Any new, large tablets for reading sheet music?

[cedar]

Although I've been pretty content using my Microsoft Surface Pro the past couple of years for reading sheet music (via the Mobile Sheets Pro app), I still wish it was a little bigger so I could read 2 pages of music at once more easily.     It's also been a while since I've researched new devices.

 

Anyone have any recommendations for new tablets (i.e., that came out in the past year or so) that have larger screen than the Surface Pro?  

[Joe Muscara]

How big is the Surface Pro? I recently purchased a refurbished 12.9" iPad Pro from Apple for this purpose and to take notes in classes and I love it. I can't believe how well it's working for me. It sits on my piano desk most of the time and I have nothing else up there. Instead of a bunch of sheets and books, I just have this. (I have found or made PDFs for almost everything I'm currently playing or working on.)

 

Edit: Oops, I see you're talking about having two sheets open. I can do that but it's a bit smaller. I prefer one sheet on the iPad Pro.

[Docbop]

There are some portable monitors thin so they can be put in a backpack, but the ones I've seen are not that big.  The biggest I saw listed when I searched was 17". 

[Motif88]

I continue to be a fan of the iPad Pro 12.9" with an Apple 2 Pencil...I won't waste my time, effort and energies on other devices, OS,UI, workflow and support that come up far short for me. Your mileage may vary. 

[Polkahero]

Still using my Apple iPad Pro 12.9" like mentioned before but I thought Apple was coming out with a larger model at some point?

[Floyd Tatum]

7 hours ago, cedar said:

Although I've been pretty content using my Microsoft Surface Pro the past couple of years for reading sheet music (via the Mobile Sheets Pro app), I still wish it was a little bigger so I could read 2 pages of music at once more easily.     It's also been a while since I've researched new devices.

 

Anyone have any recommendations for new tablets (i.e., that came out in the past year or so) that have larger screen than the Surface Pro?  

I've often thought about this.  Computer companies keep selling "solutions" to problems like reading sheet music, which is all to the good, I suppose.   But as  someone who has worked as a musician reading sheet music, I can tell you that, for me, I would need a system that displayed AT LEAST two pages of music, and preferably, three or four.    Let's start with two sheets of music.   A good solution to this, seems to me, would be to sell additional screens.   Not a complete laptop, just the screen part.   And allow it to be connected to the main laptop/screen by a cable.   Once you have this system going, there's no reason why you couldn't expand it to 3 screens, or four, or whatever the user needs.   See what I mean? 

[StephenLL]

I think the ForScore app allows you to use two iPads to see two pages of music at a time. 

[TJ Cornish]

19 minutes ago, Floyd Tatum said:

  A good solution to this, seems to me, would be to sell additional screens.   Not a complete laptop, just the screen part.   And allow it to be connected to the main laptop/screen by a cable.   Once you have this system going, there's no reason why you couldn't expand it to 3 screens, or four, or whatever the user needs.   See what I mean? 

I have this one. I use it for work, not music, but it has been invaluable for that.

 

 

 

[ElmerJFudd]

I have used a convertible laptop as a sheet music reader with Mobile Sheets software for Windows.  The HP Elite book has a resolution of 1920 x 1080.  It doesn’t translate a sheet of paper’s ratio very well.  It comes out looking like the width is too narrow and the length too great - lots of dead space at the bottom of the screen.   
 

iPad Pro 11” has resolution of 2388x1668, 6.4”x9”.  Ratio wise - if it were a piece of paper it would look like 8.5”x12” (ratio conversion).  

The iPad Pro 12.9” has a resolution of 2732x2048 which translates a sheet of paper very closely at 7.75”x10.34”.  If it were a piece of paper it would look like 8.5”x11.3” (ratio conversion).  
 

Here’s an article on what’s been going on with eink readers.  
 

https://www.tablets-for-musicians.com/best-e-readers/

 

in a nutshell the ereaders are pricey for what they are, still suffer from image switching lag.   If you don’t want to go Apple iPad one might look at Galaxy Tab Ultra. They have a 14.6” display for $720.  

