Samsung Tablets

[Laurie Stearn]

With enough shopping points accumulated, it was time to make the plunge and nab an S8 Tab. The current S10.1 Tab still works beautifully, although out of O/S support, the 16GB is still plenty of memory, whereas the S8 has a whopping 128GB, most of which will probably not be planned for access. Is there any point in rooting the old S10.5, or should all resources be directed to banging the S8 into shape?

There was a thread on the Assimilation Lab with some good ideas on rooting, and app management, some of which still have relevance. Did ask about official support, looks as if it’s fixed, hopefully there’s a way to circumvent the worst effects of premature decommissioning.

A particularly nasty problem is various authentication apps being picky about the operating system on the Android, which binds the helpless user to the hamster wheel of Operating System Updates, a false economy that does nothing but consume more and more of the dwindling reserves of rare earths. Another pending issue is in the transfer of data from old to new, apps with security features are wont to part with their settings.
According to the suppliers, the new tablet will be delivered within four weeks, so, upon receipt, expect an update on setup and operation. 🙂

[Bob Marley]

Rooting does give you more access to the underlying Linux system and lets you do things you wouldn’t otherwise be able to do, such as interface with your computer. It’s mostly for tinkerers and not all devices are easily rootable. In order to continue to update the software, you’ll need to unlock the bootloader and then install a custom ROM which will wipe the system. I’m not sure if that requires rooting or not, though.

Yeah, e-waste is a big problem. Fortunately, there are recycling programs that exist (not too widespread, sadly). Generally, it’s recommended to contact the manufacturer to see what their recycling recommendations are. Often, you need to send them off somewhere which isn’t always practical.

It’s best to keep the old device online until you transfer all the credentials over. Newer devices do have a data transfer tool that will copy most things over but you’ll still need to set up some of the accounts afterwards 🙂

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