Friday, March 14, 2014

Make Lenovo Miix 2 8 Windows 8.1 Tablet also a laptop and desktop


Among current 8" Windows 8.1 tablets, I picked up the Miix 2 because it is the only one that can be charged while using USB devices. The Dell Venue Pro 8 needs some nasty hacks and it is tricky and hassle to enable charging, each and every time you connect a USB device. With Miix, you simply plug the USB charger into any USB hub (one of its USB ports, not the DC-in jack), then connect the hub to Miix. That's it, no any trick and you can connect all your devices to the hub. I actually chain 3 hubs to use my external hard drives (two), SD card reader, USB-VGA adapter, audio adapter with MIC, Ethernet adapter, BluRay drive, keyboard, mouse and etc. See this video:




The monitor

I have some EVGA USB-VGA adapters for many years now and used them with many computers, but none of them was able to play 1080p. So, when I saw totally smooth 1080p60 video with this above setup, my jaw dropped on my stomach! Then I checked CPU load, only 30%, I lost my conciousness and the last thing I remembered was my jaw on the floor. I was worried about the lack of HDMI port before I ordered this tablet, but I no longer miss it a single bit. Don't know who made such a magic, Bay Trail? Miix2? DisplayLink's new driver or Windows 8.1? And did I tell you the video was from a portable hard drive, then to the Miix, EVGA and the external monitor, all through a single USB port?



The keyboard

As long as you run legacy Windows applications, Windows 8.1's onscreen keyboard is uselessly hard to use. Miix 2 8 is currently the lightest and thinnest, almost identical to iPad Mini. Fortunately I found by accident a clap-on iPad Mini keyboard that fits the Miix ideally. The open angle is only 95 degrees or so, so I had to open it to do a very simple mod (more details to follow). All I did was to replace two notched washers with ordinary (non-notched) ones and now it can open up to almost totally flat (180 degrees). This keyboard has very good keys and battery last forever, but do turn it off to save Miix's battery (see Connected Standby below).




This keyboard does not have Esc and Del keys. I made an AHK script to remap the WWW-Home key (at the upper left corner) to Esc and remapped the capslock to Del with regedit (details to follow). I also remapped the search key to F3. BTW, the multimedia keys on this keyboard work, very handy for audio volume control.

The Windows "Start" button is blocked by the left clap of this keyboard, but this is not an issue at all. Even better actually, because the "cmd" (left to space bar) is the WIN key. There is also a soft WIN button on the right side of Miix.

More details on this keyboard.

The mouse

Many Windows applications including the latest MS Office 2013 don't know what to do if they do not see a mouse, at least at some points. When I had the Acer W3 (the very first 8" Win8 tablet), I had to carry a mouse just in case. Now there is a fantastic utility, TouchMousePointer, it adds a touchpad on your screen, problem solved. See above video on how it works.


I also made a mouse emulator so I can conduct mouse functions on the keyboard (details to follow).


Make it easier to read and touch

The 8" screen is just about right to be productive while still pocketable. But the 1280x800 resolution is a little too high for fonts. So I scaled it up to 120 DPI (125%). I also made slide bars and other items wider with regedit for easier finger touch.



Tether over Bluetooth 

Such a powerful and pocketable computer would be pointless if not connected all the time. When in office and at home, I use USB tether to enjoy full speed of 4G while the phone is being charged by Miix and can exchange files with Miix. While on road, I use Bluetooth tether for convenience and low battery drain than WiFi, although bandwidth is limited to about 1 mbps.



A huge benefit of such tethering over WiFi hotspot or Bluetooth PAN: it is totally transparent. I.e., if the phone is using proxy or VPN to get an unrestricted Internet access, Miix goes through them too - both the phone and Miix are on full Internet at the same time. I realized how important this is when I went to China last summer with my W3 and Note 2, where VPN must be used to climb over the Great Firewall. With WiFi hotspot and BT PAN, I had to close proxy and VPN on the phone and ran them on the W3 instead, and the phone itself then no longer had Internet, quite hassle back and forth.

