Member
Join Date: Feb 2019
Posts: 53
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I just picked up a Samsung Tab A 8" 2019 tablet from Costco for $110 (it also came with a 32 gb sd card as part of the promotion, which I'm going to put my PDFs on)
The goal is to have a device I can hand off to those with a dead phone, an underpowered phone, or if they forgot their laptop. I also plan to use it myself when gaming in a location where my 17" laptop is too unwieldy. This is all as we're pursuing using HLO more as our in-play character sheet solution at the table. Setup: I uninstalled everything I could and added: Firefox Dice Roller App Pathbuilder 2e Starbuilder Calculator I then unlinked my Google account, removed the second home screen page, and made sure the device doesn't require a password after it goes to sleep. I made a home screen "app" for Hero Lab Online using Firefox and hid the navigation bar. I enabled swipe navigation, and enabled gesture for zoom for the visually impaired. My experience: In landscape mode, it's a comfortable experience. The form factor of the device is about as minimal as I can go for a visually impaired member of my gaming group to comfortably navigate without excessive zooming. The device is underpowered, and there are noticeable delays when clicking through the HLO menus, particularly when a lot of information needs to appear. Only some of this is from HLO's side, there's significant different between my expensive phone and this tablet in response times. The other apps run well, and are perfectly snappy. Transitioning between apps is decently fast. My verdict: I was determined to return the device if it didn't do a good enough job. I'll be keeping it because the input lag in HLO isn't that often a big issue, I don't tend to flip through tons of menus during play, preferring to stay on the skill page as default out of combat, and the combat page during. I 100% would not go to a lower powered device. This is the bare minimum I would accept as a HLO interface device. |
#1 |
Member
Join Date: Aug 2019
Posts: 35
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Since you bought from Costco, why not return it and spend a little more on a more powerful device? The device won't age as well as a better device will.
Based on prices I see on costco.com, I assume you got the galaxy 8" tab, which has awful reviews due to how sluggish it is. There are plenty of better tablets out there for < $300 I see some refurb ipads from $240 on amazon. |
#2 |
Senior Member
Join Date: May 2007
Location: Durham, NC
Posts: 1,747
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I got a refurbed Dell Inspiron 11 3195 and HLO runs great on it. But, I did change the wifi card and added ram. But it works well.
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#3 |
Member
Join Date: Feb 2019
Posts: 53
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I'm sticking with it because it met my minimum requirements. If anything, I'll keep an eye out for used/refurbished tablets, chromebooks, and 2 in 1s that are around the same price or less with similar functionality.
Really want to see how low I can go and still get good use out of it purely for HLO, and no other purpose. |
#4 |
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