Lineage OS tablet purchase advice
 

Hello everybody :)

I'm very happy with my N900, and still using it every day (as my main phone and device), even if sometimes it is limited (I think about web browsing right now). I would not change it for anything currently available on the market.
But my girlfriend seems to want a tablet that she could use for her work (mostly showing videos and playing audio files, as well as text files like pdf to her trainees). Right now she uses a "dumb phone" (a Nokia Asha something) that can't do this kind of stuff (apart from the audio playing even if speakers are not that loud). I'll have to mention that she doesn't want a smartphone (she really likes her "dumb phone" and don't want to replace it). As I am the one with the technology in the house I have to look into it.
An iPad is not an option, I don't own any Apple product and don't want to get one. So all is left is an Android device. I don't like Android OS because most of the time it comes with Google software and a lot of manufacturer software too. I prefer a clean up to date OS. I've played a little with Lineage OS, and even if not perfect (or good enough from my point of view), it seems to be the best alternative available.

So now the question :) :
Is there any available (like in new in the store or online) tablet that has the followings :
- supported by Lineage OS
- screen size of 7 or 8 inches (not more than 8 inches)
- 3G/4G (preferably with 4G, Europe frequencies)
- GPS
- good performance overall

I've looked at the devices page on Lineage OS website but there doesn't seem to be any tablet that I can find new and that has all the above requirements.

Was thinking that maybe someone has and idea about a tablet that isn't on that page yet and meets all the requirements.

PS : I know this is not an Android forum, but for now I am not an Android user (and don't really want to become one), so though I'll ask here first before creating accounts on other forums which are specific to Android.

Thanks for reading this long post :) and to those who could give me some advice.

Re: Lineage OS tablet purchase advice
 

https://www.indiegogo.com/projects/y...2-in-1-tablet/

Worth checking this out

Re: Lineage OS tablet purchase advice
 

I have an Asus/Google Nexus 7 2013(flo) which works pretty well with LineageOS. The one with a LTE modem(deb?) probably works too but you have to look that up.
I strongly suggest a glass adhesive screen protector and a big thick bumper case, I use a Trident brand one which works pretty good. I also protect that rubber cased tablet inside a USB keyboard folder case except if I am at home reading a book.
The things are kind of fragile when you get to 24cm of leverage corner to corner against the glass digitizer or dropping on one of those corners and the thin bezer is not enough to stop the force. I went through tries just replacing the digitizer, digitizer and LCD, or both and the Al frame before I did it right and seated the digitizer right inside a straight bezel frame.
And with a quick duckduck(because eff-google)
https://download.lineageos.org/deb

may I recommend you use the f-droid repos and not install google services. I use the somewhat creepy apkmirror app to get the few closed APKs as I will not do G-Play. F-droid has an app to load and update community compiled chromium so you do not have to use Goog's binary Chrome browser. Right now the non-Play nav plugins are not at 100% but that is only important if you are using other apps form the gplay store.

FWIW I just bluetooth tether my Nexus7 flo to my N900 for network access or grab local wifi. The tablet fills the gaps like browsing, big screen and NFC for stuff like topping off my transit card.

Re: Lineage OS tablet purchase advice
 

I second that option. I had the original Jolla tablet before, but I donated it as a prize to the Maemo Coding Competition.

Now I have ordered the Youyota tablet (64GB version) as I have full confidence it it, it is a very nice piece of technology well suited to all my needs.

Re: Lineage OS tablet purchase advice
 

Wow, tried checking it out, but indygogo runs so many damn scripts I got sick of trying to unblock. It is literally an unusable website, I will wait til someone does a useful story on that tablet.

Re: Lineage OS tablet purchase advice
 

He's looking for something with cellular connectivity.

Re: Lineage OS tablet purchase advice
 

Honestly I would not recommend a Jolla/Youyota tablet in this case, at all. The only requirements it fits is that it has a screen size of 8 inches and a GPS. Its performance is not good at all, in fact quite the opposite: graphics-wise the lag is unbelievable (instead of smooth movements as in other Sailfish devices it's all jumpy, and the screen has to be thoroughly wiped every couple of days if you don't want to get randomly registered taps and swipes), and the battery life is very, very, very poor (it lasts precisely 2-3 days just laying there, completely unused). It also doesn't have a SIM card slot, so would need tethering, and considering the mentioned Nokia Asha, this is not an option.

