localroger: Have you tested the OTG function of the Craig's micro USB charging port?
I made a USB recovery drive, which copied the internal recovery partition onto the 8GB thumbdrive. Went to test it doing a system reset but I cancelled when it said it needs to overwrite its internal recovery partition if an external USB recovery drive is used. Is that standard fare? It's good to get that storage space back, but of course you're hosed if the USB drive gets lost or corrupted.
You can't use the power port as a second OTG style USB for anything that draws power. It does work as a USB port, but the firmware thinks the battery is dead because power is flowing the wrong way and it does an emergency low-power shutdown. You have to use the real USB port with a hub for more than one USB device.
You might be able to use it with a powered hub but I haven't tried that. It definitely doesn't work with a thumb drive, though :-(
@potatohead: Thanks for your insight, I made 2 identical USB recovery drives. Twice as hard to lose two, right? I did intentionally reformat and overwrote recovery partition D. C drive is now showing 19.7 GB free of 24.1 GB. Breathing room!
The only exception is Windows 8.1 with Bing: according to Microsoft, you need to contact your device manufacturer for info on how to get installation media for your edition of Windows.
@localroger: Thanks for the OTG info. I ordered a few OTG adapters and that switched USB hub to play with. This tablet is a power hog and requires a lot of recharging, I worry about wear & tear on that micro USB recharge port. Leaving a micro USB extension cable in place (and plugging the charger into that) would reduce wear on the tablet connector.
Back OT about this Craig tablet, I just received this 4 port switchable USB hub, which works great with this tablet and my old Compaq desktop too: http://www.ebay.com/itm/291609111837 The pics don't even show the 4 cool blue LEDs which indicate which ports are switched on. I wanted this to switch off USB devices like an optical mouse which remain on in sleep mode, consuming battery power. I tested the hub with a mouse, several flash drives and a CP2102 USB serial converter. Everything can be hot-switched on and off in Win8 and works properly. The mouse & serial adapter come online nearly instantly, and various flashdrives take anywhere from 4-10 seconds to be recognized.
Works so well I'm ordering another for the desktop for charging things. Erco-approved.
BTW, pass on this USB switch which does NOT transmit data. I got & tested it, it's only suitable for charging USB devices. http://www.ebay.com/itm/401017793408
I already mentioned that this "splitter" is not a USB hub, cannot support 2 data devices. You can use one for a data device and one for charging: http://www.ebay.com/itm/251892129965
On the micro-USB connector, I read that one thing they did right with micro-USB is that the tension springs which maintain contact and which are the main wear points are in the cables, not the connectors, unlike the larger USB forms. My main worry about micro-USB sockets is physical damage. I know a guy who lost two Nooks by dropping them with the power cable plugged in. I gave it a shot but it ripped vias out of the multilevel PCB which made it impossible to repair.
Erco Recommended switchable hubs arrived and are quite nice. I'm tempted to take one apart to see what the innards look like but I suspect the case is ultrasonically welded so it would be sacrificial. Two bucks...
Good price - wonder if that means they struggle with Win10, or if a new model is on the boat ?
Good Q. PCMag's only "con" listed of Win10 is that it's less touch-friendly than Win8. That's the nicest thing I've heard said about Win8. So maybe 8 is better than 10 for tablets. I haven't "upgraded" from 8 to 10 on this Craig tablet yet.
I ran GWX control panel (you can google it) to make sure the Windows 10 nags and downloads were disabled on my iCraig tablets. I'm getting good use out of both of them; it's amazing what a difference the normal USB and HDMI ports make over the Stream 7 and its like.
I am also quickly getting used to these switched USB hubs. It's a lot easier on the hardware to flip switches to than to plug and unplug things like USB-serial cables or flash drives I don't always want online.
I am also quickly getting used to these switched USB hubs. It's a lot easier on the hardware to flip switches to than to plug and unplug things like USB-serial cables or flash drives I don't always want online.
Agreed, I tried them because I was concerned about long term wear & tear on the built-in connectors, which can be a source of considerable trouble. Happy to hear you concur, a localroger thumbs-up is always appreciated.
Speaking of useful bargains, how many of those Goldmine mystery bulk packs of ICs will either of us ever use?
For your $2 I would love to see the innards. Probably just a black IC blob.
