use a 2012 Nexus 7 (340g, only slightly heavier than the Tab Pro 8.4)) and a Kindle Paperwhite (206g) for reading. The Nexus 7 is fine, but I will say that for long periods of use the lighter weight of the Paperwhite is much more comfortable. I often find myself leaning the Nexus 7 on something while I never have to do that with the Kindle. And comparing the DPI of an eInk screen vs an LCD doesn't give you a good benchmark of the text quality since they're using two vastly different rendering methods. For text alone I would take the eInk screen at the lower PPI over the LCD at the higher PPI.
That said, a tablet is much more versatile and can even be better for reading if you're not talking about eBooks but various web content as well.I would say the ideal tablet for reading depends a lot on what you plan on reading. If you read a lot of magazines, I might have to recommend something like the iPad Air as the size and aspect ratio make it great for magazines. If it's mostly web content a 10" Android tablet like the Tab Pro would be good since it most closely mimics a laptop display. If it's primarily eBooks the 7" tablets like the 2013 Nexus 7 are great for the lighter weight. Lastly, if you view more of a mix of the above, 8.4" is a great compromise.

Kinda disappointed in the Note 12.2

I've been using a Galaxy Tab 10.1 since June of 2011. It's a little long in the tooth in speed and version of Android. And, it has no SD card slot.
So, I went over to my Best Buy and bought a Note 12.2. There's a lot to love about the Note but there are some things I'm disappointed in.
Things I like...
- It's bigger. Nice to have a larger screen for some of the apps it's a godsend, for others it just more awkward white space.
- Battery life is better than the Tab 10.1 even though it has to drive more pixels.
- Micro-usb. The Tab had a 30 pin connector which was a pain in the butt.
- Camera is a lot better but who takes photos with a tablet? Only iPad nerds do that.
- Speed. It's very, very snappy compared to the Tab but with 8 cores, all of which are faster than the Tab's 2 cores, that's to be expected.
Things I don't like...
- The launcher. (not the Magazine UX part). It's no different than the Tab. In fact, there are no more icons on the screen, they're just larger. With all those pixels I was hoping to have icons at least as small as the Tab. And more of them on the screen. It looks like an interface built for the elderly. Kinda like those telephones with huge buttons. I know, I know, I can use another launcher but then I will lose the Magazine UX.
- Magazine UX. I was really looking forward to this. But, alas, it has so very few apps and widgets available that I find I never use it.
- The weight. It's only 4 ounces more than my Tab but it turns out that is a lot. I find my left thumb aching after a while while holding it. It's not really convenient.
- The Zagg case. I bought the Zagg case as I have a similar full keyboard case by Logitech for the Tab. It's nowhere near as nice as the Logitech case. It's hard to remove and feels very cheap and flimsy compared to the metal keyboard by Logitech. They key placement for special keys isn't very well designed either.
All in all I'd say I'm disappointed in the Note 12.2. I'm still within the 15 day return period for Best Buy and am on the fence about returning it. The problem is that the one I would replace it with is the Tab Pro 10.1 with 32 gig of memory. But, I can't find that anywhere. 16 gig yes, but 32 gig is no where to be found.
Help me out here. Are there features that are compelling that I haven't found? If so, push me into keeping this tablet.

You criticize Magazine UX + Launcher. Well, you´re completely right. But what does it matter ?
You criticize the weight. Yes, it´s "heavy". But hey, it´s the largest screen ever. Anything has its price.
And we should not forget: 750g are not too much. Just put your iPad Air in a regular leather case and you will be very close to 1000g.
The Zagg case .. well... that´s the case. But not the Tab...
Just get another launcher, another case ...
I would complain about other stuff:
- First the yellowish color at the cam-border.... Don´t know if this is just normal or I got a bad unit.
- The pixel density could be better . This is no "Retina" Display anymore since you can clearly see the dots.
- Performance issues ? WTH is this stuttering again and again ? Are 3GB + 8 cores still not enough ? iPad is running on 2 cores / 1GB RAM and is much smoother.
As you say the launcher is a disappointment, therefore I´ll try AWD, should solve it up.
Positive:
- Big, big display, wonderful for movies and especially comics
- No navigation bar at the bottom is great for apps not supporting immersive mode. (SmartQ-Reader!!!)
- Then pen is doing a good job.
Missing:
- Still not intensively tested her battery life and speakers.

Seems a though most of these things could have been seen on a review or playing with it in store before buying it.

