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 Post subject: Google Nexus 7 2013 wifi
 Post Posted: Wed Dec 04, 2013 9:33 pm 
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I do not use Google (search) very often and I do not want to create any new Google accounts, but I somehow found this tablet less offensive than Amazon's large stress on shopping for their products. Amazon is a "store."

I was reading about ways to download and and access things outside of/by going around Google. After I read the instructions, steps one and two should be to download Firefox and Adblock Plus. I saw instructions about rooting/tweaking. I want to enjoy the device without Google knowing my business. I perceive this little thing sending out signals to the mothership and find it distasteful. Am I reading too much into this? Any suggestions on setting up a new tablet in the way that I am describing?

Primary Uses - sitting back comfortably and reading. Mail, research, newspapers will be better someplace else. If I can access Office, fine.
No games. No movies, television, or music. It did not cost much more $ than the best eReader, which is why I got the tablet instead.

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 Post Posted: Wed Dec 04, 2013 9:48 pm 
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I don't use the Nexus, but I also would not recommend "rooting" the device.
I use Adblock plus on both IE and Google Chrome on my computers and recommend it highly. I don't use Firefox, but that is certainly an option for you on the Android platform, which is the Nexus.
-steve

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 Post Posted: Thu Dec 05, 2013 1:47 pm 
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Stephen,

This is my first non-Windows OS.
There is a "tested" one-step rooting process.
Does that change your answer?

It should be obvious, but it's not, that this will be my first device w/an internet connection that is not a computer. I don't even know what rooting is (yet), but before making the decision, I researched alternatives to Google Play, etc.

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 Post Posted: Thu Dec 05, 2013 9:15 pm 
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Nope. I don't believe that the average person should be rooting a device. You are voiding the warranty and your device is now totally unsupported.
Rooting means that you are breaking the ties to the "mothership" for updates and eliminating the restrictions as to what can be installed from where and how, typically.

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 Post Posted: Thu Dec 05, 2013 9:52 pm 
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Got it.
I read one day that ABP was not available, so that was my first concern.
It might not have been available for the original version.

I am not always capable of seeing the next few moves. I don't mind creating a gmail account for the device, since I need a home base somewhere.

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 Post Posted: Fri Dec 06, 2013 5:08 pm 
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Another danger of rerouting is, if you don't do it right you could turn the device into literally, a brick and completely useless. If that happens as Stephen said the warranty would be void so you wouldn't be able to have it fixed by the manufacturer.

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 Post Posted: Fri Dec 06, 2013 8:16 pm 
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Joan, I don't know if your rerouting is the same as rooting a tablet, but 1. I wouldn't do it unless I was sure it would be swift and reversible. 2. I'm not sure I really need to go that far.
I love my Asus laptop, which is why I chose Nexus.

I got the tablet last night, and it's so small. It's a half-inch larger than the eReaders, so reading should be great. Considering it's my FIRST device, nobody deigned to tell me where the tools were, so it was basically by touch/feel and experimenting - that Tool, Settings were the last things I found before updating the OS and saying good night!

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 Post Posted: Fri Dec 06, 2013 8:40 pm 
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Enjoy your new tablet. :-)
Don't root it. :-D
-steve

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 Post Posted: Fri Dec 06, 2013 9:01 pm 
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nancy wrote:
...Considering it's my FIRST device, nobody deigned to tell me where the tools were, so it was basically by touch/feel and experimenting...


I'm with you on this one Nancy! ;) I just got my first tablet a week or less ago, an 8 inch Android based system. I believe that my main usage will be reading via the Nook app on the thing. Where I live we really don't have what I'd call a book store so it is either the library or order a book on-line. With the tablet I have access to anything that Barnes and Nobel has in stock in a few seconds. For actual work I'd consider it too small but for reading it's just about the size of a paperback which means that it defeats the issue that I have trying to read a book on my laptop or desktop, I want to hold a book when I read and this is pretty close. :)

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 Post Posted: Sat Dec 07, 2013 1:45 am 
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This is mostly what I use my Samsung tablet for as well - reading. Although I actually prefer books one can't just ignore how convenient the darn thing is.

