Turning T440p into a hybrid tablet or "lablet"

Here is my tablet-laptop hybrid. I was going to post it on the TabletPCReview forum but it didn't allow photo uploading.

And if you find a more powerful platform than my silly (but functional) contrivance, do please inform for the sake of my own edification. But regrettably I won't be buying it because I am broke after forking out for the components below.

What you need:

• T440p with i7
• Lt1423p (wired)
• Click-N-Grip Laptop Strap
• non-descript Canada Computers laptop bag with wide pass-through belt

Why would someone be crazy enough to want to do that? Just because he or she could, as they say.

No, it was actually a rational decision. I would like something relatively powerful for voice recognition - hanging around the world's largest speech recognition related forum taught me what features in a processor to look for - i.e., one with 4+MB of cache, preferably 8. Once that requirement is in place, and a co-requirement of rudimentary mobility is added, then there is only one candidate on the RFP list: T440p. Nothing else from Lenovo, Dell, or HP either offered a beefy 14 incher or the 4900MQ - in any class.

A second non-negotiable requirement is that I want my "lablet" to be able to run while I am on-the-go. Nothing cross-country or involves breaking a sweat, just going from one area of the hospital to another without having to turn the thing off or even putting it to sleep. That means the rig has to be able to run just like a tablet clutched under the arm, except I want it more ergonomical and more powerful than your Thinkpad Yoga (cost-effectiveness unfortunately went out the window).

Rhetorical question: how much weight can you carry on your shoulder and how much weight can your arm hold?

Why don't I wear a computer on the outside of a bag so it doesn't overheat when I walk around?

Enter a bit of mid-Western American ingenuity: Midrix's Safe-Clik-N-Grip.

And a generic computer bag sold in Canada Computers stores across Ontario. I can't be bothered to find a hyperlink (not sure one even exists) as I just came across it in a store.

Now onto the star: the Lt1423p is a genuine bit of innovation next to that sorry cheap block of plastic called T440p (as I said there are no other contestants in this category that T440p "won" by acclaim - Dell and HP chose to abstain). Lt1423p (wired model) exceeded my expectation in construction quality and responsiveness. Edge accuracy is superb. Anywhere it taps it clicks - a veritable, pleasant mouse replacement except with one Citrix application (I can probably overcome with voice commands but it does take away from a perfect score).

The other subtraction from Lt1423p is its 1600x900 resolution. No, I am absolutely/positively not asking for 1080p or "3K/4K" Japan Inc's fraudulent goodness. I deal with legacy medical applications and stuff beamed across Citrix where DPI doesn't scale. I want 1400x1050 (yes 2006 T61p standard) or 1680x1050 in a 14" external monitor package. I know I said I am broke after procuring my rig. But I'll sell wife's jewellery behind her back to buy a 14" 1680x1050 touch USB monitor. In fact all Lenovo has to do is to take the current Lt1423p, shave off 50% of the wide, unsightly bezel on top and bottom, and I will have my 1680x1050, in the same physical package of Lt1423p.

How much can you charge for this bit of refinement to your innovation, Lenovo? $600 easy.

I will create a market for you in the hospital I work at.

I won't review the T440p here as there is nothing I could say about its "laminated" cheapness that hasn't been said elsewhere. Yes the screen bleeds light like a lamp, although mine is tolerable as I specifically opted for the 1600x900 TN panel due to aforementioned legacy software requirement.

I tortured it with Prime95 for 30min and the temperature of the 4 cores of 4900MQ rose to an egg-frying 93 degree Celsius! And not surprisingly the processor throttled down to 2.6GHz. At that point I chickened out. The fan noise at maximum was very audible, but surprisingly more subdued than what I had expected.

Cinebench R15 CPU score was around a very middling 600. But then again, it's all in the cooling. During the last 1/3 of the Cinebench test, CPU went down to 2.77 GHz and stayed there while fan was on close to max, or at max.

The GPU test could not even be done with Lt1423p being the sole external monitor (doesn't impact me but DisplayLink is clearly not for 3-D work). With the native display, the frame rate for the GPU (730m) is slightly under the older 650m. But I couldn't care less about that.

Anyway, this is a proof-of-concept kinda rig for me. although I do plan on using it to help save lives, and make a living. All added up it is nearly twice the price of an i5 Thinkpad Yoga with Touch & Pen, and that's before throwing in an SSD that I have yet to buy.

But one heck of a tablet/hybrid it is.

Lastly, ergonomically speaking, even though I carry about 6 lb of this entire collection of plastic over my shoulder (including the bag), but only a thin-and-light Lt1423p in my hands when I need to. The kicker is that you can't even put your Surface Pro 2 in a bag of any kind and have it running full tilt without worrying about something melting.

