I've been sitting on this for a while meaning to write more. First, it took me a while to get a pen. My eBay order was cancelled when it didn't make the delivery and the seller assumed it got lost in the mail. At least I didn't have to mess with getting a refund on my own, but I lost three weeks. The pen I ordered from Amazon did make it despite also shipping as an epacket from China. But we've had a crazy summer and I haven't had a chance to really figure out how to make this thing do all the things I keep hoping it can do.
It has so much potential to be amazing, but so far my experience with the pen has been frustrating, which is basically a deal breaker for this little guy. But I haven't had the time I'd like to mess with things and really see if I can get it working or if it's just not a good pen. It's looking like it might be the latter, in which case I'll be headed off to eBay with it, but I'm not ready to give up just yet. This thing has so much potential to be the perfect music box for both the studio and gigs.
There are plenty of general reviews already floating around the internet, so I'll just go with an overview of why it's so almost perfect for my studio uses.
Loves:
Form Factor - The 12" 3:2 screen size is nearly perfect. Yes, my HP PS12 offers wider music since it's 4:3, but not significantly enough that the 12" chuwi is too small. People are still using 10" iPads at gigs. I feel like the HP is so big as to be unweildy in other scenarios and it's pretty much limited to just a reader because of it. The Chuwi is good both as a tablet in the hand, on the stand, and on the keyboard dock being a laptop.
Keyboard Dock - Since I brought it up, in spite of the terrible touchpad (which is fixed somewhat on the newer version of the keyboard dock) I really like the keyboard. I like that it makes the chuwi into a clamshell laptop. Others have complained about the key feel, but the travel is much better than something like the Surface type cover, and I like the stiffer feedback. I'm typing this on the Chuwi and my fingers are happy.
So Many Ports - There are two full size USB ports on the tablet itself and two more on the keyboard. Which is handy, since I almost always have a USB mouse plugged into the keyboard. But two full sized USB ports on the tablet! I keep meaning to pull out the old Footime pedal and try that, especially after my airturn decided to cut out during the recessional at a wedding recently. Good thing tapping the screen is still faster than page turning.
Micro USB charging - As if all those full sized ports wasn't enough, this thing charges via micro USB. The surface was fine and all, but required a separate charge. The Chuwi can use the same charge as my phone. In fact, after my phone barely lasted through some cross country travelling, I finally picked up a giant Anker battery pack. I can now charge both the Chuwi and my phone off the same charger.
Insane Battery Life - Not like I ever need to charge this thing anyway, the battery lasts nearly forever. Battery Bar in windows still says I have a 13 hour run time even though I've tried to run it all the way down several times to get a more accurate reading. I don't think I really have 13 hours, but I don't charge it daily, even when it's the only machine I use in a day.
Dual Boot - I need Windows for the studio, but I prefer Android for gigs. I like having the full versions of One Note and SmartMusic rather than just apps. But MobileSheets Pro is really best for gigs. I've tried running virtual Android machines over windows, but that's a clunky solution. Windows may not be a speed demon on an Atom processor, but native Android is really smooth. For day to day use, I tend to stay booted into Android. It's actually quite usable as a laptop OS on a screen this size. I'd be running things full screen no matter which OS.
Hate:
The Pen - womp womp. This is a deal breaker unless I can figure out how to make it not suck. Right now, the lag in initial activation is such that I lose the entire first letter of whatever I write. Accuracy is not super hot either and my letters come out all squished. I'm spoiled by the older generation of Wacom EMR screens and still have one in my Samsung note 8. It's really hard to use anything else.
The Qualcomm pen on the HP PS12 is close. My writing looks good, but it's got some quirky drift issues unless you wave it around over the screen to catch all the microphones every single time you bring it back to write. It got me through a few summer conferences, but it's annoying.
I'd use the Samsung for notes, but the screen is too small for some things and I'd prefer Windows for studio notes. Also, the battery life on the Samsung is getting poor. It's no spring chicken at nearly 4 years old now I think. It's possible to pop it open and replace the battery, but more trouble than I think I want to invest.
There's really nothing that compares to the Chuwi in terms of a dual boot machine with this screen size and an active pen. But if I can't figure out how to make the pen not suck, it may not matter.
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