Animosophy
Member
Registered: 2013-02-19
Posts: 180
For those of you who own tablets, do you find them useful for studying??
I'm trying to decide between buying a budget laptop with an android tablet like the Nexus 7, or getting a Windows 8 tablet to handle both work and play.
The reason I want a tablet is to make things like using Anki much more portable, to read books without having to sit in front of a desktop, and consume content prepared from a laptop that I'd use mostly for research, creating and editing decks, Microsoft Office and everything you'd usually do on a desktop. Can an Android tablet do these things for me?
I'm not sure about a Windows 8 tablet because they lack USB ports and I like to use a full-sized mouse and keyboard for work. I'd be more inclined towards something like the Lenovo Yoga or Twist but they're not exactly as portable as tablets... hmm, any thoughts?
PotbellyPig
Member
From: New York
Registered: 2012-01-29
Posts: 337
I have an iPad 4, Galaxy Note 10.1 (Android) and a Lenovo Thinkpad Tablet 2 (Windows 8). Yes, I love tablets :>. For a mobile version of Anki, iOS is your best bet since Anki Mobile is written by the author (and costs money) and is very stable. I don't like Ankidroid at all even though it is free. Too many issues.
Now to the crux of the question. For the iPad, besides a nice version of Anki you have tons of apps in the app store which you could possibly use to learn Japanese from. Though I haven't used many to be honest. Human Japanese is supposed to be a good one and I've used it briefly.
The big advantage of the Android tablet is if you can set up a Japan VPN (or live in Japan), you can buy Mezec (by Metamoji) which is the absolutely best Japanese handrwiting recognition software out there and you can use it with any application as a generic keyboard. Their english handwritng recognition is also the best. They sell an app called Notes Anytime on the ipad and windows also but the handwriting recognition is confined to that one app. With a Japan VPN you could also buy ebooks via one of the various ebook soruces as well.
The new software to assist in reading Manga and adding cards to an anki deck is also great. I didn't care so much for the Rikaisama port but it is useable.
For me, an intermediate learner, the Windows 8 tablet is most useful. Get a full Windows 8 tablet or convertible (no RT stuff). It can run the full Anki software along with Yomichan and Rikaisama! That means you can load text based books and read them easily and effortlessly add unknown words and their enclosed sentences to your anki deck. I love doing this! Someone ported Rikaisama to android but it is not as convenient. I went so far as to buy a Fuji SnapScan sheet-fed scanner and use OCR software to convert books to text format all the time.
If you have any other questions feel free to ask. Right now if you like to read manga, I would lean towards android because of cb's manga app. For light novels and other books, I would lean toward a Windows 8 tablet/convertible or the like.
Last edited by PotbellyPig (2013 September 15, 1:50 pm)
rich_f
Member
From: north carolina
Registered: 2007-07-12
Posts: 1708
@PotbellyPig Instead of Mazec, try Swype in Japanese mode. It's even better than Mazec, IMO. Swype even made me stop using ATOK, which used to be my favorite for JP input in Android. (But it's only available in Japan.)
I just got a Galaxy Note 8.0 a month or so ago, and with Swype and one of the EPWING readers, it's a really nice combo. It hasn't quite replaced my electronic dictionary for daily use, but it's close. My electronic dictionary is just faster/easier for me to use.
I'm starting to look at those Win8 tablets, too, for a number of reasons: saving on space when traveling, no Samsung crapware on them, and, hell, it runs Windows, so you're not stuck with hobbled software--you get the real thing.
For example: I've been looking for decent musical notation software. No dice on Android. There is software, but the interfaces are uniformly awful. Musescore on a Win8 tablet... now you're talking.
Now that MS has finally started to get its act together, the Win8 tablets are looking awfully tempting. I think one more iteration and they'll get me.
Animosophy
Member
Registered: 2013-02-19
Posts: 180
Thanks very much for the info, Potbelly & rich!
The ability to use yomichan, rikaisama and other software from cb is indispensible for me. Can a Windows 8 tablet handle the demands of, say, subs2srs, Microsoft Word and heavy browsing simultaneously? That's the most I could ask for, even from a desktop.
I feel like buying a laptop as well as a Windows 8 tablet is overkill, but at the same time I think a tablet isn't enough... nothing really compares to a traditional keyboard for typing D: or am I underestimating swype-style gesture input?
The best idea I've come up with so far is to get a tablet docking station with a few USB ports and HDMI output to connect to a widescreen monitor whenever I want to watch something at home or use a normal keyboard while browsing and/or using office programs. Is this is a good idea or am I expecting too much from tablets in terms of performance?
Edit: pretty sure I'm asking too much from a tablet after looking at specs in my price range...
Last edited by Animosophy (2013 September 15, 4:42 pm)
PotbellyPig
Member
From: New York
Registered: 2012-01-29
Posts: 337
If you get a tablet with an i5 processor, it's no problem at all. I had a Microsoft Surface Pro for a while and it performs fine. The problem is that the i5 tablets are too heavy! The Surface Pro is 2 lbs and I found it too uncomfortable for casual reading. So that's why I got the Lenevo Thinkpad Tablet 2. It is featherweight but there is a downside: The Atom processor currently used in these light Windows 8 tablets is not powerful at all. It can run Yomichan, browsing and the like but not much more than that! If you want to go the light weight route, wait 2 months for the new Bay Trail Atom processors to be built into the next revision of tablets. They are quad-core and supposedly twice the power. Preliminary tests I've seen on the prcoessor look good. I'll probably ditch my Lenovo on ebay and upgrade when the new revision comes out. If weight is not important to you, buy a i5 tablet or one of those convertibles (keyboard folding back and the like).
PotbellyPig
Member
From: New York
Registered: 2012-01-29
Posts: 337
Bokusenou wrote:
dabrowskiowski wrote:
For all of those rocking androids, check this out!
https://play.google.com/store/apps/deta … v3_2_store
It is in beta but it is a hand writing keyboard that scrolls along as you write. There are many different languages that you can use with this. Japanese happens to be one of them! There is a time limit too, so you will have to make sure that you can write your kanji quickly enough!
Wow, that app is amazing! I might switch to it full time to get some writing practice. Thanks a lot for posting it!
If you like that, then try Mazec 2. It is by far the best japanese handwriting keyboard. It is even the best english handwriting one as well if you have the standalone english version or you add the english option to the japanese version. If you want to buy the full japanese version, you have to be in Japan or use a Japanese VPN. You can go back and correct things as much as you want and it can figure out the character even if you get the stroke order wrong. I've use myscript products before and they are inferior to mazec.
Last edited by PotbellyPig (2013 October 07, 5:12 pm)
