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payce

8 Posts

146498

March 20th, 2014 10:00

Dell Venue 8 Pro Digitizer: Still issues with REV A01 - will be solved?

Dear Dell Support,


as you probably know, there are still issues with the new version (REV A01) of the digitizer for the Dell Venue 8 Pro. As far as my experience goes, I can report that:

- The position detection is rather 'jumpy' due to a rather high detection/update frequency

- There are still false clicks happening, especially when the digitizer is touching the tablet after some time lying around (i.e. it is not recognized that the digitizer left the screen on the first stroke(s))

- The pressure sensitivity is VERY inconsistent and random

For the latter, please see the picture attached to the post (Sorry, german text inside - hope you dont mind :) ):

In the picture above, I am writing lines at constant speed ('langsam' = slow ~ 5 cm/sec, 'schnell' = fast ~ 15 cm/sec) and try to keep constant pressure ('leicht' = normal writing pressure, 'stark' = pretty hard pressure). Now comes the funny part: In every single line you see I put the digitizer on the screen on the very left and go continously to the very right side of the screen. The lines are 'jumpy', 'loose' pressure and stop after some distance.

Is this a known issue? Will you work on this? Will there be drivers coming (when)? It would be great if you could make it possible for one to adapt some parameters, such as update frequency (i.e. smoothing the input by averaging for x amount of time) and pressure sensitivity.

Or is this my very personal digitizer and I should get a new one?

Thank you and best regards,

Peter

PS: I am amazed that the digitizer is still an issue after like 6 months.

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payce

8 Posts

March 21st, 2014 04:00

Errm... am I the only one still having issues with the digitizer as in the picture shown above? No kidding?

DTell

30 Posts

March 21st, 2014 06:00

No you are not the only one!

I have also problems with the stylus BUT i have a Venue 11 Pro (i5, 8GByte RAM). In the first step, i will use the stylus as a alternative mouse. But the stylus is unsteady and inconsistent and dont work after a timespan. I'm also in the german forum and a Dell staff has confirmed: he can reconstruct any of these issues.

Now I hope i get a solution from there!

But I'm wondering me, that here in this forum the stylus is not present!

best regards DTell 

iGetThis

184 Posts

March 21st, 2014 08:00

MY guess would be everyone has the same problems but is not posting anymore just because Dell is aware of these issues and it appears not able to address them the correct way.

Can't believe that these kind of issues were not found during QA, or they just released it because HEY it's somewhat better as before.

The stylus is usable (better as before) but as you descripted the detection frequency is ridiculous. You are working on something or just browsing the net and suddenly stylus stops and you wait nothing, press button still nothing and then suddenly.. hey it works a again. :emotion-42:

And BTW the Stylus is way worse on the Venue 11 Pro (7130 with latest firmware) compared to Venue 8 Pro

yorkhoh

6 Posts

March 21st, 2014 09:00

I have the same problem. I'm only assuming I have A01 version. I was so excited to receive my pen when it came 3 months after I ordered it, I ripped it open and threw away the packaging - so I don't know which revision of the pen I have. I haven't replaced the battery and I don't always get the constant slurring problems initially reported - so I'm assuming A01. I often get the same "jumpiness" as pictured. Initially I thought it may have been the Bay Trail processor or existing running apps. Nope. Then I thought it was the battery connections (this is a very likely scenario). Whenever my pen starts to go stupid, I unscrew the pen to the point where the (positive) gold contact no longer touches the case and rescrew. Then all good again. This might last until I shake the pen around heaps or leave the pen in my bag for 1 or 2 days and repeat all over again. I've tried inserting a conductive object at the negative end of the battery to help secure the connection and this lasted the longest, for about 3.5 days. When it works, it's good enough for note-taking. When it doesn't, it's so annoying I wish I waited to buy the Asus Vivotab Note 8 with its Wacom pen. I already have the Dell Venue 8 Pro and a pen, so I'm going to continue fine tuning what this could be. I next plan to assist the gold contact.

payce

8 Posts

March 21st, 2014 09:00

What I really dislike about all this hassle is that there is NO - NONE - NADA official statement by Dell on this topic. Not a single word of sorry, regret, outlook or whatever to be found. Its a global Beta-Test which failed and everybody is welcomed to the party - though nobody actually wanted to be part of the party at all.

In the last few months I received NO product by Dell, with which I wouldn't have had problems. At work I got a XPS-12: touchscreen not working sometimes, not reacting at all sometimes. I am starting to get fed up. Will stay away from Dell in future. There is a HUGE gap regarding quality assurance - for what they were actually famous in former times (i.e. some years ago). Similar accounts to others - yes - but hopefully there are still companies out there with an ordinary QA.

If this doesn't change, I am willing to switch to the Asus - despite the buttons problem there.

yorkhoh

6 Posts

March 21st, 2014 10:00

Typed on DV8Pro in Modern IE. Don't know why my paragraphs aren't there.

skmerrow

91 Posts

March 21st, 2014 14:00

I am having similar problems.  See my post below.  At least you are able to draw lines and write.  I am not.  I have rev. A01.

skmerrow

91 Posts

March 21st, 2014 14:00

OMG, I am having this exact same problem.  I am using the stylus and all of a sudden it stops working.  I unscrew it and remove battery, reinsert battery and all is good (for a few minutes).   Extremely frustrating.  I have updated the panel firmware and all necessary updates.  Wish someone had a solution.

It is as if the battery is a bit too short.  Once I hold the pen up so point of pen is not facing down it stops working.  Almost as if battery is not making contact.

iGetThis

184 Posts

March 21st, 2014 16:00

Funny, that is what I do when it stops and doesn't reconnect for some time.
Might try to sober a small raise on the minus side to battery to see if that helps.