[Joe Muscara]

12 hours ago, Polkahero said:

Still using my Apple iPad Pro 12.9" like mentioned before but I thought Apple was coming out with a larger model at some point?

I think I’ve seen rumors about that but that’s all they are. 
 

 

[ElmerJFudd]

Side Topic - iPad is pretty ubiquitous in my area as is forScore.  So it’s common to accept a gig and have a forScore set list emailed to you.  Even more common is to arrive at the gig and have the lead player airdrop a forScore setlist to you. 
 

I tend not to spend money on cellular for a tablet.  If one does choose another brand like Samsung or one of these eink readers or a laptop - how does one deal with lack of airdrop or a common Bluetooth file transfer that’s going to work between competing devices?  At least with file type PDF is standard.  

[cedar]

11 hours ago, ElmerJFudd said:

I have used a convertible laptop as a sheet music reader with Mobile Sheets software for Windows.  The HP Elite book has a resolution of 1920 x 1080.  It doesn’t translate a sheet of paper’s ratio very well.  It comes out looking like the width is too narrow and the length too great - lots of dead space at the bottom of the screen.   
 

iPad Pro 11” has resolution of 2388x1668, 6.4”x9”.  Ratio wise - if it were a piece of paper it would look like 8.5”x12” (ratio conversion).  

The iPad Pro 12.9” has a resolution of 2732x2048 which translates a sheet of paper very closely at 7.75”x10.34”.  If it were a piece of paper it would look like 8.5”x11.3” (ratio conversion).  
 

Here’s an article on what’s been going on with eink readers.  
 

https://www.tablets-for-musicians.com/best-e-readers/

 

in a nutshell the ereaders are pricey for what they are, still suffer from image switching lag.   If you don’t want to go Apple iPad one might look at Galaxy Tab Ultra. They have a 14.6” display for $720.  

 

I'm going to take a close look at this article.  It also so happens that I recently lost a Kindle, which I had used only for reading books.  And I was also hoping for my next ereader to be larger.

[ElmerJFudd]

Just now, cedar said:

 

I'm going to take a close look at this article.  It also so happens that I recently lost a Kindle, which I had used only for reading books.  And I was also hoping for my next ereader to be larger.

I like the idea of eink being easier on the eyes.  

[cedar]

Another thing I'm looking into is the category of "laptop extenders."

 

For example: https://www.howtogeek.com/851670/what-is-a-laptop-screen-extender-and-should-you-buy-one/

 

These are extra monitors that can clip-on to laptops.  But I don't know yet how well these things would work with a program like Mobile Sheets Pro.

 

[cedar]

By the way - Surface Pro has a screen size of 13 inches.  It's great size for reading one page of sheet music (at least for most jazz charts/lead sheets). 

[ElmerJFudd]

Surface Pro 9 is 2880 X 1920 at 267.  That’s 7.2”x10.8”.  Translated to paper that’s about 8.5”x12.8”.  Yes that’s pretty good! 
 

 

[stoken6]

I don't know of any "2-in-1" (i.e. tablettable/screen-detachable, like your Surface) laptops with large screens, but you can get 16in-17in portable USB monitors, which you can use as an external screen for a laptop. 

 

Cheers, Mike.

[ElmerJFudd]

1 hour ago, stoken6 said:

I don't know of any "2-in-1" (i.e. tablettable/screen-detachable, like your Surface) laptops with large screens, but you can get 16in-17in portable USB monitors, which you can use as an external screen for a laptop. 

 

Cheers, Mike.

I’m curious to see what’s available in USB-C/TB monitors in 2732x2048 @ 264 (which is the iPad Pro 12.9”).  They do have forScore for macOS.  

[stoken6]

35 minutes ago, ElmerJFudd said:

I’m curious to see what’s available in USB-C/TB monitors in 2732x2048 @ 264 (which is the iPad Pro 12.9”).  They do have forScore for macOS.  

