General Question - Flexibility of Android OS

[plucier]

Hi all, I actually do not own an Android based device yet, but I'm very interested in a tablet. I've been trying to do research, but the information is so spread out that I'm having a hard time really getting the hard answers to questions I have. Much of the information seems to depend on someone recognizing Android OS version codenames and what they mean. Honeycomb, Froyo, etc don't have a whole lot of meaning to a newbie like myself.

So here's the deal. I travel a lot for work, and would like to have a nice portable device for web browsing, entertaining myself with some games and apps (nothing too hardcore required for this - that's why I have the 360 and PS3 at home). The trick here is that I'm a huge anime fan, and need to get my fix while abroad. I can't rely on streaming video such as Crunchyroll due to geoblocking, so I tend to download videos through regular sites and bittorrent. The files are almost always .mkv format with subtitles.

So first question: does Android support less popular codecs such as MKV, and do the players support subtitle streams consistently? Is there the possibility of using bittorrent as well? Do you get good access to a file management system (like a windows explorer) to move, copy, rename files? Can you transfer files to and from an external hard drive or thumb drive easily?

I think web browsing in general seems pretty solid within the OS, and I love the fact that Flash sites will work (unlike on my iPhone).

I figured that I'd need to go with either a netbook, or a Windows based tablet to have the flexibility I needed, but there don't seem to be any solid Windows tablets, and I like the idea of the portability and interface of a tablet over a netbook.

So can anyone out there give me a hand and help answer some of these questions? I'd really appreciate some feedback!

A hearty thanks in advance,
Paul

 

[Droid-Xer]

I have the Motorola xoom and it can do all of that. Although I had to root is, which is running a few command lines on my pc to unlock and gain admin access to it. I can access a powered external hard drive or use my flash drives for unlimited access. Honeycomb, gingerbread, etc are OS. If you want flash player capabilities then you want froyo (2.2) or higher (gingerbread is 2.3 and honeycomb is 3.0). Honeycomb is a tablet specific OS. MKV files are hit or miss. I use a pc software called DvD Catalyst to convert all my vids to mp4. How much were you looking to spend on a tab?

 

[plucier]

Not entirely sure. Probably around $500, maybe a little more if it would make a big difference in terms of features or quality (speed, etc). The Xoom looks a little small. I was thinking something closer to a 10" screen (similar size to iPad). I don't mind converting some video files in advance, but if I'm in Japan for 4 weeks, I would want to be able to download my weekly episodes on the fly. I'm guessing I can't convert videos right on the tablet, so I'm hoping there's a player that will play mkv fairly consistently...

 

[Droid-Xer]

The xoom is 10.1" and the WiFi only model runs about $589. There are similar tabs from asus and acer for about $450-$500. Like I said mkv work well for some and not at all for others. There are several apps that are supposes to be compatible with mkv files. The converting software runs off a pc then you transfer the file to your xoom.

 

[DJACID]

Rockplayer doesn't play well with the elocity and asus tegra tablet,
Supernatural in 720p mkv file wasnt watchable but played perfectly with the built in video player...