Megasquirt Support Forum (MSEXTRA)

What are some of you guys using for a windows tablet on your setups?
Brand, size and cost would be useful. Also how it works for you.

I've bought this used/fairly new tablet below.
It's silly brand name is "itWorks".

The problem with cheap stuff is that it's only a matter of time when things start to fail and frustration kicks in.
I had an old laptop before. Battery started failing, needed to be charged all the time. Then the memory-strips got loose every so often. Then the charger couldn't keep up anymore with it and it would just turn off in the middle of a tune.

Similar battery issues are now also starting to pop up and it craps out when still showing halfway full.
As a bigtime Apple user, this is exactly what I now 'hate' about all this crappy "Windows" hardware, everything feels cheap, including the always buggy Windows environment.

I'm currently looking into putting a permanent mini-computer (ODROID XU4) into the car to function as tuning device and/or media player at the same time.

But to be fair, the tablet seems the most useful upto now. Especially with the keyboard/cover which simply clicks onto the tablet so it can be used either as a tablet or as a PC.

My thinking is cheap stuff is easily replaced when it gets beat up in the car or at the track.
I see a lot of 8 inch windows 10 tablets on Amazon and wondered if they are any good.
This can double as my tuner studio tablet as well as my dash in my car.

I have an 8" Toshiba win 8.1 tablet, been trouble free for 3-4 years and I enjoy the fact it isn't the size of a laptop. However, win 8.1 on such a small screen is frustrating. I haven't got a separate keyboard but recommend you do. GPS on these is a pain as when in windows mode, the GPS isn't accessible without a micky-mouse software add on - which I still haven't figured out yet.

Asus Transformer T100

Frankly, I wouldn't use a tablet. I prefer a real keyboard. I've been using old Acer netbooks for years and they work great. small 10" screen and keyboard. I couldn't imagine hitting CNTRL-L to start logging quickly or space bar to mark an event with popup keyboard while driving (which we never do of course!) I have a 11" Dell Venue tablet I wouldn't try unless as an emergency.

Don't ever need to hit CTRL-L as I've setup logging in TunerStudio to start as soon as RPM > 0.

I have a Pi in the car the past 2 years. I am kinda disappointed with start up times. I am thinking of going to a tablet. How is bluetooth connectivity on a ms3? Start up times?

LSXCutty wrote:I have a Pi in the car the past 2 years. I am kinda disappointed with start up times. I am thinking of going to a tablet. How is bluetooth connectivity on a ms3? Start up times?

The tablet can use USB too, if your tablet has a separate charging port.

If you are using using a Pi3, I would hang in there a pit longer before you give up over start up times. There are a number of things coming this year that are going to make a big difference there.

LT401Vette wrote:

LSXCutty wrote:I have a Pi in the car the past 2 years. I am kinda disappointed with start up times. I am thinking of going to a tablet. How is bluetooth connectivity on a ms3? Start up times?

The tablet can use USB too, if your tablet has a separate charging port.

If you are using using a Pi3, I would hang in there a pit longer before you give up over start up times. There are a number of things coming this year that are going to make a big difference there.

This weekend I was thinking of a Surfacepro. How do you feel about those?

Just a heads up. Lidl in the UK have a Win10 small convertible at what looks like a good price next Sunday 18/03. Not sure if it has the usual Lidl 3 year money back warranty, though.

https://www.lidl.co.uk/en/Non-Food-Offe ... leId=11479

I've been using a Trekstor Surftab Wintron 7 for some time now. I bough it mainly for it's small size (have it mounted on my motorcycle). Bought it only for 49€.
It works with the Bluetooth Serial adapter.

The fact that it has 16 GB disk space and 1 GB RAM makes horribly slow if the disk gets full (which is inevitable if you don't disable the windows updates). The tablet has seen some rain, snow and temperatures between -15 and 30 Celsius but it's still working. I'd say the value for the money is quite good but if you're looking something with a decently sized screen and good performance, don't bother with this one.

There has to be an alternate to create a Digital Dash Display that is sunlight readable besides the canbus professional 1200$ units?!!
Shoot I found a few 350 nit or optionally sun-light readable 900 nit luminance 10" tablets, and they are 1200-1800$$

I ordered this one and it arrives today. I will test it with TS tonight over Bluetooth.
$64 on Amazon!
NuVision 8-inch Full HD (1920 x 1200) IPS Touchscreen Tablet PC, Intel Atom x5-Z8300 Quad-Core Processor, 2GB RAM, 32GB SSD

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B01MY ... UTF8&psc=1

How is it?

The tablet has been awesome! Its plenty fast and works great with Bluetooth RS232 adapter and a Bluetooth keyboard. The screen is very clear and it has a resolution over 1080P. I even plugged it into a tv and was able to use it like a PC at full 1080p.

This is one of the best tablets I have ever bought period.. I have been showing my friends this for the past week I love it! I just cant understand how they can make it so cheap...

The only downside is you may need to configure windows 10 to your liking like turning off tablet mode and some other customize settings.

That is great news that the tablet is working well for you! With what I gather you are saying is very minimal time lag in terms of the gauges responding nearly instantly to inputs and whatnot?

But "oh crap Windows 10!"..... I can't stand Windows 10 on a new laptop I bought recently. Sounds like I need to look further I guess, unless Win10 on a tablet is much less overbearing than it is on my laptop.

The Microsoft Store had the 10 inch version for $49 (out of stock).
Amazon has it for $99.
With Win10 64-bit, you can't install much on these with only 32GB eMMC drive.
Make sure the one you get has this: Intel Atom x5-Z8300; earlier ones have an earlier Atom.
If you're happy running Windows with an on-screen keyboard (I'm not), these should work fine if you have a Bluetooth adapter for the Megasquirt (I don't).
The only thing I would recommend is a tablet with the eMMC at 64GB and the RAM at 4GB.

If you can, I would wait for the 9th generation Intel CPU's which will have hardware fixes for Meltdown & Spectre.

Wagone what do you mean by rs-232 to Bluetooth? Does this tablet not have Bluetooth?

vw_chuck wrote:Wagone what do you mean by rs-232 to Bluetooth? Does this tablet not have Bluetooth?

I assume this is on the MS side not on the tablet.