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[Q] To N1, or Not To N1: Help w/Multitouch

I've been obsessing over the N1 since launch. Android is super neat, and unlocked phones rock. The only thing that really held me back from the purchase was the multitouch issue. I could easily see having to reset my screen with a lock cycle would drive me crazy. That said, I love the idea of the N1, and wish to escape my iPhone prison.
I recently purchased a Galaxy S phone, but am annoyed by the lack of support (saw this coming) and non-functioning locational services. The GPS and Compass are totally and utterly busted. Sadly, Google stopped selling the N1 on the day I decided to order one. However, I have been given a second chance, by purchasing the dev phone (which I am now considering).
So, let's make this like ripping off a bandage. Have mercy, internet. I have questions that require honest answers. I'm sorry if you've heard it all before, but this kind of information is annoyingly hard to dig up. Lightning Round, Go!:
Is the multitouch problem with the N1 (inverse axis swapping when two points cross) still present with 2.2?
Do any custom ROMs, apps or tweaks solve this issue? I read that the Moto Droid had a software setting ticked that allows proper multitouch (a sort of software hack), that google had not opted to enable by default? Sounds a bit silly to me, but what's the deal?
Does your screen still lose track of your fingers (inputing the wrong characters on the keyboard), causing you to lock cycle your screen to reset the digitizer?
Are the touch-buttons difficult to use?
A fellow N1 owner I met told me that his phone showed no signs of the multitouch 'bug', when using 'Multitouch Vis Test'. He said he was running the Modaco ROM. Is it true that something in this ROM fixes the multitouch problem?
Thank you, Princes of Internet.

Personally i dont experience any multitouch issues on my n1. Im running stock froyo 2.2. I have only had to re-lock my screen once and it never happened again. The capicative buttons below the screen take a bit of time to get used to at first it might take you a couple of tries to register a click but a few hours of use you get the hang of it.
Sent from my Nexus One using XDA App

Thanks for the reply.
Would you mind taking the 'Multitouch Vis Test' app for a spin, to see if the problem is gone, or if you just don't notice it?
If the issue is gone, would you mind making a youtube vid of it?

The multitouch on the n1 will not be "fixed" unless google/htc decided to use different hardware. If you can live with a device that can only do pinch to zoom, but not true multitouch, then the n1 is fine.
Honestly at this point, I'd hold off until you see the rest of HTC's lineup that's coming up before december.

Jon C said:
Is the multitouch problem with the N1 (inverse axis swapping when two points cross) still present with 2.2?
Do any custom ROMs, apps or tweaks solve this issue? I read that the Moto Droid had a software setting ticked that allows proper multitouch (a sort of software hack), that google had not opted to enable by default? Sounds a bit silly to me, but what's the deal?
Does your screen still lose track of your fingers (inputing the wrong characters on the keyboard), causing you to lock cycle your screen to reset the digitizer?
Are the touch-buttons difficult to use?
A fellow N1 owner I met told me that his phone showed no signs of the multitouch 'bug', when using 'Multitouch Vis Test'. He said he was running the Modaco ROM. Is it true that something in this ROM fixes the multitouch problem?
Thank you, Princes of Internet.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
1) It was possibly noticable in 2.1, in 2.2 in months now I havn't see it once. You can see with the visualiser you really have to know how to force it to get it to go, its just not something which will occur with correct commands you'll be doing.
2) Its down to the hardware, I'm not aware of any custom ROMs which have anything/anything significant.
3) The only time I EVER get this is with beta super bundles of ROMs, which is either the fault of the ROM, something going skitz in dalvic, how I installed it, or just a self generating bug. All of which are easily fixable. However if you were to stay with stock or more tested ROMs, you'd literally never see this.
4) For me they just work, at the start yes they wouldnt act the same a touch screen, but now they'll act like I want maybe 99% of the time. Sure friends using it to start with have to get used to it, but its not 'broken' if you will. The only thing I will mention is if your using it in weird orientations, there is a chance of hitting the buttons [mainly search] without meaning to with parts of your hand.
5) Again, this problem ONLY shows up if you know how to 'break' it. With 2.2+ its really hard to do it if you handed the phone to someone who's never used it before, because also again you wont be doing any commands which would conflict with the limitations, so you have to be misusing it in the first place to get the bug.

JCopernicus said:
Honestly at this point, I'd hold off until you see the rest of HTC's lineup that's coming up before december.
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Click to collapse
Agree with this.

