Info on Samsung Galaxy Tab S 10.5

[rgeorg]

I have purchased CC, so that is one of the apps that I'd like to use. Not sure how many books would be needed on tablet though, as it wouldn't be my main reading device.
The Bridge Baron app company responded that it "should" run on KitKat. Leaves me thinking that no one has actually tested it...

In any case, I appreciate the explanation and suggestions! You have all been very helpful.

[rgeorg]

I just bought a new Nexus 7 (2013) with 32GB for my daughter this morning. Got a good price, same as at Amazon and Best Buy even when I converted euros to dollars, so bought it here. It is running KitKat 4.4 so I can check it out.

I also saw the S 10.5" and compared it to the Note 10.1 side-by-side. To be honest I couldn't make out a huge difference, the colors are definately vivid, but all specs considered I suppose I'd like to try the super AMOLED screen. Price is way-higher here for that tablet though, so I'll wait! (40% higher)!

[HarryT]

Originally Posted by rgeorg

I just bought a new Nexus 7 (2013) with 32GB for my daughter this morning. Got a good price, same as at Amazon and Best Buy even when I converted euros to dollars, so bought it here. It is running KitKat 4.4 so I can check it out.

Note that the potential issues I referred to earlier in the thread concerning KitKat apply only to external SD cards, not to internal storage. There's no problem whatsoever using internal storage with KitKat.

[bobstro]

Oh, wow. The Nexus 7 is a completely different class of device. A very nice one, mind you! If I'd known you were also considering 7 inch devices, and if budget was a consideration, the HiSense Sero Pro 7, about $125 at Walmart in the US, is very feature-packed. It's not on KitKat, so uSD access is not an issue.

Interesting about the side-by-side comparison between the Tab S and Note. I've got a Note 10.1 2014 myself, and have been wondering if the new screens were worth getting excited about. I think I'll wait for the next generation of Note devices before getting too excited, particularly now that my poor Note is back from the Samsung repair depot and healthy again.

[bobstro]

Originally Posted by HarryT

You can do so by having your book collection in CC's private folder on the SD card. The only down side of doing this is that if you were to delete CC, it would delete all your books, too.

How are you doing this, Harry? When I change the CC settings to use the card, it warns me that it will only be able to use the "private" folder (/android/data/...). If I use that setting, I can pull books down using CC. If I change it to another folder on uSD, it fails when trying to write the book file.

With the downloaded books in the CC private directory on uSD, I am unable to browse to that folder using Mantano's book browser. Trying to specify it as an import folder also fails.

My understanding is that, under KitKat, and app can write only to its own private folder on removable/secondary storage, and that other apps will not be able to read files from that location. Am I missing something?

[HarryT]

I'd suggest asking for more help in the CC forum, but my understanding is that apps should be able to READ from any folder, but only WRITE to their own, so there's no reason that Mantano shouldn't be able to browse that folder. I use Moon+ myself, which doesn't need to import books - it simply opens them where they are.

[bobstro]

Ah, I think I've figured it out. I can open the book from the CC browser and select which app to open it in. I select Mantano, tell it to import, and it seems to still refer to the copy in CC private storage. This forces me to use CC as my file browser, which may be OK, but I was hoping to still use the shelving functions in Mantano and Moon+ on the entire collection.

[jackie_w]

Originally Posted by bobstro

How are you doing this, Harry? When I change the CC settings to use the card, it warns me that it will only be able to use the "private" folder (/android/data/...). If I use that setting, I can pull books down using CC. If I change it to another folder on uSD, it fails when trying to write the book file.

With the downloaded books in the CC private directory on uSD, I am unable to browse to that folder using Mantano's book browser. Trying to specify it as an import folder also fails.

My understanding is that, under KitKat, and app can write only to its own private folder on removable/secondary storage, and that other apps will not be able to read files from that location. Am I missing something?

CC plus Mantano is also my android reading setup of choice. I have a Galaxy TabPRO running KitKat. It all works fine for me when I tell CC to save books to CC's own directory on the external SD card.

I stopped using most of Mantano's library functions a long time ago as CC is much better than Mantano at everything I want to do library-wise. If I select a book in CC and choose Mantano as the reading app, the book is automatically 'imported' into Mantano. I don't believe the book is duplicated, just the metadata is added to the Mantano database.

If I do open Mantano directly, only the books I've opened via CC are shown - which suits me fine as the Mantano database stays very small. I have no need to use Mantano's import options directly anymore.
If I've deleted a Mantano-viewed book via CC then the cover is greyed-out if I go back into Mantano directly and I can leave it alone or delete Mantano's database entry.

