I watch my kids use their iPad and Apple Pencil with envy. The tools they use and the skills they’ve developed are envious. Kind of what I was hoping for when I was playing D&D and thinking about going digital everything. They drag, swipe, draw, zoom, write all day long and produce results that their teachers seem to like. A complete digital workflow. What’s amazing is that they could probably do without the keyboard.

I have a few Lenovo tablets. Both Android and ChromeOS and the ultra thin keyboards are terrible and the trackpads are worse. The same can be said for my kids’ iPad. Apple has not improved on the tech. The Lenovo keyboard is better than the Apple but both are not suited for trackpad. The click is deep and the follow is slow and laggy.

What’s worse is that my Lenovo Duet 5 supports a pen but does not prrovide one. It does not feature wireless charging and it does not have the magnet… which the Lenovo P12 does. What’s much worse?

• the pen requires a AAAA battery or quite possibly USB charging
• the pen holder attachment is sold separately and costs as much as the pen
• as far as ChromeOS goes it’s just not meant for keyboard-less usage
• I have a Lenovo ThinkPad ChromeBook with a pen and I’ve never used it

So for my money I’m skipping the ChromeOS pen and keeping the $100 in my pocket.

PS: on a flat surface the Duet 5 keyboard seems to have some bowing…. maybe it’s the desk.