But I can walk from one area to another with the "lablet" running at full clock speed attached to the outside of a bag.

Some probably think I am on crack for touting this (but the truth is that only ER docs and ENTs have legitimate access to cocaine and I ain't one of them), but I think I might be on to something.

It's time someone like Dell makes a proper "lablet" where the screen and body can be linked by a ribbon, retractable display / USB cable and with even better cooling than T440p or the likes. I pin my hopes on Dell because it has gone private and should lead the pack in "creative destruction".

 

$469.00 is too much for the Lt1423p.

When I came to this thread , I expect to see that you disassembled the T440p and changed the screen to one with a digitizer. I also expected you to change the hinge design into something similar to a convertible.

 

Hmm. This is a very unusual setup tbh. Certainly heavy, big and clunky. Any why?

If performance of 440p in quad-core config is really necessary, and run tasks will consume even 50% CPU for any extended periods (CPU throttling on battery must be disabled, of course), it's not exactly mobile enough to venture too far away from a power outlet. For an hour or two at most, perhaps (simple math "laptop consuming 30W will eat through a 60Wh battery in about 2 hours" gives a reasonably good estimate).

And if the lesser hardware is adequate for the task, there are plenty of Windows 8.1 tablets now. At least Windows built-in voice recognition, as well as Android offline voice recognition, do not require much power.

 

I can certainly appreciate Joe consumer poo-pooing the LT1423p when a brand new iPad Air costs comparable while weighing less with a processor and battery, and has a better form factor to boot (actually no - for that we will have to await the iPad "Pro").

But for those who need precise Pen input, as opposed to approximation by an Apple "stylus", the valuation is entirely different.

This and other fora have beat the subject of "what is a good pen tablet worth" to death a zillion times. While your opinion is absolutely valid and it's pointless to argue against, but also take it from me that if Lenovo comes up with a 1680/1400 x 1050 precision pen tablet monitor of comparable quality to LT1423p, there is a market for it at $600.

Who do you take me to be? A deft engineer? Besides they already have that, and it's called a " modbook". Surely somebody is free to go down that route and it won't be doubling the price of a TPY, but probably triple. And what about warranty?

And more importantly, I would be missing the ergonomics I was after since I can't hold a 4 lb tablet in my hands for any reasonable length of time. But I can let it sling across my shoulder while holding a 1.5 lb tablet monitor with relative comfort and ease.

Don't be shy: it's just butt ugly beyond description, too. Kids, this is not for your college use or for sauntering into local Starbucks with, or you won't be getting a date even with a one-eared Chihuahua ...

As for your question of "why" - you would have to have my kind of work pattern and usage model. While consumers care about "boot time" (I do, too, for the record), I care more about application load time. For those of you who are familiar with Citrix, you'd know it takes a good 5 min for several apps to beam over to you especially when they are hosted across several different servers. One of the major impediments to my efficiency in the hospital is the amount of time it takes to load up stuff when I move from one desktop to the next.

"Connected standby" might be the saviour. But for one, Redmond hasn't worked it out even for its own SP2 Pro x64. Secondly, I have come to know MS well enough to anticipate this to be likely a major headache at least initially. There is no word from Citrix that it even intends to support "connected standby". If any of you knows differently, please share your knowledge.

Completely right you are. This rig isn't for folks who intend to put their paddles down in the middle of a silent lake and check up on Charm notifications (assuming a connection). But by my testing, with Dragon Medical on and Processor in high performance mode, it lasts a good 3 to 4h (depending on actual dictation pattern of course) on a 9-cell. In a hospital which is full of electrical outlets, this is no impediment. In fact I return to base after a couple hours of venturing out onto the ward or ER anyway.

On that you are partially right for the first half. Indeed snappy i5s with 4MB cache in TPY or SP2 Pro have been reported to handle Dragon with relative aplomb. But these take place on a machine without frills and with not much else running (as per reports). In addition, voice control of computer is another kettle of fish altogether (I know Lenovo touts a bit of Nuance-enabled voice control for its TPY). When one needs multiple scripts (Nuance's as well as AHK) running, a little extra headroom can't hurt.

The second half of your speculation misses the mark (but thanks for the suggestion). No Siri or Android online/offline or WSR will transcribe an endoscopy or radiology report as accurately as my rig. If you find any that does, I will be more than glad to retire my clunky contraption (even though it's brand new) into the dustbin of IT history and have it serve desk duty somewhere in the office.

 

Below is not the "benchmark" I was aiming for btw as I only has my own usage in mind.

