Well, about all I'm able to use the nexus 7 for is light web browsing and the Guardian app (I have an older version that lets you read articles offline without a paid sub -- which I suspect won't be available for the replacement  :-@ ), with frequent reboots and ~3h battery life.  :-S

In the past I've used it for ssh and vnc clients which it can sometimes still manage, barely. Email is pretty hopeless on it. I've got an OTG usb converter hub and a mini-keyboard I'm hoping to recycle for use as a vacay laptop replacement.

So's thanks to yours and Kenny's observations, I'm going for the A8.

Here's a comparison of the two models in question:

https://versus.com/en/google-nexus-7-2012-vs-samsung-galaxy-tab-a-8-0-lte-2019

It's interesting to see in which areas the older tablets still hold up. When I replaced my Nexus 10, I found that the screen still compared favourably to the modern options, it was just that the processor was now woefully outdated (and the battery was gubbed).

Yeah, it's really too bad these things can't be upgraded (or at least the battery swappable). When I advised Mrs.D of the purchase she asked me if she could have the old tablet ... well (I replied) yes you can, but you probably won't want it (she's not sure she even wants or needs one, but still).

The Nexus 7 is still probably/definitely better than the total shit that gets pushed out new at super low prices these days. I bought a tablet when I was looking for something to control my music PC. On paper it looked OK and I'm sure (well, I know) they sold thousands of units under various brand names, but it's just a triumph of unbalanced design. I say design, but I suspect that extended just as far as ensuring they turned on.

The Nexus 7 (2012) was one of Google's first kicks at the tablet can, a prototype you might say, and it hasn't aged well (new-in-box it's got some pretty major issues, notably the wifi modem). I bought mine refurb and certainly got my ~$Can.150 worth out of it. I even bought a little stand that links to some gold contacts on the side of the tablet -- or did for a while.

I've been tempted by the low prices of assorted off-brand tablets, and had generally good luck with off-brand gear including my $50 Android phone (nothing to write home about, but it does what I need pretty well).

maiden voyage on this thing. Impressively fast and easy compared to previous. Samsung-tinged android isn't too terrible, not sure if I totally like it though. Tablet form factor relatively awkward, I suppose I'll get used to it. Onwards and sideways!

I've still got my Nexus 7 somewhere. Was great at the time, but eventually ground to a halt. No amount of hacks and mods could get around the dodgy flash storage that was used that slows over time.

I've now got a 10 inch Lenovo thing that I originally bought to install as some sort of interface/stereo in my van. But that never happened and I have since bought an 11 inch dedicated proper Android stereo which is great.

I should use the Lenovo tablet more because it is quite nice, if a little bit laggy at times.

Whelp, the A8 just got Android 10 OTA.

Anyone trying to run Netflix on an old tablet? I'm asking 'cos we've got an ageing Acer iconia which up until very recently has been able to cope with the apps installed on there (spotify, kodi, disney+, plus a host games and other crappery) but Netflix has decided to foul up and send the whole video stream a shade of pixellated pink or green. The video still plays as you can make out the image in what looks like those moving stereograms from the 90s. The audio's fine and written titles appear fine as well. The tablet's been flattened, the apps reinstalled, caches cleared. Other than exorcism I'm not sure where to go next. :C Netflix's site clearly shows they know about this issue, but have a standard 'we're investigating it' message when delving any further. 
What does teh posse think, tablet too old, new unsupported codecs on this tablet, or something else?

It almost sounds like you're getting a 3d feed (as in for those '3d' tvs you need to wear glasses with red and green-tinted lenses to watch) ? Is that still a thing?

it is on this tablet.  B-)

The picture's all garbled though, but will resolve itself for a few seconds, then go back to garbled. I'll try grab some real life video evidence later on. 

Damn this thing's already had more updates than Windows 10, and I've only had it for a  couple of days.

Here's the dodgy video issue I'm seeing (audio was going through headphones, but plays perfectly normally)

It's only affecting Netflix, but the weirdness goes a bit further in that text in the video seems to be unaffected. 


 

That's it then, it'll be slower than continental drift from hereon in. 

;-) so far performance has been unaffected. And I haven't had to recharge it in 3 days.

DRM? Maybe your tablet isn't fully supported for DRM by the app or your browser. The sound stream won't be encrypted so that's fine, and it's possible that some of the titles are held as a separate stream as well. Or maybe as stationary images they can be decrypted (more) successfully.

I've lost track of what Netflix does, but they've used and/or are using MS Playready, Widevine, and Playfair. They've been withdrawing support for older devices over the last 2-3 years, so maybe this is the issue. 

If you're using the app, have you tried playing through Chrome or Firefox instead, and vice versa?

Yeah it looks like the ppv channels that you didn't pay for on a motel tv. I think you're on to something.

Finally found an app that will do SMB shares AND play musics in the background; Total Commander. It's a two-pane affair like other *** commander unix file browsers (I like Midnight Commander on linux distros).

It seems the trick to SMB > v1 on android is the share has to be user/pass, not guest access.