Very eager to hear about how the battery runtime is!
I’m also eager to find out! Life has other things for me to do, but now I can focus again on my new toy. I finally got the language switched over to English. There are a few spots where Japanese remains. I vaguely recall that there’s another setting that should take care of that, but I’ll find it soon enough. In the meantime, my tablet has updated to Windows 11 Pro. It is now downloading more updates.
Once all updates are done, I’ll install the apps I want to have on this tablet and, out of curiosity, run Crystal Disk Mark and Geekbench to see how this tablet compares to my “old” Dell Venue 8 Pro.
1 Like
First impressions, in no particular order:
This tablet runs warm whenever it’s doing any significant work! It’s warmer than the Dell/Asus/etc generation of small Windows tablets from a few years ago. Crystal Disk Mark and Geekbench scores all indicate that the CPU and the eMMC internal storage outperform our old 8-inch friends by 50-100% across the board. That’s still not all that fast, but it does feel a bit faster and smoother than my Dell.
The stylus feels light, like a Bic pen. I did a bit of doodling. The stylus felt good and performed well. It has no battery to worry about, as far as I can tell. The stylus also works well as a mouse alternative.
The tablet itself seems a bit on the thick side compared to the iPad and similar tablets, but that actually makes it easier to hold in one hand. It feels solid, and slightly heavier than we might expect.
The display is not quite as sharp as the Dell’s, but it’s good enough. Whenever there’s a solid color background, I can see that the edges are slightly lighter than the rest of the display. Not a deal-breaker - not anything that would make me want to send it back for servicing - but it’s there. One of the cons so far.
There is a speaker on either side when you hold the tablet in landscape mode. Audio quality is so-so, but standard for this type of device. Headphones will work much better!
The tablet doesn’t seem to charge off other USB-C cables/bricks. Only its own. The tablet charges relatively quickly, which is helpful.
With all the updating and installing, I haven’t had a chance to see how the battery life is. I was fortunate to get four or five hours from my Dell. If I get that with this tablet, I’ll be satisfied.
I haven’t gotten a microSD card to try in this tablet yet, but having this capability is nice - even with the 128GB of internal storage. The 8 GB of RAM also comes in handy.
There’s not much bloatware on this tablet.
All the documentation that comes with the tablet is in Japanese. Be prepared! Google Translate (and similar apps) will come in handy!
All in all, it should be a nice fit for what I plan to do with it. I’m pleased thus far.
5 Likes
A question for anyone here who already has this tablet: do you know of a case which fits it? Thanks!
As for battery life, it isn’t great compared with some tablets and 2-in-1’s, but it’s not too bad. I’m seeing a 4-5 hour range so far.
2 Likes
What sort of work load are we talking about there?
There were still a couple of stray Windows updates, a few apps I was installing, and me cruising around the tablet to see what it could and couldn’t do. Some web browsing, some email, things of that sort!
1 Like
I found one review of this tablet on a Japanese site that stated that the battery lasted about six hours in their tests. That seems about right in my experience, now that updates are caught up, apps are installed, and I am actually using the tablet. I also found a case designed for this tablet on Amazon, but it (not surprisingly) needs to be shipped from Japan. I bought an inexpensive Bluetooth keyboard for when I need that option, and that works fine.
It’s probably not possible to do this, but I wonder what this tablet would be like if it had an SSD rather than eMMC. Still, the eMMC for this tablet is a pretty good one.
If this tablet were available in the USA about five years ago, it would have been a hit. I don’t know if there is still a market for 8 inch Windows tablets in the USA now. There could be, with the right device. This tablet doesn’t miss by much. Since macOS still isn’t touch-friendly… if only we had something like an iPad mini with the M1 chip running Windows 11 ARM… Now that would be a killer!
3 Likes
Thanks for starting this topic and the review! This forum never disappoints with the lesser-known products.
When I found out about this tablet back in February, I thought of making a topic here, but I was too shy and forgot. I wished overseas people can get their hands on it. And lo and behold, there it is now!
This tablet is heavily marketed toward artists. There are even some models in collaboration with popular Japanese artists, “verified” and promoted by popular art software (Clip Studio Paint, etc), and the list goes on. So I’ve been interested in it ever since as I also draw. I wonder how is the complete drawing experience, especially with Clip Studio Paint? To be honest, the specs doesn’t put much confidence in me, though at least it has 8GB RAM (cries in 4GB RAM Lenovo Yoga Book). It does have potential. I look forward to Raytrek’s future offerings for artists, if any.
if only we had something like an iPad mini with the M1 chip running Windows 11 ARM… Now that would be a killer!
That is indeed the dream!
5 Likes
Not sure about the USA’s attitude on small windows tablet, but given the popularity of mini laptops like GPD and Aya Neo, there should still be a market. I would love it if the Raytrektab got a 360 degree hinge keyboard, but this tablet looks like it used the remaining stock screens / old production lines from the Asus Vivotab note and Galaxy Note 8.0 ( the 1280x800 resolution is too much of a coincidence) which have big bezel and might not fit well with a Mini PC like the Nanote.