If I want to go into Mantano so I can create a homescreen shortcut to 'currently reading' books - that also works fine.

For interest, what do you think Mantano does better than CC with library functionality?

Having said all that, I did choose to store epubs (95% fiction) in CC's default directory in internal memory as I wanted to be sure DropBox/DropSync would work on those. I'm not sure whether the 3rd-party DropBox combo could handle books on the external SD card, but I assumed not. The big reference-type books (PDF, DJVU, CHM, CBZ) that I don't need write-access to are fine on the external SD card.

[AnemicOak]

Originally Posted by bobstro

This forces me to use CC as my file browser, which may be OK, but I was hoping to still use the shelving functions in Mantano and Moon+ on the entire collection.

For me that's kind of the point of CC. It utilizes all of the tags, series info, etc. that you set up in Calibre to make your library much more dynamic. It's unfortunate that Google changed things in KitKat so you can't easily do things the way you want to.

[HarryT]

Originally Posted by AnemicOak

For me that's kind of the point of CC. It utilizes all of the tags, series info, etc. that you set up in Calibre to make your library much more dynamic. It's unfortunate that Google changed things in KitKat so you can't easily do things the way you want to.

I agree. CC removes the need for any kind of library functionality in the reading app. It does it all so much better.

[bobstro]

Originally Posted by jackie_w

[...] For interest, what do you think Mantano does better than CC with library functionality?

I wouldn't say "better" so much as "what I'm used to". I subscribe to Mantano's cloud, so the requirement to store synchronized books on internal storage was the first bummer (though Mantano should allow using the Mantano private directory on secondary storage, shouldn't it? Need to check into that.)

I prefer to keep my ebooks broken out into several directories based on type and how often they change. I have a fairly dynamic fiction group, a mostly static (and growing) reference group, and PDFs. CC seems to only like to work with one directory, while I can set Mantano to read from multiple directories split between primary and secondary storage.

I also like Mantano's tags with the document type and sync status on the library display. I can probably replicate all the shelving/tagging options using CC, but I paid for Mantano long ago and was perfectly happy using a single app for all my reading needs until recently. Mantano seems to be struggling with large collections lately (see other post), so I've moved my fiction reading off to Moon+.

I also want to keep the book reading progress display in the shelf view in Moon+. I wish Mantano provided that feature. Sure, I can still use it, but now I have two shelf views (Moon+ and CC) where one was sufficient before.

None of this is the end of the world. I just hate having to adjust my workflow once I have everything working the way I like it.

[rgeorg]

Originally Posted by bobstro

Oh, wow. The Nexus 7 is a completely different class of device. A very nice one, mind you! If I'd known you were also considering 7 inch devices, and if budget was a consideration, the HiSense Sero Pro 7, about $125 at Walmart in the US, is very feature-packed. It's not on KitKat, so uSD access is not an issue.

Interesting about the side-by-side comparison between the Tab S and Note. I've got a Note 10.1 2014 myself, and have been wondering if the new screens were worth getting excited about. I think I'll wait for the next generation of Note devices before getting too excited, particularly now that my poor Note is back from the Samsung repair depot and healthy again.

I am planning on buying two tablets, one for my college-age daughter, and one for me. She has different needs and better eyes Neither of us is content with the KFHD that I have. I'll sell it.

The N7 is a wonderful device! I am so very impressed. I am playing with it until early August. Everything (magazines, video) is so crisp and clear. Makes me wonder if the S 8.4" would do for me. I'll go check it out again next week. Happily, I found an electronics store here who carries both sizes.

I have read/seen (youtube perhaps?) that the pundits recommend not upgrading just for the screen, but if buying new, the AMOLED is the best option.

I do have one concern, maybe someone has advice? I bought the floor model, that was displayed for no longer than 6 months. I get this from the date of the kernel release on the device. Should I be worried about the battery life? It seems to run fine, and for many hours. Perfect condition. I am discharging it now and will do a full charge later and then see how many hours video I get. I can return it within 14 days, and go back to my plan of getting it from Amazon or BB. It's just more convenient not to carry the two tablets, plus I can actually access the 1-year warranty if needed from Europe, and the wall charger works without an adapter.

[FinancialWar]

Big difference between LCD and Amoled when it comes to black colour, very important if you want to watch movies, especially thrillers and horror movies.

[HarryT]

What are "honour movies"? I haven't come across that genre before.

[bobstro]

Originally Posted by HarryT

What are "honour movies"? I haven't come across that genre before.

I think they're like honour killings, but you make a bitter documentary instead.