Multitouch is completely crap on the n1. I loved it otherwise, yes every now and again it goes wack and registers the wrong thing... the capacitive buttons also suck and are hard to get used to... on Multitouch test its wacky and registers the wrong finger and won't register more than 2...
Great device, but galaxy is better.. I don't have any gps issues so can't complain about that.
No. No roms will fix the Multitouch issue. Nor make it any better.. if your into gaming with controls on the same axis forget about it, if ya want Multitouch keyboard forget about it...

I still have yet to ever experience the actual axis switch issue using this phone in real world. Sure the issue exists, but it just doesn't effect a single thing unless you use a certain game. But even that works fine, watch YouTube videos showing emulators on the nexus.
The point is, if you're looking for a reason to not get the nexus, The axis switch issue is not the reason that should sway your decision.

I recently came from an iPhone and I haven't noticed any difference in the multi-touch screen (except maybe in the typing on occasion, which I just attributed to my big fingers). I'd say for a good 95%+ of what you would do on the phone you can't tell any difference between the iPhone or N1 multitouch.
With the touch buttons on the bottom of the screen... Sometimes I hit one while typing, which takes me back to the home screen, but since the N1 has true multitasking all I have to do is reopen the app. A minor inconvenience. Or I could just type in landscape mode and not have any trouble at all.

RogerPodacter said:
I still have yet to ever experience the actual axis switch issue using this phone in real world. Sure the issue exists, but it just doesn't effect a single thing unless you use a certain game. But even that works fine, watch YouTube videos showing emulators on the nexus.
The point is, if you're looking for a reason to not get the nexus, The axis switch issue is not the reason that should sway your decision.
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Click to collapse
Games like toonWarz or nova will mess up. Has the controls on bottom right and shooting on bottom right. So when your running using the left controls and shoot real quick with the right, it'll now wig out and keep shooting even when you let go and the dude will walk a different way be cause now the sensor thinks your touching in a different spot..
Now you can let go of the left finger then shoot but when ya need precision in some shooting games you will be dead if you do that....
Pinch to zoom is fine and emulators with controls on the top and bottom vs just the bottom ( same axis), but for games like nova, heavy gunner, modern combat, ps1 emulator (unless it has opposite axis controls) which mine don't, took Warz, etc. It will not work properly ....

smashpunks said:
Games like toonWarz or nova will mess up. Has the controls on bottom right and shooting on bottom right. So when your running using the left controls and shoot real quick with the right, it'll now wig out and keep shooting even when you let go and the dude will walk a different way be cause now the sensor thinks your touching in a different spot..
Now you can let go of the left finger then shoot but when ya need precision in some shooting games you will be dead if you do that....
Pinch to zoom is fine and emulators with controls on the top and bottom vs just the bottom ( same axis), but for games like nova, heavy gunner, modern combat, ps1 emulator (unless it has opposite axis controls) which mine don't, took Warz, etc. It will not work properly ....
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
this is a good explanation of what is effected. if you're a big gamer then consider it, but things like pinch to zoom in the browser, maps, pics, works just as great as ever.

Thanks for the feedback, guys.
Coming from the Galaxy S, I imagine I will miss a few things. One of them being: media playback and overall storage.
I guess with the N1, I'd need to find a non-bootlegged 32GB microSD card. But my other question would be: is there an easy way to play all of the content that the Galaxy S can handle, or is the GPU in the Samsung phone so much better that the N1 can't keep up?
I really like that about the SGS: I just drop movies (mp4, xvid, divx and so forth) onto the internal ROM and they play without issue. Media capabilities are very nice.
Does the N1 play lots of videos like this out of the box? If not, is there a decent media application?
Also, about HTC's other devices: I'd love to wait, but I'm worried that the newer phones won't have nice accessories. The N1 has that awesome car dock, that I would use all of the time. The SGS doesn't have any accessories like that, and it makes me sad. Most of HTC's N1 follow-up lacked similar docks and cradles.
If I return this SGS (likely), I will probably be jumping to the N1, just for that 'official' feel of it (very sturdy, solid first-party accessories).
You have no idea how sad I was, when Google announced they were giving up on creating their own phones. Hate them all you want: but Apple really has that system (solid build, quality integration / lack of fragmentation) nailed. I was really hoping that Google could bring that unification to Android with their own branded devices.
Loving Android, though. Never going back to iOS.

