A Pilot Video Review (and comparison to the Co-Pilot)

[weirdguy]

Thanks @moriond & @Ineffable,
You guys had answered my questions. Now, I have to decide.
Thanks you.

[Ineffable]

@weirdguy The best I can compare with is the Nexus 7.

It does not fit into the ultrasuede pocket sewn into the front left pocket. About 1 cm too wide.


It does fit easily into the front left pocket (just not in the ultrasuede part)

[moriond]

Hello @itsablur or anyone else,

I am considering a Co-Pilot but wondering whether your 8" Device (Acer W4) able to fit in your Co-Pilot's Ultrasuede Pockets, like your Pilot.

Thanks you,

@weirdguy I don't have an Acer W4, but according to the specs, it's about the size of the iPad Mini in width and thickness -- just about .7" or 18 mm taller. So it should easily fit into one of the two pockets in the main compartment, which can hold my iPad Mini in its case (I could probably fit two of these back to back, so the sligthly thicker Acer W4 is no problem), and with a little more than 2" extra clearance for height -- so no problems with the extra height of less than an inch fitting into the bag. I think the dimensions are: iPad Mini 7.87 x 5.30 x 0.30 inches (200 x 134.7 x 7.5 mm); Acer W4 8.58 x 5.31 x 0.39 inches (218 x 135 x 10 mm).

BTW, it's only the front left pocket of either Co-Pilot or Pilot that is lined with UltraSuede, and because this sits to one side of the central water bottle pocket, it's not as wide as the two Dyneema pockets in the main compartment. So in the Co-Pilot that UltraSuede lined pocket in the front left compartment won't be wide enough to hold the Acer W4. That front compartment is wide enough to fit your small clear organizer pouch turned sideways, but the Ultrasuede pocket width is slightly smaller than the height of the small clear organizer pouch that you have.

Take a look at @Trailhiker's pictures of the Co-Pilot in the Lead's Pocket Comparison Photos thread. The open Steel Dyneema/Solar Co-Pilot can hold either two filled 3D Organizer Cubes in the two Solar Dyneema back pockets, or two Side Effects (a tighter fit -- easier with Dyneema or Parapack SEs that slide out more easily), or two wider and flatter devices such as your Acer W4 tablet, or an iPad Mini. Take a look at the picture of the Co-Pilot holding an iPad in a Cache with the Olive Lead's Pocket: you can see the two empty Solar Dyneema pockets next to the Olive Lead's pocket. That's where your Acer W4 tablet will fit (inside one of those pockets).

HTH. Maybe @itasblur can answer you more specifically.

moriond

BTW I can fit my iPad Mini in its 400d Dyneema Side Effect into one of the back pockets of the Co-Pilot. This totally would not work with a Ballistic Nylon SE. With a Parapack Side Effect I can do this if the iPad Mini is the only item in the SE. The 400d Dyneema SE is definitely the most flexible option for carrying my iPad Mini, which is inside a SwitchEasy Canvas Case that completely surrounds it. The tablets fit into the Co-Pilot back pockets because, while they are wider than Side Effects and 3D organizer cubes, they also aren't as thick.

[weirdguy]

Hello @itsablur or anyone else,

I am considering a Co-Pilot but wondering whether your 8" Device (Acer W4) able to fit in your Co-Pilot's Ultrasuede Pockets, like your Pilot.

Thanks you,

[scribe]

I second the suggestion of a Logitech keyboard. I've been using them with my iPads to create mini-laptops, and they're fantastic - long battery life, and generally comfortable to type on (the iPad Mini one is a bit small and cramped, but that's not surprising!). Don't know anything about Windows, though, so I can't recommend a specific model.

[Ineffable]

@Ilkyway

I've used an old version of this Logitech Tablet Keyboard for going on 5 years. The one I have was made for iPad but works fine on Android (haven't tested my version on Windows). The one I linked looks to have a few slight visual adjustments and is made for Windows (with similar function buttons for Widows 8 actions).

