Arthur H Walker

I write the Uroboros Saga Novels, poke pixels into proper shapes, and craft user experiences for games on mobile platforms.  

[arthurhwalker]

Piece I wrote about my experiences at #LenovoTechWorld 2023. #LenovoIN #SponsoredTrip

https://publish.obsidian.md/arthurhwalker/Tech+Reviews+%26+Events/2023+Lenovo+Tech+World

[arthurhwalker]

Dropped off a stack of Uroboros Saga novellas at Barnes & Noble (Wichita, KS) to go up on the shelf with the rest of the Science Fiction. I'll be there in person in November to promote local authors. Excite. 😁💙

[arthurhwalker]

She's not like anything I've seen before. Has a silo'd stylus though. Maybe she belongs to an artist or designer? The top screen is huge.

#LenovoIN #ThinkbookPlusGen3

[arthurhwalker]

Found this little gal outside on the porch. Seems lost. Maybe there are some clues for where she came from?

#LenovoIN #ThinkBookPlusGen3

[arthurhwalker]

I'm travel weary. I'm counting on you, Travel Chicken, to get me through.

[arthurhwalker]

Lenovo Yoga Book 9i Review

The hype for this device is warranted. That said, some of the features are incomplete, or "coming soon." There's a lot of really great reviews of the device that talk specifications. In short, the specs are great. This review is going to about how the device fits into my own use case, and the features that mattered to me most.

Yep. I'm going to make it all about me.

Text Entry

Being able to use two screens in landscape, one above the other, or side by side in portrait mode is a show stopper. It's really difficult to have that set up, and have it fit comfortably in your daily carry bag. Being able to set a document window to cascade between both screens in stacked landscape mode is done by tapping five fingers on the screen. It's so good.

Also, it comes with a Mystery Triangle. No idea what it's for, but it is magnetic and has instructions on it for assembly. I found at least one thing it can do, but probably isn't intended for.

Pen holder?

Pictured below: 65w Charger, Lenovo 2-channel quiet Bluetooth mouse, keyboard accessory, stylus, and Mystery Triangle.

The Bluetooth keyboard accessory is excellent. Best of all, the keyboard is included. Literally, the best travel sized/weight Bluetooth Keyboard accessory I've seen is just quietly bundled with the Lenovo 9i.

Key travel, latency (I type very fast if I want to), and feedback are great. I know the device is designed to take pen input, but I love making text with it. They way the keyboard rolls up into the stand to protect the keys from havoc while traveling in my bag is really nice. A lot of thought went into the accessories for the Yoga Book 9i.

The effort paid off.

Pen Entry

You make some sacrifices here, but I'm not convinced it is Lenovo's fault. Being able to draw on the deck display while using the lid display to view your reference material is awesome. Pen input is pretty good, but I'm still wrestling with getting tilt and other functionality to work as I'd prefer. It doesn't seem to matter which application I use, there is a little jitter.

The device will take pen input on both screens simultaneously but that experience is heavily dependent on the applications, and what pen protocol they are using. Overall I'll be doing my finishing work at 300 dpi at home on my Thinkpad with a Wacom Cintiq. Will I do front end digital art, pixel art, and sketching on my Yoga Book 9i?

For sure.

It's an 8.5 stars drawing experience that feels like a 10 because the displays are both OLED, and vary closely matched in both color and brightness. I haven't applied any film to the deck, but the included stylus has pretty good resistance without it. My other favorite stylus works great, too.

User Experience

Microsoft's software products have been in steady decline for over a decade. I didn't think Microsoft had anything left to ruin after Windows 10, but they broke new ground with Windows 11. User experience isn't anywhere on Microsoft's list of priorities these days, and anything Windows 11 does well feels accidental.

Fortunately, Lenovo goes all out to smooth things over wherever they can. They have software running that helps curate the experience for the user. In some cases it does better than put lipstick on the pig that is Windows 11. With screen gestures and touch input particularly, I forget the pig exists.

There are many "coming soon" features that promise to make the experience great, utilizing both displays for function and neat visual aesthetics. If Lenovo does all they've promised with regard to features, the user experience would go from good, to great.