You are both correct. I could have see much of this in advance. I really wanted the Tab Pro for $100 less. I have a Note 3 and, before that, a Note 2, and never take the stylus out. It's a non-starter. I believe that the Tab Pro will be out next month so I essentially paid $100 to get the larger Note Pro a month early.
I was running KitKat 4.4.2 on my original Tab 10.1 so immersion is nothing new. In fact, on the ROM I was running it was a toggle. I preferred it to be toggled off as it hid the status bar at the top.
I don't read comics and I watch movies on my 52" TV, not a 12" tablet so those things don't excite me. However, I do watch TV via Slingbox when my wife is watching something else on the large TV.
I'm using Apex as my launcher now, it's been my standard on my phones and tablets for years. I'm able to shrink the icons and fit more onto a screen. In effect I've turned the 12.2 Note Pro into just a larger version that runs smoother than my Tab 10.1. That's nice, don't get me wrong, but it's not a dramatic upgrade, just an incremental one.
I wish that it allowed all apps to be run in multi-window view. That's one thing the ROM on my Tab 10.1 made available. Yeah, some don't look right but then you learn which ones not to use in that mode.
I'm getting used to the Zagg case. I like the larger keyboard as I'm a touch typist. It also shuts off the screen when attached and turns on the screen when removed. Must be a magnet thing.
One thing I've found that I'm not fond of is the hard home button and back button in the center of the screen. I'm used to being able to put those anywhere on the bottom of the screen closer to one of my hands. Turns out that I miss that a lot from the Tab 10.1 maybe the most.
I have to say that the volume from the speakers is significantly better than the original Tab. Very loud and clear. I'm enjoying that quite a bit.
Battery life is very good. I can almost go two days.
It took a week or so for me to get used to the size of the Note 2 when I first got it. Once I got used to it, though, I'd never go back to a smaller screen. It appears that I'm getting accustomed to the 12.2 display also. I'm leaning more and more toward keeping it.

[Q] 8.4 or 10.1 for a reader ?

One of the big areas of usage for me for the tab s is going to be reading pdfs and epubs. Also magazines. Can users suggest which will be better for this ? 8.4 or 10.1

ashishvirmani said:
One of the big areas of usage for me for the tab s is going to be reading pdfs and epubs. Also magazines. Can users suggest which will be better for this ? 8.4 or 10.1
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I meant 10.5

ashishvirmani said:
One of the big areas of usage for me for the tab s is going to be reading pdfs and epubs. Also magazines. Can users suggest which will be better for this ? 8.4 or 10.1
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Tradeoffs. If you plan to read in portrait the 10.5 is clear winner as text is large enough and you can see the entire page at once. If lightness is the most important thing then the 8.4 but you will find yourself often reading in landscape because of text size. Typing in landscape will be easier on the 10.5 because the keyboard is larger. Typing in portrait on the 8.4 will be easier unless you have larger hands.
As pure eye candy reading magazines and such the 10.5 wins simply because you get more real estate.

I do a lot of reading on my Tab S 8.4, with the Kindle app, PDF's, and websites (both browser based and saved to Pocket). I really like the 8.4, feels like holding a superlight book without the hassle of turning pages. My previous tablets are both editions of the Nexus 7, so the 8.4 still seems really spacious to me, in addition to being lighter and easier to handle. I've always preferred reading in portrait mode, and that works best on a smaller tablet I can one-hand.

8.4 for reading imo. Much more convenient, compact and lighter to hold. Reading in portrait is a great experience. Text size can be adjusted to suit needs.
Sent from my SM-G900F using Tapatalk

garyhoggatt said:
I do a lot of reading on my Tab S 8.4, with the Kindle app, PDF's, and websites (both browser based and saved to Pocket). I really like the 8.4, feels like holding a superlight book without the hassle of turning pages. My previous tablets are both editions of the Nexus 7, so the 8.4 still seems really spacious to me, in addition to being lighter and easier to handle. I've always preferred reading in portrait mode, and that works best on a smaller tablet I can one-hand.
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simacca said:
8.4 for reading imo. Much more convenient, compact and lighter to hold. Reading in portrait is a great experience. Text size can be adjusted to suit needs.
Sent from my SM-G900F using Tapatalk
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this is the truth :good:

Went to the stores to check for myself as well... 8.4 is definitely the form factor to go with.. Light and could see entire page in portrait mode of a pdf.. Will be going for that :thumbup:
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[Q] Pro 8.4 vs S 8.4. Worth the price difference?

