06-06-2020, 11:32 AM
Hi Raysa and Bazza,
The Max 3 arrived a couple of days ago. Installing MSP was no problem - I got the e-Ink version through Mike's site and it all went smoothly.
There are tricks to using it so that you avoid some of the pitfalls of e-Ink and I guess I'm just starting to learn those. For example to start off with I was trying to scroll through pages by dragging them evenly down the screen but it works better if you don't try and do it smoothly or if you just use the page down button, plus it took me a while to realise that the contrast was set at zero. Sheet music and in particular scanned sheet music is easier to read with the contrast up a bit. It's totally fine for reading in daylight but I'm surprised at how good it is in low light. Whatever they use for the backing seems to pick up low ambient light really well.
It takes around 20 seconds to switch on but once it's on it seems to be able to deal with whatever I've asked it to do without lagging. Moving round the OS is really quick and the few apps I've tried on it all seem to work without any problems. There are some features on the OS that will probably come in handy but I'm just starting to work them out. My next gig isn't until the end of the month at this stage so I'll get to keep trying it out before I have to use it in public and I guess to start off with I'll take printed parts along just in case.
I haven't tried the different refresh modes yet and the device has settings for optimising each app and for freezing background apps which I also haven't touched. The e-Ink version of MSP is already optimised so that shouldn't be a problem and I might have a play with the refresh rates but it all seems fine as is so far. I think I've noticed the battery depleting faster with wi-fi on but haven't tried bluetooth yet (or even had to charge it so far).
It came with a couple of screen protectors and I made the mistake of playing around with it for a while before putting one on so there are a few bits of dust trapped under it now but it's not a problem. It also came with a folio cover, spare nibs, remote control, USB-C to MicroSD dongle, cables and stylus. The stylus is great for sketching and note taking but for MSP you can just use touch controls (so I won't be stuck if I don't have the stylus at a gig).
The English language version of the manual and the OS seem to have been translated by a non-native speaker so they're quite idiomatic but not incomprehensible.
I've had a look for conventional tablets of the same size so that I could compare them to the e-Ink because I thought they would be cheaper but the 13 inch ones available round here all seem to be more expensive than the Max 3 and if you want one with a decent processor then they're a fair bit more. I might have a look at some 10 inch tablets to see whether they would be big enough but I'm guessing they'll be too small for the music I use (staff notation rather than lead sheets or chord charts) which is a shame because the Boox Note 2 would be great with it's front light.
Bazza, how do you go with the 10 inch? Do you use it with notated parts?
Let me know if you have any questions. If I find any problems I'll post again. Next thing for me is to try out the companion and have a look at some BT page turners. Very happy with it so far.
Cheers, Guy
The Max 3 arrived a couple of days ago. Installing MSP was no problem - I got the e-Ink version through Mike's site and it all went smoothly.
There are tricks to using it so that you avoid some of the pitfalls of e-Ink and I guess I'm just starting to learn those. For example to start off with I was trying to scroll through pages by dragging them evenly down the screen but it works better if you don't try and do it smoothly or if you just use the page down button, plus it took me a while to realise that the contrast was set at zero. Sheet music and in particular scanned sheet music is easier to read with the contrast up a bit. It's totally fine for reading in daylight but I'm surprised at how good it is in low light. Whatever they use for the backing seems to pick up low ambient light really well.
It takes around 20 seconds to switch on but once it's on it seems to be able to deal with whatever I've asked it to do without lagging. Moving round the OS is really quick and the few apps I've tried on it all seem to work without any problems. There are some features on the OS that will probably come in handy but I'm just starting to work them out. My next gig isn't until the end of the month at this stage so I'll get to keep trying it out before I have to use it in public and I guess to start off with I'll take printed parts along just in case.
I haven't tried the different refresh modes yet and the device has settings for optimising each app and for freezing background apps which I also haven't touched. The e-Ink version of MSP is already optimised so that shouldn't be a problem and I might have a play with the refresh rates but it all seems fine as is so far. I think I've noticed the battery depleting faster with wi-fi on but haven't tried bluetooth yet (or even had to charge it so far).
It came with a couple of screen protectors and I made the mistake of playing around with it for a while before putting one on so there are a few bits of dust trapped under it now but it's not a problem. It also came with a folio cover, spare nibs, remote control, USB-C to MicroSD dongle, cables and stylus. The stylus is great for sketching and note taking but for MSP you can just use touch controls (so I won't be stuck if I don't have the stylus at a gig).
The English language version of the manual and the OS seem to have been translated by a non-native speaker so they're quite idiomatic but not incomprehensible.
I've had a look for conventional tablets of the same size so that I could compare them to the e-Ink because I thought they would be cheaper but the 13 inch ones available round here all seem to be more expensive than the Max 3 and if you want one with a decent processor then they're a fair bit more. I might have a look at some 10 inch tablets to see whether they would be big enough but I'm guessing they'll be too small for the music I use (staff notation rather than lead sheets or chord charts) which is a shame because the Boox Note 2 would be great with it's front light.
Bazza, how do you go with the 10 inch? Do you use it with notated parts?
Let me know if you have any questions. If I find any problems I'll post again. Next thing for me is to try out the companion and have a look at some BT page turners. Very happy with it so far.
Cheers, Guy