The bad news is that the display scaling is kinda stuck at 200%. You can change it, but you have to change it for each display, every time you log in. When you turn your computer on in the morning to get started working, you'll be changing the scaling, if you don't like it at 200%

For me, the 200% scaling is perfect, and I imagine it will be a for a lot of people. If that is not ideal, it becomes an arduous daily chore to open the display settings, and change the scaling to the desired amount. It is likely that Lenovo will fix this with an update.

If you're having this issue, head to Lenovo's Forums and hit this post. It has some work arounds, but also reply in line. Bump it up. Thanks.

I'll update this review if I find a silver bullet or if Lenovo issues and update that fixes the issue.

Darkness

During the Pandemic my spouse was ill (not with COVID, something else). Being able to sit next to her in the dark, and continue my work without disturbing her was pretty important. At the time I had an Thinkpad X1 Carbon that I had Lenovo's power management settings on it. With the screen brightness bottomed out, and the machine set to run quiet as I could get it, I was able to continue working.

After my spouse's recent surgery, I found myself in a similar situation. She basically needed to sleep for a month to heal, and I needed to be able to watch over her, and continue my work.

Using the Yoga Book 9i in a dark room to make text is great. With the backlighting turned down to nothing, the software keyboard (Lenovo's, not you Microsoft) is perfect. It can be set to give feedback, and a little noise, or nothing at all. The OLED displays turned all the way down are perfect for viewing text, without adding enough illumination to a room to disturb a sleeper.

It's also really cool looking in the dark. Perfect for writing science fiction.

My ears ring constantly after having COVID, and now I'm pretty sensitive to coil whine from devices. The Yoga Book 9i is almost as quiet as a fanless ARM SOC. Almost.

Sound

The Lenovo Yoga Book 9i can be really quiet, but it can also be really loud. If you were using it to run Dungeons & Dragons at a venue, and needed something to play music and sound effects, this device has the best sound on a portable device I've heard. I have one other Lenovo Yoga with a sound bar hinge from a couple years back. The sound on it is really good, but nothing like the Yoga Book 9i.

You can take the Bluetooth speaker out your bag if you're carrying one.

That said, make sure you fully update all the sound drivers. My Yoga Book 9i came with a lot of crackle pop out of the box. Once I updated all the drivers, the sound was perfect. I didn't need to touch a thing.

You will absolutely annoy other people at the coffee shop while watching cat videos on YouTube.

Mobile Workspace

I've been carrying a Thinkpad X12 Detachable Tablet, a Thinkvision M14 portable display, Lenovo Pen Stylus, and Lenovo Bluetooth Mouse as my standard portable workspace. It sets up nicely on a coffee shop table, and let me do my things while I'm traveling.

It's a really nice set up, fits well in my bag.

The Lenovo Yoga Book 9i does the same thing without all the hunting for accessories. Everything you need comes with it. Also, you aren't stuck with two landscape displays stuck side by side, or with extra stands to make your preferred viewing experience work.

It also takes up less space on the table, and I don't have to bring another keyboard as a sidecar to render digital artwork with the pen.

I haven't run into battery life issues with the Yoga Book 9i. I really expected to find myself searching for an outlet more often, but it hasn't been a thing. I assumed the magnetic stand and keyboard accessories would mess with it my bag, and I'd find the device running fans and being crazy in standby mode. Nope, it's been fine.

If it sounds like my expectations were low in terms of the hardware, it is because they were. I was pretty sure I'd buy one, review it, and return it. I'm keeping mine, and riding out the bumps as Lenovo updates and completes software features. I think it'll be worth the wait.

Accessories

All that's missing is the perfect bag or sleeve for the Yoga Book 9i. I'm using a Waterfield Designs Sutter Tech Sling right now, and it is pretty ideal. I have a number of Lenovo's other two-compartment cases that worth pretty well, but nothing that is "the one."

Other than that, carry an extra big microfiber cloth. With three Thunderbolt 4 ports I haven't found the need for dongles or docks unless I'm at home.

Bundled Software

Lenovo ships this device with a Smart Note and Journal application. You can take a Smart Note on the Lock Screen, save Bookmarks, and there is a Smart Reader app in the works. I usually dismiss bundled software, but Lenovo gave these apps some great features.

I might not use Journal, but I will be using Smart Note.