With BlueDUN, uploading speed is very low and latency is very high, but you don't need to install anything on Miix - just use Windows' built in DUN as showing in above video. With FoxFi, you have to install PDANet on Miix, but latency and speed are good especially via USB.

Because both Miix and Galaxy S4 support BT 4.0, power consumption is extremely low. I can leave PDAnet on Miix connected all the time and it drains virtually nothing, only about 2% overnight. See "Connected Standby" below. The coverage is great too, I can leave the phone downstairs and tether to it from upstairs. My audio BT devices never worked this far.


Connected standby

This is a great feature of Windows 8 and Intel's new processors. When it works, Miix can idle for 30 days! However, it is very fragile, a bad driver can easily break it and result into very heavy battery drain during idle. To see if any offending driver, open a CMD window as an admnistrator and run: powercfig /sleepstudy:


Then in the same folder, open the generated sleepstudy-report.html. If everything is fine, the last session will be all green, like this:


Otherwise, the top 5 offenders will be listed as red, so you know who you need to fix. For example, if I forgot to turn off the Bluetooth keyboard, the UART driver will keep Miix active and drain about 2% battery per hour:


The Bluetooth driver downloaded from Lenovo disconnects the BT keyboard after 10 minutes or so, then I have to turn BT off and on to get it connected again. Very annoying. To resolve this issue, I had to manually check Windows updates (I never enable auto update for anything) and only install the "Broadcom serial BUS Driver over UART Bus Enumerator" driver. Don't let Windows automatically install other drivers, because there are bad ones among them and I ended up with a fresh re-installation of Win8.1 (twice actually).

Don't install the KB2913236 Windows update, it makes the SD slot uselessly sluggish.

Furthermore, I uninstalled those live (push) metro apps, including email, people, calender, skype, weather, stock, food, travel, etc. Now my Miix's battery drain is less than 1% per hour with WiFi and BT on, or less than 1% overnight in airplane mode or 2% with just BT on.

All-in-one

Finally, I have the one computer for all. On the road, in the office and at home, for web search, entertainment, daily routines (such as Quickbooks) and serious jobs (such as video editing with PowerDirector and RAW converting with Lightroom). It can be charged and docked via a single USB, very convenient. It can have a real keyboard like a true laptop and can still slide into a jacket and pants pocket, truly portable, unlike 10" that's only transportable. A single plug-in turns it into a full desktop computer, very productive. See, I can write this blog while watching online TV or type an email message while sitting in sofa:



Mobile computing is no longer about just travel, it also means at the desk, in sofa and on toilet. The Surface Pro is expensive bulky crap, you cannot use its keyboard, say, in sofa like above.

I don't know why WinTel sell such a powerful and versatile computer for so little money. They beg Apple for a share while they have a golden rice bowl in their hands. I got mine from Amazon for only $250, yes, it is 64GB. Actually I know why: they don't have a guy like me or Steve Jobs to do above tweaks. What a pity.

There are too many more details to be covered into this single article, so stay tuned.

[USB Tether BSOD and Fix]
[New BIOS 1.07 for Miix 2 8]
[More on Miix 2 8 usb charging]
[Must have accessories for Miix 2 8]
[Touch problem and fix]

Some photos and video taken with Miix

All directly out of Miix and inserted right into this blog which is written on the Miix, mostly on a bus or while walking around under the Spring sun.











You may download the raw video clips here and here.


98 comments:

  1. Please, for the love of God tell me you have found something to enable seeing and connecting to ad-hoc networks on these things. I have searched high and low for a solution and nothing has worked. Netsh can see the network, and says it connects, but when I try to connect in the software I'm using (Innovate Logworks3) it's not there. Sorry if this is a little outside the scope of this article, but I'm starting to get desperate.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Sorry I have not got a need for ad-hoc WiFi, for many years now. I believe this is not a Win8 tablet issue but a general problem of Windows 8 which simply broke many thing. Such as:

      http://www.redmondpie.com/how-to-set-up-wireless-ad-hoc-internet-connection-in-windows-8/

      Delete
    2. Any clue on getting the drivers to work with an install of Win8 vs 8.1? I tried to no avail. Touchscreen didn't work properly and WLAN not at all.