But look at this $8000 Rubbermaid "COW" (Rubbermaid's offerings are actually among the most economical in this field) - except for the drawers, what has it got that the make-shift "lablet" hasn't?







Notice the critical aspect here: the CPU vents and bottom perforations are not blocked (except for a small slit) - if anything, the cooling when the laptop is slung across the shoulder fully running is better than when the laptop sits on your lap. My Cinebench testing bears this out.

BTW, on the T440p, the LT1423p uses just the single powered USB3 port and that's it. It literally is plug-and-play. Unplug it when done and plug it in when needed - voila you got precise pen and touch. It is that easy - on the T440p at least. Unfortunately it is hard to find other genuinely praiseworthy aspects of the T440p that I can get excited about.

The other USB extension cable visible in the the first photo in the first post was to connect the USB sound card / microphone combo.

 

I just use a cheap $100 tablet PC (a used Fujitsu Lifebook T5010 ) and carry that and my 6 lbs W530 with me. I use a tiny USB flash drive to transfer data between computers while I'm not connected to my local network.

I would have bought a LT1423p if it was cheaper but used Wacom tablets (even the tablet PCs) are not as expensive as they used to be. And it would surprise you that some of the older tablets (and tablet PCs) work better than some of the new ones.

 

Now that's good to know and thanks for sharing your knowledge!

 

Well, I haven't used the recent versions of Nuance products, and definitely not the healthcare-related adaption of those, but old versions run fine on very modest, by today standards, hardware (certainly not better than recent ARMs/Broadwell Atom).

But instead of building a USB-cable connected two-piece, perhaps it's worth trying something simpler, single piece, and see if it works, not according to some forums or 'headrooms can't hurt', but for real. Dell Venue 11/Surface Pro/Helix/coming Lenovo Miix 11, etc. Granted, it won't be 13" screen, but it won't weight 8 pounds and have cables either. While it's possible to put a small desktop + car battery + transformer into a backpack, plug a 15" monitor into it, it's would not be quite a laptop replacement

And for environments like hospitals with Citrix, where network connectivity isn't a problem, things like Dragon Medical Enterprise Network Edition - Enterprise-class speech recognition for enterprise-class EHRs - Nuance can handle the processing centrally, w/o doing it on a device. iOS version of Nuance software does precisely this: records voice, dumps it on some server, gets text back.

 

Indeed it appears Nuance has moved on in HW requirement department, unfortunately for my wallet.

You were right on the money again in your first half. Indeed I was looking at the TPY/SP2 crowd of ultrabooks in earnest. But I think you missed the point on the second. My goal isn't to pack a desktop in a bag, but to have the uttermost mobility and adequate computing power that suits my unique work setting and specific usage pattern.

How do I stuff a fully-running SP2 in something while walking from one place to another? I would have to physically hold it or clutch it under my arm, in which case it is neither particularly light (actually a tad heavier than the LT1423p - not to mention the TPY), nor ergonomically sound, since a doctor needs both his hands free on some days.

Leaving it with the charge nurse for safekeeping while you run back and forth isn't particularly "ergonomic" or practical either. Hence hospitals use "COW"s. Mine could very well be a "COW" replacement in terms of "connected" mobility even though it wasn't my intention.

Now if MS (or after-market) came up with a "sling" that an SP2 can attach to in a running state as if one is holding it, then it would immediately catch my interest.

If you know of such a solution, please share.

BTW, on the T440p you don't need two cables to power the LT1423p, just a single to the "always on" USB 2 port will suffice (I was incorrect to have said USB 3 above).

I would have to chuckle a little here. Your hospital would have to supply "Enterprise Network Edition" of Dragon in the first place! Until hospital mandarins bite that bullet, I am simply getting by with my own make-shift solution.

 

great post, that setup really made me laugh but sounds pretty functional? How do you like the 440p, is dragon running smoothly?

I'm starting a practice soon, deciding between buying a well configured desktop (i7, 16BG ram + SSD) that can run dragon well + a i5 8GB ram ultrabook/SP2 for mobility when rounding in the hospital or a fully loaded 440p to use with a dock for the office.. cost evens out for the most part

i don't need the pen input that you have (just dragon and typing), but i can relate to the citrix startup times

i'd be curious to see how much of a real world difference the extra L3 cache in the 440p chip makes over the ultrabook chips? because it does seem that there is more value in having two devices (ie in case one is down for a few days, desktop less likely to be stolen)

 

fyi

I also found this...

Microsoft Surface Rugged Case | Incipio Capture | Incipio

it has a slot for a strap on the back