Branding

I've owned or laid hands on every version of Lenovo's Yoga Book devices over the years. My Yoga Book Gen 1.5 (Ruby Red) and Yoga Book C930 still get used, because they are that good. I've had the Android version of the Gen 1, Windows Version of the Gen 1, and used the LTE (Eurozone) Yoga Book C930.

Is the Yoga Book 9i a "Yoga Book" as Lenovo has defined them? Yes, and no.

The Yoga Book 9i is not a 10" ultraportable that defies the traditional categories of clamshell vs. tablet / detachable device. It is a 13" clamshell laptop that comes with the best wireless keyboard and mouse offerings, and the second best stylus Lenovo offers. The stand accessory that bundles everything up is awesome.

It does not fit in my vertical computer bag designed for 10" - 12" form factor devices. It would be unwieldy to hold like a book, in hand, and read text from the displays.

It does provide a computing experience you can't get anywhere else. Lisa Gade didn't even try to explain this in her review. You'll either look at this device and wonder who it's for, or know instantly that you need one for your use case. Like other Yoga Books of the past, there is nothing to compare the 9i to.

There are other dual-screen devices, but they don't compete with the Yoga Book in my opinion. They are not necessarily better or worse, they just don't provide the same experience.

Have a question?

Find me on most social media platforms, @ArthurHWalker

Pictured Below: One use of the Mystery Triangle?

[arthurhwalker]

Can the #Lenovo #YogaBook9i render two cursors allowing two people to draw at once.

Yes.*

* Experience between apps varies significantly.

#LenovoIN

[arthurhwalker]

[arthurhwalker]

[arthurhwalker]

[arthurhwalker]

Main document broke 50k words last night after spending a few hours consistency checking content. Getting excited for this again. #UroborosSaga #tabletoprpg

[arthurhwalker]

Lenovo Tab P12 Pro Review

When announced, the P12 Pro Android Tablet had a feature list that seemed too good to be true, a disparate, yet complimentary, mix of mobile goodness. I suspect Lenovo went with Microsoft Pen Protocol (MPP) because the device has the potential to work like a wireless Wacom Cintiq (acting as a second display) with an Android Tablet rolled into it.

I didn't actually think the device would compete with Wacom EMR, but was really curious how close it would come.

So, I reached out to Lenovo and asked to take a look at one. The fine folks at Lenovo obliged, and sent me a product sample. This review focuses on the more unique capabilities of the device, and how it fits into a creative workflow. If you're interested in the specs, hit the link.

https://psref.lenovo.com/Product/Lenovo_Tablets/Tab_P12_Pro#

My initial thoughts, as I had them, on Twitter.

https://twitter.com/ArthurHWalker/status/1592198522698448896

Read on for more:

Keyboard

One of the absolute showstoppers with the P12 Pro is the keyboard that comes bundled with the Lenovo Precision Pen 3. It has the size and relative heft of a simple tablet accessory, but has Bluetooth connectivity, and independent power supply. For artists, this felt huge; take the keyboard off, set it opposite the screen from your drawing hand, and drop the tablet into a low angle.

It's the desktop drawing setup most people prefer. Mouse and stylus near your drawing hand, keyboard near your offhand for keyboard shortcuts, digitizer screen somewhere in the middle at a comfortable angle.

Is there a way to leverage this with drawing applications available in Android?

Or, when using the tablet as a second display for your Window's PC?

My first attempt at using the P12 Pro as a second display, accepting input from the Keyboard accessory didn't go well, and yet, it kind of did. The fact that it worked, badly, even for a couple of seconds before the connection failed, is amazing to me. I didn't expect the Lenovo Freestyle app to grant that functionality.

I'll talk more about using the P12 Pro as a second display later in the review. If that's your primary interest, scroll down.

How is it just as a keyboard for making text? Great, Key travel is as good as it gets with a keyboard designed to be this portable.  As tablet accessories go, it's way above average, wireless, or pogo pin connected. I didn't get the dreaded repeat key stroke issue I usually do with wireless tablet keyboards.

There's always a "but", isn't there?

The first version of this review was pretty harsh with the trackpad. I said the best thing about it was the dedicated button on the keyboard that let you turn it off. Letting the experience of using the Tab P12 Pro gel in my mind, I realized that I wouldn't have used it much, anyway.