Yes, just a blob. @localroger: the case is just press-fit together. Take a thin screwdriver (my Parallax BoE-Bot screwdriver worked great) and work the case apart starting at the power jack (which I only noticed today).
...for the low low price of $9.00 on sale from $17.99. No information there on using it as a powered hub though. (Does the input voltage need to be regulated?)
My wife found one of those USB poodle hubs in the 99 cent store and gave it to me for Christmas...
Speaking of USB power, the 5V USB wall brick which came with my Craig tablet went bad. It had been charging slowly and erratically for a long time, so I tossed it. Not even worth trying to get a warranty replacement. I just received this $2.49, 2A charger which works great: http://www.ebay.com/itm/161925190537
WOW. I got my 9" Win10 Nextbook from WM tonight and I am mightily impressed. Heavy & beefy with a REAL keyboard; when I first opened it up I thought it was a netbook, not a tablet combo. There's a beeefy hinge there, but the screen does detach to become a tablet, and there is a full-sized USB port in the KEYBOARD. Pretty trick. Charging now, have barely used it but my first impression is that it's way better than the Craig tablet. Will advise.
Edit: Another advantage over the Craig is that the Nextbook keyboard has a touchpad. It feels like a sturdy netbook instead of a tablet leaning on fold-up case with a floppy keyboard tacked on.
Still loving it, using it now. Another advantage is there is a coaxial power jack for power and charging instead of wearing out the micro USB connector.
After souring on her iCraig (I factory defaulted it and am using it at work) my wife bought a Dell Inspiron 14, which is a full 14-inch netbook with 2 gig RAM and the 32 gig flash "hard drive." It runs 64-bit Windows 10 and cost $208 shipped. The physical package is nice, with a barrel jack power supply, multiple full size USB ports, full size HDMI, and a full size SD card socket. Unlike the iCraig the SD card sticks out a bit when inserted so it can't really be left in as additional permanent extra HD. So far Win 10 seems more sluggish than Win 8.1 on the iCraig but that may be because of all the Smile running in the background, a lot of which I have been going through turning off. The 14-inch screen is 1380x768, which is actually pretty adequate for writing and sound recording, which are to be its main duties.
I got the twins a Black Friday laptop, that 14" Toshiba I mentioned here previously for $119 at Office Depot. Like your wife's Dell, it's got 64-bit Win10, 2GB RAM and 32 GB SSD. I love that thing. Lightweight, thin, fast, and the battery lasts forever. The girls haven't destroyed it yet.
I should go through the house and count how many computers we have now. I bought 4 Android tablets for a project. Just keeping everything charged, updated, scanned and virus-free is fairly time-consuming.
Comments
I made a USB recovery drive, which copied the internal recovery partition onto the 8GB thumbdrive. Went to test it doing a system reset but I cancelled when it said it needs to overwrite its internal recovery partition if an external USB recovery drive is used. Is that standard fare? It's good to get that storage space back, but of course you're hosed if the USB drive gets lost or corrupted.
Or, just clone the recovery image.
Worst case, just kerp your product key and make a driver collection.
You might be able to use it with a powered hub but I haven't tried that. It definitely doesn't work with a thumb drive, though :-(
WRT "Creating a bootable Windows 8.1 or 10 DVD or USB stick with Media Creation Tool", this OS is Windows 8.1 with Bing, which has a few quirks. I saw this today at https://www.winhelp.us/non-destructive-reinstall-of-windows-8-and-8-1.html :
The only exception is Windows 8.1 with Bing: according to Microsoft, you need to contact your device manufacturer for info on how to get installation media for your edition of Windows.
@localroger: Thanks for the OTG info. I ordered a few OTG adapters and that switched USB hub to play with. This tablet is a power hog and requires a lot of recharging, I worry about wear & tear on that micro USB recharge port. Leaving a micro USB extension cable in place (and plugging the charger into that) would reduce wear on the tablet connector.
Works so well I'm ordering another for the desktop for charging things. Erco-approved.
BTW, pass on this USB switch which does NOT transmit data. I got & tested it, it's only suitable for charging USB devices. http://www.ebay.com/itm/401017793408
I already mentioned that this "splitter" is not a USB hub, cannot support 2 data devices. You can use one for a data device and one for charging: http://www.ebay.com/itm/251892129965
On the micro-USB connector, I read that one thing they did right with micro-USB is that the tension springs which maintain contact and which are the main wear points are in the cables, not the connectors, unlike the larger USB forms. My main worry about micro-USB sockets is physical damage. I know a guy who lost two Nooks by dropping them with the power cable plugged in. I gave it a shot but it ripped vias out of the multilevel PCB which made it impossible to repair.
