Guest zakblood Posted January 27, 2011 Report Share Posted January 27, 2011 (edited) hello, have searched first, as this is my first post here have read rules etc first, (ment to post this in the vega section and thought i did, first mistake, sorry) just got the advent vega yesterday, never had anything android before so it's all new to me, no guides in the box or readme or anything so learning curve was ok, but the amount of reading i have had to do for some very basic tasks, have been high, eg how to put on apps, how to delete apps etc, have played with it for a few hours and now done a factory reset as well to wipe everything of as i was playing which was easy to do and plainless. running stock rom 1.8 that came with nothing added as yet other than a few apps, plus an fash update i did myself. will be using the vega tablet mainly for ebooks, using pdf's / doc / txt's / epub / mobi formats etc. have grabbed a few apps to try and read them, greader, Aldiko Book Reader, ireader, fbreader, moonreader etc but would also like to try others like cool reader etc and kindlereader, but for some reason the online ones seem to be hard if not impossible to download and install etc, anyone know any really good ones to try? or place to grab them from which are easy, maybe to dl them first to the pc then move them onto the device? not had any from an app store or market place as it just doesn't work, never downloads or installs, am i just still to new at this or is there still a readme im missing? maybe i should have just bought a kindle but tbh i do a bit of music and like to watch the odd film as well, the email and net parts i may never really use also maps etc i also dont need, wont be doing the kitchen or mods as yet as it's still new to me and the commands aren't that easy to follow as yet for newbies :lol: thanks for the advice to those who give it, in advance. Edited January 27, 2011 by zakblood Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Lennyuk Posted January 27, 2011 Report Share Posted January 27, 2011 Kindle for android is what I use, and I love it, works fantastically well, and means I can also read on my phone should I have the sudden urge to read when I am without my vega. The QuickOfficeHD thread will have the apk for the tablet edition of QuickOffice which is easily the best "office" like app for the vega. Winamp for android is best for music too (in my opinion). When you say the market does not download what to you mean? What happens exactly? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest MaxiP Posted January 27, 2011 Report Share Posted January 27, 2011 I use Aldiko and am very happy with it. I use Calibre to manage my library on the PC (including doing any conversions between formats) then send to the Vega. I used to use Kindle on my phone but with a smaller screen size, don't tend to read 'on the go' but as Lenny opints out, if you have both devices (Vega & phone) and are likely to read on both of them, the Kindle is the best by far. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest jezwick Posted January 27, 2011 Report Share Posted January 27, 2011 Kindle for me too, makes browsing and buying books from Amazon really easy as well Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest receptor Posted January 27, 2011 Report Share Posted January 27, 2011 Aldiko on Vega and Nexus One, Calibre on Ubuntu for converting books to epub. I also use Perfect Viewer, mainly for comics, but also for books and documents i have scanned as jpg. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest zakblood Posted January 27, 2011 Report Share Posted January 27, 2011 (edited) Kindle for android is what I use, and I love it, works fantastically well, and means I can also read on my phone should I have the sudden urge to read when I am without my vega. The QuickOfficeHD thread will have the apk for the tablet edition of QuickOffice which is easily the best "office" like app for the vega. Winamp for android is best for music too (in my opinion). When you say the market does not download what to you mean? What happens exactly? well if i try and download from appbrain etc it gives me a message that i need to sync the device? or Please install AppBrain to get the app on your phone? either way it never downloads, can't even get on the android market place either and never get to where you can dl anything, some gives me messages that i need a barcode reader to see something first or other strange messages, i know they may mean something to users who have done all of this b4, but to me it might as well be rocket science. is there a place where you can just grab free apps, without first having to 1 make an account, 2 jump through 5 hoops to get a dl link? or 3 and idiots guide for the newbies like me. you must get fed up with these type of questions, as i've done msce work for 12 years with home users and sever clients and know what it must be like. thanks for your reply, and the others above, sorry for sounding so thick, you wouldn't guess i have a computer science degree :lol: Edited January 27, 2011 by zakblood Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Lennyuk Posted January 27, 2011 Report Share Posted January 27, 2011 well if i try and download from appbrain etc it gives me a message that i need to sync the device? or Please install AppBrain to get the app on your phone? either way it never downloads, can't even get on the android market place either, some gives me messages that i need a barcode reader to see something first or other strange messages, i know they may mean something to users who have done all of this b4, but to me it might as well be rocket science. is there a place where you can just grab free apps, without first having to 1 make and account, 2 jump through 5 hoops to get a dl link? or 3 and idiots guide for the newbies like me. you must get fed up with these type of questions, as i've done msce work for 12 years with home users and sever clients and know what it must be like. thanks Sounds like you need to do a bit of reading on this forum then install a new rom with the android market included. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest zakblood Posted January 27, 2011 Report Share Posted January 27, 2011 Sounds like you need to do a bit of reading on this forum then install a new rom with the android market included. did think a market came pre installed on the device already, but do agree with you 100% with your above statement and will follow your advice, read everything i can find right now thanks. sorry for posting in the wrong section, but very happy to have had all the offers of advice from you all, not new to irc and forums etc as ive been a mod and smod on a few already, but nothing to do with android, all pc stuff. thanks. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest obb Posted January 27, 2011 Report Share Posted January 27, 2011 For Ebooks Kindle is fine, as you can change the background type and text size ... so even with the crappy vega screen you can get it looking pretty good. For PDF's I use ezPDF Reader Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest zakblood Posted January 27, 2011 Report Share Posted January 27, 2011 (edited) For Ebooks Kindle is fine, as you can change the background type and text size ... so even with the crappy vega screen you can get it looking pretty good. For PDF's I use ezPDF Reader was a bit worried when i first ordered it as i heard the screen wasn't up to much, but now i have one, im happy with it, looks ok to me, for the price and size it's good, have friends with ipads etc and yes they are better but cost alot more than i wanted to pay, had a toshiba folio 100 first but it broke after a few days so sent it back, and then after a few problems they had it got withdrawn from where i bought it from so bought the vega instead, as yet have no real problems other than not knowing how to use it fully as yet, but im learning. the screen is very easy to use and as yet don't have the same problems as many have posted with it, might just be lucky and have a good build etc or with the new rom, im not sure either. but will try ez and see how i go, i did think i could have one app that could read all my books but it doesn't look like this is the way lol, but will try a few and see whats best have just downloaded cool reader and tbh im sticking with that, it's a very easy program to use and can later plenty of things in it as well for me, this is what i wanted the vega for and now with the right app it has final turned out ok for me, thanks for the help everyone, wasn't easy to learn how to do stuff but with reading everything i could find im alot better today that i was yeterday with it. Edited January 27, 2011 by zakblood Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest yabbas Posted January 28, 2011 Report Share Posted January 28, 2011 ezPDF - and I've tried them all! Nothing beats it for sheer speed and features :lol: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Nojvega Posted January 28, 2011 Report Share Posted January 28, 2011 I use Aldiko and Kindle. The Kindle is excellent but for reading PDF files I use Aldiko. Both apps are free downloads if you manage to access the market. Hope this is of some use Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Nojvega Posted January 28, 2011 Report Share Posted January 28, 2011 was a bit worried when i first ordered it as i heard the screen wasn't up to much, but now i have one, im happy with it I don't understand what people say about the screen, it is a PERSONAL tablet not a family entertainment system. Like you I am more than happy with the screen on mine :lol: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest zakblood Posted January 28, 2011 Report Share Posted January 28, 2011 must admit i was worried, as a lot of comments where bad, but we must have just got later builds etc as im more than happy with it now, i wanted it for books mainly and now i have to great apps i couldn't ask for more, thanks again all, never been on such a helpful place in all my life, the toshiba folio site was nothing like this at all, and no help when it broke after a day either, but thats another story. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest warriorscot Posted January 28, 2011 Report Share Posted January 28, 2011 Glad you are happy with it. Adding a modaco rom does make a huge difference to the device and for most its not too difficult to do, ironically the most difficult step is because windows is fussy about drivers. Personally I use three apps for books aldiko, adobe reader and kindle in that order. Aldiko is probably the closest to a full featured and compatible reader and probably will at some point have pretty universal format support. Adobe reader is the best for pdfs they look better in it than any of the others which I have a feeling are all based on similar source code. And Kindle is good if you have any bought book but I have over 1000 books already on my PC either in epub or lrf for reading on my sony reader so I don't buy amazon books as a rule. Best thing you can do if you have ebooks is use calibre. Its a brilliant piece of software that manages, converts and distributes your books. Can't go wrong with it. I even set up the webUI recently for use on my vega so now I can connect to my home PC and download any book in my library over the internet wherever I am. I would definitely reccomend setting up the web interface for calibre or any other software you have as they work great with a vega. For music by far the best and so far only bug free player is PowerAmp. Winamp comes close but it has bugs that cause problems and the occasional weird crash that the other players all do as well. PowerAmp on the other hand is stable and has more features and its very intuitive and easy to use. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest zakblood Posted January 28, 2011 Report Share Posted January 28, 2011 will look out for calibre now and see what it's like, have 10.000 plus books now and have filled my first card already, going to get 2 x 16gb micro sd cards cheap from amazon and try and see if i can fill them :lol: thanks for the tips Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest warriorscot Posted January 28, 2011 Report Share Posted January 28, 2011 Youll find loading that many books at once is a pain. I tend to just load books as I read them or intend to that way I can make sure all the meta data is correct and it has covers and converts correctly. Just loading up books onto SD cards or pens always works out a bit chaotic and you never end up being able to find anything. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest zakblood Posted January 28, 2011 Report Share Posted January 28, 2011 each writer is in there own folder, all of them are in one folder called ebooks, was going to do it by a b c etc but only going to loads books as i read them, not have the whole lot loaded at once, so im just storing them until read Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest warriorscot Posted January 28, 2011 Report Share Posted January 28, 2011 One by one is definitely the way to go as detection of even title and author with books is iffy as there isn't a standard and forget correct metadata by adding stuff in bulk. I've got folders like that usually the result of massive ebook packs. I've found that while I still have them if I need a book I just remove it individually from the folders then add it into calibre and let it store it in its library. I then convert it to all the formats I need, check it for errors(very common especially in big ebook packs) and add in metadata with the tool. The calibre library is the best way to manage books at the moment I have a little under 1200(read maybe 80% or so in the last year and a half) books in my calibre library but probably 5 times that or more in my "book archive" but most of those left are junk or stuff I won't read. Although I have tended to disregard the big ebook packs I initially got when using my reader. Now that ebooks are common there are 2 or 3 sites that specialise in book sharing so no more giant releases I just pick up stuff by search or as its released. One of the big pains on the Vega is keeping everything organised there are so many root folders and some apps do their own thing adding to the clutter. So far the best option is the online storage and keep maybe a half dozen books and comics on the Vega at a time otherwise things seem to get lost and cluttered. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest zakblood Posted January 28, 2011 Report Share Posted January 28, 2011 thanks for the advice, as im new im still learning as i bet you can all tell, i keep thinking in pc terms so i just fill loads of stuff and sort later, but im getting round to do things different, if i knew this yesterday i wouldn't have ordered 2 more 16gb cards ;) but thanks for the advice anyway, is keeping different stuff like games / movies / and music plus my ebooks on different cards the way to go, as thats what i was going to do? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest warriorscot Posted January 28, 2011 Report Share Posted January 28, 2011 It's not what I would do but it's not necessarily a bad way to do it. I learned most of the lessons with other devices like previous palmtops and my current ereader before I got the vega. What I tend to do is have my main PC that has loads of storage act as a server I keep only a bit of music, a few tv eps or a movie and a handful of books on the Vega at any one time. Basically a day or twos worth of media. I then either connect to the PC with USB to add or remove stuff or more often just do it over the LAN wirelessly or even via the internet as I can connect straight to the PC with my dyndns host name. When I am not on the LAN at home so can't stream direct from the PC that is when I rely on the stuff stored on the vega. Although books are small enough to go over the net so I just connect to http://mydyndnsusername.dyndns.com:7050/ and it brings up my calibre page and I just download books from the browser. I can also access Sabnzbd, Utorrent and connect to VNC for secure file transfer and RDP using that method. It's pretty handy so basically my Vega is a nice convenient and portable way to access the goodies on my PC remotely. Apps I tend to just stick on the vega most are tiny and so are the games the only real exception so far is dungeon defenders which is huge. The only problem I can think of with switching out SD cards is the fact that because the Vega memory is so small you will be wanting to store a lot of your apps and data on it. And without the sd cards being perfectly synced in that respect it could cause problems. If they vega had more internal memory or could take a second SD card it wouldn't be an issue but it doesn't so your going to end up with some apps that are only going to work on the vega with the right SD card installed and will just not run or FC otherwise. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest crockwit Posted February 9, 2011 Report Share Posted February 9, 2011 Anyone got hold of the Sony Reader app ? It will not list as an available app in the market and although it's on the Google market web page it will not download to the Vega. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest QLF Posted February 9, 2011 Report Share Posted February 9, 2011 Easily the best ebook app is Overdrive (available from the Android market. It allows me to connect to my local library's ebook collection and download and read them for free. To be fair it doesn't have the bells and whistles of some of the fancier apps, (certainly bookmarks etc ARE included, but not as visually nice as other apps - think it's made for phones but scales fine) but it works as well as having a book in your hand, and it's free reading. The ONLY thing i would say is be careful when changing the screen light levels. I turned it all the way down, and couldn't see to turn it back up. had to use hard back button to get out the app and reinstall. lol - Live and learn! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest surly cat Posted February 9, 2011 Report Share Posted February 9, 2011 ezPDF - and I've tried them all! Nothing beats it for sheer speed and features :P Completely agree. ezPDF Reader is hands down the best Vega app for reading .pdf files. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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