Anyone saying the n1 doesn't suffer from multitouch issues is sadly mistaken. The one thing that bugs me about the n1 is the touch screen issue. You won't be able to play games like nova, or certain games on emulators (when using dpad plus buttons that are at the same level it has issues) and it does have issues when crossing the axises.

mjm128 said:
Anyone saying the n1 doesn't suffer from multitouch issues is sadly mistaken. The one thing that bugs me about the n1 is the touch screen issue. You won't be able to play games like nova, or certain games on emulators (when using dpad plus buttons that are at the same level it has issues) and it does have issues when crossing the axises.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
everyone said the issue exists it just doesnt show up unless you...play....games. otherwise its a non issue.

The N1's touchscreen is totaly crap. There is a thread about touchscreen issues at oficial forum. It has more than 2000 posts explaning all problems of nexus one touchscreen. Check it out.
Sent from my Nexus One using XDA App

Jon C said:
Thanks for the feedback, guys.
Coming from the Galaxy S, I imagine I will miss a few things. One of them being: media playback and overall storage.
I guess with the N1, I'd need to find a non-bootlegged 32GB microSD card. But my other question would be: is there an easy way to play all of the content that the Galaxy S can handle, or is the GPU in the Samsung phone so much better that the N1 can't keep up?
I really like that about the SGS: I just drop movies (mp4, xvid, divx and so forth) onto the internal ROM and they play without issue. Media capabilities are very nice.
Does the N1 play lots of videos like this out of the box? If not, is there a decent media application?
Also, about HTC's other devices: I'd love to wait, but I'm worried that the newer phones won't have nice accessories. The N1 has that awesome car dock, that I would use all of the time. The SGS doesn't have any accessories like that, and it makes me sad. Most of HTC's N1 follow-up lacked similar docks and cradles.
If I return this SGS (likely), I will probably be jumping to the N1, just for that 'official' feel of it (very sturdy, solid first-party accessories).
You have no idea how sad I was, when Google announced they were giving up on creating their own phones. Hate them all you want: but Apple really has that system (solid build, quality integration / lack of fragmentation) nailed. I was really hoping that Google could bring that unification to Android with their own branded devices.
Loving Android, though. Never going back to iOS.
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Click to collapse
The gpu is OK. But definitely a lot less powerful than the sgs, you will notice in movies, live wallpapers and especially games... there's a decent video player called rockplayer that plays a lot of stuff like avi and xvid , but its not ad good as the sgs player ...
Put it this way, either stay sgs and have a not so well navigation but awesome everything elsex or go nexus with good GPS but a old touch sensor that will hardly recognize both fingers on anything other than pinch to zoom.....

The only real world scenario i have encountered the axis switch is when you do a pinch on an album in the gallery to have it flick through them, it switches often when doing that.

Nexus One multi-touch sucks for games. I've tried some fancy gameloft games that req two fingers on screen, or PS & gameboy emulators that req this and it drives me insane. Can be so frustrating for gaming and is the only thing that I find a let down for this device. I wish I knew before I purchased it because the gaming although not the only thing I brought it for is something that I thought would be cool on my phone.

Simply put, don't get the N1 if mobile gaming is important to you. I'm not talking about simple single tap games, but the intricate ones (PSX Emu, EA Sports, Gamesloft, etc). If you could live without it, the touchscreen is fine for regular day to day use.

Or just root and carry your favorite bluetooth game controller. I have a mini bt keyboard that works great for emulators

Played with Rev @ VZW today. Soo Slow

First thing I noticed is that the phone is sooooo slooooow. It was unbearable. I don't know if there was something wrong with the demo model, because they only had one, but it was almost unusable. Flipping between homescreens would often get stuck halfway for almost two seconds, then continue the flip. Flipping through the applications menu did the same. Occasionally it would launch the app I started the swipe on because it didn't register the swipe gesture.
I noticed the same thing about the Charge, but not the Thunderbolt. Maybe it's just software they have installed at the store?

Definitely something wrong with that demo model; homescreen lag is normal on the Charge, but I noticed the Revo was FAR smoother than the TB and Charge and the touchscreen was miles ahead of the other two in terms of responsiveness.

I have the Revo, and there is very little lag.. once and a blue moon i have it.. It is a great device. I am not a big fan of the home, so i am using adw ex and this phone is GREAT!

