Old Tablets and their Uses

[FrostbiteXIII]

I was debating posting this under "Lifetime means the useful life" thread, but I kinda felt it deserved its own (sorry if I'm seeing)!

I have 3 young kids and many old tablets that I bought over the past 5 or so years - my youngest is about to turn 2 and just taking an interest, which of course means my eldest (nearly 6) is suddenly starting to take an interest again).

I just can't help but feel it's such a waste but I am:
- About to throw a Nook away (it's ancient and has a cracked screen), so probably not worth repairing. Think this was our first ever tablet
- About to replace the screen on a Hudl 2 that I believe will still be powerful enough to play things on
- Have an original Hudl that works fine, except now is too slow to play even the most basic game (which used to work fine - I assume android updates killed this one!)
- Amazon Fire, to be fair the adds and forced use of Amazon store meant that I don't think I ever used this!

Any advice of uses for this stuff (especially the original Hudl that would work fine if it weren't for it updating itself?)

Thanks!

[spacein_vader]

I was debating posting this under "Lifetime means the useful life" thread, but I kinda felt it deserved its own (sorry if I'm seeing)!

I have 3 young kids and many old tablets that I bought over the past 5 or so years - my youngest is about to turn 2 and just taking an interest, which of course means my eldest (nearly 6) is suddenly starting to take an interest again).

I just can't help but feel it's such a waste but I am:
- About to throw a Nook away (it's ancient and has a cracked screen), so probably not worth repairing. Think this was our first ever tablet
- About to replace the screen on a Hudl 2 that I believe will still be powerful enough to play things on
- Have an original Hudl that works fine, except now is too slow to play even the most basic game (which used to work fine - I assume android updates killed this one!)
- Amazon Fire, to be fair the adds and forced use of Amazon store meant that I don't think I ever used this!

Any advice of uses for this stuff (especially the original Hudl that would work fine if it weren't for it updating itself?)

Thanks!

The original hudl can be used to make a dumb speaker (or Hifi) into a smart one. If you use Spotify or similar all you need is that app, a 1m 3.5mm audio cable and a speaker that accepts line in and instant streaming music. I use an ancient phone to do something similar. Albeit its only streaming from my home server rather than the Internet.

[Millennium]

I feel your pain. I bought 2 Nook HD and flashed them to some kind of 3rd party Android, it was buggy with charging so both are down at the moment. I also have a Lenovo tab that's only 1gb and is pretty slow now, and I've just ordered a Pipo N8 which will be my new daily driver. It's a good size, 8 inches, and a great screen, quad core and 2gb RAM, however it's probably a bit too cheap and cheerful large bezels etc. Oh well, it was only £63, my nooks were over 100.

[CAT-THE-FIFTH]

If I were seriously stop getting them hooked on computers so young. Providing their old enough give them an actual book,lego,get them to play sports outdoors,etc. Something more physical.

At the very least try and do some group activities with them. Computers are widespread enough in general life,that they will pick up the relevant stuff quite quickly. I mean when I was young computers were still not so common,but the skills are easy to pick up TBH. Looks like I made up for it!

All you are doing is pushing them to a more sedentary life.

[watercooled]

I've been passed a Kindle Fire from a relative and I use it occasionally for web browsing but even then it's often painfully slow - like OP I suspect planned obsolescence, sorry 'updates', are to blame here.

I'd like to replace the stock OS but a tailor-made version of Android I found for it is a paid version - now I'm not against the idea of paying but it was something like £20 IIRC with no guarantee it would work any better, if at all...

[FrostbiteXIII]

The original hudl can be used to make a dumb speaker (or Hifi) into a smart one. If you use Spotify or similar all you need is that app, a 1m 3.5mm audio cable and a speaker that accepts line in and instant streaming music. I use an ancient phone to do something similar. Albeit its only streaming from my home server rather than the Internet.

Thanks, good plan, tho I have so many Echos now that I don't need it. Might see if any friends at work would have a use for it...

