Taking the Tablets

Ever since the screen disaster with my iPad I have been making do with an Acer Iconia One 7 that I picked up in Staples a while back as a machine for testing Android apps on. I only paid a ton for it but it still wasn't really worth it - slow, crashes a lot and a screen that shows every fingermark.
But the pain of using it for actual work was something far worse. When paired with the very clever Microsoft Universal Bluetooth Keyboard it resolutely refuses to get all the keys right, notably the cursor arrow keys that act so bizarrely I have to make an effort to remember how they work every bloody time I use them.
Then the stupid machine began to switch Bluetooth off at random and it was all too much. I headed for Tesco intending to buy a Hudl 2, which is a perfectly decent and cheap machine that would tide me over until November when the iPad Pro arrives.
However, I spotted a nice little Asus Memo Pad 7 on the shelf at just £60, a snip I thought. The guy behind the electrical desk said it ran Jelly Bean but would be upgraded on demand to Wowwypop so I thought fair enough, pushed my card into the slot and took it away.
And indeed it was as the man saith. I pressed the update button and Lollipop came over sweet as a nut. Thank you, Asus.
And Bluetooth seems solid and, best of all, the keys on the keyboard now do exactly what I expect them to do.
There is only one fly in the ointment. OF COURSE THERE IS A FLY. LOOK AT THE BLOG'S MASTHEAD. IT'S THE LAW.
The Memo Pad is a bit chunky and won't fit in the slot in the keyboard. It is nearly vertical, so I have to prop it up with a book to get the right angle. Not stylish or cool. A small point, but bugger it just the same.

PS The keyboard that comes with the iPad Pro is connected to it not by Bluetooth but by a line of pogo pins or similar. This means that when you remove the tablet to hold it in your hand to read a document or watch a video, it automatically reverts to the onscreen keyboard so when you want to type in a search term or something you don't have to fish about for the Bluetooth keyboard and use that because it is still connected. Another little triumph for Apple physical design, bless them.