Rookie S7 User Questions

[N8OAY]

OK, call me a reluctant Huawei S7 user. It is not the tablet that I wanted, but it was the best I could do with the situation at hand. I had a Best Buy gift card that I had to use. My choices were either the Nook, the Velocity Micro Crus T301 or the S7. Not wanting to do any hacking until the warranty runs out, I decided to bypass the limited out-of-the-box capabilities of the Nook and wanted nothing to do with the Cruz due to it's bad reputation. I am an old fart with arthritis and other ailments. I do a lot of reading in bed and laying on the couch and have had it up to here reading PDFs and ebooks books on my tiny Droid R2D2 screen. So here I am. I bought it yesterday. I did not do enough homework to know this had a resistive screen, but I like the ability to use a stylus and think I will eventually be really happy with the stylus. I have used stylus PDAs for many years and am just 2 months into the Android multi-touch experiend with the phone.

I was very surprised to find the Google Android Market installed out of the box!. It looks like I will be able to set up GMail and Calendar which will sync with my phone and computer.

The first thing I installed and tried out is Adobe Reader. Can anyone tell me how to zoom in and out on text?

I am a bit disappointed with the AccuWeather.com app on the home screen. It has a very limited selection of locations to select from, and will not let me add the place where I live. Is there a way to change the location to a place that is not on the list? Or can someone recommend a better weather app?

I know my way around computers. I did phone tech support for a computer OEM in from 1995 to 2003 when I was laid off and replaced by someone in India. I run Linux on my main computer, and have another computer running Windows XP and a laptop running Windows 7. That being said, I definitely do not want to do any hacking to load alternate versions of Android until the warranty runs out. Having been the guy on the other end of those phone calls for 8 years, I want absolutely do not want to void the warranty.

Thanks for the help, and I will probably be back asking for more until I learn my way around the S7.

Dave

 

[goodoane]

For PDF file is better to use documentstogo that come preinstalled.
For whether use search options from application and add your location to favorites pressing the star.

Sent from my Ideos S7 using Tapatalk

 

[N8OAY]

Thank you goodoane! Documents to go is much better. I was trying to avoid using that app because I have it on my Palm TX and absolutely hate it. And yes, I STILL use the Palm TX even though I have a Droid R2D2 phone and will probably continue using it.

Now on to a another issue that came up today, and a sad one at that. I tried to install the app for this web site today and the Market crashed giving an error message that flashes on and off the screen to fast to read. I have repeated the process several times with the same result. I then tried installing some other apps and had the same problem with a few of the apps I tried. I was able to successfully install Kindle and Aldiko ereader but crashed on several other apps. Anyone know how to fix this problem or is there an alternate way to install apps that is more stable? There is not a lot that I want to install right now, but I want to install them without problems.

Thanks again for the help!
Dave

 

[dgnyberg]

For the weather app, I just typed in my zip code and it came up with my location. Don't forget to press the star to set the location.
I've learned that the market has a glitch with the updated version. I've had to go into settings > applications > manage applications and click on market and uninstall updates.
I learned this here on the forums, but I don't remember exactly where. These forums are GREAT and the people here are AWESOME to all us noobs!!! I've had my S7 almost 4 weeks and I love it!!

I saw that you like to read. Read through these forums on the Huawei S7 and you will learn A LOT of good info!!!

Have a great day,
Dave

 

[N8OAY]

I started reading through the apps and games sub forum and found other complaints about the same issue. This S7 is new out of the box and I have not installed any updates, so there are no updates to remove.

 

[dgnyberg]

If you have run the market app, it automatically updates. By uninstalling the updates, the market goes back to it's initial app and it will work again. Unfortunately, you have to uninstall the updates for market each time before you run it.
It's kind of a hassle, but it does get rid of the error messages.

Good Luck,
Dave

 

[N8OAY]

Thank you dgnyberg. There is not a whole lot I want to install right now, so I guess I can live with it for a while. But I think I'll look for an alternate app installer eventually.

I am a bit disappointed. Looking at this tablet at Best Buy I thought it would be really good one. I could not afford a more expensive tablet and had an old gift card that was getting very close to the expiration date. I will learn to live with what I have and hope that Huawei will get off their duffs and get the rumored Android 2.2 update working.

Dave

 

[dgnyberg]

This is my first tablet. I have been very happy with it. I have learned quite a bit from these forums.
I rooted the tablet first, then I did a titanium Backup, Then I flashed the Singapore ROM.
Each thing I do, I learn more, and I see the tablet getting a little better with each mod.
I worried about the warranty for about 2 days, then I started messing with it.
This "cheap" little tablet has a LOT of abilities, and I think more will come available as time goes by.


Dave

 

[N8OAY]

OK, I just did what you suggested and indeed there was an update that I could remove. I removed the update, restarted the Market, tried to install the Weather Channel app, and it still crashes.

 

[dgnyberg]

Hmmmm I use the stock weather app. After flashing with the Singapore ROM, It said I was in TiaPai. I clicked on it and it went to the week long weather.
I tapped where the city was, typed in my zip code and the city changed to where I am at. Of course, when I went back to the home page, it showed Taipai again.
I went back and followed the same steps, except I pressed the star next to my hometown and it turned yellow and that saved my hometown for the weather app.

I hope this helps.

Dave

 

[stephndudb]

For weather, I like Weather Bug best. Same problem here with the Market app. Hopefully the next update will fix it. I like to read, too, so I installed the Kindle app. Now I can switch between my S7, my laptop, and my Kindle when I read my books.

 

[N8OAY]

I finally got the AccuWeather widget working correctly, but I would like to have different weather widget for the home screen. AccuWeather tends to not be the most accurate weather forecast for this area of Ohio. I did get the Weather Channel app installed. Maybe someone can help me figure out how to make a widget out of it instead of just an icon.

I have got used to remembering to remove the update for the App Market before installing anything. I did look at AppsLib on the web but it will not let me install it since the S7 is not one of the listed devices it supports.

Thanks again for all of your help! It makes like better for this rookie!
Dave

 

[moshe5368]

I have 3 of these S7 tablets and the capacitive touch screen is not an issue for me. Guess my fat fingers are tough enough to make it work well. As for app stores, amazonapps has tons of apps available. I have the same issues with the regular app store due to the last store update. I love these tablets for all the abilities they have at their price point. There are better tablets on the market but none with the features these have below 300 US. The kindle app has the best reading experience I have found. I run most of my truck dispatch and load board work from this tablet. I may upgrade later but am in no hurry. Enjoy......

Sent from my Ideos S7 using Android Tablet Forum