My Rev lags when I end a phone call. It takes about 5 seconds to exit the dialer. This phone also has issues with the Real Player App. It won't let you stream online videos while using Real Player. It has an error message that says null.
It also seems to take forever to charge. When I had the Thunderbolt, it seemed to recharge 4x as fast. I know the Thunderbolt had horrible battery life, but that was pretty much solved with a custom rom.
The 2 best things I found about this phone are Netflix and the HDMI mirroring. But without any custom roms, I regret my decision to trade in the Thunderbolt within 14 days and get the LG Revolution.

I agree a problem with demo model. I am looking to buy it soon. I have been in two verizon stores a few times to play with this phone and the competition (tb, charge). I've tried every function I can and I do see any problems yet. Homescreen, apps drawer, and swype was no lag at all.

sadly, the demo model at my local vzw was also not a good representation of the phone. it had serious touch responsiveness issues. almost swayed me to get the charge. i ended up buying the phone because the majority of reviewers from androidforums didn't have the same issue. i do experience slight lag sometimes when drawing my unlock pattern after not using the phone for awhile, but other than that little hiccup, couldn't be happier.

just got a revolution for the wife, i see no problems with any lag so far

Definitely sounds like a unique case, the Revo that I played with in the VZW store was way snappier than my charge, which has tempted me to possibly switch. Trying to figure out whether I should hold out as dev support is picking up on the Charge(to make it function quicker) or just switch to the LG.

I had two different Charges in two weeks - and now have the Rev. the Rev has better touchscreen, as others have said, and I don't see any lag at all. The interface on the Rev is so, so, so, much better than the Charge. For once, I, personally, am not overly tempted to use a different launcher. I like the widgets the few custom widgets they have, though I can't wait to de-Bing it.

I def like my revo now bing has been booted and crapware gone the ui is kinda growing on me
Sent from my Bing free Revolution

[Q] To previous Android owners

I currently own a Captivate and I'm tired of the ROM-switching, and the laggy interface (On each and every ROM I've installed) and want to give this device a shot, so my questions to people that migrated from Android to WP7 are:
What's better? What's worse? What will I miss? Is it worth the move?
Thanks!

xgibran said:
I currently own a Captivate and I'm tired of the ROM-switching, and the laggy interface (On each and every ROM I've installed) and want to give this device a shot, so my questions to people that migrated from Android to WP7 are:
What's better? What's worse? What will I miss? Is it worth the move?
Thanks!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I just left the droid bionic 4 days ago. I am not new to windows phone though. What's better:
Ease of use. Its simple
Reliable. Connects every time
Hardware is now comparable with a lot of dual core droids. This does not lack for speed.
Its attractive and light.
Once you learn the Os, it becomes addictive in its simplicity.
Connects my jabra hands free and allows voice actions. Cool.
What's not so good:
If you have any notion of custom, forget it. What you see is what you get. I mean that...exactly as it sounds.
Apps. WP has many of the more familiar apps, but not all, yet. There is no Starbucks app, or Barnes and noble to name 2. Its getting better though.
Still limited in ringtones. Takes some doing to get your tone.
Battery life is not great. Not awful either.
The buttons on this focus are backwards. The volume id on upper left. A right handed phone holder changes the volume everytime.
No led notifications..at all.
Would I buy this again. Yes. I say this knowing I'm getting the 900 soon. I'll have both. This is a good phone.

Thanks, that is very helpful. One thing you didn't mention is that compared to Androids of the same level the speed is astonishing. The experience is so smooth!
So far I have found most of the same apps I used regularly on Android and a very good alternative to another.
As you said, battery life is not the best in the world, but it sure beats the 7-8 hours I got on the Captivate. I went through a whole day (~13 hours) of heavy use (OTA downloads, take a couple of pics, etc) before I needed to recharge.
The one thing that ticks me off in particular is the way multitasking is managed. I open something and hit the home button. If I go through the active apps (holding the back key) I can get back to the exact place I was in before I left it. If I tap on the tile of the app it restarts the app from scratch. What gives?

