Amazing $100 Windows 10 Laptop/Tablet at Walmart.com

[video=youtube;53EpUURrM_Y]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=53EpUURrM_Y[/video]

Paging ksaves2....

Must check one of these out.

Looks like something that would be really useful on the flightline... You could download your videos/pics, run OR/RocSim for live flight performance data (wind speed, altitude, etc.).

K'Tesh said:

Looks like something that would be really useful on the flightline... You could download your videos/pics, run OR/RocSim for live flight performance data (wind speed, altitude, etc.).

Click to expand...

It might also be used to interface with PC based altimeters for us Apple users looking for a cheap PC for an interface.

markkoelsch said:

Must check one of these out.

Click to expand...

One of my local Walmart Super Centers has plenty of them in stock. There wasn't even a price tag by the display model and when price checked, it was the full $179 normal price.

They used to claim at that store that they wouldn't always be willing to match Walmart.com sale prices, but that has apparently changed, so they marked it down and sold it at the Walmart.com sale price. The way they talked, they must now have a policy to match prices from anywhere else, but that may be store-dependent.

I've only played with it a little, but it is plenty fast for what one would tend to use it for (using a 2014 introduced Intel Atom quad core, same as the one in my Asus X205TA netbook I paid $99 for on sale, but the Asus doesn't separate into a tablet) and it seems very well made. The LCD and touchscreen are great as is the keyboard. The tablet/keyboard attachment/detachment mechanism seems to be very solid and well done. I didn't think to check if they had different colors, so I ended up with a black one which is fine. It is coated everywhere with a grippy rubber surface that feels just like the coating on a Mobius camera.

EDIT: This is a fantastic and inexpensive carrying case that I previously bought for my Asus X205TA. It's larger than needed for the Flexx10, but I bought another one anyway:

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00DUGZFA6/?tag=skimlinks_replacement-20

The 7-10" version of same might have been large enough, but it is a totally different style and I don't like that it doesn't seem to have much, if any, real storage space.

I'm very tempted to get one of these. For ~$100, not a bad thing to have. I already have an 8" Android tablet with wifi/LTE, so I don't really "need" a windows tablet with keyboard, but it looks like fun to play around with...

There's the Flex10.1 (now $99.98) Windows 10
Then the Flex 10.0 (now $128.00) Windows 8 with update to windows 10

Both seem to have same specs other than older vs newer OS.

Nobody around has it in stock; ship-to-store is the option or ship to home.

I'm close to pulling the trigger, but just not sure when I would use it for anything I can't use my tablet for. True, with integrated/detachable keyboard I could actually type...

That processor is crap! You would probably do better with a second hand Pentium 5 or 7 laptop.

BayouRat said:

That processor is crap! You would probably do better with a second hand Pentium 5 or 7 laptop.

Click to expand...

Assuming that isn't sarcasm, it's small, lightweight, has an extremely long battery life, is cheap, and does what I need it to do. So, no, I wouldn't be better off.

BDB said:

Paging ksaves2....

Click to expand...

I see it. I'll wait as I have 3 cheap tablets and one Nexus 7 2013. I don't need any more devices. For APRS fliers any tablet will work. Problem is out in the field the display is hard to see in the sunlight. An 8 " tablet in a small box, flat black painted is helpful but a 10 " tablet in a box isn't so bad either.

I picked up two Chinese tablets that are 3G and dual boot Android/Win 8.1/Win10 with onboard GNSS GPS chipset. Win 10 sucks cause it keeps downloading crap automatically to gob up the memory. Win 8.1 I've got locked down so it doesn't upgrade.
A Windows tablet with an onboard GPS is pretty rare. Android it's common. I can't use my subscription AT&T Go Phone sim with either of them but I was looking for a dual boot WiFi appliance.
The only one available now it this one: https://www.tinydeal.com/108-hd-screen-win-10-dual-os-z3735f-2gb-64gb-3g-tablet-pc-p-156019.html
The 3G dual boot Cube I6 is no longer available.
The Chinese cell phone frequencies vary on these devices so don't count on them to work. 2G is about to be shut off in the US and I don't think the subscription phones like the AT&T are compatible with anything unless it is purpose made. My Z222 phone is WCDMA 850/1900 and GSM 850/1900. I cut the mini-simm for the Tiny Deal and it recognizes the simm but won't receive a signal. Might be it's 1900Mhz where I'm at and not 850Mhz but I'd think for propagation in the boondocks they'd use 850.