      Delete
    3. Never tried, don't see a point of 8 over 8.1. If you can find a Bay Trail tablet that runs 8, then you may try its drivers on your Miix 2.

      Delete
    4. So have you looked at the Lenovo ThinkPad Tablet 8? Does it too have the 'can be charged while using USB devices" feature? It's seems a little nicer than the Miix 2 and reasonable at $400.

      Delete
    5. Sorry I'm not interested in any super high DPI Windows devices, because Windows cannot handle them for traditional applications. If not for running traditional applications, I don't know why I need Windows.

      Delete
  2. I don't see the point of this device. Windows on an 8" screen is near useless.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I see such comments all over around. The point is you don't have to rely solely on the 8" screen, you can use a 24" monitor whenever possible and currently you cannot carry anything smaller than this to run full Windows. I agree, 8" is pretty useless for Windows if without such a keyboard attached all the time. That's the point of this article.

      Delete
  3. Thanks for the detail but could you provide a bit more info about the USB setup?
    I can't get this working with my setup here.
    Regards
    Chippy.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hi Chippy!

      You meant charging? You need a USB hub, you plug your Miix charger into one of the 4 ports of the hub. This is the key. If you plug a 5V DC into the DC-in jack on the hub, it won't work that way. Because the Miix charger comes with a micro USB plug, you need an adapter. I have not tried other chargers with this setup, I'll give them a try after I got home this evening, but I believe they should work and save you an adapter. I have tried two different hubs, both fine, so I guess any hub is fine.

      Delete
    2. I just tested a cheap 2.1A USB charger, no problem at all.

      Delete
    3. Hi Sean, I got a new USB hub and I'm using the miix 2 charging cable from hub USB port to miix microusb port. It charges fine, but miix 2 doesn't recognise the hub and so other gadgets don't work. It looks like a cable issue, right? What should be the next step? The hub works fine with my notebook regular USB port. Thanks for your cooments, pls.

      Delete
    4. You must connect the hub to Miix as the same way as you connect it to your notebook. You don't connect Miix to one of the 4 ports. Take a look at my other articles about charging and accessories.

      Delete
  4. I just got the keyboard mentioned here for my new Miix 2 8". The problem I'm having is pairing it. I get prompted to enter a PIN on the Miix Windows screen but do not know the PIN code the keyboard is expecting. I cannot find documentation anywhere on what code to use. On a whim I successfully paired it with my Nexus 7; 6-digit code popped on-screen and asked to pump that into keyboard. Any ideas what is going on?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. You swap from right edge, Change PC settings, PC and devices, Bluetooth. Then you should see Bluetooth 3.0 Keyboard. Press Pair, Miix should prompt the 8-digit code on its screen and ask you to enter the code on the keyboard and then press the enter key. That's the process I went through, no problem at all.

      Delete
  5. Thanks you helped me a lot ,but can you tell me if it also connects to a printer.

    ReplyDelete
  6. Hi Sean,

    i have some problems when extending or changing screen on a miracast projector. i think it does not depend which device you use for extending. the problem is that when i want to use an bluetooth keyboard the mouse cursor on the secon screen disappears. When i pressCTRL i can see the circle to check for the position of the mouse cursor but thats no productiv. maybe it comes from one windows update (i installed all yet)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Try PointerStick, it shows a big red stick as you see in some of the photos above.

      Delete
  7. A problem when you use EVGA USB-VGA adapter is the adapter will get power from Miix 2. You should use a docking station like this one: Plugable UD-3900. It have power adapter so you will have a longer battery since it doesn't get power from your Miix 2.

    ReplyDelete
  8. Can you turn the tablet screen off when it is using monitor?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Yes, in external only mode, the built-in screen is then turned off right after the external is plugged.

      Delete
  9. I got a 32G Miix2 8. After installing MS office 2013 pro, there is about 5-6 gig room left for my other application, photos and data. What is the largest size, type and what brand of SD card do you recommend for best performance ?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. 64GB for about $30, Patriot.

      Delete
    2. The bad thing about the 32g, is that if you setup 2 accounts on the tablet, you no longer have space to install MS Office. Even though the photos and documents could be going straight to the SD memory card, it doesn't allow you to install many things on its internal memory.

