The ctl 2goPad

I’ve had it since Monday and will be getting the full review out over the weekend.  I’ve done an unboxing here.  Ever since trading away my Viliv S5, I’ve missed having a small Windows based tablet.  I like the idea of having a small Windows tablet as a digital writing pad that I can keep on me all the time. 



I was hoping the ctl could fill that role with a capacitive stylus.  I have one for my iPad that does a decent job.  I even used it with Penultimate during a weekend service set to take notes for running the media.  For various reasons that could fill a whole other blog post, I did not continue with that set up.  But anyway, the Targus pen does work nicely with the iPad.  In a video over at GBM, they tried some capacitive styluses with the Tega v2 tablet (among other things), and the Targus performed the best (thought still not good enough to really be usable) so I had some hope that it would work with the 2goPad.  No dice.  It’s pretty bad.  I have to press really hard and this is the best I get.

In Paint:


In Windows Journal:


In OneNote:


So I’ve decided to change my approach with it.  I’m giving up on the idea of inking and treating it more like my iPad.  The onscreen keyboard actually does a great job for short text input, and it has bluetooth for those occasions when I want to type more.  I did manage to type an email with it.  With the capacitive screen, it’s quite responsive and easy to work with.  Internet Explorer works well for touch control.  It has the smoother scrolling than either Firefox with Grab and drag or Chrome with Chrome Touch.  Windows Live Mail is not the most elegant email solution, but it works, and the interface is actually quite touch friendly.  In fact, the ribbon in general makes for a good touch experience on all the programs that have it.  Seesmic is a little sluggish, but it works.  The nook for PC software is great.  Even games like Mahjong and Solitaire are very nice on such a nice touch screen.  So, when I stopped trying to make it something it’s not (a tablet for inking, I mean, it didn’t come with a pen for a reason) and started using it for everything else, it’s turning out to be a nice companion device.  I do prefer the flexibility of being able to install any windows program I want over having to wait for someone to write an app for the iPad.  Also, I can run all those programs all at once.  Oh, and files system access is quite useful, especially with 250GB of hard drive to fill.