[FrostbiteXIII]

I feel your pain. I bought 2 Nook HD and flashed them to some kind of 3rd party Android, it was buggy with charging so both are down at the moment. I also have a Lenovo tab that's only 1gb and is pretty slow now, and I've just ordered a Pipo N8 which will be my new daily driver. It's a good size, 8 inches, and a great screen, quad core and 2gb RAM, however it's probably a bit too cheap and cheerful large bezels etc. Oh well, it was only £63, my nooks were over 100.

Oooh, thanks, if been wondering about the Pilot. Sure I saw a Hot UK deal for it on Gearbest... Might give it a try then!

[FrostbiteXIII]

I've been passed a Kindle Fire from a relative and I use it occasionally for web browsing but even then it's often painfully slow - like OP I suspect planned obsolescence, sorry 'updates', are to blame here.

I'd like to replace the stock OS but a tailor-made version of Android I found for it is a paid version - now I'm not against the idea of paying but it was something like £20 IIRC with no guarantee it would work any better, if at all...

Feel your pain, certainly wouldn't pay for that gamble.

[FrostbiteXIII]

If I were seriously stop getting them hooked on computers so young. Providing their old enough give them an actual book,lego,get them to play sports outdoors,etc. Something more physical.

At the very least try and do some group activities with them. Computers are widespread enough in general life,that they will pick up the relevant stuff quite quickly. I mean when I was young computers were still not so common,but the skills are easy to pick up TBH. Looks like I made up for it!

All you are doing is pushing them to a more sedentary life.

Well that's, like, your OPINION, maaan...

Seriously tho, I generally disagree with this opinion. Games (even computer ones) grow a child's imagination, improve reflexes, help with problem solving... And loads more. I'm not giving them a tablet so they can be "Good at computers" when they grow up, I am doing so for all the other reasons ... and to distract them on long journeys!

I also never understood the "Read a book" thing. Apart from old people who don't know any better, why is this any better than a tablet?! Games are FAR better at stimulating imagination than any kids book I've ever read. I'm not saying books aren't important or good, I just don't understand why they are magically superior?!

For the record, we have 2 boxes of Lego, several shelves of books, and my daughter does taekwondo and ballet...

I just don't understand why tablets aren't considered more useful and educational...

[CAT-THE-FIFTH]

Well that's, like, your OPINION, maaan...

Seriously tho, I generally disagree with this opinion. Games (even computer ones) grow a child's imagination, improve reflexes, help with problem solving... And loads more. I'm not giving them a tablet so they can be "Good at computers" when they grow up, I am doing so for all the other reasons ... and to distract them on long journeys!

I also never understood the "Read a book" thing. Apart from old people who don't know any better, why is this any better than a tablet?! Games are FAR better at stimulating imagination than any kids book I've ever read. I'm not saying books aren't important or good, I just don't understand why they are magically superior?!

For the record, we have 2 boxes of Lego, several shelves of books, and my daughter does taekwondo and ballet...

I just don't understand why tablets aren't considered more useful and educational...

Because in the end there is a world outside computers,a big one and computers existed for decades. Games existed for decades. We all grew up with them.

I thought my parents were being annoying when they restricted my TV/gaming/computing previleges,but in hindsite I actually experienced more of the outside world and had experiences which still stood with me to this very day. Sometimes being away from technology also is good.

The fact is once you start getting into school big time you will be stuck on computers,at work your stuck at computers,when does it stop then??

Also during long journeys I was actually more interested looking at all these new places I was travelling through since it was a big adventure!! Having said that if I started moaning,I soon learnt not to!

Do you honestly think as an uber geek,I ended up suffering from not being attached to a computer all the time?? I was reading Arthur C.Clarke when I was 9 and reading historical perspectives on things,and books are an amazing way to expand your horizons on things,especially about other ways of thinking or even history itself. Heck,even learning how to cook a bit was fun. I even got into photography,mucking around with electronics,etc.

