New low cost toy

IRJ

@IRJ said:

@crustachio said:

Interesting. We have one of the little Dell W8.1 Atom tablets, looks to be about the same size, but we had a hard time coming up for a use case for it. It got passed around the department like a $3 hooker and now nobody wants to touch it. I gave it the nickname Satan's Tablet because everyone who tried it seems to be cursed by bizarre issues. It has since been cast into the Intern's Drawer of Tartarus, which cannot be opened for 1,000 years, at which point it will be let free to plague humanity. On the upside, its Windows Updates should be finished right around that time.

Anyway, maybe THIS $99 Windows tablet would be ~~different~~ ~~better~~ ~~usable~~ not haunted?

My buddy came over a few nights ago and I showed him my tablet and he played with it for over an hour. He says it runs circles around his $350 Dell tablet.

My manager just popped in my office for something and I kept that Amazon page conspicuously open and maximized on my 27" display while we chatted. After he noticed it he immediately got all hot and bothered and said ORDER IT!

So I'll report back tomorrow (thanks Prime!) with my findings on whether or not this thing turns out to be Satan's Chinese cousin.

I think you will be pleasantly surprised at the $100 price point

IRJ

I still haven't used Android much. Android is fast, but I have only booted to it twice and used it very briefly.

dafyre

What kind of battery life are you seeing out of that thing?

IRJ

@dafyre said:

What kind of battery life are you seeing out of that thing?

I need to do an overall review on the device. The battery is a weakness. I have seen around 4 hours in most scenarios and 5 being very careful.

It also takes the tablet longer than average to charge.

crustachio

@IRJ said:

@dafyre said:

What kind of battery life are you seeing out of that thing?

I need to do an overall review on the device. The battery is a weakness. I have seen around 4 hours in most scenarios and 5 being very careful.

It also takes the tablet longer than average to charge.

Is that true of just the stock charger, or have you tried it with other higher-wattage chargers also?

IRJ

@crustachio said:

@IRJ said:

@dafyre said:

What kind of battery life are you seeing out of that thing?

I need to do an overall review on the device. The battery is a weakness. I have seen around 4 hours in most scenarios and 5 being very careful.

It also takes the tablet longer than average to charge.

Is that true of just the stock charger, or have you tried it with other higher-wattage chargers also?

I tried charging it with my Samsung Lightning Charger and it was slower than the stock charger.

gjacobse

@crustachio said:

@IRJ said:

@crustachio said:

Interesting. We have one of the little Dell W8.1 Atom tablets, looks to be about the same size, but we had a hard time coming up for a use case for it. It got passed around the department like a $3 hooker and now nobody wants to touch it. I gave it the nickname Satan's Tablet because everyone who tried it seems to be cursed by bizarre issues. It has since been cast into the Intern's Drawer of Tartarus, which cannot be opened for 1,000 years, at which point it will be let free to plague humanity. On the upside, its Windows Updates should be finished right around that time.

Anyway, maybe THIS $99 Windows tablet would be ~~different~~ ~~better~~ ~~usable~~ not haunted?

My buddy came over a few nights ago and I showed him my tablet and he played with it for over an hour. He says it runs circles around his $350 Dell tablet.

My manager just popped in my office for something and I kept that Amazon page conspicuously open and maximized on my 27" display while we chatted. After he noticed it he immediately got all hot and bothered and said ORDER IT!

So I'll report back tomorrow (thanks Prime!) with my findings on whether or not this thing turns out to be Satan's Chinese cousin.

Sneaky..

crustachio

Belated update... I got my Chuwi. Had some teething pains related to WiFi. Didn't realize this guy doesn't have a 5GHz radio, so I had to reconfigure my office WAP to broadcast 2.4 + 5GHz and enable bandwidth steering so other devices maintain 5GHz connectivity.

Now that that is sorted out, this is a darling little tablet. Screen isn't quite bright enough for my tastes, but it is otherwise punchy, sharp and colorful, with nice viewing angles. The touchscreen is very responsive as well.

The device is surprisingly lightweight due to the plastic casing, but it feels well put together. The size is pretty great, easily usable one handed and typing isn't too difficult. And W10 is way better for a tablet of this size than any previous Windows version.

I haven't done any heavy lifting in regards to app performance, but it seems snappy and gets out of its own way. The Android switching process is simple (desktop shortcut from within Windows causes a shutdown and reboot into Android; from Android, swipe down from the top-right corner of the status bar and tap OS Switch). I haven't spent much time in Android though, as it's not particularly noteworthy.

The #1 killer feature of this guy (besides price), for me, is the USB OTG support. It comes bundled with a Micro USB to USB female OTG adapter, meaning you can plugin any standard USB devices and Windows sees them as expected. I'm sure power will be an issue with anything bigger, like portable HDDs, but for most small peripherals it works great.

