April 10, 2022
Goldilocks Chooses a Tablet
Size Matters
Each evening on tour, while I am investing infinite time in writing the blog, Dodie needs to scan the route ahead, and using mostly Booking.com find some place to head for and stay the next night. As we think ahead to the trip, this quest for a place a decent distance down the route, with a vacancy, and at a reasonable price, seems very daunting. And this despite years of experience. How exactly to achieve this is the topic for the next chapter, but we do at least know that Dodie needs some reasonable electronic device to do this on. And after the search chore is done each night, the device needs to rest on lap or in hand sideways on the bed, and play soothing pre-recorded British mysteries or nature shows.
For some years Dodie's chosen device has been an 8 inch Samsung Galaxy Tab S2. It is quite fast, has an SD card slot, runs Osmand+, and fits in the hand while showing enough map to be usable. But alas, the thing has started to fail (boot loop) and I have failed in finding a fix. It is possibly dying of old age.
OK, so Dodie needs a new one. It seems strange for our household to be buying a new tablet. The fact is, our place is swimming in them. Here is a selection I was able to quickly dump onto the dining room table:
The 8" one is the one that is weakening. There are a few new 8" tablets floating around in the marketplace, some from Apple, Asus, and Lenovo, but the most available locally was the Galaxy Tab A 8.7". 8.7" has got to be better than 8", right? Think how many more guesthouses on a Booking map it will fit onto its screen at a time!
I cruised out to Best Buy and picked one up. Dodie hated it right away. Even I had to admit that the newer aspect ratio had made it skinnier and longer, and it really did not show you any more information, while tiring your hand a lot quicker. Dodie wrapped it back up and said take it back. But after a few hours she decided to give it a try, and I loaded it with gigabytes of European maps, tracks, and British mysteries. But right now it is all loaded and without a secure berth on the tour. Dodie sits nursing the old ailing 8", and really does not want to hold its goofy 8.7" replacement.
This might seem a little picky, but really it's not. If this story were about a pair of shoes or a bike frame, we would understand easily how size matters. This electronic tool is sort of in the same league. I guess!
So I went and got a spudger. A spudger? Spudgers are quite a topic. One could ask: What is the origin of the word “spudger?". Why is it necessary in an electronics toolkit? How is one used? Was it created for electronics use or was it used before that? Why not use a small screwdriver or knife instead? Is there more than one design? Fortunately, though I take a broad view of what can go into a cycling blog, I will not delve into spudgers, except to say that I used one to rip apart Dodie's beloved tablet:
Samsung put up quite a struggle, but I replaced the battery, and that seems to have fixed the problem. Now Dodie has to decide which device to bring. At least our chances are looking better for being able to find places to stay!
| Rate this entry's writing | Heart | 13 |
| Comment on this entry | Comment | 2 |
2 years ago