Maybe, and hopefully, these are software bugs that can be solved (although the screen having to be cleaned certainly isn't), but for now it's unusable for lay(wo)men.

Regarding the scripts on Indiegogo, I've found it 'only' needs indiegogo, iggcdn and stripe for the site to function.

Regarding the apkmirror thing you mentioned, you can use Aptoide instead, it's free software and works quite well.

Re: Lineage OS tablet purchase advice
 

Yes, I posted a link to the Nexus7 deb LTE image not the flo WiFi-only image. Though it should be noted the the Nexus7s DO-NOT do telephony over regular mobile networks, only data but she prefers her Asha for use as a phone so I assumed she wanted both.

Re: Lineage OS tablet purchase advice
 

ooh, I missed that requirement.

However it's not a problem since she already has a dumbphone; Of course it depends on the phone but I used to do wlan sharing with my phones in the days of Symbian so I suppose she can use the phone to tether the tablet..?

Another option would be to connect a usb-stick cellular modem to the tablet; not an optimal solution since it most probably would require usb-a/microusb adapter and the stick would dangle out from the side unattractively. :eek:

Re: Lineage OS tablet purchase advice
 

I always thought men are ok with somthing to "dangle out from the side unattractively."

/o\

Re: Lineage OS tablet purchase advice
 

Thanks for all your answers, wasn't expecting for answers this quickly.

@meet.vino : I can't say I'm a big fan of Sailfish OS, even if in this case I could buy a tablet with this OS, but I would rather buy something that is actually on shelf and asap, so waiting for them to get the targeted sum and to produce it, is not an option.

@biketool : was thinking about the Nexus 7 as it thicks all the requirements, but I can't seem to find it new on the market (if you know where I can find one please let me know).... don't need telephony, only data over 2/3/4G

The phone she uses right now is a Nokia Asha (can't remember the model) so I think tethering is not an option. And I would rather have something with build in cellular data.

So, what currently available tablets have the specified requirements.

PS : found a Nexus 7 here, but seems kind of expensive for a 4 year old tablet.... don't get me wrong, if I find something that really worth spending that amount (or even more), maybe I'll do it....

Re: Lineage OS tablet purchase advice
 

Does it really have to be new? I'm sure you can get one second hand in near mint condition for a fraction of the price.

Re: Lineage OS tablet purchase advice
 

So the weakness of the Nexus 7 is the screen cracking. Get a nexus 7 2013 with a cracked screen for cheap and buy the bezel, LCD, and digitizer; then replace those parts and you have a working machine for cheap. then add the protection I listed above. The big downside is that the Nexus 7 like most newer phones and tablets lacks a SD card slot.

Re: Lineage OS tablet purchase advice
 

I tried to replace the screen on a N7 (2013). Not as easy as it looks and not that cheap either, I ended up messing it up trying to remove the old screen (it's all glued so you have to use a heat gun and I wasn't careful and melted some plastic).

Decent tablet though, I have the LTE variant and it's currently running LineagoOS. The one I tried to repair was someone else's.

Re: Lineage OS tablet purchase advice
 

Agreed, I suggest a new bezel vs heating and scraping, took me 3-4 tries at trying to be cheap recycle stuff before I just got a bezel and a new LCD and digitizer and assembled them. but it is also possible to get an assembled bezel with the digitizer&LCD all together. Just pry apart, disassemble, and plug in the two ribbons. I think it is the price of broken tablet + ~$50US.
If you are trying to recycle the bezel then be careful not to melt the plastic as it will become impossible to properly seat the glass digitizer.
then come s the crack and no more digitizer though the LCD still works and you can use a USB mouse. I found stripping the adhesive proteceion and placing the lcd-digitizer face down and then alligning the bezel/frame over it worked best for me.

Re: Lineage OS tablet purchase advice
 

I put Lineage on my wifes Yoga 3 10" and it works great.
Also changing digitizer is quite easy as the frame is easy to disassamble.
Digitzer did cost 25$ and twoo weeks wait from china, including some not working UV Glue that cost me an additional evening to remove the **** again and reglue with pattex 100% :p

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/DBjnTjgXkAATP4s.jpg

Re: Lineage OS tablet purchase advice
 

My girlfriend's birthday is next month an I thought that the tablet could be her present, that's why I would rather get something new (don't think a second hand tablet will have the same effect...).