Cripes, I can still wear my $10.00 z222 on my belt and was interested in a dual boot wifi appliance. I have Burnsim and Rocksim working on them and GPS Rocket Locator and APRSDroid lives on the Android side.

I haven't gone through the video or the specs yet. Is the keyboard detachable? Like I said, hard to read a screen out in the sunlight.

One could conceivably pair a simple used $15.00 Bluetooth GPS source to the tablet to have the base position and bond to a tracker receiver device a' la EggFinder, Altus Metrum and Missileworks to name a few. Kurt

I pulled the trigger tonight and ordered a Flex 10.

I certainly don't "need" it but it will be fun to play with. I've been wanting a platform to poke around Win 10 on, without taking down any of my production systems (main desktop PC, Home Theater PC, PC the kids use...). I have one older PC that still runs but looses mobo settings (no, it's not the mobo battery... it's some other problem) and freaks out. But, I didn't want to blow a license on that old PC since it would have been a short term thing.

And I'm up the gazoo with Android devices: My cell phone, my LTE-enabled 8" tablet, a Remix mini PC, an older Samsung phone I use wifi only for certain things... And I've got one of those CHIP computers coming that will be used for playing around with various LINUX distros. I have several virtualized Linux installations too.

But, I have found I often just want a Windows tablet for doing simple things, as a thin client, web browsing, Remote Desktop to my "real computers" and this Flexx 10 looks like a reasonable contender.

We shall see! It was worth risking the $100 to play around with. What can I say... I'm a geek. Worst case scenario I find a Linux distro with decent touch screen support. The specs on this computer a plenty fine for a solid Linux box.

Marc

I looked at it on the Walmart site. A microSD card can compensate for the "lack of " memory to a degree. It says 32gb but the amount free is a bit less. I'd say go for it Marc except be prepared for the constant spying and downloading Win 10 does.
Unfortunately there's no way around that from here on out. The exciting thing is if the author of YAAC (https://www.ka2ddo.org/ka2ddo/YAAC.html) can get the program to appropriately utilize Bluetooth ports in a Windows environment, anyone who
uses an NMEA GPS tracker (example: EggFinders/TRS/Missileworks or anything that sends a standard NMEA stream to a port) will be able to track their rockets on an Open Source Map. The program and the maps are free. One supplies a Windows
or Linux device and as long as Java is on it, they're in business.

YAAC is a piece of cake to setup for an NMEA tracker and one doesn't have to be a Ham to use it. In the Linux environment it works entirely Bluetooth and all. I could do a one page instruction sheet and anyone could run it. Only problem is the port hangup in Windows. It's a free program so I consider it poor taste to hassle the author. I did bring it to his attention but since I don't code, I can't help out. Basically one just sets up the NMEA stream from their GPS that is going to give the laptops position and on the same setup screen, can define a port where their second GPS stream is going to be coming in from their receiver. Select an icon and done! If one were to use YAAC with
USB devices (ie. GPS USB dongle and an NMEA USB receiver) it works fine on Windows as I have tested with an early EggFinder receiver with a USB cable. Problem is out in the field, cables come loose at inopportune times.

Just remember if using the device in the field, get a box to put it in to shade it from the sun. A matte screen protector helps a little bit. It wasn't bad when I was tracking with a Nexus 7 on a sunny day.

Kurt

ksaves2 said:

... I'd say go for it Marc except be prepared for the constant spying and downloading Win 10 does.
Unfortunately there's no way around that from here on out.

Click to expand...

Well, with a bit of googling or some utilities out there, you can turn off most if not all of the telemetry that goes back to MS. And, as for my concern about MS data mining me... Google already knows pretty much everything there is to know about me, and this hasn't harmed me yet. Amazon knows a hell of a lot about my shopping habits. Yeah, these companies and others online that know about me can be hacked and this information stolen, but I'm not terribly worried.

