What tablets can do a USB send/receive?

Question

Someone has written to Paratext help as follows:

I'm shopping for a tablet for running Paratext Lite for some of our team members. I would like to purchase a tablet which is capable of doing a send/receive via USB, as well as wifi. Can you tell e if the Lenovo Mo10 3rd Gen (TB328) would be suitable? Or can you recommend an alternative?

Answer 1

I see this question has not been answered yet. I have a workaround suggestion and a comment.

I support two MTT translation teams who have been using Samsung A9+ tablets with PT Lite (beta) since mid-2024. They are quite happy with PT Lite, by the way, and they're pretty patient with a few bugs we've helped to squash!

At some point last year(?) an Android killed all communication between the PT Lite program and USB drives (possibly also affecting SD cards inserted into the tablets; I'm not clear on that). But a PT Lite update around that time added S/R by Wifi-Direct, which works with a phone hotspot and needs no internet connection, and is easier, faster, safer than S/R to USB on Android devices.

So what our team do is:

1. Full round of S/R > Direct on all PT Lite machines, Android and Linux (= twice around to fully sync). 
2. Then if no internet is available and we need to include a PT 9 (Windows) user , S/R > USB between Win and Linux laptops. 

The S/R > USB is still on the PT Lite menu, and it works between Linux machines. If Android is going to be a showstopper for USB it would be helpful if the menu label could indicate this... something simple like "USB (not Android)".

Which also relates this question to Paratext Lite menu item Get Resource > Local doesn't work. This other problem happens on two Wasta laptops, not just on Android. Is it supposed to be working or am I missing something, or is it temporarily broken?