The Register's review contradicts this somewhat...
'More importantly, the Hudl 2 is the first Atom-powered Android device I’ve used that exhibits not the slightest pause or delay in the user interface. Thanks to that 2GB of RAM, the Hudl 2 is Nexus 7-smooth and supremely responsive to the touch.'
Been using one for the last week now, quite pleased, however ....... Came to switch it on this morning and it was completely dead, nothing. I knew it was fully charged, plugged the charger in, still nothing, no red charging light, tried connecting to the PC, wasn't recognised by the PC.
Rang the helpline and there is a procedure to reset the tablet ....... Hold the power button down for approx 30 seconds, release the button and then power up as normal and its back working
Been using one for the last week now, quite pleased, however ....... Came to switch it on this morning and it was completely dead, nothing. I knew it was fully charged, plugged the charger in, still nothing, no red charging light, tried connecting to the PC, wasn't recognised by the PC.
Rang the helpline and there is a procedure to reset the tablet ....... Hold the power button down for approx 30 seconds, release the button and then power up as normal and its back working
Same thing happened to me yesterday, but that was because I'd left it switched on overnight to see how long the battery lasted. Answer: not long enough to survive overnight!
So, totally dead Hudl, no charging light and no response whatsoever. Thought I'd bricked it until I held the power button down, as found by wharncliffe above. That sorted it out and it's been OK since.
It's a nice little device. My only criticism is that awful start-up sound (the one which plays after the Hudl logo but before the Home screen appears), which can't be muted without rooting - which I won't do until it's out of warranty.
A bargain at £129 given the spec, especially the HD screen and HDMI out. The Google Now launcher if installed will allow you to lose the Tesco stuff off the homescreens and you can turn Google Now off subsequently if you prefer. Very happy with it.
It really is a great product, and it's almost frustrating that so many people will just assume it must be crap because it's cheap and made by a supermarket.
I fully get why people will think that, as 9 times out of 10 that would be true, but people are really going to miss out if they don't at least check it out before spending hundreds more on a 'big name' tablet.
The audio quality from the internal stereo speakers is excellent too.
The only bad thing I can really see is the camera, but I never use cameras on tablets and have no desire to do so.
Even now, some people will assume that it can't possibly be as good as 64-bit Nexus 9, or the latest iPad Air, and obviously in terms of how it can play the most powerful games, it won't be as good.. but it won't be bad or unusable.
We've come such a long way since we could buy a cheap PC and it wouldn't even play some games, or with frame rates so low that a game would be totally unplayable.
I want to get an elderly person a tablet so they can just browse internet and check emails so would like to know if the hudl would be best buy for this ?
Looking for something with good screen size and good camera.
Looking for something with good screen size and good camera.
Why would your 'elderly person' need a 'good camera' on a tablet? Using a tablet as a camera is not a good experience; they are difficult to hold and operate and the quality is very compromised. I wouldn't dream of using one, and I have a Samsung Galaxy Note 10.1 2014 Edition as well as the Tesco Hudl2. The Hudl2 camera has poor low-light performance and no flash, so is not good for indoor photography.
Having said all that, in all other respects the Hudl2 is excellent. The screen definition, colour rendition and brightness is superb and the sound quality from its rear-facing speakers is surprisingly good. If getting one for someone of mature years, I would highly recommend the Hudl Stylus (£5) as it is much easier to use than a finger tip.
Why would your 'elderly person' need a 'good camera' on a tablet? Using a tablet as a camera is not a good experience; they are difficult to hold and operate and the quality is very compromised. I wouldn't dream of using one, and I have a Samsung Galaxy Note 10.1 2014 Edition as well as the Tesco Hudl2. The Hudl2 camera has poor low-light performance and no flash, so is not good for indoor photography.
Having said all that, in all other respects the Hudl2 is excellent. The screen definition, colour rendition and brightness is superb and the sound quality from its rear-facing speakers is surprisingly good. If getting one for someone of mature years, I would highly recommend the Hudl Stylus (£5) as it is much easier to use than a finger tip.
Thank you for this. My reasoning was that they would have the option of having a camera facility but its not important. The stylus sounds like a good idea too.
Early days I know, but has anybody any idea if the MS Office app is available and, if so, how user friendly it might be? I should add, that I have zero experience of tablets.
Early days I know, but has anybody any idea if the MS Office app is available and, if so, how user friendly it might be? I should add, that I have zero experience of tablets.
Not in the Play Store yet. I use QuickOffice which although seemingly not in there either came up under My Apps as its on my phone and has installed OK. OfficeSuite 8 also does a decent job. Plenty of apps to try if you're after an Office compatible app.
Not in the Play Store yet. I use QuickOffice which although seemingly not in there either came up under My Apps as its on my phone and has installed OK. OfficeSuite 8 also does a decent job. Plenty of apps to try if you're after an Office compatible app.
Microsoft seem to be limiting Office on the Play Store to sub tablet Android devices. However I've obtained the install file from another source and it works well.
Why would your 'elderly person' need a 'good camera' on a tablet? Using a tablet as a camera is not a good experience; they are difficult to hold and operate and the quality is very compromised...
