Lenovo Miix 2 8
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Created: Tuesday, 08 April 2014 22:31
I am finally getting around to giving my opinion of the Lenovo Mix 2 8. It was purchased as a replacement to my Blackberry Playbook, simply because I wanted to do more and the development of the Playbook seems to have ended. My Playbook's primary use was for reviewing email, documents, and light web browsing during football seasons. I'm not big into games, so Angry Birds and Tetris suited me fine during times of long waiting. My biggest complaint with the Playbook was that document management and creation was not what you would expect from a business device. The feature I loved the most about the Blackberry Playbook was the communication between my tablet and my Blackberry phone. This allowed me to use the tablet almost like a thin client and interact with emails, texts, BBM, etc on the tablets larger screen
I chose the Lenovo Miix 2 8 because of its size and it runs Windows 8. Windows 8 on a PC is useless, but on a tablet it made sense to me. It runs the same versions of Microsoft Office that you would run on a PC. It also has Command Prompt and Powershell, which are useful tools for my line of work. This tablet allowed me to do almost everything I did on my PC in a device that could fit in a cargo or jacket pocket. I figured that since Microsoft is still working on improving this OS, I would have a device that would continue to grow. While I don't have the option to share data between the tablet and my phone, as I previously did on my Playbook, my Blackberry Z10 works well with Dropbox which also works with my new tablet.
My only complaint with this tablet is the stylus that comes with the cover is lacking. This tablet has the ability to do handwriting recognition, which is an awesome feature to take notes with instead of using pen and paper. Unfortunately, the stylus for this device is not consistently detected by the tablet, which causes broken letters that the software can't detect as words or letters. The stylus does work for selecting small icons on web browsers, but I can zoom in and use my finger for those situations.
I did discover that the Zebra StylusPens Twist Ball seems to work well with any capacitive touchscreen device I have used, and the fact that it is inexpensive and works as a ballpoint pen is a plus. I have used it to write on the Miix 2 8 and it has worked flawlessly for me. Downside is that there is no easy way to attach this pen to the device. I am bad with keeping up with pens, so having the ability to attach this to the tablet is important.
The sound quality of the tablet is not very impressive, and this is probably because it only as one speaker. I think its adequate for Youtube videos or news clips. The speakers do not offer an impressive sound that would be sufficient for watching movies. Since I have a home theater for watching movies and music, there is really no need for me to need high quality sound on this device. Adding another speaker would add more weight, and in most public settings using headphones is a more appropriate way to go.
This tablet is very light weight, and the 8 inch screen allows it to fit in most jacket (and some paints) pockets. The awesome thing is that the battery life is very good in a tablet that is so light. There has been a few times where I have left my laptop at home, and conducted by day to day business using only this tablet. The charge has lasted me a whole business day, and it would probably be longer if I wasn't using it for music at the same time.
Overall, my view of this tablet is great. There aren't very many accessories for it, and most of the popular apps are not available for Windows devices. I do not believe the Lenovo Miix 2 8 to be a laptop replacement, but a good supplement for individuals that are always on the go, require something lightweight and small, but want to be able to still conduct business. Since it does not have many of the games that an Android or Apple device would have, I would recommend this only to business professionals on the go.