BTW.. Dell description of the stylus says the tip is replaceable. Has anyone seen where to get the tips and are they different as the original like possibly softer?

larsenmm

8 Posts

March 22nd, 2014 10:00

Hi. I just got my V11P (5130) four days ago including the new rev A01 stylus. I have been working with it for 4-5 hours (after updating to the newest panel touch firmware dated 10/12/2013, 1.0.4.1 A01) and I can with certainty say that I have the same problems as you see. I have no previous experience with active digitisers but this inconsistency is driving my crazy. It works, then it does not, then it works and then it does not. When it works, it is far from perfect but it is good enough for my use. The inconsistency I see shows itself in the following ways - Open OneNote, find your page, zoom in and start typing. If it works you can write maybe a sentence, maybe more. If it does not, you will have to float the pen just above the screen until you can see the tablet registers the pen, and then start typing. At some occasions it is like you need to give it 5-10 seconds before it will work. - After writing maybe a sentence, it will start to "loose" connectivity. You will miss lines in the individual letters, whole letters or even words. - Using the pen to navigate windows desktop is a no-go for me. You need to click a lot when navigating around, and when half or every fourth click is not working, you just put your pen away and use your fingers. As others in this and other threads on the same subject, I would also urge Dell to make an official statement about this issue. I know the stylus situation have gotten better over the past six months, but there is still some work to be done. Most, of not all I would guess could be fixed with software. As Payce (Peter) wrote above, I would also love more settings. A dell software tool for this purpose, including calibration would improve the user experience a lot in my opinion. I will be more than hapy to share more details, pictures or specific writing tests to help localise the problems I see. Best Regards Martin Denmark

larsenmm

8 Posts

March 23rd, 2014 08:00

Hi. 

Just to show you what i am trying to explain above, and what the author of this thread also mentions i have added a few screenshots. See below. I have tried writing the same text over and over again, sorry for my hand writing. I have written everything without correct the mistakes the stylus was doing, so it should show a realistic picture of where the DV11P and the A01 stylus are at the moment, if my samples are representative.

Windows Journal, pressure sensitivty On,

 

OneNote 2013, desktop, pressure sensitivty On

OneNote Metro, pressure sensitivity on, medium pen

OneNote Metro test 2, pressure sensitivty on, thin pen

I have tried marking all the errors that i could see in a bright colour.

The notes are are created on my Dell Venue 11 Pro, with the A01 stylus. All drivers are updated according to the Dell support website.

I noticed a few things while I did the "test notes". 

  • The distance where the palm rejection is disabled is to small for my use. I have not measured exactly, but I "often" end up "drawing" with my palm. A higher or an adjustable palm rejecting distance could help this problem. This drawing due to this fact is NOT seen above, i removed those due to "incorrect" use be me.
  • no matter the software i write in, it looks like the stylus is loosing the connectivity once in a while. this is seen by the missing lines or letters.
  • Overall, i like the "quality" of my letters better on the Microsoft Journal.

Hope this clarifies things a bit.

BR Martin

yorkhoh

6 Posts

March 24th, 2014 04:00

Larsenmm, I think your examples are actually pretty decent. What I experienced before/often is about 100x worse. There's actually no point trying to write notes when it's as bad as what (I suppose) a typical A01 pen gives. Having said all that...I left my pen at work over the weekend, and was very surprised it worked well all day today. I was thinking of playing with the gold contact, extending it further to make sure it completes the circuit; but since the pen is fine, I'm not going to risk messing it up. I'm afraid I got lucky with the way I screwed the case together, and that if I unscrewed and rescrewed the case again, it won't be as good as it's working right now. Maybe it's a but like the excessive battery drain in Connected Standby issue. Started out really annoying, then it just started working as expected.

larsenmm

8 Posts

March 24th, 2014 10:00

Hi Yorkhoh. I had my tablet with me to work today to do hand written notes during the day. For smaller note taking the quality is as reported above. This is typically a few lines or similar. However, after a certain amount of writing the stylus suddenly starts to bug out (just like you mention). What happens exactly is hard to say, but it feels like it looses connectivity every second or every other second. At this point it is completely useless. In OneNote Metro app I can see that the palm rejection also have problems. The icon showing that the palm rejection is active and that it detects the stylus, goes on and off randomly, and not in sync with the stylus connectivity. I tried pressing buttons, tapping on the tablet, take out the battery and putting it back in, but nothing really helps. After a break of at least an hour I tried again, then then it worked "fine" (like my example above) again....

larsenmm

8 Posts

March 28th, 2014 13:00

Can I ask if this is the new improved model you speak of? I have had 3 last year and they all had major problems, would like to order again if you folks think the bat drain problem is gone and doesn't skip.

4A bat was a problem to find had to order from Amazon dell never offered to send me one, I will reorder after I read that you folks are happy with the replacement, is there a new model or revision number I can look for?

Thanks

It is the new rev A01 manufactored in Feb 2014. I belive that is the newest revision out there. 

I have not experiences any issues with battery yet. I believe that the battery issue has much improved since the early rev A00 and older firmwares. With respect to getting AAAA batteries, the trick mentioned in another thread with splitting a 9V battery apart (Duracel or energizer) have worked for me. 

BR Martin

yorkhoh

6 Posts

March 28th, 2014 13:00

Apparently, 4 A batteries can be dissected from 9v Batteries. I'd maybe wait for the next revision because the current one I'm using (A01) seems to be hit and miss. Having said that. I'm currently using the pen to write this post. I can only assume that manufacturing of the pen might leave something "sticky" which might improve over time. of course, inevitably I expect the product to die over a longer extended period of time.

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