Bought a Windows Tablet - a few thoughts

[Mr_Loon]

I've been looking for a 10"+ Tablet for Comic Reading, Sofa Surfing & Portable Gaming.

Decided to take the plunge with a Chuwi Hi 10 windows tablet.

See Spoiler for Specs

Spoiler

CPU: Intel Z8300 64bit Quad Core 1.44GHz (up to 1.84GHz)
GPU: Intel graphics (up to 500MHz)
RAM: 4GB
EMMC: 64GB
Micro SD card: Up to 64GB
10.1 inch screen: 1920 x 1200 WUXGA IPS
Windows 10 system: 64bit Home Edition
8000mAh(Rated capacity 6500mAh) battery: Not sure what this means
Bluetooth 4.0
HDMI output:Micro HDMI
USB Slots: 1 X USB2 Full size,1 X USB3 Full size, 1 X Micro USB OTG Slot (for Charging etc.)
Gravity sensing system: Can fluently and sensitively run various applications
WIFI: Realtek RTL8723BS Wireless N 150mbps
Headphone Jack

Got mine from DX EU Direct for £150 delivered to the UK, thought it was coming direct from the EU within 5-7 days. It took 20 days and came from China. However there were no additional import/VAT charges.

Looks like you can pick one up for £120 from here but I've no experience of that supplier....

Had mine for 5 days now and everything seems to be working fine, Windows 10 works surprisingly well as a touch OS in tablet or even desktop mode, but of course it comes into it's own when used with a BT Keyboard & Mouse especially when combined with a goose neck tablet holder like this one.

Normal desktop use for Browsing / Photoshop etc. is responsive & provides a good user experience.

However, what's blown me away is the gaming performance, stuff like FTL, Crypt of the Necrodancer, Dungeon of the Endless work fine at native resolution, drop the resolution down to 800X600 and you can run Skyrim at an acceptable frame rate. See this video. There is no way you can run any modern 3D blockbuster games but from what I can see anything more than a few years old should run fine if you reduce the resolution.

Not tried any emulators yet (other than Dragon32) but I've got high hopes that it will run stuff up to Dreamcast level very well.

I pretty much agree with everything in the following reviews :

Video Review
Written Review
A most pleasant surprise is the quality of the screen, which has good colours, excellent viewing angles & no ghosting. By far the best screen I've used on a budget device.

The battery life is also excellent, my guess is 3-4 hours gaming or 7-8 hours surfing / watching video.

I'd love to see the option of dual booting to Android as for a handheld tablet experience it's a far better OS than Windows. However I've managed to find a fullscreen Comic Reader with touch input so it's fine for that.

There has even been some progress on getting it working with Linux.

It looks to me that Intel is in a really strong position to challenge ARM for supremacy in the mobile Chipset market.

If in a couple of years Pyra can bring out an x86 based CPU board with the latest Mobile Intel x86 Chipset it really could make that dream of a handheld running Steam come true....

 

[TrashyMG]

f in a couple of years Pyra can bring out an x86 based CPU board with the latest Mobile Intel x86 Chipset it really could make that dream of a handheld running Steam come true....

Well if only running Steam is the goal, then even the Pandora can do that (exagear + linux version of steam)... but I figure you mean actually playing games on steam.

 

[Klumpen]

Windows 10 on Pyra...what a horrible thought.

 

[Mr_Loon]

Windows 10 on Pyra...what a horrible thought.

I was thinking more along the lines of using SteamOS for Pyra which is Linux based and should hopefully only improve in terms of game support in the coming years.

 

[Klumpen]

I was thinking more along the lines of using SteamOS for Pyra which is Linux based and should hopefully only improve in terms of game support in the coming years.

Yeah, but Win10 would probably be possible with a x86 chip and this makes me shudder, although I know that it's silly to deny software on an open system.

 

[TrashyMG]

I had abysmal luck getting some of the hardware running on Linux on my Asus Transformer Tablet I had, while it booted and seemed fast; Sound, Bluetooth and WIFI were major issues on that device and there didn't seem to have a fix out there. The likely hood of a fix seemed unlikely as tablet computers seem to be disposable and cycle out of the spotlight quickly... So I ended up selling it in the end, because I wasn't going to keep a device that could only run Windows 8.1

 

[ekianjo]

Yeah, but Win10 would probably be possible with a x86 chip and this makes me shudder, although I know that it's silly to deny software on an open system.

The scary thing would be rather how crappy this community would become once the Windows-lovers come and mess around and spam these forums. The time this happens I'll call it quits.
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because I wasn't going to keep a device that could only run Windows 8.1

Funnily you'd have better luck running Linux on a Surface from Microsoft. Surface 2 is fully supported nowadays, Surface 3 is very close to be good enough, but I'd recommend you wait if you consider Surface 4.