What concerns me more is that Win 10 by default sets itself up as a peer-to-peer update hub. So, when my Win 10 machine receives some OS update, it starts sending it out to others both local and out in the internet in a torrent-like fashion. USING MY D@MNED BANDWIDTH. This will be disabled by me in the first minutes of owning the machine.

And, I can always wipe the thing and install a different OS. It can take Win 8.1 which is somewhat less obnoxious, or any of a number of Linux distros, from what I infer on the internet. Maybe I'll make it a Mint box or something. That would be cool, a 10" Mint tablet...

And thanks for the info on the tracker stuff. I'm not there yet with my rockets but it's interesting!

Marc

Marc_G said:

Well, with a bit of googling or some utilities out there, you can turn off most if not all of the telemetry that goes back to MS. And, as for my concern about MS data mining me... Google already knows pretty much everything there is to know about me, and this hasn't harmed me yet. Amazon knows a hell of a lot about my shopping habits. Yeah, these companies and others online that know about me can be hacked and this information stolen, but I'm not terribly worried.

What concerns me more is that Win 10 by default sets itself up as a peer-to-peer update hub. So, when my Win 10 machine receives some OS update, it starts sending it out to others both local and out in the internet in a torrent-like fashion. USING MY D@MNED BANDWIDTH. This will be disabled by me in the first minutes of owning the machine.

And, I can always wipe the thing and install a different OS. It can take Win 8.1 which is somewhat less obnoxious, or any of a number of Linux distros, from what I infer on the internet. Maybe I'll make it a Mint box or something. That would be cool, a 10" Mint tablet...

And thanks for the info on the tracker stuff. I'm not there yet with my rockets but it's interesting!

Marc

Click to expand...

Install another operating system? Do tell how. One may need to find the proper image for a particular device
and it's not so simple like reloading a desktop from DVD's. You got a surefire method and I have a Chinese tablet
I'd like to dump Win 10 and load 8.1. Problem is many of the shut offs get turned back on without ones permission.
I've seen it already. A source I've contacted had this to say in a public forum:

> Won't it prevent any further updating?
>

NO... You have _*NO*_ control over updating with Windows 10. This is one of
it's worst features. There will never be another major release of Windows; Win
10 will be endlessly modified, tweaked and changed by an endless stream of
stealth NON-optional updates. Win 10 does NOT present a list of proposed
updates and let you pick and choose which ones you want. It simply silently
forces them into all Win 10 systems, whether or not you want them.

Sooner or later, legacy programs from earlier versions of Windows (which
includes UIview which remains unchanged from the middle of the XP era) are
going to simply stop working due to some undisclosed, forced update to Win
10.xyz... .

GWX only prevents updating on Win 7 or 8.x (where updates are under the control
of the user).

> It did find a cache file and happily deleted it.
>

You can clean cache files with any number of cleanup utilities such as
CCleaner. It's a meaningless exercise with Win10. You can keep deleting them,
but they will keep "coming back from the dead" due to the inability to stop Win
10 updates.

> There are also switches to allow shutting off Windows 10 updates or allow
> "non-critical" updates. (Whatever that means)
>

These only apply to Win 7 and 8 systems. Microsoft classifies and patches into
two categories: "Critical" which are supposed to be urgent security-related,
and non-critical which are minor bug fixes, driver updates for things like
video, networking, sound, etc. By default on Win 7/8 systems, critical
updates are ON, and non-critical are OFF. (These options are under user
control from the Windows Control Panel in Win 7/8; i.e. you can turn off
automatic updates or opt for critical only. _They are NOT under user control on
Win 10_ .)

Microsoft snuck the original "GWX" nagware "Get Windows 10" campaign into
millions of Win 7/8 systems by fraudulently classifying it as a "critical update".
During the coercive, abusive hard-sell campaign to force Win 10 onto earlier
systems, MIcrosoft has taken upon itself to reset "non-critical" updates on Win
7/8 systems to "ON" so that Windows Update can then silently force GIGABYTES of
unwanted files into your system "just in case" you decide to upgrade to Win 10.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

I'm going to use my Win 10/Android dual boot tablet to run apps and not Use the internet. I leave the WiFi off most of the time. I've downloaded stuff quickly and shut the WiFi off and there is partially downloaded WinBlows stuff in the cache.