xgibran said:
Thanks, that is very helpful. One thing you didn't mention is that compared to Androids of the same level the speed is astonishing. The experience is so smooth!
So far I have found most of the same apps I used regularly on Android and a very good alternative to another.
As you said, battery life is not the best in the world, but it sure beats the 7-8 hours I got on the Captivate. I went through a whole day (~13 hours) of heavy use (OTA downloads, take a couple of pics, etc) before I needed to recharge.
The one thing that ticks me off in particular is the way multitasking is managed. I open something and hit the home button. If I go through the active apps (holding the back key) I can get back to the exact place I was in before I left it. If I tap on the tile of the app it restarts the app from scratch. What gives?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I didn't mention speed because most people's first response to a speed claim is no way, or you missed something. Fact is, I didn't believe it either. I went to t-mobile to pay my bill. There was an in store special on the 710. $20, that's it. So I took it. That little low end phone outpaced the bionic in almost everything. When my bionic went on vacation decided to take off, I did not hesitate. I have not looked back. I'm successfully weaned from android, with no regrets..even my girlfriend made the trip back. She's even more integrated with windows live, office, SkyDrive, OneNote, the entire cloud scenario. She uses the concept at work. They think shes a genius.
So yeah, good concepts, good phone. Perfect, no. Like you mentioned. But a good show none the less.

I just made the switch from the HTC Desire. Honestly, the Focus S is a great phone. It's beautiful, stupidly thin like a cat walk model, great camera, etc.
WP7 is a beautiful OS, oh I've wanted to have it on my phone for so long now, but it's got a gammy leg. My main gripes are:
-Multitasking is a pain - it's so slow to resume applications I'm not sure what the difference is in relaunching an app. That said, without proper multitasking apps that should receive push notifications sort of... DON'T! This whole, let it run under the lock-screen is lame. In Android I thought it was ridiculous that EVERYTHING just ran in the background and now I'm complaining about the inverse. Is there no happy medium?
-Facebook Chat integration is another hobbled feature. I can't send pictures which you can in the Android app. I receive pictures as a LINK to the desktop FB site which is ridiculous because if you zoom you are bounced back to the left margin for some reason. Even the official FB app is useless when it comes to FB chat/IM! I used this with my wife constantly. The alternative is WhatsApp but then the whole seemless continuity from mobile to desktop is shattered!
-Integration with Gmail is a bit ropey, but seems quite adequate I suppose. I guess here too push notifications aren't possible it has to be 30 min intervals.
-I do admit to wishing that the keyboad had the key long press functionality for special characters like in Android. Flipping to the numeric keyboard is labourious
-Notifications are also a little inconsistent. The whole toast thing. Without a doubt the Android (and now iOS) pull down notifications bar is fantastic. This also goes for quick access to stuff like switching wifi, airplane mode on or off, etc
I'm sure I could go on... The positives are amazing. Damn it's smooth, beautiful and functional, but the above issues and others make it kind of a deal breaker for me. Android has sucked for a while, but it has matured and WP7 needs to do the same pretty quickly. I know the above issues might not be a deal breaker for a lot of people, but for me they are
Hmph! I'm a little annoyed now...

Coming from an ATT Cappy, I'm stoked.
Been on the Focus S for a few weeks now and I love it. IMO, it just works. What I need and want a phone to do, it does very well. EYE CANDY! There are a few things I miss coming from Android however.
1. The ability to toggle WiFi always on. This really sucks when sitting on my couch and using my phone to control my htpc (xbmc). It takes about 10 seconds for the wifi to re-connect after the screen is turned on. By no means a deal breaker and I'm sure will be addressed in future updates.
2. Individual audio volume controls. I miss the ability to have my alarm, system, media and other notification volumes at different pre-configured levels.
3. Apps are more expensive and the free ones are still a bit lacking.
4. Home screen customizing. I really would find it useful to have 3 home screens rather than 2 (tiles and apps). There's just too much **** i want quick access too I guess
5. Zero expandable memory. This one totally blows and was almost a deal breaker for me. ~16GB's is enough storage space, but just barely. There is no way I can have all my music, audio books and some movies on here. Currently I just have music :/
That's my 5. Everything else I think is comparable or better than Android currently. This phone is sleek and super fast. We just need some updates and app development to get this thing tip top.