      Delete
  10. I have a problem connecting just a memory stick or a mouse to the tablet trough usb-otg cable. i find it strange that my drivers are USB 3.0 eXtensible Host Controller Drivers, is this normal? the miix 2 8 only has an usb 2.0 port. can you check what kind of usb drivers are on your miix 2? i think microsoft updated the drivers wrong, thanks.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I connected a USB 3.0 hub to my chargeable OTG usb cable and hadno issues connecting all kind of things to it. Have connected Logitech C920 webcam, printer, keyboard, and even a Canon T3i.

      Delete
  11. This is truly a remarkable machine. I got mine in the 64GB version. On Amazon I found a BT keyboard in leather purse combination, perfectly tight fitting the Miix 8! Just a tip for you guys. It ships from Singapore in about 20 days (Netherlands in my case). I can't put a photo here but my Miix looks like a common laptop now, smaller then my iPad but slightly thicker:-)

    ReplyDelete
  12. Head over to kickstarter - for a usb connected dock that allows simulaneous charging and data (incl display & netorking) usage!
    https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/plugable/plugable-pro8-docking-station-with-charging-for-ve

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. As said in the beginning of this blog: MIIX can be charged while using USB devices, right out of the box. That's why I bought the Miix instead of the Dell.

      Delete
  13. i have an 8" Miix and very pleased with it. Can you experts tell me if it is possible to connect it directly to my desktop Windows 7 machine through the USB port? When I plug my Windows 8 phone straight into the desktop USb port, it is immediately recognised and i can access the phone,s memory.it makes it very simple to transfer files as it sees the phone as an external disk drive. My efforts to do the same with the Miix have not been successful. I Have to copy files to an SD card first and then move it to the Mixx... is that the only option? thanx.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. No you can't. This is exactly how such tablets failed - nobody except me use them as their primary computer and, as a secondary, you cannot use it as a USB drive.

      Delete
    2. Thanks Sean for reply. I thought that was the case. A pity, as that feature would be very handy.The Mix is otherwise a very good machine though.

      Delete
    3. Easy to open a BOX account or use the 15GB free MS Sky drive for moving files around.

      Delete
  14. I am having truble with my sd card reader on my Miix 2 8 . Do you know why my Samsung class 10 64gb micro sdxc keeps getting corrupted every time I try to add new files to it ? and I have to re formt it to make it work for a short while and then again i lose partition over and over....is this a common problem with Miix2 ???

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. From what I read, it is an issue of some cards including Patriot. I'm using a 64GB Patriot LX UHS-I, so far so good. You may try to reformat the card in a different format such as NTFS if you use it exclusively in MIIX. Mine came in exFAT format and I haven't reformat it yet.

      Also make sure you don't apply that Miix patch mentioned above, it breaks SD.

      Delete
  15. I wanted to have a setup like that, for portability. And when at home, i will use my desktop computer. I am planning to buy asus transformer book T100 and aspire switch from acer. The problem is the lack of vga port for use in classroom for projector. Is your setup applicable for this? And waht do you call your devie, a usb to vga adapter? Thank you

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Any USB-to-VGA adapter, mostly use a DisplayLink chip inside. MiscroUSB-to-HDMI cables that work for phones and non-Windows tablets won't work.

      Delete
    2. Hi do you still recommend the usb hub http://amzn.to/1m6wlUK

      and the EVGA USB-VGA adapter uvplus 12?

      Delete
  16. Mine drain 1.5% battery every hour sleep. Sleep study shows top 5 all green. The overall is orange. I can't find any reason

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Could be some Metro apps. Metro apps can still run and access the network during sleep. Traditional Windows applications can't and hence won't drain battery during sleep.

      After fully charged, the initial battery drain is "high", this is normal, it is due to a fast voltage drop around 100%. Therefore, when you measure battery drain, wait for the battery to drain down to 75% or so.

      Delete
    2. I don't have any metro apps running. Now if I leave it unused for 3 days, I can't open it cos battery is used up.