If I have too many switches "shut off" my onboard GPS sometimes can't be accessed. I have two tablets with onboard GPS chipsets. You will not find a Winblows only tablet with onboard GPS period. My dual boots have them
and I had to use com0com and GNSS datainterface to get access to the data. There is no accessible port without these free utilities. Oh, I had to buy the tablets from overseas too. Look for a natively offered dual boot tablet and you won't find one at a retail outlet.
Mail order maybe as one I got from Gearbest in a New York warehouse Kurt

It's quite simple to stop Windows 10 update; you just disable the service

ksaves2 said:

Microsoft snuck the original "GWX" nagware "Get Windows 10" campaign into millions of Win 7/8 systems by fraudulently classifying it as a "critical update". During the coercive, abusive hard-sell campaign to force Win 10 onto earlier systems, MIcrosoft has taken upon itself to reset "non-critical" updates on Win 7/8 systems to "ON" so that Windows Update can then silently force GIGABYTES of unwanted files into your system "just in case" you decide to upgrade to Win 10.

Click to expand...

It was update KB3035583 and can be removed

I would not update to Windows 10 unless you had a specific reason. To hop onto the latest O/S band-wagon just for the sake of being on the latest O/S is not a good reason. Privacy and data collection is a big concern for IT when considering introducing Windows 10 into their company. Cortana, although considered a valuable tool, has to be able to look inside your email, calendar, user contacts, etc., effectively it indexes all of your data and some of this data is stored on Microsoft’s servers which you have no way of deleting. For that matter you have no right to it at all.

When you accept the Windows 10 EULA (End User Licensing Agreement) you are allowing MS to glean anything off your system. While you may feel that Microsoft needs access to all kinds of data to give you the services you demand the trade-offs between privacy and features should not be taken lightly by anyone, and is not a simple black-and-white decision for companies.

All my win7 boxes run the GWX control panel that blocks all the Win10 upgrade stuff. That utility really makes it easy to keep MS from preemptively upgrading my computers in ways that would Dow grade their utility.

My intent in getting this $100 tablet is to have a system I can use to play with that is separate from my main computers. I will probably set it up with no critical info at all.

Many companies that have mission critical proprietary software are staying with Win 7 in some version or other and the IT guys know how to shut off the automatic update stuff. That said, I have shut off updates in 10 and at times after I've downloaded
an app and finished up, the next time I boot and look at my setup, some of the switches have been mysteriously reset and there is stuff sitting on the MicroSD card I didn't download. I prefer to have control over my drive in a tablet that has
limited space. Windows 7 and 8 are easy to lock down. Windows 10, not so easy in that MS is getting very sneaky. Some options are in microtype like "Custom" so's one is likely to accept the defaults.
I spend most my time on Linux but there are no cheap "true" Linux tablets out there yet that have enough space to allow running a compiler when necessary. Kurt

Marc_G said:

All my win7 boxes run the GWX control panel that blocks all the Win10 upgrade stuff. That utility really makes it easy to keep MS from preemptively upgrading my computers in ways that would Dow grade their utility.

My intent in getting this $100 tablet is to have a system I can use to play with that is separate from my main computers. I will probably set it up with no critical info at all.

Click to expand...

That's essentially what I'm doing with the Win 10 job. Run apps I load off line and out in the field. Probably the safest bet. Kurt

Hi Kurt,

I want to thank you for the detailed response you gave. Couldn't get into details in my earlier response as I was at work on a mobile device at lunch and only had a minute or two. Let me make a few comments, though keep in mind I'm experienced with Windows through 7 SP1 but only briefly used an 8.1 PC and never touched a Win 10 device until now. I picked up the Flexx 10 today; I've just turned it on for the first time and it's updating. For the record, I connected it to my guest wifi account and it currently has no access to any other computer in the house. I shut down most of the telemetry options it provides on first boot, but obviously there's still much to do to minimize the spying...

ksaves2 said:

Install another operating system? Do tell how. One may need to find the proper image for a particular device
and it's not so simple like reloading a desktop from DVD's. You got a surefire method and I have a Chinese tablet
I'd like to dump Win 10 and load 8.1.

