Great difficulty in following manual for Tablet: SGPT111GB/S

[Roland6X]

Hi

I am a very experienced user of Linux and Windows PCs and have recently acquired a Sony tablet and am struggling to understand important parts of the manual. It doesn't explain the basics of interacting with the screen, explain what each and every button does, where to find it (eg I can't find the 'Options menu'), how are files revealed - eg like Windows' "Windows Explorer". And so-on.

I've struggled to get the Wi-fi working but with no success - I have a Belkin Access point  RG45-connected  to a router containing a NAT facility. In short, I have failed to get the tablet to do anything useful.

Is there a better-written and comprehensive manual other than the helpguide helpguide_pdf.pdf file.?

Can I get the tablet to read PDF files.

Help

Roland6X

[jfpart]

Hi Roland, the tablet is unlike a pc in that it is not a windows os and needs to be thought of as an android piece of hadware. from the moment i had mine it took me a while to find out what it would and wouldn't do. I discovered that to do anything other than basic bits using the supplied software such as the browser etc you need to download an app. there are apps that will let you read pdfs, office documents etc. my wifi was ok to start, it picked it up and got online but not everything worked on web pages, i discovered that i needed to re program the router to suit my broadband supplier (aol) and now it all works well including bbc iplayer, ustream and so on.

regarding the manual - i have never found any manual helpful and it is usually best to play and discover,

hope that helps in some way

[Roland6X]

Hi jfpart

Many thanks for this very prompt and helpful response. I have eventually got the Wi-fi to work, but have to forgo the security of my router to allow-in only machines whose MAC address it knows. I simply can't find where the MAC address is kept - I can't find the OPtions Menu and that icon which looks like a 3-dot colon. Frankly , the manual is the very worst I've seen and surely there must be a better one to be found?? Now Kindle, for example is a superb device for reading stuff and it's manual is a jewel of explanatoriness..

3 questions - (a) from where do I download a PDF reader? (b) What is the usual method used to associate an App (PDF reader for example) and the particular pdf file you want to look at?

Lastly, do you like it...?

[sehuxle]

To get any apps you just use the Play store.

As explained above, forget about PCs this is an android device. It is designed to be used out of the box and most people buying these don't require a manual as the concept across all Android devices is the same. Whether phone, tablet or Sony, Samsung, HTC etc

As for the 3 dots, when in the browser, top right.

As for your queries can you be a bit more specific.

I think your wifi issue as down to your router, not the Sony, As an extra security measure routers can be set to allow specific devices. All you do is turn that off, connect your Sony, then turn the access restrication back on.

[firionicable]

Tablets usually work like any other mobile devices, but has a much advanced function. If you haven't check this page yet, please take a look:

http://www.sony.co.uk/support/en/product/SGPT111GB_S/manuals

[jfpart]

Play store has loads of apps  - even file explorers so you can search the memory for files but use is limited as not like a pc, the reason i bought mine was none, i could come up with no reason to tell my wife other than it being a big boys toy and my main use is for surfing the net as it is quicker to boot up and use compare to our laptop. i think it is a great bit of kit and although had some frustrations getting all the bits to work that i wanted it now performs well. I can even print pictures wirelessly to my kodak printer. if you want to connect anything via the usb socket make sure you get the right cable, it needs to be an on-the-go cable and my camera (canon eos) can be controlled, pictures instantly downloads etc. for me the key thing to remember isthat it isn't a pc and wont give you the control over the system that they do but i wanted it to be a bigger version of my smart phone for convenience and ease of use around the net. the request for desktop site in the browser is great as many websites work better than the mobile equivalent.

hope that helps

JFP

[Roland6X]

Hi jfpart,  firionicable, sehuxle

Many thanks for your help. I've made some progress, but still can't find the tablet's MAC address. Actually, sehuxle, the icon top right in the browser page isn't the '3-dot colon' , but a square filled with horizontal white lines. tapping it does produce a menu, but no mention of MAC address.

Yes I have checked http://www.sony.co.uk/support/en/product/SGPT111GB_S/manuals  and have been reading the helpguide-pdf.pdf file, but only on my PC.

Do any of you reccomend a pdf fie reader App and where to get it?

{I spent hours trying to get Adobe's reader, but unwisely went to http://play.google....... Disaster you get hoked into a stupid quiz and invited to pay many shekels for the download. Other sites produced naughty pictures, promised a download, but even after 15 minutes didn't work...}

I am concerned with  garbage file clutter - seems there is no method for deletion procedure.

Can a older-full of files be transferred from SD card to the Tablets file store?

Is there a way to force-launch the Keyboard? and are there better keyboard apps?

Have you tried the (Windows) pdf reader Sumatra? It's small, fast, effective and reads *.chm, *.mobi, *.epub and *.pdf files and has an effective search facility.

Thanks for your attention

mhg

[sehuxle]

As has been said a couple of times, you need to vist the Play Store on your tablet. This is the only place to get apps for your tablet.

Then search the store for a suitable PDF reader, in fact Adobe reader is available along with many others.

Not sure what you mean about 'hooked into a stupid quiz'. I can only assume you tried to download a game.

The store is split into sub sections, you have apps, games, books and films. But it's easy to use the search button. Just click it type adobe or pdf or similar and it will bring up all the relevant apps. Then download it.

Android doesn't show files stored on it memory, in truth no real need, but again there are apps that allow you to view, delete or whatever in a similar way to windows explorer. For this I would recomend filemanagerHD

[breedBenR]

To correctly setup your wifi router: You can lookup your tablet's MAC adress in the Settings screen.

Go to Settings

Go to the Wifi Tab

press the 'Options-button-icon' thingy
  (it sits in the upper right corner of Settings, it is three little gray squares on top of each other)

select 'Advanced'

behold thy MAC address

Further tips:

- Download an app like File Manager HD, from Google Play (a.k.a. Android Market), to be able to browse the tablet's storage and remove files to your likings. This will serve you in similar ways as the File Explorer does on Windows.

- When you google for help, google for 'help on Android 4.0' and not 'help on Sony Tablet' for much more hits and much more clear explanations.

- Sony Reader can read PDF files, Adobe also has a reader app in the Market, there are other apps. Install one of them and it will associate PDF files to that app and offer to open them from within other apps, such as your email app, your webbrowser, or your file manager app.

[mpattenden]

Roland,

Welcome to the forum - there is definitely a wealth of knowledge here and people who are more than willing to help as you will have seen.

My pointers to you for ease of adaptation to your tablet is to think of it more like a smartphone than a pc. That's not to say it can't do pc like tasks but you generally need 'an app' to do it.

If you have specific functionality you are looking for then try and be specific and you'll most likely get an answer here.

You'll have already seen with FileManagerHD that alot of use that app for 'file browsing' although the naming structure used isn't that obvious - for example your external sd card is actually the sdcard2 directory!

There are other apps for media viewing fornats that aren't supported by the native viewer I use MX player personally but you will see others listed as well.

So enjoy your tablet - let us know if you have more questions and if we can help.

Regards

Padster