      Delete
  17. Hi, somehow possibly you happen tried other usb devices (e.g. bluray/dvd/cd writer or player or may be other types of devices (e.g. printers/scanners) or any other)? Were there any compatibility/drivers issues?
    I just wonder whether functionality of usb port on the tablet is the same as functionality of a regular usb port on PC (may be except for power supply). Thank you. Just for reference about some other embedded devices:
    http://forum.xda-developers.com/galaxy-nexus/general/how-to-hook-usb-powered-external-hard-t1783365
    https://www.riscosopen.org/forum/forums/5/topics/1596#posts-18911

    ReplyDelete
  18. Or could you please try connecting any other peripheral device that is near by which require installation of specific drivers (e.g. any of those I listed above or any other you might have) and let us know the outcome, please? Sure if you have time and desire for this. But if you don't it's ok. Any way thanks a lot for such informative article.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I use a lot of devices that are listed at the top of this article, including BluRay drives.

      Delete
  19. Need Help with Bluetooth keyboard. I purchased the same one you have, however, when I type on it, it tends to repeat keystrokes all the time. I have both the tablet and the keyboard fully charged but the same issue happens. I tried switching to a different bluetooth keyboard and same issue again.

    Any suggestions?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. On my keyboard, the "N" key often stuck down, producing repeated N's. This is a physical problem, some other keys such as L also do it. I can live with it.

      My keyboard used to do repeated keys randomly for no reason and the only way to stop it is a reboot. This is not acceptable and a search suggests that it is a Windows bug that happens on many BT keyboards. Fortunately, my keyboard has not done this for several months now.

      Delete
  20. USB tethering to my Nexus 5 does not seem to work. My Nexus 5's option to USB tether is greyed out when I connect the Miix 2 8 via a USB OTG cable. The phone still charges though. Wifi hotspot is working fine.

    Any suggestions?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Mine tethers fine on Wi-Fi, USB and BT. Try it on another computer, so you'll know whether it's a driver or phone issue. Mostly a phone issue.

      Delete
    2. OK thanks I'll try on another computer.

      Delete
  21. I've been using mine daily as my only computer for months now and have gone several long trips (in Canada at this moment). It's very cool to have a full computer together with my G5 camera, full size NC headphones and chargers, all in a small bag.

    ReplyDelete
  22. Great write up, really swaying me towards a Lenovo tablet as the power and data options are so much simpler than any other tablet.

    I was going to ask, would you reckon a USB A Male to USB A Male lead work off the hub to a USB charger?

    Cheers dude.

    ReplyDelete
  23. This is an awesome article, and understandable by tech-simpletons like me. Question though- I have a mSATA micro 128GB I'd love to install if I end up buying this thing, but to my knowledge the drive is soddered, yes? Or is there a space open somewhere? A little confused here.

    It looks like on the 11" there's an open spot, but I prefer the smaller tablet. I mean, computer.

    ReplyDelete
  24. Not sure about mSATA, but you certainly can add an USB drive into it by soldering 4 wires. There are some internal photos in the touch fix article.

    ReplyDelete
  25. Just got a refurb Miix 2 8 and went to install updates but I could not find the one you say not to install because of the SD issue. Just so I can rule out if I have a issue, what speeds do you get on crystal disk mark? and what settings did you use. I am getting 16MB read and 8 write.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Update: Switched cards, getting 40 read and 20 write. Is that the max speed on the card reader?

      Delete
  26. Hey again,
    Got my miix- and out of the box it won't connect to internet. Tried 3 different networks I connect to regularly, it's not working. I'm reading something about some windows 8.1 bug online, but I can't even get windows to complete update (since I need internet). Not sure where to fix the issue.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. hi mate,

      i had a similar problem too where my device cant see my wifi network but could see my neighbours' networks. i found out in the end my wifi is on channel 13 and this device doesnt support channels 12 or 13.

      Delete
    2. It can if you change the region on the device driver. US regions don't allow channels above 11.

