I just got back from traveling with two toddlers, which involved reaching for a Kindle Fire to show them a video when things got rough on the plane. On the Kindle Fire (and the iPad as well I believe), there’s no way to lock the screen so that it doesn’t register touches when a video is showing, so the kids would jack the volume or pause the video or otherwise totally screw it up every few minutes.
So, today, I ran across a Samsung information kiosk and asked whether the Note 10.1 can play a video lock the screen. Turns out it can (by tapping the power button–I saw it in action). So, I’m in love. And apparently there’s an app that essentially turns it into a Kindle so I can play all the videos I’ve already bought for the Kindle (and I’m sure there’s some way to hook it into iTunes as well but that is beyond my current capabilities).
So, does anyone see any problems ahead or severe negatives if I buy this just for showing the kids videos that I’ve bought on Amazon? Please note that I’m not a power user–showing videos to the kids is really almost 100% of what I will be using it for (the wife and I both have a Kindle Fire for our own stuff). Also, any suggestions for kid-proof carrying cases?
I don’t think that’s correct. As far as I know, the only way to view videos purchased on Amazon on a generic Android device is to use the browser. You can only stream it; there’s no way to download/save it. And that’s only possible up to Android 4.0; 4.1 has no Flash support.
Google does have their own Play store that sells TV shows and movies. And that does allow downloads, I believe.
The Galaxy Note 10.1 is one of the front runners in my wife’s tablet-shopping project at the moment. The key thing giving me pause right now: it’s more expensive (in the UK market) than an iPad 3. The 16gb Galaxy Note is the same price as a 32gb iPad 3.
Obviously, price isn’t the only thing to consider, but this comparison surprised me.
The iPad can indeed lock out the touch screen whilst an app is running. You activate ‘guided access’ in settings, and then when you launch an app you triple press the home button. To unlock you need to triple press the home button again and enter a password.
I took a friend to look at the Note 10.1 last week. If you aren’t an artist that uses a graphic tablet on a regular basis, then I don’t see the point. My friend is an artist, so the pressure sensitive stylus is a big plus.
The stylus is incredibly useful for taking handwritten notes and for annotating documents. Or just reading documents, if you’re the kind of person who likes to underline/highlight stuff as you read textbooks and papers. Sure, you can use a capacitive stylus or a finger for this purpose, but a Wacom stylus is so much nicer because it’s more precise and accurate, and because the tablet ignores inadvertent touching by your hand (palm) when the stylus is in use.