Actually a decent camera (light sensitivity and real focus) is useful on a tablet, for reading barcodes. The QR codes are quite robust but a traditional line barcode can be quite difficult to scan with an inferior camera.
Keeping an inventory of books or other media can be achieved more quickly using an app that reads the barcodes on each item and autofills all the details from an online database.
You can install the Kindle app, or use Google's own Play store.
The screen does make it easy to read books and has the benefit of colour, although eInk on a dedicated reader does still win on readability and battery life - but losing out on ability to run other apps or show photos/video.
My friend Geoff was given a Hudl 1 last year
and although he has a Kindle,he prefers to
read on the Hudl.Any number of free apps
available as 'readers' and he has found the
one that suits him!
Yes battery is not comparable with a dedicated
ereader,but whatever works for you,I say!
Often use Hudl to read books, read avidly daily and use Hudl all over the place, its always in my handbag
Used to use aldiko app but now use google play books
It reads back to you on google play books too, so audiobooks for free
Buy books from many sources google/ibooks/amazon and just pop the epub into my google books
Plenty of options to change the font/line space/typeface/brightness to make it perfect to read
Kindle is so restrictive and you cannot import
I use the Kindle app on the Hudl 2 and set the texts to white on black. Tie screen is great. One thing some may not realise about Kindle is that many books allow you to download the audiobook for free (not texts-to-speech - tie actual audiobook) for no extra cost and the app will play this back. See this article. This includes the many free classics. Very good.
Comments
So who's right though?
Is this likely to see an update to the new Android 5.0 OS?
I tried one in store last week and thought it was pretty darned smooth ....
Rang the helpline and there is a procedure to reset the tablet ....... Hold the power button down for approx 30 seconds, release the button and then power up as normal and its back working
Same thing happened to me yesterday, but that was because I'd left it switched on overnight to see how long the battery lasted. Answer: not long enough to survive overnight!
So, totally dead Hudl, no charging light and no response whatsoever. Thought I'd bricked it until I held the power button down, as found by wharncliffe above. That sorted it out and it's been OK since.
It's a nice little device. My only criticism is that awful start-up sound (the one which plays after the Hudl logo but before the Home screen appears), which can't be muted without rooting - which I won't do until it's out of warranty.
I fully get why people will think that, as 9 times out of 10 that would be true, but people are really going to miss out if they don't at least check it out before spending hundreds more on a 'big name' tablet.
The audio quality from the internal stereo speakers is excellent too.
The only bad thing I can really see is the camera, but I never use cameras on tablets and have no desire to do so.
Even now, some people will assume that it can't possibly be as good as 64-bit Nexus 9, or the latest iPad Air, and obviously in terms of how it can play the most powerful games, it won't be as good.. but it won't be bad or unusable.
We've come such a long way since we could buy a cheap PC and it wouldn't even play some games, or with frame rates so low that a game would be totally unplayable.
Looking for something with good screen size and good camera.
Why would your 'elderly person' need a 'good camera' on a tablet? Using a tablet as a camera is not a good experience; they are difficult to hold and operate and the quality is very compromised. I wouldn't dream of using one, and I have a Samsung Galaxy Note 10.1 2014 Edition as well as the Tesco Hudl2. The Hudl2 camera has poor low-light performance and no flash, so is not good for indoor photography.
Having said all that, in all other respects the Hudl2 is excellent. The screen definition, colour rendition and brightness is superb and the sound quality from its rear-facing speakers is surprisingly good. If getting one for someone of mature years, I would highly recommend the Hudl Stylus (£5) as it is much easier to use than a finger tip.
Thank you for this. My reasoning was that they would have the option of having a camera facility but its not important. The stylus sounds like a good idea too.
Not in the Play Store yet. I use QuickOffice which although seemingly not in there either came up under My Apps as its on my phone and has installed OK. OfficeSuite 8 also does a decent job. Plenty of apps to try if you're after an Office compatible app.
Microsoft seem to be limiting Office on the Play Store to sub tablet Android devices. However I've obtained the install file from another source and it works well.
Keeping an inventory of books or other media can be achieved more quickly using an app that reads the barcodes on each item and autofills all the details from an online database.
Is this machine any good for books, can I use a kindle app on it or is there another android bookstore?
I assume reading outside might be an issue
The screen does make it easy to read books and has the benefit of colour, although eInk on a dedicated reader does still win on readability and battery life - but losing out on ability to run other apps or show photos/video.
and although he has a Kindle,he prefers to
read on the Hudl.Any number of free apps
available as 'readers' and he has found the
one that suits him!
Yes battery is not comparable with a dedicated
ereader,but whatever works for you,I say!
Used to use aldiko app but now use google play books
It reads back to you on google play books too, so audiobooks for free
Buy books from many sources google/ibooks/amazon and just pop the epub into my google books
Plenty of options to change the font/line space/typeface/brightness to make it perfect to read
Kindle is so restrictive and you cannot import
For £129 it's an absolute steal and when I decide to ditch my iPad rMini I would definitely consider one.