cruel to be kind

Technorati Tags: tablet, tabletpc, slate, lenovo,thinkpad, x41, hardware review, user report

Some of you have asked how working wit my lil tablet is. A short update on my Lenovo X41 experiences about screen, keyboard, microphone/speakers, etc.

In general, it feels good. I am still trying to acustom myself to having two computers and have not really set up this one. The whole “now it is a windows machine directly connected to the internet” somehow freaks me, because I know how vulnarable windows machines are.

The wifi thing is still new to me and I am sponsoring a collegue to give me a quick rundown on current networt and wifi. Remember, I have had a single linux router for years now and had not to deal with this stuff. I manage at home all the time and on the road sometimes to get access to the wifis available – but have not many clues why not. (This is a high level complainig – I kind of know what it has to be but don’t know at the moment to fix it.)

Typing is really nice on the machine, I can do, but I absolutly feel the problem of me having another keyboard layout in navigational sense. There is a reason why I have identical keyboards on my workmachine and the one at home: I do hit keys blind, including special combination like for [] etc. I am absolutly missing the windows key on the tablet, because explorer but even more minimize is key in my daily work.

Isn’t there a way to make the FN key a win key and set original function of FN to shift FN?! I use the FN key perhaps once a day but miss the win key several times. (And I don’t know if this is a driver issue but Shift-CTRL-Pageup / Down does not work for me.)

Noise / speak control
It is quite but the fan hits from time to time, but still is okay. Recording skype with headseat works like a charme (before you get your hopes up: external recording), but according to the whole noise issue. But I still have no clue why the whole speek command thing is not even accessible (there is no tab speak control ….) and the microphone on this machine is a joke. Quality is poorest. You remember, we talk about a machine of 2000 Euros which is supposed to be a tablet in everything, right? Additionally, ohe one mic whole is besides the keyboard so if you have it in slate mode, it is not even accessibale. Stupid beyond compare.

The same thing applies to speakers. They are on the bottom of the keyboard. Yes right, bottom. If you have the normal laptop mode, you don’t hear anything because it is blocked by the tablet pc itself and when you hold it in your hand, you have to crank up the volume so much to hear anything. Jacks for the headphone and mic are right of the laptop, which I find not so good, because if I hold it in my lap, it does bend the jacks.

If you are in any need of those things (mic, speakers), then the machine is nothing for you. That is absolutly 1 out of 10 points. Recording skype with headseat works like a charme (before you get your hopes up: external recording), but according to the whole noise issue. But I still have no clue why the whole speek command thing is not even accessible (there is no tab speak control ….) and the microphone on this machine is a joke. Yes, only one.

Quality is poorest. You remember, we talk about a machine of 2000 Euros which is supposed to be a tablet in everything, right? Additionally, ohe one mic whole is besides the keyboard so if you have it in slate mode, it is not even accessibale. Stupid beyond compare.

Screen / Digitizer / pen / slate mode
Bright enough for me, still have no screen protection, because I don’t know where to look. Pen is not heavy enough for me, I can’ use the mouse buttons on the thing. Needs improvement. I still don’t know how much I can use pressure and tap on that thing without hurting it aka leave marks. I’ve seen some of the channel 9 videos – oh uh.

Needs recalibrating quite often or what even the errors are, they vanish after some time aka calibrating. But then again, this is only how it feels to me.

I usually turn the screen and leave it in half slate mode, because it is easier to write then on when sitting at a table. Keys on slate mode are not enough and not well enough thougt out. There are other keys I am missing and it would not have been a problem to add some programmable keys, right?

Trackpoint
Yes, I like it more than a touchpad, and the keys have a nice shape also, much better than the usual just buttons. I still have not managed to figure out how to control them, because I would like to make sth like both left/right keys together like pressing the mouse’s wheel. Trackpoint is in the last day starting to move a little of itself, which is annoying.

General size
Okay with me, still a bit heavy, but the external battery brings the problem of not being able to use standard 12″ protection cases. I am hoping to find a good shop next week in London to test it out or on sellers who adapt on this successful modell.

Energy usage
I have no comparison, but it feels okay. Defenetly around 4 hours with full wifi. I have not stress tested it.

Finger print scanner
Built in “do not show off”-protection – never works the first time in public. ;))) Takes several times to use, but is much easier than typing in your password. Privacy issues is another thing of course …

So far for the things which come directly to my mind. Next stop probably me and the software. ;)

Tags: tablet pc