I'm with everybody else Nancy - don't root the tablet even if instructions are clear. It's not worthwhile for you to do so and will gain you little at a possibly very high cost.

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 Post Posted: Sat Dec 07, 2013 12:00 pm 
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I've just downloaded the Nook app onto my 8.1 Notebook, I already have the Kindle app on it and have some books on it.
I've also got the Kindle app on my Lumia 520 and that's great for reading one of my books while I'm sat on the bus on a Friday, 20 minutes each way gives me plenty of reading time. ;)

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 Post Posted: Thu Jan 02, 2014 9:20 pm 
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Happy New Year, everybody!

Not rooting, not messing with much of anything.
I have no idea how I feel about this thing. I am trying to use Firefox and startpage (browser). I say "trying," because this device has it's own preferences, of course. I downloaded several programs more than twice, like ABP, and when it doesn't show up in downloads or Apps, I download it again. Where's the damn close (X) button? Did I really have to download an app called Quit Now?

Somebody answered me at the Nexus website and sent me an instructional PDF.
Jay, do you want me to send you a copy? At least you have native instincts.
I just found the a few delete/erase/remove buttons and the one on the home page only appears in the vertical position.

Since I gave my device permission to download from other places than the Play store, do I need an AV?
Android forum says if you stick to apps from the store, No.
I have only downloaded Startpage and Firefox. Where are the tabs? The Chrome tabs are very cool, but I think I deleted the program. Maybe I should rethink ABP and Chrome, which might make life simpler.
Suggestions?

My library's books are rarer in download form, so I haven't had a chance read anything, yet.
I will ask my family members in the East for library card numbers.

Per my library, I downloaded Adobe Digital Editions and the book site - Overdrive. Is ADE what I need to download library books when other than Nook or Kindle, the third choice is a PDF? Formats for Android don't seem to be any more or less available, but I'm not sure if I made a mistake or not with this tablet over a Nook. Hard to tell when I can't find a book to download. (I know there are classics.)
The librarian also said I should download to and from my laptop while admitting he doesn't know much about ereading. Using the library only, should I transfer ADE to my tablet? Can or should I transfer books by email or should/could I buy a mini USB drive instead?
If I were to buy a book instead, I assume there is an app or three on the Nexus from which I can choose to read the book. Is this more or less correct?

Thank you.


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 Post Posted: Fri Jan 03, 2014 2:41 am 
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Don't know how much I can answer as I don't know what the an acronyms such as 'ADE'.

With the Nook app on my Polaroid tablet I have no problem finding and downloading books although I've only done 4 to this point. As to downloading to your PC and transferring to the tablet I don't know if it matters. I've purchased on both my desktop and the tablet, just connected the tablet to the desktop and had no issue syncing them so both had all 4 books. One thing that I'm finding that I like about NOOK (Barnes and Nobel) is that they sell their ebooks without ... dang, what is the term? I'm drawing a blank. It is where the download is protected so that it can only be used on the machine to where the download was done. Anyway NOOK sells without this protection so that you can use the same book on any device, don't know the policy of other stores.

Thanks for the talk about using a library. Shame on me as I worked in the library at the VA facility here in Sheridan for a short time. I suggest that you do a search for state library catalogs. Here in Wyoming it would be http://wyld.state.wy.us/ referred to as WYLDCAT or Wyoming Library Database Catalog. You may need to research a little to find what area you want. I know that with WYLDCAT I can use my VA library or Sheridan Library credentials to access other state libraries but do not yet know if I can use those credentials to do ebooks.

As to AV call me minor paranoid. I installed 360 Mobile Security. I have no idea if it is any good but it is something to start with and is free.

As far as ending or closing apps it is quite simple on my tablet. At the bottom of the screen there is an icon that looks like two overlapping rectangles. I just tap that icon and it shows all open apps. I just 'throw' the one I want to close off the screen and it is shut down.

As to browsers I've been using one that is just called 'Browser' although Opera Mobile also came with the tablet. To me the one called Browser just looks and acts more like IE and what I'm used to using.