Click to expand...

Well, I've been around the tablet / Android phone game pretty much since they came out. The big question on these devices that determines their destiny is: Is it a tablet that knows it's a tablet, or is it a PC that thinks it's a tablet, or is it a tablet that thinks it's a PC?

Most devices that run Android require a LOT of work to run Ubuntu (driver and system architecture issues, but solvable), and simply never will run Windows (of any stripe) because windows assumes things about the processor architecture that aren't true for these tablets.

The Flexx 10.1 appears to be a PC that thinks it's a tablet. Like any PC, all you should need to do is boot to the BIOS, set it to USB boot, and load your favorite flavor of Linux Mint, Ubuntu, etc.. It's got the underpinnings to pretty easily accept any typical OS you would put on any PC. There are likely some driver issues to be worked around, but nothing that can't be fixed or circumvented with some work.

EXCEPT these cheap computers appear to have the BIOS boot functions made difficult, but not impossible, to access. I haven't experimented enough but I doubt there's a "Press F2 to choose device boot order" (which is annoying because my Windows backups are done with True Image booted from a USB stick). From what I've read, it takes some work to crack this one open, and there are a few warts, but once you get it running, it's OK. In fact, it seems to be possible (again with some setup) to run Linux just fine from a live USB stick while leaving Windows on the internal drive. Not bad for a $100 computer. I'm betting so many of these will be sold at this price point that utilities will arise to make it easier to get Linux of any flavor all set up. Apparently the main things are already done (Linux drivers seem to exist for the system architecture, wifi, and screen).

I'm pretty sure at some point I will be playing around with these OS issues, but for now I'm going to have fun Learning Windows 10 more or less as Windows 10 was designed to be experienced, albeit with me placing some pretty tight limits on what this PC sees, and what information I give it. For the record, it will think my name is Lobsang Rampa.

ksaves2 said:

Problem is many of the shut offs get turned back on without ones permission.
I've seen it already. A source I've contacted had this to say in a public forum:

> Won't it prevent any further updating?
>

NO... You have _*NO*_ control over updating with Windows 10. This is one of
it's worst features. There will never be another major release of Windows; Win
10 will be endlessly modified, tweaked and changed by an endless stream of
stealth NON-optional updates. Win 10 does NOT present a list of proposed
updates and let you pick and choose which ones you want. It simply silently
forces them into all Win 10 systems, whether or not you want them.

Sooner or later, legacy programs from earlier versions of Windows (which
includes UIview which remains unchanged from the middle of the XP era) are
going to simply stop working due to some undisclosed, forced update to Win
10.xyz... .

GWX only prevents updating on Win 7 or 8.x (where updates are under the control
of the user).

Click to expand...

Indeed. With a heavy heart I agree with you. MS has determined this is the path, which annoys the heck out of me, but rather than fight a Pyrrhic battle I'm instead going to try to understand the ins and outs of what they are doing. Again, if you took the information in Google, Amazon, Netflix, Carbonite, and LinkedIn, you could pretty much program a replicator to spit out detailed copies of me. I'm in the cloud. There's no going back. I don't necessarily think MS is any more evil at the core. Their business model just happens to appear a bit more intrusive. I'm more offended by their forced updates of Win7/8 systems (requiring effort to stave off) than I am of their actual data mining. Also their setting up peer updating schemes is violently offensive to me, since it's a bandwidth hog. That can be turned off, however.

ksaves2 said:

Microsoft snuck the original "GWX" nagware "Get Windows 10" campaign into
millions of Win 7/8 systems by fraudulently classifying it as a "critical update".
During the coercive, abusive hard-sell campaign to force Win 10 onto earlier
systems, MIcrosoft has taken upon itself to reset "non-critical" updates on Win
7/8 systems to "ON" so that Windows Update can then silently force GIGABYTES of
unwanted files into your system "just in case" you decide to upgrade to Win 10.

