I’ve got an old Lenovo Tab3 850M table, running Android 6.0.1
It’s pretty vanilla and I haven’t installed any custom ROMs or rooted the device. The battery is in pretty good condition and the table can idle for around a week I think.
It has an 8 inch IPS display, Quad-Core 1.0GHz ARM Cortex-A53 CPU, ARM Mali-T720 MP2, 500 MHz, 4-Cores GPU, 2GB of RAM, and 16GB internal storage. The cameras are pretty terrible (even for 2016 standards), and the battery is 4300mAh.
What useful things can I do with it?
Make a smart mirror that can display the time/weather/calendar etc.
Homeassistant control panel
This or 3D printer screen is probably the best use if you are into these hobbies. I was also thinking about tablet for cookbook in the kitchen
Android 6 and 2GB RAM are still pretty sufficient, that should run everything important. I’d try to flash some lightweight ROM (maybe with higher Android) or at least debloat, and just use it normally for whatever I’d use a tablet for.
How do you recommend I debloat the tablet without bricking it?
Remove apps through adb. There’s also an “universal debloater” that can automate it, but I could never make it work.
First, I’d suggest flashing a community system ROM. OEM systems are both very bloated, and stop being supported much earlier than community ones, so they’re not ideal unless you need to use it with some banking app or the sort. And if you don’t need Google’s services (de-Google, anyone?), I strongly recommend going for a vanilla system instead of a Gapps one.
Now, as stated in MargotRobbie’s comment, one good use is as a media player. If you can sideload stuff like VLC and Librera Reader, you should be covered.
You can also use it for some lighter gaming, if that’s your thing, as there’s plenty of emulators, wrappers and engine implementations for Android.
You can also use it for running servers, if you do this sort of stuff.
And if you like to test around with softwares, a spare Android device is pretty good to have.
I checked the XDA forum a bit, I found this but I’m not sure on how to unlock the bootloader, install TWRP and flash the ROM?
I had once bricked this tablet while playing around with rooting it and I had to take it to a repair shop. So I’d appreciate if there were working unbrick instructions and also working instructions on how to install TWRP.
What kind of servers could I run on this spec?
You also need to find instructions specific to your device on how to unlock the bootloader, and a TWRP specific to your device. From there, you do a clean flash through TWRP (erasing certain partitions and then installing the new ROM), and then, you should be good to go.
Use it as a digital picture frame.
I’ve recently hooked my old tab s up to my 3d printer to have a nice touch screen instead of the 128px lcd with rotary knob.
I have an old tab S lying around and this sounds amazing What software do you use for this?
X-server xsdl
How? I’ve been looking into this but there are lots of apps and I’m not sure where to start
Probably Octoprint or Klipperscreen.
Interesting use. Unfortunately I haven’t found any usage like that. Maybe a home automation system and an Arduino interface?
Using them for a Home Assistant interface is a pretty popular use.
Use it as a media watching device? Watch movies when you’re in bed is like the primary use of tablets I can think of.
The screen resolution (1280 x 800) is kinda bad, and it’s also an IPS display.
Eh on a tablet display its not like 1280x800 is bad for video. Unless you’re a pixel peeper and you hold the display <6 inches from your face the quality difference will be negligible
It’s no Kindle, but should still be a good e-reader. Don’t forget about Libby/Overdrive, see if your local library is on the list.
Yeah, I’ve used it as that for now but the display strains my eyes. Is there any app/feature which could help with contrast and readability?
I’ve been ok with my Galaxy Tab S6 Lite, which is quite a bit newer… But I have to ask, are you reading with black text on a white background?
Yes.
Try the reverse, see if it helps. I use a very light grey on a black screen.
There are people still looking for older cheaper devices cause they can’t afford newer devices. If you are not using your device, imho it would be used better with someone else.
I have tried selling it but people only want the display and will pay only the fraction of the price.
I have also wanted to donate it to people in need but I think a smart phone would serve a better purpose.
