Journal #8203

Posted 10 years ago2013-07-20 11:55:44 UTC
Striker StrikerI forgot to check the oil pressure
Got a 10.1 (1024x600px) inch Android tablet.
Short story: I need app suggestions of tablets. Considering energy efficiency is a bonus..

It's nothing really special, but it works. It runs Android 4.1 and has an ARM Cortex A8 (1.2 Ghz) processor, a MALI 400 GPU and 1 GB of RAM. The screen is crap(but what the heck?), having really weird viewing angles(can't look at it perpendicularly), though I can get used to it. Let's say it's good for starters, at least I know what I can get from this price range further.

So far most of the applications run pretty well, and I didn't experience any lag. Movies play well, browsing the net works well, I even tried 3D games and they work well. One nice feature is the OTG cable it came bundled with. I tried a couple of things: my wireless mouse, an USB stick, even my Nikon, and they all work.
The only nasty thing is that it doesn't charge by USB, only with the power adapter.

Now, because I'm not very used to the Android ecosystem yet, I'd like some app suggestions. I realized that it isn't as simple as just looking for an app, because energy efficiency is an aspect I don't want to neglect.

For example, what combination of media player and video codec would have the least impact on battery life?

Looking for all kinds of apps(even games, why not?) suggestions. Thank you for your time :).

5 Comments

Commented 10 years ago2013-07-20 12:54:36 UTC Comment #58319
I have a Nexus 7, my most used apps are:
  • FBReader (ebooks)
  • ES File Explorer (browse & watch videos from your network filesystem)
  • VLC (play videos)
  • Firefox (screw Chrome! :P)
Game recommendations:
  • World of Goo (perfect for touch screens)
  • The Room ('room escape' style puzzle game)
  • Plants vs. Zombies (the first one, ignore the new sequel when it comes out on Android if it's still full of microtransactions like it is on iOS)
Also, subscribe to the Humble Bundle emails and wait for one of their Android bundles to go up. They always have some great indie games in their bundles. Avoid free-to-play and stuff from big publishers, they're a waste of time and money.

For battery life, I couldn't say. I doubt what app you're using makes much of a difference when you're watching a video as they're all hardware decoded. VLC serves my purposes quite well. MX Player is another option if you want to try multiple apps.

I doubt power usage is very different on a per-app basis, it all depends on what they're actually doing. Games obviously suck the battery dry, and movies are pretty good at that too. E-readers don't do much processing but they still require the screen to be turned on so you can't really avoid it.
Commented 10 years ago2013-07-22 01:39:43 UTC Comment #58317
Battery Doctor for the win!
Commented 10 years ago2013-07-22 09:56:45 UTC Comment #58321
Is there a market for tablets or do you download apps directly from the author's website? If there is a market can you root the tablet so you aren't paying for anything?
Commented 10 years ago2013-07-22 11:29:12 UTC Comment #58320
Android tablets have the Google Play store (though Amazon and a few others have their own stores), and you don't need to root an Android to side-load apps, you just have to enable the option to allow unsigned installs.
Commented 10 years ago2013-07-22 11:41:59 UTC Comment #58318
Yeah but there's a few android viruses floating around.
Be wary of side-load apps unless they're from a reputable source.

Amazon should be safe however.

""The only nasty thing is that it doesn't charge by USB, only with the power adapter.""

That's probably because it requires at least 1000mA (1Amp) to charge. Most USB ports don't put out more than 550mA.

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