Click to expand...

We couldn't agree more. This really annoyed me. Thank goodness for Ultimate Outsider's GWX Control Panel.

OK, over the next week or so I will set this thing up and report back. Or, rather, Lobsang will.

ssix

Unfortunately, GWX won't help with Windows 10 already onboard. Here is a resource I used: https://wa8lmf.net/Windows10-Info/index.htm

GWX works with anything 8.1 on down.

Many companies, mine included, use proprietary software that is not guaranteed to work with 10. The IT people are able to lock down the network so updating doesn't occur. Of course this is the "Professional Edition"
and MS knew that could be an issue for industrial users. For the Home Edition, one is stuck.

I do a lot of stuff in Linux and run a guest OS for XP using virtual box. One is in a bit better position with that OS. Kurt

I spent about 90 minutes with the Flexx 10.1 today. Lobsang hasn't made his appearance yet; I just set up a generic "Admin" account and poked around. Turned off all the easily-accessible telemetry that I object to, as well as the use of my computer as an update torrent seeder. I installed Firefox browser (completely without an significant interference by Win 10, despite what I've read that I should expect), turned off User Access Control, and so forth. To torture it I set Edge's default home page to be Google, and changed the search engine by default to DuckDuckGo. Hah! Take that, MS.

Hardware wise, the computer is a lot nicer than I expect for $100. It feels solid and decently built, not cheap. It does flex a bit if I hold it by the corner of the keyboard, due to the weight of the main tablet portion. But hey, it advertises itself as a Flexx 10, so I guess it has to flex a bit. It doesn't give me concern that it would break or anything. I did a trial separation of the tablet from the keyboard. Took me a minute to get the hang of it but no problem. Once I figured out the right way to press the button and pull the tab out it worked fine. The touch screen is certainly not the greatest, but it's better than others I've used that cost a lot more. There's probably a sensitivity control I need to tweak. The lack of a GPS sensor is freaky, but typical for Windows tablets I hear.

It's still settling in and downloading some updates right now, but it has been very well behaved so far. Right at the beginning Explorer.exe barfed, giving me pause, but that was a one-time thing on first logon as Admin. After I settled things in it has not recurred.

It does occasionally suggest I sign in to Microsoft, but it hasn't done anything really annoying yet.

I found the place where you configure boot options (like boot from external drive...) you seem to configure this in Windows rather than a in a more typical Bios. At some point I'll get it to boot to my Acronis stick and see if I can back up from the internal drive to a microSD card. My Acronis is out of date (2011 or 2012 I think) so I may have issues. We'll see.

My initial opinion of this thing is that it's a steal at $100. I'm tempted to get one for each of my kids. But they don't need laptops yet, and there's already a (real) PC they use. So I'll save my money for now. Yeah, Win 10 has some very offensive choices baked in by MS, but in terms of end user usability so far it doesn't seem bad. I had to Duck a few questions (like how to turn off user access control) so I could set things up, but that was easy enough. So far, so good.

It's downloading a big update at the moment. (version 1511, 10586). We'll see tomorrow how it does once that is applied.

Marc

This morning Windows had finished updating with the major 1511 update. The system went from having 17 GB of 28 GB free to just 12 GB of 28 GB free. Sucking up a third of the free space really sucks. I was previously pleased that the Windows installation was tight; now it's a bit of a bloat. It also took about 5 minutes to process the update when I woke the computer up. It flashed things like "We've installed new features you should be excited about." on screen. I was thinking, "Great. Get excited about taking me to my d@mn home screen!"

Those annoyances aside, I did have to reset my privacy settings in a few places. Cortana got reactivated. However most things were as I left them. For now.

EDIT: The disc cleanup (including system files) routine restored me to approximately where I was before, space wise. I can't go back to the previous version of Win 10 before this update, but I don't care. I've bought this thing to get a glimpse of the future, however dystopian it may be.