And a different version on sale for $5: http://www.frys.com/product/8331177
9" Win10 tablet for $57, reg $149. No keyboard.
Not that Vulcan is a better name than Craig. Micro SD and micro USB ports.
http://www.frys.com/product/8573329?site=72premail012116
Good price - wonder if that means they struggle with Win10, or if a new model is on the boat ?
Good Q. PCMag's only "con" listed of Win10 is that it's less touch-friendly than Win8. That's the nicest thing I've heard said about Win8. So maybe 8 is better than 10 for tablets. I haven't "upgraded" from 8 to 10 on this Craig tablet yet.
http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,2817,2488631,00.asp
Of course there are numerous personal security concerns about Win10 too. Big Sister Cortana is always listening!
I am also quickly getting used to these switched USB hubs. It's a lot easier on the hardware to flip switches to than to plug and unplug things like USB-serial cables or flash drives I don't always want online.
Agreed, I tried them because I was concerned about long term wear & tear on the built-in connectors, which can be a source of considerable trouble. Happy to hear you concur, a localroger thumbs-up is always appreciated.
Speaking of useful bargains, how many of those Goldmine mystery bulk packs of ICs will either of us ever use?
Yes, just a blob. @localroger: the case is just press-fit together. Take a thin screwdriver (my Parallax BoE-Bot screwdriver worked great) and work the case apart starting at the power jack (which I only noticed today).
http://www.walmart.com/ip/48374597?wmlspartner=wlpa&adid=22222222227035771297&wl0=&wl1=g&wl2=c&wl3=76371441874&wl4=&wl5=pla&wl6=177397783714&veh=sem
...for the low low price of $9.00 on sale from $17.99. No information there on using it as a powered hub though. (Does the input voltage need to be regulated?)
I don't look a gift horse in the mouth... so I wouldn't push it.
Nor do I look a gift dog in the mouth: http://www.ebay.com/itm/Kikkerland-Poodle-USB-Hub-NEW-4-Ports-Windows-Mac-Brand-NEW-HOT-ITEM-/172073043922?hash=item28105a47d2:g:VNgAAOSwqYBWotNP
My wife found one of those USB poodle hubs in the 99 cent store and gave it to me for Christmas...
Speaking of USB power, the 5V USB wall brick which came with my Craig tablet went bad. It had been charging slowly and erratically for a long time, so I tossed it. Not even worth trying to get a warranty replacement. I just received this $2.49, 2A charger which works great: http://www.ebay.com/itm/161925190537
Oh dear... I bet she had a large smirk as you opened that !
As did I!
http://www.ebay.com/itm/Leica-iCON-CC80-7-Tablet-Kit-with-Win8-1-for-Robotic-and-GPS-Layout-/151980952116?
http://www.walmart.com/ip/Nextbook-Flexx-8.9-2-in-1-Tablet-32GB-Intel-Quad-Core-Windows-10/46664254
Edit: Signed up for a WM Mastercard at checkout to get a$25 credit on my statement. Now this tablet only cost $45...
Beat that, localroger!
http://www.walmart.com/ip/Nextbook-Flexx-10.1-2-in-1-Tablet-2-32GB-Quad-Core-Windows-8-Eligible-for-Free-Windows-10-Upgrade/44503405
Edit: Another advantage over the Craig is that the Nextbook keyboard has a touchpad. It feels like a sturdy netbook instead of a tablet leaning on fold-up case with a floppy keyboard tacked on.
Still loving it, using it now. Another advantage is there is a coaxial power jack for power and charging instead of wearing out the micro USB connector.
I should go through the house and count how many computers we have now. I bought 4 Android tablets for a project. Just keeping everything charged, updated, scanned and virus-free is fairly time-consuming.
4/5 stars at Walmart ($69): http://www.walmart.com/ip/Vulcan-Electronics-Omega-VTA08900-with-WiFi-8.95-Touchscreen-Tablet-PC-Featuring-Windows-10-Operating-System/46664039
But no keyboard, as the Craig has, limits its usefulness IMO. My fave is still the WM 9" Nextbook. Built like a brick outhouse.