Latitude ST Tablet - Tweaks, thoughts and a little more

[ravic]

N-trig just released the Latitude ST touch screen driver for Windows 8.

Downloads & Drivers - N-trig

My Latitude ST arrive tomorrow. Will be attempting to install win 8 tomorrow.

[ravic]

i was able to get win 8 installed. The new driver does implement a 4-point multitouch. But the the tablet does lag once in a while.
I am thinking that the graphics drivers is to blame here. The graphics intensive tasks are the ones that seem to be bogged down.

[Steve S]

<<...Does anyone know if the n-trig hardware on this device is Gen 3.5?..>>

ravic: To the best of my knowledge, yes, it is Gen 3.5.

[ravic]

It does appear to be gen 3.5.

Also, i tried to replace the wifi card with something else (intel 1030).
It did not work. It behaves as if nothing is even plugged in.

Seems like the current wifi card is conneted to SDIO bus. It does not appear to be a standard mini pci-e slot.

Both the hardware device ID (SD\......) and device description seem to indicate that it is an SDIO slot.

The included wifi card and the driver seems to be resource hogs.

Poor download bandwidth and high CPU usage. Unfortunately it does not appear that we can replace it too.

[after5]

Still plunking along here.

I'm coming to terms this digitizer is nothing like my TC1100. I don't hate it, but there is a stark difference. I can write much easier with my TC1100!

Got a docking station and Bright new shiny 19" Dell Ultra Sharp which makes for a complete replacement setup with my TC1100 with a docking station.

My main reason for switching was battery life and getting 4 hours on a regular basis is liberating.

Still on the fence about Windows 8. Maps and video still don't work and probably a DirectX problem that I can't seem to solve.

Everything works great in desktop mode!

The video still cuts out at the strangest times on the desktop. A guy sat next to me on a plane playing with his new iPad 3. I was jealous. The whole difference was snappy and sharp.

If the iPad ran all my Office apps and worked with a pen, I would switch.

I'm sure this Tablet will feel much better with Office 15 and a ton of more Metro based apps.

[after5]

Bluetooth not working under Win 8

I have been unable to get anything to link with Bluetooth under Windows 8.

I've tried link from the Tablet to the devices and vice versa.

Everything is in discovery mode.

It's like the Bluetooth is not enabled on the tablet even though it says it's on.

The driver loaded is Atheros dated in Nov. 2011

Did I miss loading a Win 8 driver off the Dell website?

Is there a switch to enable the Bluetooth radio?

[after5]

Bluetooth not working under Win 8

I have been unable to get anything to link with Bluetooth under Windows 8.

I've tried link from the Tablet to the devices and vice versa.

Everything is in discovery mode.

It's like the Bluetooth is not enabled on the tablet even though it says it's on.

The driver loaded is Atheros dated in Nov. 2011

Did I miss loading a Win 8 driver off the Dell website?

Is there a switch to enable the Bluetooth radio?

Solved my own problem.

Selecting the Bluetooth driver and updating it pulled the new Atheros driver 4.0. It gave me some error message at the end, but seems to have installed correctly. Now I can connect to Bluetooth devices!

It loaded several other Windows updates, but not sure what those were just yet.

This is much easier than any other Bluetooth link process I've seen with Windows. Finally super easy and integrated into the OS.

It looks like I might even be able to dial my cell phone from Outlook, yes!

Still would love to load Office 15.

Seems like my current usage is 20% Metro , 80% Desktop. The Metro mail app is just too weak for my taste.

[after5]

Only 8 days for Win 8 RTM release

I'm counting the days to a more stable release and for the Office 15 Beta to start!

My running count on rebooting my tablet daily is about 3. Win 8 CP is not for the faint of heart, highly unstable even with simple things.

Major gripe is the N-trig driver not loading touch control on reboot or wake from sleep- ugh!

Still miss my pen from my TC1100!

[ravic]

I see a A03 and A04 bios updates. Did anyone try these?

A04 was not linked properly but it is availabe here

[excalibur1814]

Here we go again... I've just grabbed the ST from the web dev and am now installing the latest CP of Windows 8.

Steps:
- Install Windows 8 (Good start)
- Updated to A04 bios
- Chipset
- USB2 Ethernet driver (I cheat)
- Installed .net 2.0/3.0(Get online first!) from 'turn windows features on or off' in Control panel
- Video driver
- Windows update
- Radio & rotate driver
- Dell camera application (The Win8 app now works with the camera)
- Where on earth is the Atheros driver on the Dell web page? I'll have to hunt for the DVD now
- Beta Win8 N-Trig driver from N-trig.

Other:
- Stuck with no Wi-fi
- I've Set the power profile to High Performance
- Turned off all visual effects apart from a couple of items
- No desktop picture
- Reduced the press and hold speed/duration to short for Touch and stylus
- System protection off
- No paging file
- Hibernation disabled
- Disabled the three Intel modules & Quickset from startup
- Disabled a load of services

Still no Wi-fi until I can find the driver dvd. Oopps. Could some kind soul slap the Atheros driver onto an ftp site? Oh go on...


It's still DAMN slow!


From off to login screen: 32 blazing seconds! Cor blimey.
Running processes after being idle: 31



... an hour or so later... back to a vLite Windows 7 install for me