Right, That's the thing, I've been told it will change settings behind your back. I hate having my disk real estate,
especially on a tight tablet, co-apted by the OS to store junk on it. Plus it looks like you've had to go through quite
a bit of work to manually lock it down only to have it opened up again.

If one is going to use the device to run rocket apps, keep the online time to a minimum, download your apps externally and load them through a USB stick.

Most rocketry and ham radio applications are quite simple and don't need the latest and greatest OS to run.

I've got my tracking apps to use out in the field and heck, there's no WiFi out there so I don't worry.

I'm finding with the internal GPS on the two dual boot Chinese tablets the battery consumption is a bit higher plus a tendency to have to run a brighter screen out in the sunlight (even if shielded in a box). Not so bad to get a
$16.00 used Royaltek B/T GPS I use with a TW801. The Royaltek I have on a high capacity battery and doesn't
suck the juice from the device.

Kurt

Hi guys,

I figured I would give an update after a week of (occasionally) using this thing. Bottom line, it's great for $100.

It took a few rounds of updates to get it to the current Win 10 build. As I mentioned, I did have to go in and make sure the settings were the way I wanted them... a few were reset after some of the major updates were done. They've been stable since then.

I installed LibreOffice (free, but I will make a donation) and with that this becomes a very capable portable windows device. It's not snappy, but it's functional, and it hasn't annoyed me in any particular way. I've used it to remote desktop into my main PC and that works great too. I've played with it more in "mini laptop mode" with the keyboard attached than as a tablet. I'm still figuring out how to scroll and such when using it as a tablet, when remoting into my main PC... this is a Windows curiosity rather than something specific to the device. Basically, I need to figure sort out the touchscreen to mouse mappings that the RDP client expects.

My one big annoyance with it is that while it is possible to boot from removable media such as USB sticks, it's locked into EFI boot with no legacy boot support... which means most rescue recovery (such as the old version of Acronis I use) won't boot. Some folks have successfully gotten it to boot Linux, so I plan to mess with that at some point in the future. This lack of legacy boot is plain and simple an effort to lock it into Windows, and was probably a requirement based on a deal between the maker and Microsoft.

Overall I'm quite happy I got it. It's not a desktop replacement, nor a laptop replacement, really, but it fits somewhere on the spectrum above my 8" Shield android tablet but below my (work) laptop. Since it can run any Windows software (compatible with win 10 of course) it's very versatile. I'll be loading it up with free software over the next few weeks.

It still doesn't know who I am, though but of course it knows my wifi mac address, ssids, and can probably figure out who I am from that alone.

I tried a similar device out in the field for tracking purposes:

https://www.rocketryforum.com/showt...-Mapping-Program-Update&p=1573624#post1573624

I like it but, Can't do screen shots without a keyboard and one needs to carry a mouse. Working with Win 10 in the field
one needs to put it inside of a flat black painted box to cut on glare. If they can find a matte screen protector, that helps a lot with my Nexus 7. If using the $100.00 device with GPS tracking, pick up a cheap self-contained Bluetooth sources that come up on Ebay. That will give your base position and as you can see, I was able to get to the last known position of the rocket that came in ballistic.

You'll be able to put your favorite simulation program(s) and even Burnsim on it and run it in the field quite easily.
Gotta drill a delay grain and forgot to do the sim? You can have it right there easily.

The Android is quite a bit better for navigation with a stylus but if one really needs to run a Windows based app, this
is a pretty reasonable way to go without the nuisance of a full blown laptop.

Heck, unless one brings a large flat-black painted appliance box out in the field (I did that a couple of times in days of yore and it was a royal PITA.) for a full sized laptop. Would be confined to use the laptop from inside a vehicle and not out in the open. Kurt

Some Win10 tips:

SSD OPTIMIZATION FOR WINDOWS 10

https://www.back2gaming.com/focus-story/ssd-optimization-for-windows-10-windows-8-and-8-1/

Activate GodMode in Windows 10

https://www.cnet.com/how-to/activate-godmode-in-windows-10/

Thanks Winston. Kurt

Yeah. Good stuff. Meanwhile loving my cheap windows tablet.