What do you think about this tablet?

Archos FamilyPad 2



To be honest, although the write-ups were terrific, it got bad reviews from users in general on the Net. Then again, who believes anything on the Internet!

It’s heavy, but that 13 inch screen (vs. the 10.1) is appetizing, and the price.....not much more than a bag of White Castle hamburgers and a 6 pack of beer!

I was only looking to load in my “music sheet” PDF’s for reference when I need to look up a song. Maybe read a book here and there. If that doesn’t work for me, I could always convert it to a pin ball machine!

But really, for the price and if that’s all I’m going to use it for..........

I'm not keen on buying a notebook. Any comments about using this mostly to view music PDF's?

If it has enough onboard memory, and/or a memory card slot, it should work great for what you want.
I still use a small laptop, but I have tried my Motorola Xoom Android tablet too, and it works fine. Laptop is easier to sort and search for stuff though.

I have been following info on larger tablets for some time as the 9.7" ipad or 10.1 androids don't cut it with me. I am spoiled with an old 14.1" pre-wide screen laptop on its side which works great.

Regarding the Archos here's some correspondence I've had with someone on another forum that bought one to use for reading music:

"I bought the Archos with the hope of using it for viewing sheet music. Here are the problems I'm having:

1. It does not support Bluetooth so I cannot turn pages with a foot pedal
2. It is extremely underpowered, so the performance is very slow
3. The resolution is very low so it is not feasible to mark on a piece of sheet music

The Archos can be used for viewing sheet music but it is far from ideal and very disappointing." End quote.

So I would drop any thought of getting the Archos, however the Hannspree T7 available at Best buy for only $230 with bluetooth seems like a possibility.
http://www.bestbuy.com/site/hannspree-t7...4b-00006ac8d9a4

The Kocaso also has Bluetooth for under $300

http://www.amazon.com/Kocaso-M1400-13-Inch-8GB-Tablet/dp/B00BQO9M1M

It sounds like there will be a 12.9" and/or 13.3" put out by Apple in 2014. Word has it that the 12.9 will be out this spring and the 13.3 will be out in October. They are or will be tested at schools and are aimed at the educational market.

Samsung is also supposed to have a 13.3 coming out this spring.

Sony has a very light and thin ereader coming out also. Do not know the measurements yet but it looks quite large. They will not be available in the US.

The Samsung, Apple and Sony would all also cost a bunch.

If I were to try it at this time I would test out a Hannspree T7 as it has Bluetooth, has a quad-core processor, is less money and also because I would feel a lot more comfortable buying something like this from Best Buy rather than Amazon.

The actual viewing area of the Archos is 7" x 11.25" I imagine the viewing area of the other two would be about the same.

This is a good topic at this time for people who have a Music Pad Pro as Microsoft stops support for Windows XP now.

Scott L

Nothing beats a good laptop on stage imo

Thanks, Scott.....that (the resolution) was the common denominator in most of the reviews I read too.



I never stopped to think about actual "viewing areas." Thanks for the 'heads-up" on this.

I'll wait a few more months to see what comes out though my understanding is that anything beyond 10.1 won't withstand pressure applied to the screen. I'm sure they'll get around that eventually.

Mark

Hi Mark

I'm wondering where you got this info. I'd think you'd really have to be hammering the screen to create a problem.

Scott

The 13 inch tablet/laptop that I have seems to be strong enough to handle all but excessive impacts. The owners manual does suggest caution about too much screen pressure. I have been using it for about six months with no issues. I think it is as sturdy as the iPad. It is a Sony model SVD13223CXB with 1920X1080 resolution which gives a beautiful display for my sheets. It is a little "pricey" though. It's a shame that Sony decided to close its PC business.

Hi - I've written in other threads about this, but the Dell XPS-18 is an 18" tablet ... a friend of mine has one; it does well at very large music (if used "tall") or even two-page-at-a-time viewing (if used "portrait").