I'm looking to buy 8.4 inch tablet. From what I read, both are very good tablet. The difference of price here is about 70 AUD.
I don't really care about AMOLED vs LCD- both are fine.
I'll most probably run it on custom ROM. Tab Pro already has official CM support and established community. I'm not sure about Tab S, it's is too early to tell at this stage. I also notice Tab S is slightly thinner and lighter. Tab S runs on 3GB ram compared to 2GB of Tab Pro.
Probably you guys can give an opinion whether the price difference is worth it. Is there any other factor that makes one better than the other?

In regards to custom ROM support, I would think the Tab Pro 8.4 would get more support because of the Snapdragon 800 processor. In America that processor is very popular and used by different manufacturers, so developer support is strong. The S 8.4 has a Exynos processor, which I'm not sure of developer support.
This video compares the Pro 8.4 vs. S 8.4

In addition to the above answer, if you are not going to root and will need Knox for security, go for the Tab pro. If you will root the device, get the Tab S because it has 3gb memory and it will certainly help.
I prefer the screen of the Tab Pro S. It is brighter and I have not had any problem with the 2 units I have used. I have also bought the Tab S 8.4 and the 10.5. Their screen were pinkish when viewing webpages with white background. I can also see purple fringing on top of icons and letters, while I see green fringing at the bottom.
I suggest go to a local store and try them both, only you can really make the best decision for yourself.
Good luck

If you actually don't care about the screen I would 100% get the tab pro 8.4. The snapdragon 800 is a better SOC than the exynos in the tab s. Your tablet will be quicker and developer support will always be more active with the snapdragon compared to the exynos. I currently have the tab pro 8.4 and it's perfect in every way except for the screen. I got spoiled with my note 3 and now I'm not sure I can stand reading off the tab pro in bed at night.
tl;dr if you don't care about the difference in screens, save your money and get the better performing tab pro 8.4

superkevx said:
If you actually don't care about the screen I would 100% get the tab pro 8.4. The snapdragon 800 is a better SOC than the exynos in the tab s. Your tablet will be quicker and developer support will always be more active with the snapdragon compared to the exynos. I currently have the tab pro 8.4 and it's perfect in every way except for the screen. I got spoiled with my note 3 and now I'm not sure I can stand reading off the tab pro in bed at night.
tl;dr if you don't care about the difference in screens, save your money and get the better performing tab pro 8.4
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I use lux lite from google play to reduce the brightness at night.

Thanks for the heads up regarding the Qualcomm vs Exynos thing, guys!
I love to customize my gadget and an active development community means a lot to me
I was leaning to tab S and now reconsidering my decision on tab pro.
If you own both device, I'd like to know your opinion about how it feels at your hand. I cannot try Tab Pro 8.4 at my local store (samsung decide not to sell it here) so I can only get it from grey imports. Does the difference in weight & dimension a significant one?

Hey I'm in the same position, can't decide what Tablet to get, I have however tried both of them in the shop and can say the Faux Leather plastic of the TabPro is not nice however won't we all be having a case on it anyway? As for the size difference is noticeable however in daily use I doubt it'd really effect anybody.
The price difference is £100 so that also plays a part idk how much cheaper the TabPro is for you. I'm also looking at the Nvidia Shield Tablet - let me know what you think to that compared to the Samsung tablets

acasserole said:
Hey I'm in the same position, can't decide what Tablet to get, I have however tried both of them in the shop and can say the Faux Leather plastic of the TabPro is not nice however won't we all be having a case on it anyway? As for the size difference is noticeable however in daily use I doubt it'd really effect anybody.
The price difference is £100 so that also plays a part idk how much cheaper the TabPro is for you. I'm also looking at the Nvidia Shield Tablet - let me know what you think to that compared to the Samsung tablets
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Nvidia shield is a gaming tablet and Samsung's tabs are casual tablet. It depends on your use case; for me, I'd rather play games on my pc instead of tablet.
What do you think about the weight? does Tab S feel more comfortable? It is very light for an 8.4 inch tablet.