My tablet is not yours so I can only speak in general. Thanks for the offer to send the instructions PDF but it would not be much help to me as mine would not be much to you. However you SHOULD be able to display all your installed apps. I can't tell you how to find the display of all apps on your tablet but on mine I have an icon that looks like a circle with 6 small squares within. I tap that and everything installed on my tablet is displayed. If you can find such an icon use it and look for something like 'on-line help'. On mine it takes me to a content page full of help topics.

I'm VERY sorry that I can't be more specific on things but it seems that every manufacturer of a tablet does things differently. Just because both of our tablets use Android does not mean that they are the same. First there are different versions of Android, mine is 4.22 (Jellybean... I think). There would be differences in two tablets running different versions of Android. On top of that Android is just the OS. The company building the tablet uses Android to present the system to you in the manner they want. Icons and the paths on how to get to things would likely be totally different between our tablets.

PLEASE!!! If anyone disputes anything that I have stated above listen to them. I'm responding in the best way that I'm able but it MUST be remembered that my Polaroid is the first tablet I've ever had and I've only had it for a matter of weeks.

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 Post Posted: Fri Jan 03, 2014 3:04 pm 
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I also have two overlapping rectangles.
Tablet displays the apps it came with on a side or bottom bar (depending on how you hold it).
I didn't realize that throwing it off the home page actually closes it, as opposed to simply hiding it. How do you close a page that you opened during browsing?

Have not found any help topics on the tablet itself.
I went to the online help on laptop, which only offers basics - and worst of all, presumes that you are familiar with the technology to begin with. Hence, the PDF.

I have the same version as you, 4.22.
I didn't clarify downloading an addon (Firefox) or an app - but assume if I do the process properly, it should be visible somewhere or another.

Adobe Digital Editions (ADE).
Re: Library. I have a card for LA County and if I walk a half mile east, I can renew my LA City library card. CA population of 38 mil versus 600,000 in WY would make your state library more accessible to its citizens than ours - but I definitely have more research to do.
I won't read on my laptop, so I'm wondering if it is A or The Method to pass through the book or not.
One thing that just occurred to me is, regardless of the offered format, if downloading a book automatically opens a program that will read it? Is it like inserting a cd into your laptop and autoplay opens?


I will find an AV, thank you.
As with other technical devices, the more I use it, the more I will understand.
I should test downloading a library book for the hell of it.
You are welcome for my library mention and the offer of the pdf.

Thank you, Jay.


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 Post Posted: Fri Jan 03, 2014 5:07 pm 
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I agree with Jay with regards to the syncing of books between devices. I haven't bothered putting the Nook app on my Smartphone but did but both the Kindle apps on both. I don't buy things from my phone but when I've bought books on my Notebook then go to my phone they are there for me to read.

I also have the Zinio app on my Notebook for some of my knitting magazines and my desktop and they automatically sync between themselves.

I use IE on my Smartphone but it's a Nokia Lumia 520 so runs Windows 8 not Android, I don't have a library card, don't have one near me.

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 Post Posted: Sat Jan 04, 2014 2:28 am 
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Oh, Joan, you should contact a library and see if you can get a card/access without going in. Can't really say from across the pond but it could possibly open a world of free reading for you. When I worked at the VA Library here in Sheridan I did a lot of searching for books in other libraries so that we could borrow them for someone to use. I was really surprised at how high of a percentage of the books showed up as having eBook equivalents.

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 Post Posted: Sat Jan 04, 2014 11:14 am 
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It's something I could probably look into Jay, there is a library in the next town but that's a 20 minute bus ride away and I wouldn't be able to manage the walk to and from the bus stop to get to it. :(

At present I really have enough books to read, I have a few on my Kindle app and the Nook, all free, well apart from a couple and they were only pence to buy, I have quite a stack of actual books a lot of which, well most of them, came from charity shops. ;)

The only time I read is in bed before settling down to sleep and when I go on the bus once a week, other times are taken up with the computer and knitting, cooking, cleaning, you know the general running a home things. :)

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