I could have made the subject "Foiled by Software"
On 4/20/2013 2:59 PM, Moose wrote:
> On 4/19/2013 8:41 PM, Daryl Hurley wrote:
>> My Toshiba Thrive has an SD slot, USB, and HDMI. I haven't tried an
>> external hard drive with it, but if it is hooked up thru the USB it should
>> work fine? It uses thumb drives OK...
>
> Thanks for the tip, Daryl.
>
> Looks like it is the last of the tablet Mohicans, designed to work with
> physical storage devices. The cloud is fine
> for many uses. BUT, so may of the most scenic places don't even have cell
> coverage, let alone 3-4G or WiFi.
>
> ...
>
> I read a couple of reviews, found a 32 GB refurb on Amazon for $245, and
> jumped without fully thinking it through. I
> think/hope it will do everything else I would like, too. I guess I'll start
> to find out Tuesday.
A bit late with my report. Executive summary:
As a tablet, it's no iPad 3-4, heavier, less screen resolution and rather
subdued images, compared to the highly
saturated iPad screen.
As a tool for a traveling photographer, it should be head and shoulders above
the iPad. With the SD card slot and full
USB port, I can copy files directly from card to external HD, without any
intermediate stop on the tablet. It easily
powers the HD. But software keeps it from fulfilling this promise, at least so
far.
Detailed comments:
There is a lot of file management software for Android OS, including one that
it came with. Other quirks aside, all that
I've tried so far have a terrible flaw - there is no way to select a block of
files. In Windoze explorer, I can click on
one file, move the highlight to another, shift-click, and all in between are
selected.
I tried a Bluetooth keyboard*, which works well with the tablet. In the apps,
holding down Shift, or any mod key, while
touching a second list item either selects that one additional item or selects
all items on the list. This makes
incremental copying of images off a card really slow and annoying.
I'm used to software that will select for itself new images on a card, using
the archive bit, create and copy them into
a sub-directory named with the day's date and separate them into JPEGs, Raws
and video directories. I took only it along
on a short trip last week. 244 shots one day meant 488 files to individually
select - yuck.
In all other respects, it's quite a competent little computer. Lots of decent
browser choices, email programs, and so
on, all that I've needed so far free. There's even an Adobe editor with layers,
which does cost a few $ and I haven't
tried. I do like touch interfaces.
I rather like the little thing. But if I can't find software to do its primary
function easily, or even if that requires
carrying the keyboard, I can't see where it is a practical improvement on the
Acer netbook+, which is not that much
larger/heavier, much more powerful, and has the software to do my work.
Reporting Moose
* EC-Tech, now $13 from Amazon. Very light, but apparently well made, and works
very well. Carol has had one for months
and likes it a lot. Her light colored one looks at first glance like an Apple
keyboard. My new one is black, for
Androids. :-)
--
What if the Hokey Pokey *IS* what it's all about?
--
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