Tablet advice please

[QBee]

I would like a flat screen, 7 or 8 inch, mounted on my car dashboard, to monitor the outputs from my Emerald ECU.

Emerald software runs on any version of Windows, including 10, and has an RS232 lead for comms, which I can convert to USB. I presently have the software running on Windows on a laptop, and have it on a mini CD too.

So I need to be able to connect the screen to a USB connector, and I need to be able to install Windows and the Emerald software onto the screen (tablet).

Don't worry about mounting and charging, I can deal with those issues. What I need help with is getting the software onto, and running it on, the tablet.

I was thinking of one of these Android devices:

http://www.currys.co.uk/gbuk/computing/tablets-and...

The only reasons i am looking at this particular Android device is that they are under £100, the right sort of size I think, and the young geezer I asked in PC Worm showed me one on display that someone had hacked into while they weren't looking and installed Windows 10! They also have a micro-USB as the charging port. I can get a USB to micro-USB adaptor, I am told.

I have a Windows laptop.

How do I install Windows, does it need to be Windows 10 to be touch screen, and how do I install the software. Is it as straight forward as it seems, or will I need to know something to be able to overwrite the operating system and install the Emerald software.

Is there a better way of doing the whole thing?

[justinio]

Why not save yourself a world of grief and get a Windows tablet instead of an Android one and trying to reflash the ROM to Windows.

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Acer-Iconia-W1-810-16D2-I...

[QBee]

That's probably the best advice of all.....

Another thought crossed my murky grey stuff over dinner....
Will software written for a desktop computer work on a tablet? Or does it have to have been written for a touch screen?

[justinio]

It doesnt look as though their software is optimised for a touch screen (not finger friendly), but it I'd be surprised if it didnt run just fine.

If it's mainly for monitoring it shouldnt be too much of a problem. When it comes to changing any values or anything in the software, I'd probably buy a cheap bluetooth mouse and use that on the tablet.

[QBee]

justinio said:

It doesnt look as though their software is optimised for a touch screen (not finger friendly), but it I'd be surprised if it didnt run just fine.

If it's mainly for monitoring it shouldnt be too much of a problem. When it comes to changing any values or anything in the software, I'd probably buy a cheap bluetooth mouse and use that on the tablet.

Thanks for all your kind help - I am not a total technophobe, just a computer user rather than a computer expert. Also I have been spoiled by using mainly Apple for too long. I do use Windows on a number of clients' computers, and XP on my Apple (due for replacement), but have not got properly to grips with Windows 10 yet.

I will take the £89 gamble and buy one - it can always be a grandchild's Christmas present if it doesn't work. All it needs to do is allow me to start the software, and move to the right hand end tab, as that is where the instant software is. It's engine temperatures I am interested in, as I am running an after market turbo and the TVR water temperature gauge is a thermometer about as much as a sundial is a stopwatch.

I will just be monitoring - If I want to do any map alterations I will use my laptop. But doing track days with a 17" screen laptop sliding around on the passenger seat is motorsport's fastest way to the naughty step, I think, so hence the need to a small screen attached to the dash.

Hey ho and off we go.

[Ada Joseph]

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00NID51JQ

[Timmay0]

QBee said:

Thanks for all your kind help - I am not a total technophobe, just a computer user rather than a computer expert. Also I have been spoiled by using mainly Apple for too long. I do use Windows on a number of clients' computers, and XP on my Apple (due for replacement), but have not got properly to grips with Windows 10 yet.

I will take the £89 gamble and buy one - it can always be a grandchild's Christmas present if it doesn't work. All it needs to do is allow me to start the software, and move to the right hand end tab, as that is where the instant software is. It's engine temperatures I am interested in, as I am running an after market turbo and the TVR water temperature gauge is a thermometer about as much as a sundial is a stopwatch.

I will just be monitoring - If I want to do any map alterations I will use my laptop. But doing track days with a 17" screen laptop sliding around on the passenger seat is motorsport's fastest way to the naughty step, I think, so hence the need to a small screen attached to the dash.

Hey ho and off we go.

That tablet will absolutely not run windows - it has an ARM processor, which is not compatible.
Perhaps the chap in the shop was running a remote desktop application to a Windows PC?

[QBee]

I also contacted Emerald for advice. They do respond very quickly and fully, I must say, I guess I just need to translate the answer into what kit I need to buy. I will post the full reply on here for help understanding it.