When I use it as a second display, I tend toward the mouse of the primary connected device, touchscreen, or pen. When I connect the P12 to a display and use it as primary, you need a mouse if your display has even 1920x1080 resolution. Getting the cursor from point A to point B is just nicer with that set up.

Standing alone, I reached for the pen, for pen things, but used the touchscreen primarily because of how precise and responsive it is. Given how the tablet is designed, and the use cases it is destined to occupy, putting the trackpad down the list probably made sense for engineers. It isn't obsolete, yet, but that isn't the fault of the hardware, in my opinion.

Stylus

The Microsoft Pen Protocol 2.0 stylus charges wirelessly by attaching to the side of the device. I suspect there are other ways to charge the stylus, but there are few other devices you'd want to use one with. The upside is that the MPP tech seems much improved for both handwriting, and artwork.

The downside is that you'll pay for a Microsoft Surface Pen if you ever have to replace it. Upside, if Microsoft puts out a keen nib set, it'll likely be compatible.

Microsoft Surface Slim Pen 2

https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/d/surface-slim-pen-2/8tb9xw8rwc14

Microsoft Slim Pen Charger

https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/d/surface-slim-pen-charger/8zc6jrr8jmr8

Update: There is a semi-keen nib set. The nib kit, according to the pics, on MS's site, and in Lenovo's own documentation for the Lenovo Precision Pen 3, should work as replacements. The kit doesn't have an assortment of different textures or feels. They look to just be "extras".

https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/d/surface-slim-pen-2-tips/93Z8RNZ3R3FN

The native note taking app included with the device feels like it could stand alone, but it is better used as a sidecar to Microsoft OneNote. If this is your first pen-equipped note taking device you could lean into Lenovo's App if you don't need a lot of organization.

I have found a couple of matte film display covers that give the P12 a really nice feel for handwriting. Four out of five stars. However, those films take the OLED display down a notch. Someone needs to invent a screen film that can be removed, rolled up, and re-applied later as needed. Go-go.

Display Functionality

The P12 Pro Tablet can be used as a 2nd (or 3rd) display. It can also utilize a second display, granting additional screen real estate in the event the tablet is serving as the primary device. There are a few limitations and considerations to know about if this is going to be critical to your workflow.

First, lets talk about using the Tab P12 Pro as an additional display for your PC.

I couldn't test every application out there to see how it behaved, but the vast majority of what I use has good rendering and latency. There are some weird graphical twitches in OneNote, but nothing really distracting. Clip Studio works flawlessly. Adobe Photoshop is, as usual, very hit or miss.

Given how my gaming test went, I think it has to do with any app that leans heavily on the GPU to render. This means the experience could be different across connected devices. Also, network speed could play a role.

If I want to sit on the couch away from my PC and use the Tab P12 Pro as my portal, it does that. I can use the included keyboard accessory with the touchscreen to enter text, browse the web, and so forth. My PC views the P12 as just another display with audio. Connecting using the Freestyle App takes only a second or two, and I'm working.

The Freestyle app is required for this functionality, on both devices, and I've only tested it with a standard clam shell laptop PC. I might see what else that application can do, in a separate review.

Some caveats.

A mouse connected to the Tab P12 Pro will control the cursor, but only on the P12 Pro. It can't move the cursor to other displays connected to your PC. A mouse connected wireless to your PC works fine, though. This is probably the best way to go because the cursor will behave like you'd expect.

Using a Mouse connected to the P12 not only isolates the cursor to that one display, but makes it behave like a finger tap in Android. Most of the time, that isn't better, but it depends on the application.

In Windows you'll want to go to Settings -> Devices -> Typing -> and turn the touch keyboard off to prevent it from popping up every time you use the touch screen or mouse to place the cursor in a window ready to receive text.

The Tab P12 Pro will pick up the audio feed from your PC, and keep your tunes rolling. You set that up in Windows like you would any other speaker-equipped device.  

Final Thoughts

I used the Tab P12 Pro for 2 months. It exceeded my expectations with an impressive feature set. Everything but the trackpad on the included keyboard feels like something worth more than the sticker price. This includes the aesthetics, build quality, display, and sound quality. Usual Lenovo-level attention to detail here.