      Delete
  27. It actually works ok on certain networks...found a post about various win8 devices that have an issue w/the Bluetooth driver, have to disable something. I've been trying for a week at my school/work and it FINALLY caught the connection all of a sudden. Weight of this setup is awesome! Looking at a usb hub and a little mouse, with my "new" iPhone 5 I should be covered for a year or two of full-time travel/digital nomading (yup, that's a word now)

    ReplyDelete
  28. Hey,

    For all having issues with connected standby (espacially with the usb Erich you can see in your sleepstudy) , I finally got it working properly, spending many hours to find something in the internet without success,I tried to find a way to fix it on my own.

    what I did:
    - disable metro app notification
    - delete all latest Windows updates step by step to find out which one has broken usb root power management (If you don't have enough time try to delete all updates except security updates, if this doesn't work delete all) and reinstall step by step
    - check under the device manager options that the computer has permission to disable usb hub in standby
    - deactivate usb-debugging in uefi if enabled

    This worked for me, even though a full refresh of Windows didn't.

    Maybe in English some options have other names than in German, hope you find them all.

    ReplyDelete
  29. Can I use a USB to HDMI?
    Cable
    http://www.ebay.com/itm/New-Micro-USB-MHL-2-0-To-HDMI-3D-HDTV-Adapter-Cable-for-Samsung-Galaxy-S4-i9500-/331263110911?pt=US_Cell_Phone_PDA_Cables_Adapters&hash=item4d20d1eeff
    Converter
    http://www.ebay.com/itm/New-1080P-USB-2-0-to-HDMI-DVI-Converter-Display-Adapter-Audio-Black-Durable-/310993921429?pt=US_Video_Cables_Adapters&hash=item4868aea595

    ReplyDelete
  30. http://www.ebay.com/itm/SuperSpeed-USB-3-0-2-0-to-VGA-Adapter-for-Windows-Win7-8-/381008412245?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item58b5defe55

    ReplyDelete
  31. I use this powered $4 7 port USB hub and it charges the tablet while also producing 7 USB ports. I successfully connected a USB to VGA adapter to one of those USB ports for an external monitor. Because this is USB 2.0 the external monitor did not play 1080P video smoothly but it played well if I made the video size smaller. USB 2.0 does not support 1080P video

    http://www.amazon.com/USB-Highspeed-Port-Adapter-Silver/dp/B002FFZGCU/ref=sr_1_5?ie=UTF8&qid=1415390877&sr=8-5&keywords=7+port+usb+hub

    I now consider that 7 port USB hub part of the tablet and treat it like an laptop "brick" part of the power cord. I can plug USB Memory Sticks or any other external device (Mouse, keyboard, etc).

    The USB to VGA adapter that I used in the above is the StarTech USB32VGAE which I picked up on eBay for $20. Below is the link to the product. I purchased a cheap $15 USB to VGA adapter on eBay and got a defective one. The VGA port would push into the unit, physically broken. So I invested a bit more on StarTech.

    http://www.startech.com/AV/USB-Video-Adapters/USB-3-to-VGA-External-Video-Card-Multi-Monitor-Adapter-2048x1152~USB32VGAE

    Lastly - I don't use an external keyboard. I defer lengthy typing to when I sit at a PC. A small keyboard like the one described in this post still makes the task of typing a pain. It is a little better than typing on the screen keyboard but to me anyway not worth the extra hassle of another piece of hardware.

    ReplyDelete
  32. Hello


    I have a otg adaptator like this :
    http://www.ebay.com/itm/3-Ports-USB-OTG-MHL-HDMI-TV-Multimedia-Adapter-For-Samsung-Galaxy-S5-S4-Note-3-/291208587208?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item43cd6267c8


    It work perfect form y Samsung S4, but It does no work at all for my new lenovo miix 2 8.

    Can you tell me witch kind of adaptator you use?


    Thanks

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Any OTG adapter should work, unless there are some loose pins in the USB port of your Miix. See my other articles for details, I added the links at the bottom of this article.

      Delete
  33. sean Chen, could you please help me. i had the miix 2 8 and now it drains 10% per hour in sleep mode

    ReplyDelete
  34. Thx for the guide. Very awesome. I have a question - after windows updates i now have a bug with the desktop - the start menu does not let me open the system control or the task manager with right mouse click. Whenever i try the desktop reloads automatically. Also some application shortcuts leads to same behaviour. This is very strange. I am forced to use keyboard instead. This is very annoying. Anyone has idea, what i can do to fix this? Thx in advance

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. No idea, this is why I never do any update with my computers, tablets and phones. Before you do any system change/update, do a full system backup.

