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On Fri, May 9, 2014 at 10:21 AM, dmccunney <[email protected]> wrote:
> The unanswered question is whether rooting it will also permit use of
> an external USB keyboard. The device FAQ says no, but whether this is
> a limitation of the unrooted version of the OS, or a hardware issue
> where USB host mode simply isn't present is unclear. If the latter,
> no USB keyboard, but I'll live. While it would be nice, little of what
> I do on the tablet really needs it.
And after some delay, I've answered the question.
I had a Logitech Portable keyboard I might be able to use, but it uses
a standard male USB connector. I had a few accessories on my shopping
list, so I made another trip to MicroCenter, and returned with a 32 GB
microSD card, to replace the existing 16GB card in the tablet, a 32 GB
MicroCenter branded USB thumb drive, a case for the Azpen A700 (which
is identical in form factor to the A727) that was on clearance, and a
female USB->male microUSB adapter.
The 32 GB flash drive was for a portable Calibre installation. I use
Calibre to manage my eBook library, and this way it isn't tied to a
specific machine. The 32 GB microSD card was for future expansion on
the tablet. The existing 16GB card was down to 3.5 GB free space, and
I'm still adding stuff. It was about time I got a proper case. And
the adapter would let me plug in my keyboard to test. If it worked,
no need to buy a portable keyboard designed for a tablet with a
microUSB connector.
It *did* work. When I plugged in the keyboard, it was recognized by
the device, and a Logitech keyboard entry appeared in Settings where I
could select the desired keyboard layout. (The default was US
English, which I kept.) The keyboard worked in the A920 editor and
Google Docs..
At a guess, the FAQ is correct for an unrooted device, and a keyboard
won't work. My rooted device behaves just fine.
Getting the keyboard to work produced a "Hmmmm. I wonder if..."
moment. I have a small 4 port Belkin USB hub in the laptop case that
is selbom used. I plugged the male USB connector into the adapter,
plugged the keyboard and a Logitech USB mouse into the hub, and
attached the hub to the tablet through tyhe adapter. Both keyboard
*and* mouse worked. A mouse pointer appeared on the tablet desktop,
and could be used to do thinks normally requiring screen touches.
Configuration is in the expected state of flux.
The scarce resource is app storage space, and fitting everything is a
challenge. Various things were failing to update because of
insufficient storage space.
Google Earth went away, since I have little real need for it. Quick
Office went away, since Google now deprecates it, and wants you to use
the Google Docs and Sheets apps instead But the Google apps are all
large, and cannot be moved to the internal card, and Docs and Sheets
were failing to update. Both went away.
One of the missing pieces was an office suite for Android. After
removing Quick Office, I looked to see what else was available, and
installed Kingston Office. A quick search indicated it was the fullest
featured of the free products, and has the ability to load from and
save to Google Drive and Dropbox. A plus for me is that it creates a
local copy to edit on, so I can work on a document or spreadsheet
without being connected via wifi. (I'm not always around a hotspot,
and wifi is a major battery drain.)
The Google Drive app stayed, and I can access my drive and view
things. For editing, they get downloaded and worked on in Kingston
Office.
So far, so good.
______
Dennis
https://plus.google.com/u/0/105128793974319004519
------------------------------------
Posted by: dmccunney <[email protected]>
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