As a second display option for mobile situations, particularly for traveling, it'll be stellar.

It can't replace a Wacom Cintiq, as a connected display for accepting pen input. The pen stylus doesn't fall short except with customizing the one barrel button it has. The digitizer is extremely good, precise, with what feels like dense pick up on the surface. Latency over a wireless connection with applications that require hardware accelerated graphics is the choke point I think.

If Lenovo improves that on the software side, or there's a hardware fix (like a better router) for example, the Cintiq could feel a little pressure from hobbyists, and prosumers. For a lot of people, nothing replaces the buttery slip stride feeling of EMR digitizers, but the Tab P12 Pro comes as close as any tablet ever has. This is particularly true with a matte screen film.

My expectation was that I would find a narrow section of digital creatives this device would appeal to. That section is much wider than I anticipated. It is a competent device, and platform, for digital art, and handwritten notes.

[arthurhwalker]

Geopolitics and D&D

I'm trying to just work today, moving text from UTF8 via Kate, to Obsidian (Markdown). It's the easiest, most mindless work. Necessary, to help organize my thoughts, ironically.

Dog is sleeping by my feet. Fresh snow outside. But, I feel like it's 1987, I'm ten years old, and the Soviet Union still exists. My mind drifts backward...

It's two years before the Berlin Wall falls, and my young mind can't even see that moment yet. Months previous, I got the Red Box D&D game at a local toy store that mostly sells model trains. I'm still grappling with how to handle the death of Aleena (the Cleric npc), felled by a magic missile cast by the evil Wizard Bargle.

After fall of communism in Eastern Europe (1989) I'd lay hands on the GAZ01 Duchy of Karameikos.

In it is this entry:

Perhaps the community at game conventions ran their games from Red Box forward with Aleena alive? Or, like everyone with a soul, Allan Allston believed Aleena should be alive, and the editor at TSR, Karen S Martin, agreed? I don’t know.

Frank Mentzer had been instructed throughout the process of crafting Classic D&D to adhere strictly to the OD&D rules and aesthetic. He stopped reading other sources (Dragon Magazine, etc), and tried to just go where Gagax and Arneson would have.

I'm glad he didn't, and that the artists, Larry Elmore, and others, gave the books warmth and personality. To Frank Mentzer's credit, he tried, and failed, and made something better than the usual confusing garbage that had come out of TSR previously. I like to think a whole generation of gamers have been avenging Aleena, and stomping on various versions of Bargle.

I think I always identified more with Aleena than Elmore's Faceless Fighter from the cover. I replayed the self-play adventures as her, and like a lot of people introduced to the game via Red Box, didn't let her die. In the Gaz01 she's 12th Level, obviously with a long career behind her.

I play a lot of goblins, and Aleena is very much the reason.

She believed the goblin could be good. At the time, it felt like a revelation to my young brain. The news today has me thinking about all this a little more than usual.

Thanks for listening.

[arthurhwalker]

All I need is some low-fi and a cup of tea.

[arthurhwalker]

Lenovo Yoga 7 15ITL5 Review

Disclosure: I am a member of the Lenovo INsider's customer advocacy program. This laptop was provided to me at no charge, as part of their regular product seeding endeavors. I used the laptop for a couple of weeks, tested it, and will be giving it away to a Doctoral Student at the local college in need of a new computer.

What's Good

The Intel chipset SoC (System on a Chip) that includes the Intel Core i7-1165G7 (4C / 8T, 2.8 / 4.7GHz, 12MB) with Integrated Intel Iris Xe Graphics is pretty amazing. It's the sort of premium graphics option I hoped would, eventually, become standard. With increased pressure from AMD, Intel is finally stepping up.

The Dark Moss aluminum chassis is the coldest, darkest green. It won't turn heads at the coffee shop, but it stays clean and presentable to an almost uncanny degree. It isn't as attractive as some of Lenovo's other offerings in the Yoga line, the Dark Moss color has a lot of charm. Found myself liking it, in spite of myself.

The Integrated 71 Wh battery hands tough. Might be the longest lasting 15" laptop I've used in a while. Also, the display.