 

[Faust]

The scary thing would be rather how crappy this community would become once the Windows-lovers come and mess around and spam these forums. The time this happens I'll call it quits.
[doublepost=1454598455,1454598374][/doublepost]

Funnily you'd have better luck running Linux on a Surface from Microsoft. Surface 2 is fully supported nowadays, Surface 3 is very close to be good enough, but I'd recommend you wait if you consider Surface 4.

I like windows, did you see me messing around or spamming? Stop pretending that Windows lovers are like this, because there is this kind of people everywhere. And right now you are this kind of person, and you're not even a windows lover.

About Intel, I really think they getting better, and I like to think about being able to use x86 software on a small size device.

 

[ekianjo]

I like windows, did you see me messing around or spamming? Stop pretending that Windows lovers are like this.

It's not because you are not like that that every Windows-lover is like you. That's twisted logic if anything.

 

[Mr_Loon]

The scary thing would be rather how crappy this community would become once the Windows-lovers come and mess around and spam these forums. The time this happens I'll call it quits

How ironic that this sentiment is pretty much spam as far as this thread goes.

Remember to also be wary of those ultra hip 'Linux or Nothing' iconoclasts who think that everyone should be like them with their small minded tribal rhetoric. From my perspective everyone should be welcome here whether they love Windows or not. I love using Windows, Android & Linux based systems, as long as it's nice and easy to tinker about 'under the hood' it's good enough for me. Now apple stuff, that's another matter

 

[Klumpen]

Now apple stuff, that's another matter

See? We all have our pet peeves, although Apple seems to be the one most of us share.

 

[TrashyMG]

Ah geez, the old Holy war again. people cool it, things can escalate fast.

I know myself can be one of those "Linux or Nothing Iconoclasts" at times, so I may not be the best person to say that.

Hmm... I'm reluctantly typing away on a work issued Mac Book Pro...

 

[PowerGod]

By the way, because the war is already started, is there already around a GNU/Linux "touch friendly" GUI ? Because as far as I can find Linux useful, I don't think that it can still beat Windows (or Android) on a device like that when not using the combo keyboard+mouse... if anyway someone buys a tablet just to use it with external controls then it's another matter...

 

[TrashyMG]

By the way, because the war is already started, is there already around a GNU/Linux "touch friendly" GUI ? Because as far as I can find Linux useful, I don't think that it can still beat Windows (or Android) on a device like that when not using the combo keyboard+mouse... if anyway someone buys a tablet just to use it with external controls then it's another matter...

Hasn't Ubuntu been playing with a tablet/phone interface? I'm sure someone has already.

 

[Klumpen]

By the way, because the war is already started, is there already around a GNU/Linux "touch friendly" GUI ? Because as far as I can find Linux useful, I don't think that it can still beat Windows (or Android) on a device like that when not using the combo keyboard+mouse... if anyway someone buys a tablet just to use it with external controls then it's another matter...

CyanogenMod
Remix OS
?

 

[PowerGod]

Hasn't Ubuntu been playing with a tablet/phone interface? I'm sure someone has already.

Oh, good to know, never been too interested in that distro, now that I look at some images seems very similar to android
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CyanogenMod
Remix OS
?

These are always android, even if heavily modified

 

[levi]

CyanogenMod
Remix OS
?

Do either of those ship with the GNU toolchain? Android is a linux, but it's not a GNU/Linux, which I guess is why PG restricted it to that.

 

[Klumpen]

Do either of those ship with the GNU toolchain? Android is a linux, but it's not a GNU/Linux, which I guess is why PG restricted it to that.

I know, but I don't think there's anything else out there atm.
I'd be seriously interested in a real Linux with a proper touch UI for my tablet though, especcially if it's Debian based.

 

[levi]

I quite liked the look of KDE Plasma Active, but it seems the sponsor of that disappeared with KDE4, and there wasn't enough developer interest to maintain that build. KDE5 came with Plasma Mobile, which looks adequate for phones, but perhaps not as focussed on the tablet form factor.

 

[ekianjo]

By the way, because the war is already started, is there already around a GNU/Linux "touch friendly" GUI ? Because as far as I can find Linux useful, I don't think that it can still beat Windows (or Android) on a device like that when not using the combo keyboard+mouse... if anyway someone buys a tablet just to use it with external controls then it's another matter...

Call me old fashioned but I still don't understand the point of tablets. It's the trade-off of everything, it's good at about nothing. It's fine for folks who don't want to use computers, i guess, but that's about it. I can see the point of a phone (or a Pandora-sized device) and a laptop, but anything in between...
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Remember to also be wary of those ultra hip 'Linux or Nothing' iconoclasts who think that everyone should be like them with their small minded tribal rhetoric

I don't think there are too many of these Linux extremists around.
But when you get the Windows crowd, you will get a bunch of folks with the attitude "Linux? LOL this shite OS" - without even knowing what they are talking about. And there's a LOT of folks like that in the Windows space, ignorant, uneducated, and very vocal at the same time.