Switched from Captivate to Focus S via the Smoked challenge.
- As far as operation goes, the Focus does indeed smoke the Captivate. Severely. I was always fighting the Captivate, but with the Focus S, the phone actually works as it was intended to. Metro is a bit plain, but the performance is steady and predictable. Personally, I'll take steady and predictable every time.
- The app situation on Windows isn't as solid as Android. Which only matters if the specific apps you are looking for aren't there. For example, if you can't live without Angry Birds, stay home.
- Video transfer *SUCKS*. Moving over large video files (movies) that aren't already formatted in a Zune friendly format takes *hours*. Seriously. Once they are transferred, they are beautiful, but if you are the type that likes moving different movies back and forth, stay far away from WP...at least until Apollo.
- Taken as a whole, this is an easy upgrade to recommend.

sarlo100 said:
Switched from Captivate to Focus S via the Smoked challenge.
- As far as operation goes, the Focus does indeed smoke the Captivate. Severely. I was always fighting the Captivate, but with the Focus S, the phone actually works as it was intended to. Metro is a bit plain, but the performance is steady and predictable. Personally, I'll take steady and predictable every time.
- The app situation on Windows isn't as solid as Android. Which only matters if the specific apps you are looking for aren't there. For example, if you can't live without Angry Birds, stay home.
- Video transfer *SUCKS*. Moving over large video files (movies) that aren't already formatted in a Zune friendly format takes *hours*. Seriously. Once they are transferred, they are beautiful, but if you are the type that likes moving different movies back and forth, stay far away from WP...at least until Apollo.
- Taken as a whole, this is an easy upgrade to recommend.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I actually returned my Focus S for an SGS II. There were just too many little things I missed coming from Android that I couldn't live without. Going to the SGS II seems to be the best of both worlds for me and I'm super stoked.

Teclast X98 Air II opinions

Hello everyone, I am very interested in buying this tablet because of the win 8.1+Android boot BUT I have read mixed reviews that some come ok while others come with problems. I personally don't want to deal with broken youtube, play store and etc.
Is there like a stock android ROM for this? Will flashing a new ROM damage the windows in the Tablet? Is it fairly straightfoward like a normal android tablet? Any tips, opinions, reviews and etc. Are greatly appreciated.

I have purchased this tablet and using it for a few weeks now. Dual boot Air II (not the 3G as I've seen videos on youtube showing that they are slower than the Air II). When I first got it, the play store wasn't working, however, when I updated the software through Teclast's update app (all in chinese) it work.
I haven't had any problems with it so far, everything is working fine. I've tried some very heavy games without any lag. It just lowers the brightness if it gets to hot. Also another note, I hated their UI, I think they tried to copy iOS. So I just downloaded a custom launcher and fixed the problem.
Based from my own experience I would recommend this tablet. I also bought it for the dual boot capabilities. (came pre-installed with dual boot windows 8.1 + android 4.4.4)

im quite frustrated with mine...here are the reasons.
windows runs very well. would be great apart from the fact that the battery wont get me through a whole day of fair use. also, wifi seems to drop sometimes.
android runs SLOW. launcher stuff is a bit laggy. it has to pause to think quite often. and wifi, again seems very spotty - stops working for 30 seconds randomly - frustrating.
also....with regards putting different roms on, etc - there is less knowledge out there about the Air ii - most of the posts are relevant to the 3g model so finding solid information about the Air ii is difficult. I cant recommend at this stage...

in regards to the wifi, try turning off wifi optimization in the settings
it seemed to work better on mine after I turned it off.

buddy,
how's the battery life?
any cons now???

Got the Teclast X98 Air 2 HG8N a few days ago from TinyDeal. Arrived with dual boot 4.4/8.1, both in Chinese. Had to change to English, get online and ran OTA/Windows updates. No issues with camera orientation or Google Play. So far, very nice tablet. The Windows experience is odd. I want to swipe a lot for navigation since I've owned a few iOS/Android tablets before. Taking some getting used to actually using scrollbars again. Also found out that some sites and programs really are not designed for such a relatively small screen. Options are very small and hard to hit correctly with a finger. Stylus helps, but still tricky occasionally. I would recommend it with the caveats that it will not be in English, Android has a lot of crapware, and Windows can be tricky. I would like to install W10 and custom ROM but still trying to get a handle on the process for this model. Similar model threads are hundreds of pages, and may not be entirely compatible with this one.
Editing my post after getting a few more days hands on with this one. Initially there was a lot of focus on setup, config, tweaking, it was my new toy. Got it to a comfortable, useable state and now down to actual usage. The screen is gorgeous, that part still holds very true. The battery life is terrible. Android seems better than Windows, but I haven't done any benchmarking or close examination. It looks like for Android at least, the OS itself is consuming the most battery. I haven't gotten a single day of usage without stopping to charge at least once. I pretty much just keep it plugged up unless I walk outside with it for a bit. Right now focusing on how I can replace the pre-installed OS's and see if that will be any better. I have years of experience in IT, but not in an area like this so it is slow going for the moment. I'd recommend this still, but be prepared to tinker a long time. If you want an out of the box experience ready to go then this is not a good choice at all.

