Chris is looking for a good tablet that won't break the bank. Is there a Chromebook tablet? Leo says there is, but he doesn't recommend it. The best Android tablets are made by Samsung, and the Galaxy Tab S3 is about $450. Leo says that Google had a great tablet called the Pixel C, but they don't make it anymore. If budget is an issue, then the Amazon Fire tablet is the best because they are heavily subsidized.
Julie has a Samsung Galaxy S3. Leo says the S3 was a great phone, but it won't get past Android 4, so she's missing out on some important security protections. Now she can't get her email on her phone. Leo says that since Julie had been using Hotmail, it has been replaced by Outlook Mail, and the settings Julie uses have probably been discontinued.
Chip's Samsung Galaxy mobile phone had a bunch of pictures on it, but they started disappearing. Leo says that there may be an app that is moving the photos to a folder, and they aren't really missing. Or the images are being uploaded and then deleted to preserve space. For instance, Google Photos does this. In fact, Leo recommends using Google Photos anyway, since Chip will be assured that his photos are being backed up to the cloud.
DeeDee has a Samsung Galaxy S3 and has been having issues with apps crashing. Leo says that the Samsung TouchWiz interface could be causing the issue. Phones with a pure version of Android like the OnePlus Two and the Google Nexus never have the issue. So the interface is just taking up too much RAM as it's running on top of Android. Android also needs more memory. Leo advises doing a complete reset and avoid modern games because they expect a more powerful processor to run.
Stephanie has a pair of Samsung Galaxy S3 phones she got from eBay. Leo says that the very first thing she'll want to do is wipe the phone. She should restore it back to its factory configuration. The bottom line is that she doesn't know what's on that phone since it's from a stranger. Also, if it's overheating, that means that there could be spyware on it that's constantly phoning home and overworking the chip. Remember, when buying something used, especially from eBay, you're inheriting someone else's problems. So always do a reset when you get it.
Roger says his Samsung Galaxy S3 is having battery life issues. Leo says that every battery has a limited battery life of about 500 charging cycles, so he should just replace the battery and he should be good to go. If that's not working, then the charging system may be messed up, and a simple system reset should make the phone like it was when it came from the factory. Google will have already backed all of his data backed up.
Chris needs to get a new smartphone and he's thinking of the Samsung Galaxy S3 or the Sharp Aquos Crystal. Leo says he's tried the Crystal and he wasn't impressed. The Galaxy SIII is a nice phone, but it's a little out of date. The Galaxy S5 is the current model. If Leo had to choose between the S3 and the Sharp Aquos Crystal, however, he would choose the S3
Ron has a Samsung Galaxy S3 and it suddenly stopped reading SD cards. Ron cleaned the contacts on the cards, and now it can't be read. Leo says it could be the dialectic grease that he applied to it. Since the SD cards will be read by his computer, he can at least get the data off of them. Then he can either just use the internal storage on the phone, or he could look into a new phone. Leo says that phones age even faster than computers. It's as if they age 30 years every 1 year. That Galaxy S3 is now almost 4 years old, so it would make sense that it's starting to fail.
Sandy's Samsung Galaxy S3 isn't holding a charge anymore. Can she just replace the battery or does she have to buy a new phone? Leo says she can definitely just replace the battery. All she needs to do is open up the back of the phone and pull out the battery. She can buy a new battery to replace it.
Greg bought a Samsung Galaxy S3 for $250 from the Home Shopping Network, but is wondering if he got ripped off. Leo says he did. The phone should've been free with the 2 year Virgin commitment.
