VivoTab Note 8, and a new journey

Just purchased the Asus VivoTab Note 8, 64GB version (8 Aug 2014); was on offer for S$399 [free VersaSleeve, Wedge keyboard].

To be honest, it's not been a bed of roses.

It's my first experience of Windows 8, and it seems the curse of alternating good and bad Windows OS continues.

• Windows XP [good]
• Windows Vista [bad]
• Windows 7 [good]
• Windows 8 [bad]

Anyway, back to the VivoTab first; some of the issues I had to deal with; hopefully this is helpful for those considering a VivoTab Note 8.

1. don't forget to install antivirus [I use avast! free]
2. default display settings are too small for touch; to make everything bigger, search for "Make text and other items larger or smaller" [full instructions here]; I set mine at 150%
3. apps to download [depending on personal preferences]
1. chrome [chrome looks "blurry" at 150% zoom]
2. firefox
3. VLC
4. Foxit
5. Irfanview
6. Evernote
4. hardware to purchase [depending on personal preferences]
1. microSD card [I bought a Sandisk Ultra 64GB, S$45 at Best Bargain]
2. USB On-The-Go cable [S$5, level 3 of Sim Lim Square, shop name should be UF Technology, #03-69]
5. cloud storage services like Dropbox, Google Drive, and OneDrive, do not automatically files to be stored on removable drives, e.g. a SD card
1. workaround is to "bluff" them into thinking that the SD card is part of the normal storage [steps detailed here]
6. touch keyboard not as intuitive as on mobile OS, e.g. Android
1. when you highlight a textbox, the touch keyboard does always automatically pop-out; so one more additional step of activating the keyboard by touching the keyboard icon on the taskbar
2. word predictions only work in some areas (e.g. Microsoft Word)
1. have already enabled "Show text suggestions as I type"; so I presume this is a Windows limitation
7. 16 x 9 ratio of the screen means it is not easy to hold in the hand, both in portrait and landscape mode
1. am purchasing a Bobj TPU case from amazon.com; hopefully it will help improve grip and "holda-bility"
8. wifi connection has been iffy, with the VivoTab sometimes losing the connection after waking up
1. tried to "repair" the network adaptor; sometimes that works; sometimes a reboot is needed
2. version of wifi driver on ASUS website is the same as the one installed on device, so that is a dead-end
3. have rolled back the driver to an older version instead [search for "Device Manager", then "Network Adapters", "Broadcom 802.11abgn Wireless SDIO adapter"]; ok so far with version 5.93.97.168
9. to be continued with new findings :)