I have had my airII 3g since about february 2015. I still like it. screen is great - usually have the brightness turned right down to low as I use it indoors. have used both windows and android and it works well. I prefer to use android, windows buttons can be small to try and touch. Main use for mine is just facebook and internet browsing, and reading books, I did take it on a couple 8 hour flights and watched downloaded videos in windows and it was awesome. Speakers could be a bit louder. Once I rooted it and removed chinese android seems to run way better, battery life is good in my opinion but I guess im not a heavy user. I do have wifi drops in android although I recently downloaded wififix from playstore and it seems to be a lot better. Also after rooting i have found I rarely get the thermal brightness throttling message - cant remember last time I saw it. Tablet seems well made and has a bit of weight to it, I have mine in a Ipad air case which is good, its just the camera holes dont match. The 2.5amp charger that comes with it would be the minimum I would want to charge it with, my kids have teclast x80h with 2amp charger and its too small. I think there is also an issue when having bluetooth on for my headphone and using the wifi at same time can cause wifi to be slow. either way I am happy with purchase, knowing that at the end of the day it is a chinese tablet and would require tinkering with and maybe some issues, but its great specs for the money. I dont use 3g on it, i mainly only bought it as it was 64gig model.

It is a great device

i have the air ii hg9m and i would only recommend this to someone who is comfortable troubleshooting and fixing small issues as these chinese tablets are plagued with them, fortunately theres tons of support from this site with lots of cool people fixing any issue that might arise, as for mine (the newest air ii at the time of this hg9m) ive only had minor issues, like choppy 3d games in android, standby battery drain in windows, some overheating, slow charging and battery calibration issues, and no ota updates in android. but the basic functionality of the device has remained in tact. Thats also a huge advantage of dual os, if im having an issue with one os i can try the other to do what i want. If youre truly looking for a trouble free experience then apple is the way to go, imo they are your best bet at a good 100% trouble free experience, but you pay a lot for those odds.

Stylus?
arcanadei said:
Taking some getting used to actually using scrollbars again. Also found out that some sites and programs really are not designed for such a relatively small screen. Options are very small and hard to hit correctly with a finger. Stylus helps, but still tricky occasionally. I would recommend it with the caveats that it will not be in English, Android has a lot of crapware, and Windows can be tricky. I would like to install W10 and custom ROM but still trying to get a handle on the process for this model. Similar model threads are hundreds of pages, and may not be entirely compatible with this one.
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Would you mind sharing what stylus are you using that works with this tablet? I have not found one that works.
Thanks!

gatorgal88 said:
Would you mind sharing what stylus are you using that works with this tablet?
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Couple of little generics I had laying around but both had a metal mesh tip. The rubber tips didn't work for me on this one either.

Is the 2012 N7 worth reviving?

I just found my original N7 and thought about using for an entertainment hub. But it won't charge. I think the port may be shot.
It has been YEARS since I participated in the community, but I used to be very active.
I just have a simple question for those still using the N7, with Android 7 (some variant. I'm thinking of a seriously basic install like vanilla Lineage) installed, is the N7 up to handling the task of streaming apps, the Google Home app and some Google Assistant work?
I'd like some input before I buy a new battery and port and go through the work of the repair.
Thanks!

i left my n7 (v2) for a year and it developed an issue on the ribbon between the usbport and its destination, i can open the case and fiddle with it an it comes back to life for a few day. i found it easier to charge it with my wireless charger. but after playing with it for a while, it just was not really worth the effort, or maybe i just did not have the motivation to re partition and do everything else to get it going with the latest.
of the 14 devices i have only the nexus 7 died, even my galaxy s2 is still running.

I'm using mine as a viewer for my home security. It's mounted at my workstation and stays on 24/7. Streaming video in 720p60 is not an issue, no stuttering at least. Web browsing is OK, not quick of course but not terribly slow either. Mainly I use it for home automation and I would say that this device does a great job at that despite its age! I honestly don't use it much, but those are a few simple experiences.