I have successfully tested (from within Windows) a 32GB thumb drive. a USB 3 hub/Gigabit Ethernet LAN adapter, and -- most excitingly -- a USB to serial adapter. So this + PuTTY == portable network troubleshooting toolkit.

I'll keep toying with it for a few days. I'll need a decent case/stand for it if I continue to use it. For now I rigged up a cardboard+foam+electrical tape desk stand. Paired with a Logitech K810 Bluetooth keyboard, it's working just fine.

Thanks for the tip. I think I can call it: Chuwi is the Archangel to Dell's Satanic Venue. Heck, it's even pure white vs Dell's morbid black. I think it's a $99 winner.

PSX_Defector

Damn you people, now I had to buy one of these.

I'll see how cool it is when I get it on Thursday.

gjacobse

@crustachio said:

Belated update... I got my Chuwi.
...
I have successfully tested (from within Windows) a 32GB thumb drive. a USB 3 hub/Gigabit Ethernet LAN adapter, and -- most excitingly -- a USB to serial adapter. So this + PuTTY == portable network troubleshooting toolkit.

This has been a curiosity of mine... would it work as a serial...

well that almost tears it.. might have to get one also.

IRJ

@crustachio said:

Belated update... I got my Chuwi. Had some teething pains related to WiFi. Didn't realize this guy doesn't have a 5GHz radio, so I had to reconfigure my office WAP to broadcast 2.4 + 5GHz and enable bandwidth steering so other devices maintain 5GHz connectivity.

Now that that is sorted out, this is a darling little tablet. Screen isn't quite bright enough for my tastes, but it is otherwise punchy, sharp and colorful, with nice viewing angles. The touchscreen is very responsive as well.

The device is surprisingly lightweight due to the plastic casing, but it feels well put together. The size is pretty great, easily usable one handed and typing isn't too difficult. And W10 is way better for a tablet of this size than any previous Windows version.

I haven't done any heavy lifting in regards to app performance, but it seems snappy and gets out of its own way. The Android switching process is simple (desktop shortcut from within Windows causes a shutdown and reboot into Android; from Android, swipe down from the top-right corner of the status bar and tap OS Switch). I haven't spent much time in Android though, as it's not particularly noteworthy.

The #1 killer feature of this guy (besides price), for me, is the USB OTG support. It comes bundled with a Micro USB to USB female OTG adapter, meaning you can plugin any standard USB devices and Windows sees them as expected. I'm sure power will be an issue with anything bigger, like portable HDDs, but for most small peripherals it works great.

I have successfully tested (from within Windows) a 32GB thumb drive. a USB 3 hub/Gigabit Ethernet LAN adapter, and -- most excitingly -- a USB to serial adapter. So this + PuTTY == portable network troubleshooting toolkit.

I'll keep toying with it for a few days. I'll need a decent case/stand for it if I continue to use it. For now I rigged up a cardboard+foam+electrical tape desk stand. Paired with a Logitech K810 Bluetooth keyboard, it's working just fine.

Thanks for the tip. I think I can call it: Chuwi is the Archangel to Dell's Satanic Venue. Heck, it's even pure white vs Dell's morbid black. I think it's a $99 winner.

Did you figure out a way to charge it faster?

gjacobse

@crustachio
I only have one minor request..

Could you plug it all up and take a photo of it? Power, USB drive and such..

Thanks.

crustachio

@IRJ no, but I haven't used it long enough to have noticed how long the charges take. The stock charger is 2.0A, which is about as good as it gets for USB charging. Well, there are 2.1A chargers, but I don't think that would make a noticeable difference. Keep in mind it is a 4,000mAh battery, so it's not going to charge nearly as quickly as the average smartphone (with a 1,500-2,500 mAh battery) no matter what.

Thankfully micro USB chargers are ubiquitous in my life so I am never far from ~~one~~ ten. I just leave stuff plugged in unless I'm going walkabout.

crustachio

@gjacobse said:

@crustachio
I only have one minor request..

Could you plug it all up and take a photo of it? Power, USB drive and such..

Thanks.

Sure. What should I be wearing?

gjacobse

@crustachio said:

@gjacobse said:

@crustachio
I only have one minor request..

Could you plug it all up and take a photo of it? Power, USB drive and such..

Thanks.

Sure. What should I be wearing?

LOL - I'm interested in the Chuwi,.. not you. Sorry I'm attached.

Minion Queen

Ok note to self don't be drinking pop when reading threads. I tend to choke or spit things out from time to time.

Dashrender

@Minion-Queen said:

Ok note to self don't be drinking pop when reading threads. I tend to choke or spit things out from time to time.

When will you learn?

crustachio

@gjacobse sorry for the delay, but sorrier still for these terrible pictures. Since you prudes only care about seeing "the device" I decided to leave my chiseled physique out of the frame.

Magic keyboard:
alt text