I need to buy a tablet

Questions about the Spark amp hardware
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2Piedrasmore
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I need to buy a tablet

Post by 2Piedrasmore »

Hi. My husband is a guitar person, not a computer person. I am a computer person, not a guitar person. I want to get a tablet (or at least a bigger screen than a phone) for him to use, mostly with the Spark and other music-related things. His Spark hasn't been delivered yet. What features do you recommend? He uses a Samsung phone, so I'd really like to stay with Android, seems like? Or perhaps Windows but I'd be surprised if that is your recommendation. Can you give me a recommendation or things to consider? Is cell service a big help with Spark? Does it need to have WIFI to be useful for backyard gigs? Does he need lots of storage on the device? Bluetooth? USB-c? Memory/speed recommendations? Specific inputs/outputs? Thanks much for any help you can give.
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Richard
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Re: I need to buy a tablet

Post by Richard »

2Piedrasmore wrote: Tue Jul 21, 2020 7:09 pm Hi. My husband is a guitar person, not a computer person. I am a computer person, not a guitar person. I want to get a tablet (or at least a bigger screen than a phone) for him to use, mostly with the Spark and other music-related things. His Spark hasn't been delivered yet. What features do you recommend? He uses a Samsung phone, so I'd really like to stay with Android, seems like? Or perhaps Windows but I'd be surprised if that is your recommendation. Can you give me a recommendation or things to consider? Is cell service a big help with Spark? Does it need to have WIFI to be useful for backyard gigs? Does he need lots of storage on the device? Bluetooth? USB-c? Memory/speed recommendations? Specific inputs/outputs? Thanks much for any help you can give.
I am personally using an iPad, but the Spark software is also available for Android so that shouldn't make a difference. Cell service is irrelevant. Wifi is needed if you want to get existing tunes or tones from the cloud (I don't think there are many tablets without wifi, anyway). You don't need a lot of storage at all. Bluetooth is super important because that is what it uses to connected with the Spark. USB-C is irrelevant. Except for Bluetooth and wifi, no specific inputs/outputs are needed. If you ever want to update the the firmware of the Spark amp you will use a computer for that.
If you have any further questions, do ask!
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S@muele
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Joined: Fri Jul 03, 2020 10:58 am
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Re: I need to buy a tablet

Post by S@muele »

PG says that Spark Amp app is compatible with Android 8.1 - 9.0 only
but I see that it also works with 10
I have a new Lenovo Tab M10 Plus (cheap but very good)
at this moment I think that the only boredom of Android, unlike iOS, is that horizontal viewing (landscape) not yet possible.
Bluesguy
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Re: I need to buy a tablet

Post by Bluesguy »

S@muele wrote: Wed Jul 22, 2020 8:45 am PG says that Spark Amp app is compatible with Android 8.1 - 9.0 only
but I see that it also works with 10
I have a new Lenovo Tab M10 Plus (cheap but very good)
at this moment I think that the only boredom of Android, unlike iOS, is that horizontal viewing (landscape) not yet possible.
Lenovo's are good tablets, I just got a new and better, more expensive, Samsung for my daily use and moving my Lenovo to the studio. The portrait over landscape not a killer for me as I normally use my tablets in portrait when using for tabs or lyrics or other music stuff, landscape for web surfing and email etc.
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S@muele
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Re: I need to buy a tablet

Post by S@muele »

Bluesguy wrote: Wed Jul 22, 2020 3:34 pm Lenovo's are good tablets, I just got a new and better, more expensive, Samsung for my daily use and moving my Lenovo to the studio. The portrait over landscape not a killer for me as I normally use my tablets in portrait when using for tabs or lyrics or other music stuff, landscape for web surfing and email etc.
certainly not but in landscape view you don't have to scroll the pedals of the chain that remain off the screen every time
Guitarman007
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Joined: Thu Aug 06, 2020 10:13 pm
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Re: I need to buy a tablet

Post by Guitarman007 »

I use an iPad. It works well and the screen is easy to see. If possible, buy some sort of stand to keep the tablet upright. It helps not having to hunch over to look at the screen when jamming or messing around with amp settings.

I also use a Samsung Galaxy Note 9. Way too small. I prefer the iPad!
Bluesguy
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Re: I need to buy a tablet

Post by Bluesguy »

S@muele wrote: Wed Jul 22, 2020 4:19 pm
Bluesguy wrote: Wed Jul 22, 2020 3:34 pm Lenovo's are good tablets, I just got a new and better, more expensive, Samsung for my daily use and moving my Lenovo to the studio. The portrait over landscape not a killer for me as I normally use my tablets in portrait when using for tabs or lyrics or other music stuff, landscape for web surfing and email etc.
certainly not but in landscape view you don't have to scroll the pedals of the chain that remain off the screen every time
I don't do much pedal dancing even with my physical pedal board.....I did submit a customer service request to add about 4 user definable buttons along the bottom of the screen that the player could assign to various things like a preset or a pedal on/off that you could then just tap with your finger. Vote it up!
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