Prokeke said:
Nvidia shield is a gaming tablet and Samsung's tabs are casual tablet. It depends on your use case; for me, I'd rather play games on my pc instead of tablet.
What do you think about the weight? does Tab S feel more comfortable? It is very light for an 8.4 inch tablet.
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The Nvidia shield is close to stock android and has the best chipset out atm? and at a competetive price, the only thing is the weight of it...
And The tab was lighter though it's hard to tell when they have the security attachment things on the back. I tried bending it and it felt pretty solid considering how thin and light it was

acasserole said:
The Nvidia shield is close to stock android and has the best chipset out atm? and at a competetive price, the only thing is the weight of it...
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EDIT: I thought it runs on Tegra 4. It turns out to be Tegra K1 which is a better processor.
I'm not sure about the best chipset. Snapdragon 800 has better clockspeed and only one less core. Exynos 5 has 8 core but a little less clockspeed.
While it might be true that it is close to stock android, Nvidia is famous to keep the source of their SoC, making it harder for devs to develop things. I own LG optimus 2x with nvidia tegra 2 chipset and familiar with frustated devs blaming nVidia for it. Also, You can see that there is little to no development going on Shield's forum.
Qualcomm on the other hand is more developer friendly.

Another difference to note is the finger print scanner on the Tab S

I tested the Pro 8.4 and S 8.4 at a store. The S is noticeably lighter and thinner, but it doesn't matter to me since I always uses cases that add some bulk. I really don't like the Pro's extra height, which makes it a little awkward to hold in portrait mode. Its also harder to find sleeve cases that fit the height, without resorting to a sleeve made for a 10" tablet. The Pro is modeled after the Galaxy Note 3, while the S is modeled after the Galaxy S5. The Pro/Note 3's faux leather back is just matte plastic. The S/S5's back has a rubber-like coating thats soft and grippy. Getting the Pro 8.4 was an easy decision, especially due to the lower price. I can't see the difference between LCD and AMOLED screens.

xdm9mm said:
I use lux lite from google play to reduce the brightness at night.
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Click to collapse
Yeah I have tried that. Looks like you have a note 3 also. Try reading something in the dark with the note 3 and black background with grey text. Like google play books with night mode turned on or any app with an amoled option. Then try the same with the gtab pro in the dark and you'll notice a huge difference!

I prefer the pro 8.4 against the s 8.4. Its cheaper by a lot and has a more widely used SoC hence more awesome ROMs to choose from.

superkevx said:
Yeah I have tried that. Looks like you have a note 3 also. Try reading something in the dark with the note 3 and black background with grey text. Like google play books with night mode turned on or any app with an amoled option. Then try the same with the gtab pro in the dark and you'll notice a huge difference!
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Yes I know what you mean. It (ASAmoled screen) is nicer when reading at night, but I can't stand looking at it during the day time. I have already returned the Note 3. I only have S4 and Tab pro 8.4 now.

Which Size To Get?

Obviously, price matters, and size matters.
Which one to get?

Depends on what you use your tablet for. I like the 10 inch size for movies and Internet, but the 8.4 size is better for use if you do a lot of reading on it. I've had the 10.1 for the last 8 months and loved it. I just got the 8.4 at the $200 price and am loving it, too - I will sell which ever one wins out. Haven't decided yet

Got the 10.1 myself, very happy with the tablet! Just the lack of custom rom support is the negative atm. Looks like that goes for the whole Tab Pro range though...

Really depends on your personal preference, how you will use the device, etc.
Increased screen space will make for more pleasurable web browsing, watching video, etc. However, the larger screen comes at the obvious price of increased device size and weight. A larger device is going to harder to hold with one hand, hold will lying in bed, etc. Although not unmanageable, by any means.
If you travel a lot, or carry the tablet out of the home often; a larger device means more to lug around. A smaller one is easier to shove into your carry-on bag. Again, its all very manageable even with a larger device. But there is a difference. And if the tablet never leaves your house, many of these things won't matter that much.
What I've liked about the smaller devices, is that I can shove them in a coat pocket. Or even into a pants pocket (pants with bigger pockets, obviously) if I move from room to room in my house, and have my hands full.
I've always gravitated towards the smaller tablets. I started in the tablet world with the 7" HTC Flyer. Then went to the Note 8, and not the Tab Pro 8.4. While the size is creeping upwards, these form factors still have the "small tablet" benefits I've mentioned. On the other hand, I have to admit I've enjoyed the slight increases in screen size. So I see the case for the larger form factors as well.
Its a tough decision, I'll admit. But a the same time, I think no matter what size you get, you'll probably be happy in the long run. Enjoy the "pros" and manage the "cons" of whatever size you get.

Dankees said:
Obviously, price matters, and size matters.
Which one to get?
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I have a 10.1" Note, my wife the 8.4 tab pro. Both are quite nice. Her hands are smaller than mine, and she can not palm the 10". 12.2" is too big for me.