Plus I am not really a hardware guy, so would be difficult for me to replace anything on a tablet.

It is a shame that none of the currently available tablets is supported by Lineage OS...

Re: Lineage OS tablet purchase advice
 

I've got a SM-P600 (Samsung Galaxy Note 10.1 2014 Edition). Ok, it's rather old but what I like is the pen which is pressure sensitive (Wacom digitizer). That's the reason i bought it (used but great condition). I like how you can use it as pointer and navigate with it through web sites, even those hoverable dropdown menues. The battery life is really good. There's a LTE Version as well.

As I've seen, theres "official" LineageOS available for it. I'm really thinking about giving it a try.

Re: Lineage OS tablet purchase advice
 

Does the Jolla tablet actually support that option?
Both hardware-wise (USB OTG with enough power) and software? :confused:

Re: Lineage OS tablet purchase advice
 

What I would really like is to be able to use a normal x11 environment in my Nexus7; or any new tablet or phone I get. That and be able to use regualr bash scripts and commands without figuring out the irritating differences. The difference is sometimes like having to jump into a DOS prompt after 20 years on linux /unix.
Ideally I would like to see a nicely designed Maemo5 type multitouch environment GUI.

Re: Lineage OS tablet purchase advice
 

Excellent question that merits some investigation.
Too bad I did not try OTG when I had my tablet; that's something I'll have to look into later when I get the replacement.

Re: Lineage OS tablet purchase advice
 

I will say with the nexus 7 and LineageOS I have had a recurring problem with USB OTG becoming unresponsive when using flash drives despite the service for charging and USB keyboard always works. No idea what it is and being a non-GNU Linux I am not sure how to track down the issue. the problem crops up and can persist for months sometimes if I am lucky fixing itself for a bit if I reflash to certain saves. The issue even presents itself in the TWRP recovery manager. Not sure if this a hardware or software issue but worth considering.
Of course this is a major problem because the MTP connection is super wonky.
Franky it is tricky getting data on and off of Android based devices, not sure if that is by design. But on the N900 be it a flash card, USB, USB host mode, wifi, or bluetooth the transfer is sweet and easy unlike Android.
(edit)
OK, today was hardware day...
I tweaked my slightly bent Nexus USB port, now it works, but it turns out that my little OTG adapter is NOT working . So not software or something inherent in the design of the Nexus, with the springy teeth the charge and keyboard cables/jacks worked fooling me.
I also got Amaze file manager going, it has an FTP server included. Cant get it working secure but for a few minutes of online at home annon login is enough to tweak or backup files from my laptop.
I bet the loose port is what was making my MTP connection so flaky too.
I will say that unlike the N900 the Nexus7's USB port is anchored down quite well and just took some bending with a screwdriver tip to get it OK.

Re: Lineage OS tablet purchase advice
 

I finally bought a second hand Nexus 7 with LTE in real good condition (no visible marks of any usage, don't know how the guy kept it in that condition), for about 130 EUR.

Flashed Lineage OS on it, configured users profiles and installed some apps... I must say, from an "entertainment" device point of view it is quite good. Don't get me wrong, for ssh or mail (or any other security/productive activity) I will still use my N900, but for lets say online videos, tv channels, music etc. I could use the tablet.

I only have one little thing that is bothering me : how to get weather working on the tablet. No good results when it looks for "cyanogenmodweatherprovider" on F-Droid or Google Play.

Re: Lineage OS tablet purchase advice
 

you need
indiegogo.com
iggcdn.com
stripe.com

I also allowed session cookie for indiegogo.com and www.indiegogo.com

Re: Lineage OS tablet purchase advice
 

I'm thinking of getting the Xiaomi Mi Mix. It has a 6.4 inch screen. Not quite a tablet but close. Apparently Lineage OS is available for it. I'm looking into it. Assuming it is working well, would someone provide a link that shows how to port Sailfish on a device that is running Lineage. Thanks! .

Re: Lineage OS tablet purchase advice
 

Replying to myself.

Here at the bottom :

Weather Providers
YahooWeatherProvider.apk
OpenWeatherMapWeatherProvider.apk
WundergroundWeatherProvider.apk