Am I asking too much? I want a tablet with high precision drawing and low-latency to take notes about everything. Add an ARM processor and I'd buy it today, damn it.
This is actually quite much. Low latency means high powered hardware and all of that in a slim, passive cooled fanless design, bundled with the best possible display avaiable. I don't see how one can ask for more ...
(but I actually want the same)
When I first had it the responsiveness and accuracy for drawing were great, but the lines all wiggle now -- there's a simple calibration that I think will fix it, but that's locked down by our IT department for reasons. If the wiggle were fixed I'd have almost no complaints (except the prices to me are eye-watering, I have the oem dock and keyboard cover too; also Windows is so awful as a window manager).
But yes, there are devices which are quite good. But ideally I also would want a linux one.
Lenovo X1 Fold: it's so small it's always with me. Great keyboard, OLED screen. I use it with a regular Thinkpad bluetooth keyboard for terminal work.
I'm now working on the Linux support now that I got the ACPI S01x fixed under Windows.
Same!
> Cool to see someone tackling it!
Just FYI, the last showstopper was the touchscreen. It's now working great with quo's driver (from the surface-linux project).
If you use Ubuntu 22 and this driver, you just need some kernel cmdline option for X to avoid some minor display corruption.
Like I did for Windows11 on https://csdvrx.github.io/ I aim to write down everything to get a great Linux experience on the Fold.
The problem with the Surface Go isn't the hardware, but the fact that it runs Windows, a system that just isn't made for these things.
The most ridiculous part was being forced to "save or discard" drawings before I could close an app. I had to painstakingly pick a location and name for each file. It felt like using Photoshop, not a notebook. Every app sucked in a different way. In contrast, most iOS ones are decent to great, and there are far more options for readers.
That's on top of the regular Windows problems. I spent the first day just doing updates and disabling bloat. As a tablet OS, it's incredibly clunky. I didn't get to the part where it wakes itself up and fries itself to death in my laptop bag, but I heard that it's still an issue.
The iPad was so much better at its task that it's not even funny.
Now I take my iPad everywhere, and if I intend to do more work, I pack my Macbook. It's not heavy enough to make me consider Windows ever again. However, I'd consider an old 12" Macbook to shave a kilo off when I travel.
It's smaller and does everything multiple separate device would be needed for.
> I had to painstakingly pick a location and name for each file.
First world problem lol!!
For old apps, I have an AHK shortcut to save files by ISO date. However, it's rarely a problem with modern apps. And if you close them without saving, most of them will bring back your unsaved work. Even Word does that!
> By tablet stuff, I mean reading, taking notes and sketching. No app ecosystem does it like iPad OS'.
For comics and mangas, I use Takiyomi (technically, it's an android app, but WSA makes it seamless)
For taking notes, I use ZimWiki and Windows stickies
For sketching, I use OneNote.
> The iPad was so much better at its task that it's not even funny.
We must have very different uses, because between even just Takiyomi+OneNote vs an ipad, indeed it's not funny for the ipad.
> That's on top of the regular Windows problems. I spent the first day just doing updates and disabling bloat
Well, don't look further for the root cause: "disabling bloat" often causes more problems. I only remove very specific things. For updates, I use Windows Pro and usually defer them until I want to reboot. When I read the problem people report with windows, it's like they live in a different world.
> Now I take my iPad everywhere, and if I intend to do more work, I pack my Macbook
I just take my Fold everywhere - nothing else is needed, but I've got a bluetooth keyboard for comfort if I want to type a lot.
On the Fold, I can draw with a Wacom pen - no need for a separate device like the ipad, because most windows tablet and convertibles also have a touchscreen.
If I need to work, I have Windows Terminal and everything I need to code. ZimWiki means my notes can be converted to HTML and published.
Onenote particularly is a hard no for any sketching in terms of actual artistic output.
But I think that's just because I'm accustomed to having direct access to files and filesystems, and the extra later of abstraction (already necessary to visually translate a filesystem) just becomes bothersome.
E.g. I still need to cd and ls in a very primitive and visceral way, feel my way around the warren like a mole so to speak, even if I can just click/tap on a screen or C-x C-f.
Probably how the mind gets wired with basic text UIs like the DOS and Unix command lines, before you get to stuff like Midnight Commander.
Pretty weird, if you ask me, as that's more of a verbal and less than a visual way of interacting with the system, while I'm an otherwise visual person.
When traveling with an iPad (sometimes I take the Chromebook) I find using a SSH or Mosh client app with a remote server works very well. Your mileage may vary.
I never found a good solution, so I pack my iPad Mini and my Macbook. I just need stronger legs.