I took a chance and purchased an unknown 14.1 inch android tablet called MESWAO on Amazon last week. Got it, load and configured software, loaded Mobilesheets and then loaded up my song restore database with almost 500 songs.
This darn thing only cost under $340. It runs complete circles around our - Lenovo, HP, Dell, Samsung and even Apple tablets and laptops. We have about 10 tabs and laptops of various brands running MS Pro.
This MESWAO feels very solid, only weights about 2 lbs, fits perfectly in a mic stand mount bracket and to beat all, the battery at the end of a 4 hour gig is only down to 63% still available. Used it for 3 gigs already.
Loading our song restore database takes only about a whopping 5 seconds. I hate to say this, but all these other big name tablet vendors need to get their act together on price to performance if this is what is coming out now from smaller factories.
The stand mount bracket is a -- Talent PROCLAW from Parts Express for $19.
The tablet has 6 gig ram and 128 gig disk storage. Comes with the charger.
I purchased some inexpensive tablets before for testing and gig use and they all stunk ( short battery life, they all tend to break on a simple fall, not bright enough in the sunshine ). This new one impressed me so much I just purchased a 2nd one already.
In portrait mode it is a perfect size for Mobilesheets page display. I never heard of MESWAO brand before, but I am impressed.
Best of luck Ya-all !!
How is the 2-page display in landscape mode?
(06-02-2023, 11:30 AM)Wynton Wrote: [ -> ]How is the 2-page display in landscape mode?
I must admit, that is a function I never use since I always keep tablets in Portrait mode with 1 page.
So I set the display feature on 2 page landscape and the pages are side by side and they are the size of a 7 to 8 inch tablet each page in portrait mode. Not sure I am explaining that clearly, but I was clear and readable to me. I keep a banner across the top and bottom of the display so that eats up about almost 1 inch. So with those turn off and the sheet music in full page mode each page would be a full 8 inch diagonal or more. I hope that helps.
I just ordered a 2nd unit and received it today.
How is the display w.r.t. brightness, clarity and view angle?
I often find that more important than size. In many cases I prefer my 10.5" S4 tablet over the 12.4" S7FE since the S4 has a much more bright screen and better viewing angle. This is particularly important for outdoor gigs.
(06-02-2023, 09:11 PM)sciurius Wrote: [ -> ]How is the display w.r.t. brightness, clarity and view angle?
I often find that more important than size. In many cases I prefer my 10.5" S4 tablet over the 12.4" S7FE since the S4 has a much more bright screen and better viewing angle. This is particularly important for outdoor gigs.
I used the tablet for 2 indoor and 1 outdoor gigs(3) over the last weekend. For the indoor gigs, I had the screen intensity around 30% brightness. For the outdoor gig I had it set to about 50%. The outdoor gig was on a sunny day but we were under a small tent so the sun did not beat directly on us. So, I use nowhere near the highest setting. It does get bright if cranked up.
As I have the tablet mounted in the mic stand bracket it sits about an arms length from my eyes. I do not move around the whole stage area and still try to look at it, as I am singing and playing bass while reading the lyrics and chord charts. So far I have not had a single issue with view angle since I am generally within 5 feet ( left, right or back ) from the tablet.
I hope that helps.
I second this opinion. I need as large a page as practical. I bought this to complement my primary
Device, an HP envy 2 in 1 laptop, as I feel more comfortable with two devices in case one goes out, gets dropped, or whatever. Very good display tablet, large, light, plenty fast and ample memory for a fraction of the cost my peers are paying for smaller name brand devices - especially apple. Zero complaints and only praise. Now if I can just find a case for it - out of stock on Amazon and I can't find it listed anywhere else.
@tmj100, I just bought one of these on your recommendation and am very pleased. My 10" tablet has now become my backup.
I managed to snag a case too (was included for free), but those are sold out again already. But any 14" laptop pouch should work fine. It just won't have the folding stand which you wouldn't need on a gig anyway. I still put mine in a laptop case so I have a place to carry the power supply, cables and page turner.
I did have a problem with QuickStep app constantly crashing, as mentioned in one of the Amazon reviews. But I fixed it by clearing app data and granting all permissions.
I can also confirm that a stylus made for capacitive screens works well.
Very good find.
I would love to use one of these if the aspect ratio was more like letter/a4 size.
Interesting device, indeed. But I'm just curious about pen support? Is there any? I'd love to be able to take notes, or edit repeats, or ... on the tablet when in practising mode/mood. ;-)
Cheers,
Petra
Thanks for the heads up about the tablet. What are the exact dimensions of the display, not the screen but the actual illuminated display in mm, (sometimes the sides, top and bottom of the display remain black). Please go to the home page and measure the lit area. Thanks!
Display is approximately 309x174mm, 355mm diagonal.
No digital pen support, but capacitive stylus works fine as I said earlier. Just won't be very precise, as good as a finger tip for annotations.
This tablet is on sale today, $50 off regular price.
I have a samsung galaxy tab s6 lite tablet that has an included S Pen, it's affordable and great for writing and drawing.
The s6 is 10.3”. The subject tablet is 14”, a huge difference. It have both, and my old eyes much prefer the 14”. Although I do love the pen on the galaxy.
Anyone tried using 2 Meswao 14.1" tablets for 2 page view? I just ordered two of them.
Update: I received the 2 tablets. The aspect ratio is 16:9, 1080p so it is a little longer than most tablet ratios which I believe is closer to 16:10. Consequently, the page will show on the upper part of the screen with a blank area below the bottom edge of the sheet music page. I found out that you can change display alignment to bottom instead of top. It works great side by side. I had trouble connecting using bluetooth, and I think it might be due to the fact that the 2 tablets have identical addresses! I thought that devices all have unique addresses, but this proved me wrong. Anyway, I'm trying to find a way to change the address on one of them, but so far, no luck. I was able to pair it using WiFi. Initially I didn't know you had to have the same database on the secondary tablet, so the process of sync'ing took quite a while as I had over a thousand PDF's. Will update again if I can find out a way to pair them using BT. If anyone has the same setup and thoughts about the BT issue, please reply to the post. Thanks!
Pic of the 2 tablets side by side:
https://www.dropbox.com/scl/fi/obk6j09i0...77bi0&dl=0