Anyone tried a tablet yet.

[HapHazzard]

Searched the SAC forum for anyone using a tablet yet and Nope, no one reported in.

In January will be my build up for the band I'll be working with. I am looking for those people who have used a table. My FOH will be an old Dell with a set of Behringer faders (TCP/IP) and the Core will reside on stage with a keyboard/LCD drawer to make sure the core is on line then closed and locked up.

I need to get an idea if tablets are working (wifi of course).
Older Compaq and Toshibas seem to be more numerous and cheaper now.

Hap
PS folks around here still are in disbelief of a SAC/SAW combo

[Bob L]

Hap... tablets can be tricky and will most likely require special programming modes.

SAC utilizes the mouse and keyboard combinations for many features... with most tablets, when you swing the screen around and lay it flat... the screen covers the keyboard... now you have lost much functionality and control...

I will have to program a special tablet mode to draw certain things like F-Key graphics... possibly latching shift, ctrl, and alt switch graphics... and change certain program operational functions...

So far, in my one experience with the Toshiba tablets, I was not very impressed with the accuracy of the pen on the screen (most likely adjustable and customizable to my touch)... I was also not happy with the way the mouse cursor chases the pen when its lifted offscreen... thereby activating certain functions as the mouse cursor drags through things... it is also a little tougher to utilize a right-click operation... and a typical grab and drag operation... it definitely takes some getting used to.

At the moment, I still find a typical mouse and keyboard combination gives the most effective range of feature control... with the best efficiency...

But then again... each of us are different. :)

Bob L

[Larry Burger]

Hap:

I have used an HP tablet for the remote with good success.
Bob makes good comments about tablets lacking f-keys in the tablet position. I have used the up down cursor arrows for volume adjustment for 1/4 db settings. You don't have those features in the tablet mode.

[HapHazzard]

Bob, good point on the F-Keys.
And that answers the quick view and pen response question.

Larry, I'll give that a try with the cursor. that may work better for the group to control the faders then a mouse.

For now I'll have the band deal with their mixes from a old laptop with a mouse pad. Like a little table tray on the end of a tripod mic stand should do it. They (or myself) can hand it around so they can adjust there own mixes.
For FOH, I could do the same but travel around the room to check the room.

This is a corporate band so the In Ears mixes should get pretty stable after awhile and so would the house.

Thanks all.
Now on with the madness.

Hap

[pedrin22]

What about touchscreens?
Good or bad idea?

[Bob L]

The same issues will apply to large touch screens... in the end, I will have to create a special mode with F-key and modifier keys replaced by special screen icons.

Bob L

[Naturally Digital]

in the end, I will have to create a special mode with F-key and modifier keys replaced by special screen icons.Yes, and something that can already be done using virtual keyboard applications. I've tested one of them and it worked quite well (with the mouse, not on a touchscreen).

[HapHazzard]

In the search for a usable remote PC, I have, for now dropped the idea of a tablet. While at Fryes I came across a IBM Idea Pad S10. I was looking at a Asus EEE PC earlier but had concerns about the screen size.

http://www.lenovo.com/shop/americas/content/img_lib/products/splitter/notebooks/IdeaPad/S-Series/gallery/s10_1.jpg (http://shop.lenovo.com/SEUILibrary/controller/e/web/LenovoPortal/en_US/catalog.workflow:category.details?current-catalog-id=12F0696583E04D86B9B79B0FEC01C087&current-category-id=02695ADDF94544E5A11D24AEBC064493)

The IBM screen is:
10.2" (259.1mm) WSVGA (1024x600) TFT color, anti-glare, LED backlight,
16:10 aspect ratio, 300:1 contrast ratio, 200 nits.

I have yet to try one of these. Maybe I'll put SAC on a thumb drive and sneak in and try it.

Still, will SAC (although small) fit on these types of small PC or design an F-Key to show just the faders in F View and get away with it (K.I.S.S. for the performers)? The right click over this view works nicely.

Hap

[Bob L]

The 600 vertical res is extremely small... at the moment the min is 1024 x 768... and even that will not properly fit the wide mixer view without covering up the main top client area.

You need a min vertical res of 800... preferably a lot more. :)

I am exploring other options to use these mini laptops with their min screen res... but for now... 1024 x 768.

Bob L

[HapHazzard]

The 600 vertical res is extremely small... at the moment the min is 1024 x 768... and even that will not properly fit the wide mixer view without covering up the main top client area.

You need a min vertical res of 800... preferably a lot more. :)

I am exploring other options to use these mini laptops with their min screen res... but for now... 1024 x 768.

Bob LThanks for the input and info and keep those mini in mind.:)

On to the next search.

Hap

[Cary B. Cornett]

The 600 vertical res is extremely small... at the moment the min is 1024 x 768... and even that will not properly fit the wide mixer view without covering up the main top client area.

You need a min vertical res of 800... preferably a lot more. :)

I am exploring other options to use these mini laptops with their min screen res... but for now... 1024 x 768.

Bob L Some laptops, at least, allow a video mode with the desktop larger than the screen res, as sort of "pan and scan" setup. When the cursor reaches screen edge, the view scrolls to show what's "out there". I wonder if that would allow the "too small" screen to be usable?

I have been using this "mondo desktop" trick for some time, but with a screen that is 1280x1024, so I am not certain how well the trick would translate to a smaller screen. I have found it a very useful compromise to allow me to leave a lot of stuff up without too much overlap of views.

Other caveat: I worked this way mixing live shows with SSLite, but that was before SAC was available.