      Delete
    2. I got a Dell Venu Pro 11 (7140) recently and experienced your issues after I connect it to the USB display (DisplayLink). The "start" button and moving mouse to the corners no longer work on the tablet's screen but works fine on the external monitor. Either a bug of Windows 8.1 update or DisplayLink driver.

      Delete
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    ReplyDelete
  36. I have found a professional and useful site about the tablets, They produce exact evidences on tablets by using digital ruler and kitchen scale !! seems to be trustable website about tablets. visit this address : http://www.tablet.ir

    ReplyDelete
  37. Hi buddy, your blog's design is simple and clean and i like it. Your blog posts are super. Please keep them coming. Greets!!!
    Lenovo Coupon

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  38. The blog was absolutely fantastic! Lot of great information which can be helpful in some or the other way. Keep updating the blog, looking forward for more contents...Great job, keep it up..
    gaming keyboard

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  39. Good post....thanks for sharing.. very useful for me i will bookmark this for my future needs. Thanks.
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  40. Great blog.. very helpfull information for me.
    Can I install linux on this tablet?
    Tablet With USB Port Specifications

    ReplyDelete
  41. Tablets are slick, efficient and a perfect cross between a smart phone and laptop. They are perfect for watching movies, listening to music, browsing internet and light gaming. So many functions cocooned within a delicate frame! Thankfully, to help you keep your precious tablets safe; there are thousands of accessories in the market. Some protect them against unforeseen impacts, whereas others enhance operability and general performance.

    Tablet cover online shopping

    ReplyDelete
  42. Hi sean, i find your blog very useful and informative and i already bookmarked it.

    Can you give me an advise?

    I'm thinking of getting a miix 2 8 for myself after reading this post. I'm planning to use it in coding mainly in excel and in web design. Then I learned about acer w4 with micro hdmi port.

    Do you think miix 2 8 is still better than acer w4?

    Would you still choose miix 2 over the w4?


    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. No, for lacking of HDMI. Back then, this Miix 2 8 was the only 8" that can be used and charged at the same time. Right now, you may take a look at the RCA 10" Cambio selling for $59 by Walmart. It has everything including HDMI and keyboard. Excellent screen with good colors.

      Delete
  43. That was a good deal, but its still a 10 incher. I was pretty inspired with your miix 2 8 setup and I think 8 inchers would be the perfect UMPC.

    I have a 15.6" Lenovo Yoga 500 but I cannot always move it around due to peripherals and coolers hooked onto it. I'd like something which I can easily take with me wherever I go whatever I do which would make 8" perfect for me.

    I think I would go for the W4 if I can also use its usb while charging at the same time. But the only available unit in my area is the 32GB version.

    Should i still get the W4 even if it only has 32GB or just the Miix 2 8 with 64GB?

    Thanks in advance for your advise.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I edit video and Atom and Celeron are not fast enough for that. There is no 8" with a Core M CPU, so I had to go 10".

      Even 64GB is not enough, so you'll mostly add a SD card anyway and 128GB cost only $40.

      Delete
    2. You're absolutely right. I'll just get the W4 and put in a 128 SDXC.

      Thanks for the tip.

      Delete
    3. Hi sean, I found a review of W4 in notebookcheck.net

      "...the W4 cannot be recharged when the included dongle, i.e. a USB stick, a hub or a mouse is connected."

      http://www.notebookcheck.net/Review-Acer-Iconia-W4-820-2466-Tablet.114871.0.html

      I guess, I should get the miix 2 8.

      Delete
  44. This comment has been removed by the author.

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  48. Hi Sean, I would like to setup miix 2 8 as a desktop. What configuration is suitable for miix 2. Can the miix 2 use hdmi and usb port connected to keyboard and be charge at the same time. Afraid if using hdmi the tablet wont be charge. What item need to buy? Miix use 5 pin or 11 pin usb. I see many usb hdmi dock in amazon dont know which one is working with miix 2.



    thank you.

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