In fact, my Asus note 8 is still the first thing I pick up when I go travel and absolute need a Windows device. It’s cheap (so I’m comfortable leaving it in my hotel room), compact (light and fit in small bag), can be used for drawing in a pinch ( Wacom with silo), have long battery life with decent performance (Atom Baytrail even with 2 GB Ram used to run CSP so well), less power brick to bring ( Micro USB and can be charged with phone charger). A mini keyboard case with mouse make it the best Windows device for mobility.
No matter how many newer and fancier iPad or Android tablet I got, I still bring it on long trips as a precaution in case I need Windows. My note phone can replace my iPad/ android tablet in a pinch, but nothing can replace a Windows device, so it’s just my phone and my Asus tablet when traveling. The Raytrek tab would be a perfect upgrade (with a slightly inconvenience of a bigger brick, but still better than a laptop sized brick and my huge 12 inch intel i5 tablet with 2 hours battery)
Slightly off-topic, but I bought an Intel stick PC thinking it would be more compact, but adding a keyboard, a mouse, a power brick, the fact that it has to stay attached to the power outlet and the hotel room might be shared so you can’t keep the TV for yourself/ lack of acessible HDMI port … Well I’m not sure what really is the point of this device because it’s no better than a NUC.
2 Likes
Putting this here because my Asus vivotab note 8 is of similar size. I use a cheap unbranded Chinese keyboard tablet case with my Asus. It’s an universal 7" tablet case which is a snug fit.
The four pieces of holders at the tablet corners are removable, they stick to the back of the case with strong velcro-like material and can be adjusted freely depending on the tablet’s size, so it’s pretty flexible and low profile. You can even put a smartphone in the case.
The keyboard and mouse are both wired, the mouse can be connected to the keyboard via micro USB ( removable) , while the keyboard connects to the tablet. It’s simple but pretty effective for bringing on the go ( mouse and keyboard cable plugged out when in the bag). The keyboard spacing are quite terrible, but i mostly use it for navigating windows and keyboard shortcut, and it works fine for that purposes.
I bought a 30$ Bluetooth case made for the Asus before and it was pretty terrible, the Bluetooth connection is unreliable when use with Wifi and the keyboard lost charge very fast. Cable or wireless are always more reliable for those low power Windows devices.
2 Likes
Gah! I had the bundle with the Mitsubishi stylus in my cart, but prevaricated too much and now it’s sold out!
Edit: Ah well. In my moping about afterwards I found an interesting little EMR device that’s seemingly a rebrand of niche product on what appears to be a firesale. Treated myself to it.
2 Likes
I bought an inexpensive ($17) Artech Bluetooth keyboard for the times I need a keyboard for my Raytrek. The keyboard is working well so far, and is good enough for my purposes. I also recommend that people check out the Tablet Pro app from the Microsoft Store. It gives you - among other things - several options for setting up a virtual mouse on your display. On the other hand, the stylus can simulate mouse actions, including a right click.
Hi all Im new to the forum and came across this forum seaching Ray trek tab rt08wt. for reviews.
I Have a qusetion for those who have bought this tablet.
Is anyone having issues with the touch screen. My touch does not seem to be calibrated ive tried the windows touch calibration but it not working. the pen works fine. When you try closing a page and try hit the X it needs a few goes or the onscreen keyboard keeps pressing the wrong keys.
Thank you
1 Like
I haven’t had problems with the touchscreen on my tablet. When I read some reviews that people had posted on the Raytrek Japanese site, I saw that some people mentioned having problems with the touchscreen. You may need to return your tablet to the company for repair or replacement if it is still under warranty.
1 Like
I got mine from ebay, so I cant return it.
I have since updated the OS to windows 11 it seems to work better but i think the screens touch has a fault.
Can anyone recommend any covers for the tablet?
1 Like
So my Asus Vivotab Note 8 finally died with a broken micro USB port. While I will try finding place to repair it for cheap, I would need to look for possible alternatives as Windows 32 bit was already being dropped by developers across the board.
I’m considering importing the Raytrek tab 8 from Japan. From long term user of this device, was there any caveat while using the tablet?
2 Likes
I’ve had the Raytrek tab 8 for a couple of months now. Overall, it’s a good device. You should find that it performs better than your Asus did. The stylus is quite good.
Caveats? I’ll mention a few things beginning with an obvious one. Windows will be in Japanese when you get the tablet, so unless you know Japanese, you’ll need a translation app to find your way to the language settings.
The tablet may be a bit heavier than you’d expect for its size, but this hasn’t been a problem for me.
It’s very hard to find a case that fits it and still allows access to the buttons and ports.
Don’t use the tablet when it’s charging. It gets quite hot if you do both at the same time.
Expect about 4-6 hours of battery life, depending on how you use it.
I have not had any bugs or glitches with the tablet so far. It has worked well.
4 Likes
Thanks! So the tablet run hotter than the old Atom variant?
How does the EMMC run so far? Do you experience slow down over time? ( my old chinese windows tablet has EMMC so slow it take forever to open something and got worse as time pass, the Asus was decent but there was still a slight delay). Was there any delay opening file/program with this tablet?
Is the pen accurate at the corner? ( my Asus needed some extreme calibration to be accurate)
Is there only one USB-C port for every connection?
I read that the tablet come with a free license of clip Studio Debut, is it a limited time license?
Which EMR device did you go with? I’lI need something similar to this to replace my broken Asus and plan to import one from Japan