Schools are only there for you to pass exams now,not necessarily to round you out.

I mean by the time you are hitting 13 to 14,you don't have time anymore to do anything,since you either having to pass XYZ exams,GCSE,A-levels,etc. I remember my parents saying they had more of a childhood,unlike me since they didn't have all this pressure to pass a 100 exams.

Technology addiction amongst kids is becoming a thing:
http://metro.co.uk/2017/01/05/tech-a...nkies-6363567/

Maybe its my age,and I need to go with the flow!

[Ttaskmaster]

Seriously tho, I generally disagree with this opinion. Games (even computer ones) grow a child's imagination, improve reflexes, help with problem solving... And loads more.

None of which is any good if you're too fat to get up out of your swivel chair and make use of them in the real world.
Besides, I've been gaming since the 1980s and my reflexes aren't anything special.
What got my imagination up was reading books and playing D&D.

I also never understood the "Read a book" thing. Apart from old people who don't know any better, why is this any better than a tablet?!

Books don't run out of batteries.
Books are also physical, with each page of each one having it's own unique character, while a tablet is just a generic shape of glass. It may sound strange, but there's a lot of subtlety and psychology behind why printed books are still used so much today.

Games are FAR better at stimulating imagination than any kids book I've ever read.

Different thought processes. Games are about problem solving and doing things your way.
Books teach you to listen, especially because it's not always possible to do things your way.

I just don't understand why tablets aren't considered more useful and educational...

They have their place, but only as part of a well-rounded environment.

[mikerr]

Books are also physical, with each page of each one having it's own unique character, while a tablet is just a generic shape of glass. It may sound strange, but there's a lot of subtlety and psychology behind why printed books are still used so much today.

It's the written word and the story that's important, not the paper its written on

I hear alot of people say they're attached to the "feel" of paper and its history etc but they're comparing to tft screens, not epaper.

One reason I love the epaper kindle is it's inability to play games / videos - you don't have that distraction.
Give a kid a tablet with books or educational software on it, and he'll be playing games within a few minutes...

Anyway - uses for old android phones & tablets :

IP webcams
In Car sat-nav
Retro gaming box ( https://www.makeuseof.com/tag/make-r...ndroid-device/ )
TV remote ( netflix / youtube app with chromecast)
Wifi extender ( https://play.google.com/store/apps/d....prog.mikrotik )
File server ( https://play.google.com/store/apps/d...mfree.activity)
Offline wikipedia via kwix and a big SD card (https://play.google.com/store/apps/d...ixmobile&hl=en )
Use a 2nd monitor for laptop/PC ( https://www.howtogeek.com/279069/how...our-pc-or-mac/ )
Stick em on the wall as digital photo frames

[Ttaskmaster]

I hear alot of people say they're attached to the "feel" of paper and its history etc but they're comparing to tft screens, not epaper.

I've tried both, actually and you'll find many others have too.
Neither smell like paper, neither feel like paper, neither have the grain and imperfections of paper, neither have the unique character of actual print and its subtle variation.

I do read most of my novels on my Kindle app, having given away the epaper reader, but still greatly prefer an actual book.

[Smudger]

This may be a bit off topic, but has anyone noticed there seems to be more typos and grammar mistakes in Kindle/eBooks than proper books? It's weird that something that is easier to amend and update seems to have less quality control. Once proper books go out they can't be changed, but I don't remember seeing a spelling mistake in one (other than US spellings in UK editions, which is just wrong), but about 30% of the Kindle books I read have them. Wha'gwan?

[mikerr]

or go full geek and turn your tablet into a full fat linux device:
http://www.linux-magazine.com/Online...evice-to-Linux

[Ttaskmaster]

about 30% of the Kindle books I read have them. Wha'gwan?

Either OCR errors in scanning the manuscript, or typos from people paid to type them up for Kindle?