Links here ... (I hope I do the links OK; I don't do this often!) On his piano, and on my (old) Tyros:

http://i302.photobucket.com/albums/nn83/jimlaing/XPS-18-and-iPad-on-Tyros.jpg

Link 2:
http://i302.photobucket.com/albums/nn83/jimlaing/XPS-18-and-iPad-on-Piano.jpg

Thinking about this for a while instead of the old notebook (paper & vinyl that is), and wondering if I can do without the footswitch and scroll via touch without going too far. I've already got a sustain, volume, and harmonizer on/off switch setup going. I know I should probably convert more of my pdf to txt lyric files and use the assignable switches on my korg to see if the hand diversion is a problem. I guess question for me is - Mark (or anyone)-

1) Have you always used hand/touch to turn /advance pages?
2) Have you used footswitches for this instead?
3) If you have used footswitches, would you ever go back to hand/touch?

Im thinking and hoping arranger KB's in the future will all have a standard PAD Docking station right on deck so you can put whatever size display you desire........which also can integrate as an alternative with the KBs display touch screen. Baby steps I guess.

Mark I apologize for this, but I'm curious as the dickens to find out where you are located with that reference to White Castle Burgers.

When I discovered White Castle in Mississippi back in 1860 or so we had Royal Castle and Krystal burgers on Canal Street in New Orleans, which were identical to the White Castle Burgers. The only Krystal Burger I know of now is in Hattiesburg Mississippi where my in-laws live. Royal Castle has long ago left New Orleans.
Thanks Mark

FYI
There were white castles in South Fl in the 60's around West Palm Beach. I don't know how far spread out they were. I think they were 15 cents.

I don't know much about using footswitches, etc. I managed to memorize everything I do, so my only needs in a tablet would be to store my music as PDF's and pull up songs when I need to brush up on them (Oktoberfest, Bastille Day, etc) and a vertical screen large enough so I don't have to put on my eyeglasses!

I suppose that at the rate at which technology is moving, something like that, at a reasonable price, will be available by Wednesday....well.......maybe Saturday at the latest!

Mark

quote from WikiPedia:

White Castle Management Co. is an American regional fast food hamburger restaurant chain located in the Midwestern and Southern United States as well as in the New York metropolitan area, generally credited[citation needed] as the first fast food chain. It is known for its small, square hamburgers. Sometimes referred to as "sliders", the burgers were priced at five cents until the 1940s, and remained at ten cents for years thereafter. For several years, when the original burgers sold for five cents, White Castle periodically ran promotional ads in local newspapers which contained coupons offering five burgers for ten cents, takeout only.

On Jan. 14, 2014, Time Magazine labelled the White Castle slider to be the most influential burger of all time.[2]



Boo...I'm in the Northeast somewhere near "one-man-band alley".....Uncle Dave, Bill Lewis, Sparky, Donny, etc. I understand Don M (our Chairman of the Board) is retiring up here soon to be with "family."




Most White Castle hamburgers taste like they were cooked in "1860" and sold in 2014.



....but without the "agida!"



.....BUT.....a hamburger is not really considered a "classic" until it makes big it in Hattiesburg, Mississippi!!!

picture of a White Castle hamburger meeting another White Castle hamburger........

Dnj could teach that thing to do the Chicken Dance.

Hi - re: the question about whether people use hand/touch to turn pages. I do, most of the time. I have a foot pedal too, but I tend to use hand/touch at least 50% of the time. Depends on the song, what I'm doing at the moment when I need a page turn, etc. [I use iPad, unrealBook and Blueboard pedal]

Jim

Unrealbook looks good to me. Tablet shopping this week.

As for the White Castles, got one only 3 towns away, and in the freezer section of the local supermarket. Problem is it takes seconds to eat them, and about 36 hours to feel better after! But they must be purchased with a vanilla shake, and a spoon. You can't get that stuff through a straw....

... they ain't called 'sliders' for nothin' ...

Most important thing with any tablet is the OS. iOS is the best for any sort of pro music applications in the purely tablet area, not just audio, but MIDI as well.

It leaves the others in the dust. Android is making some efforts, but the issues are inherent in it's OS. So until there is a fundamental change in how Android OS incorporates audio/midi interfacing and operation, then it will always lag far behind.

Any tablet/tablet-laptop hybrid running Windows OS is okay as well...especially 8.1

@ sparky589 - Unrealbook is an excellent choice btw