I've been really impressed with the battery life (uses 4x AAA batteries) and absolutely love that it's made the jump from iPad to Nexus to Galaxy Note without issue.

[itsablur]

mine is here now. I am in fact typing this on the W4. Still trying to come to terms with Win 8.1.
Do you have a recomandation for a bloutooth keyboard?

Otherwise I love the sice and the posibilities.

It really is impressive that you can run just about any program you have ever previously run in Windows on an 8" tablet (and they generally run pretty well!).

For Bluetooth keyboards, I'm currently using an old HP Bluetooth portable keyboard I bought when HP TouchPads were being fire sold ($99 for a 16 GB tablet). It's pretty light and has full size keys (it's practically a keyboard from a 11-13" laptop, but very thin), but most importantly I got it cheeeeeeeap. Only problem is a lot of the Web OS specific keys don't map to anything in Windows, so they don't do anything. It's basically a black version of Apple's small Bluetooth keyboard.

I have also tried and really liked the Microsoft Wedge portable keyboard. That thing is small, but still somehow quite typeable. The upshot here is that since it is a keyboard truly designed for Windows 8, it has a lot of useful quick keys for things like the Charms bar, search, volume, etc. The other nice feature is that the included cover doubles as a stand for your tablet. My only gripe was that you needed to use the cover to put the keyboard to sleep/off. It was a little odd IMO. Wouldn't a simple switch have sufficed?

Logitech always has nice stuff, but since i already had Bluetooth keyboards that worked fine, I haven't looked at getting one.

[Ilkyway]

mine is here now. I am in fact typing this on the W4. Still trying to come to terms with Win 8.1.
Do you have a recomandation for a bloutooth keyboard?

Otherwise I love the sice and the posibilities.

Ilkyway

[Ineffable]

LOL. No. My wife just one that one at a seminar she attended last week, and we hadn't even taken the protective wrapping off of it.

That explains it! My wife uses one each night in bed and while I haven't looked at it closely in quite some time I was quite confused. Thanks =)

[itsablur]

@itsablur Does your Nexus 7 have icons on the bezel for power and volume?

LOL. No. My wife just won that one at a seminar she attended last week, and we hadn't even taken the protective wrapping off of it.

[Ineffable]

@itsablur Does your Nexus 7 have icons on the bezel for power and volume?

[itsablur]

@itsablur, just wondering - would your Acer W4 fit into a Side Effect?

Hey @weirdguy. Sorry, finally got around to taking a quick couple pictures.

Here is the Acer W4 (without a case) as well as a Nexus 7 2013 in the Side Effect.


And here is my attempt at zipping up the SE with the 8" W4 in there. Other than both tablets, the SE is empty.


SO CLOSE! Perhaps if this were a Dyneema SE, it might fit. I think some of the other W8.1 8" tablets are a little smaller, like the Dell Venue 8 Pro. They might have a better chance at slipping into a Side Effect.

[itsablur]

Not sure

@itsablur, just wondering - would your Acer W4 fit into a Side Effect?

Hehe. I just find out that Navy/Solar is available. Still in the process of justifying especially Solar is exiting.

I don't believe it does. I only gave it a very half hearted try, with the case still on the device, and it didn't look like the zipper would clear the first corner so I didn't bother trying to force it. A 7" tablet would probably fit much easier.

Sent from my HTC One_M8 using Tapatalk

[weirdguy]

@itsablur, just wondering - would your Acer W4 fit into a Side Effect?

Hehe. I just find out that Navy/Solar is available. Still in the process of justifying especially Solar is exiting.

[Ilkyway]

No apologize needed, it was a planed investment so no harm done. You just had put another option on the table and I think it is a good one. For me it is a kind of test-run on windows 8.1
I have to come to turns with it eventually and thought this might be a way to ease into it.
And I want to be able to access my data on the go without lugging my laptop around all the time. And it will fit so well in my Pilot as you have shown in you great video! (See how I got the turn back to the thread ;-))

Ilkyway