15.6" FHD (1920x1080) IPS 500nits Glossy, 100% sRGB, HDR 400, Dolby Vision, AGC Soda-lime glass

https://psref.lenovo.com/Detail/Yoga/Yoga_7_15ITL5?M=82BJ0003US

The marketing babble here is that it is 'AGC Soda-lime glass'. AGC is a regular glass company, and Soda-lime glass is just regular old glass, found in 90% of everything (windows, glassware, etc) made with glass in them. Still, this is a good thing, and it's hard to explain why, without making this blog post even more difficult to parse.

Go here, scroll to the bottom, and click on the link to the scientific paper if you're super curious, and want to grow your brain.

https://revolution-green.com/12479-2/

Also, these ports; 2x Thunderbolt 4 / USB4 40Gbps (support data transfer, Power Delivery 3.0 and DisplayPort 1.4. This connectivity really pops this 2-in-1 laptop into the prosumer range. At 4.19 lb. it is a very portable 15" laptop, with a tenkey.

The price. I've seen these, nicely equipped, on sale at Best Buy for $700. For the capabilities and specs of this machine, that's an incredible value. It feels and runs like a laptop you would spend $1100+ on easily, and should be competitive with or way better than anything in the $800 range.

What's Not

Soldered memory, that is not upgradable. Buy with the memory you want to have installed.

The model they sent me ships with a M.2 2242 SSD, with an extender, wrapped in thermal tape.

If I were keeping this laptop, I would log in, set it up, and register the device with Microsoft Windows. Then, I would immediately take the M.2 2242 SSD 512GB out, put a proper M.2 2280 SSD 1TB in, and restore the machine to factory settings from a thumb drive. After that was complete, I'd set the machine up for myself, on the new solid state drive.

Finally, I would take the M.2 2242 SSD, extender, and thermal tape, between two fingers, and gently place them in the garbage.

Screen treatment is as I expected it would be. It's thin ultra clear window glass, so the display looks awesome, but you'll want the hardest plastic nib you can find for your pen stylus. Unless, you like really high resistance, pen to screen. Depending on the preferred stylus, the lack of screen treatment is going to be a plus, or a minus.

No SD card reader, or pen stylus silo in the chassis. I really like having these two options, and they are present in the more premium line of Yoga products. The Yoga 7, being more mid-tier, doesn't tend to have these features.

Other Thoughts

The keyboard is good, not great, not bad, but passable. If you're a keyboard snob, you'll probably have some complaints here, key placement, and so forth. It's still better than most other non-Thinkpad UltraBooks out there, in my humble opinion. My expectations were exceeded in this area, but not enough to put it in the 'What's Good' section.

Packaging and presentation is mid-tier. Simple box, simple packaging, low amount of frills. It isn't like opening up an X1 or top end Yoga product with a fancy box, packaging, and charger. It would still be an awesome gift, because once you get it out of the box, it does sparkle, it does impress.

The device is easy enough to take apart that It'd be all right to get Premium or Onsite Warranty option upgrades. I recommend these regardless, but sometimes it's better to send them in. A tech with a moderate degree of skill could service the Yoga 7 15ITL5. There are no hidden hinge screws or other mechanical chicanery at work.

Follow Up

I waited to post this review until I got a little feedback. The person I gave the laptop to has had it for a few weeks, used it for education, commercial, and personal use cases. She reports nothing but good things, her previous rig being a Thinkpad S1 Yoga. With this product, I really was curious how someone that wasn't me, would adapt to and use the device.

You can get the identical model (including color) at Best Buy, right now, as I write this.

[arthurhwalker]

Isometric game tiles. I been making them.

[arthurhwalker]

Editing my 9th book has been a long process. Writing the manuscript significantly longer. What keeps me writing when all else fails, are the little things I learn about myself along the way.

I haven't found a way to create or engage my creativity in a way that isn't at least a little bit toxic. That, I've always known. What I've learned is that it can't be avoided, but it can be minimized.

Writing a novel is like growing your hair out. In the beginning you aren't sure whether you should keep going. Halfway through is the awkward phase of wearing lots of different hats. When it starts getting long, one tries to figure out where the cut off point is.

There are correct answers, a place of equilibrium. That is what I learned this time around.