The iPad is 4x3 (do I have to call that "16x12" these days?) aspect ratio, and I don't think you'll find any portable monitors with that aspect ratio.

 

If you're simply looking for a similar resolution, I found this one at 2880x1620, so similar resolution on the long axis: https://magedok.com/collections/3k-portable-monitors/products/15-6-inch-ips-3k-touch-portable-monitor-mg156-qt02

 

If you want a comparable short-axis resolution, 4k monitors are 3840x2160 so about 40% "longer" than your iPad, pixel-for-pixel

 

Cheers, Mike

[ElmerJFudd]

1 hour ago, stoken6 said:

The iPad is 4x3 (do I have to call that "16x12" these days?) aspect ratio, and I don't think you'll find any portable monitors with that aspect ratio.

 

If you're simply looking for a similar resolution, I found this one at 2880x1620, so similar resolution on the long axis: https://magedok.com/collections/3k-portable-monitors/products/15-6-inch-ips-3k-touch-portable-monitor-mg156-qt02

 

If you want a comparable short-axis resolution, 4k monitors are 3840x2160 so about 40% "longer" than your iPad, pixel-for-pixel

 

Cheers, Mike

Right, the 4:3 monitor is more of a rarity these days.  It would be quite great if one was using say - an M1 MacBook Air for MainStage and wanted to be able to extend forScore for macOS to a 4:3 monitor without having to pony up for an iPad.  I'm not sure if that is possible with macOS - would it only mirror or could you extend to a different resolution and rotation?  Would it work with sidecar?

[Reezekeys]

31 minutes ago, ElmerJFudd said:

I'm not sure if that is possible with macOS - would it only mirror or could you extend to a different resolution and rotation?

 

"Extended desktop" has been a feature of MacOS for many years. Having the 2nd display in portrait orientation seems to be doable but might depend on the hardware and OS version: https://www.eizoglobal.com/support/compatibility/monitor/rotation/macos-ventura/

[Motif88]

6 hours ago, ElmerJFudd said:

Surface Pro 9 is 2880 X 1920 at 267.  That’s 7.2”x10.8”.  Translated to paper that’s about 8.5”x12.8”.  Yes that’s pretty good! 
 

 

I'd rather visit the dentist with a hefty co-pay vs. using windows of any flavor. I own and use 2022 Thinkpad and Surface Pro both and do my best only use them when I have to....that's just me. As always, your mileage may vary.

[ElmerJFudd]

1 hour ago, Motif88 said:

I'd rather visit the dentist with a hefty co-pay vs. using windows of any flavor. I own and use 2022 Thinkpad and Surface Pro both and do my best only use them when I have to....that's just me. As always, your mileage may vary.

😆  yes, I understand many people who use a Windows PC for work/office/business have strong feelings about getting away from the platform for music and art.  

 

That said, devices like iPad Pro and Surface Pro killed most ventures to develop specific function (sheet music) hardware.  It's a pretty simple task as far as computing goes and iPad Pro or Surface Pro 9 are overkill to read (at full paper size), markup, organize and share PDFs.  $1,228 (base iPad Pro w/ Pencil) or $1100 (Surface Pro 9 w/ Pen) is a lot of cash if they won't be used for anything else.  A rasberry pi is probably a decent platform to build an affordable 8.5"x11" sheet music reader.  I guess the market just isn't big enough since so many own Apple, Samsung or MS tablets. 

[Reezekeys]

I use my iPad 9G for both sounds and forScore. When not having to read music it's in landscape mode, but I've put it in portrait when reading. It's workable but not great, however I could not justify the difference in cost between my iPad ($260) and the 12.9" Pro (starts at $1100 I think). Sometimes I keep the iPad in landscape and look at half-pages on forScore - that helps readability a lot but of course you need to deal with more page-turning gestures. Two things help me - assigning pads on my controller to do the page turns (it's easier to reach a pad that's right above the keyboard, rather than tap or swipe on the iPad), and the "auto" crop feature of forScore - which usually helps more than it sounds like it should, by enlarging the page to get rid of any white space around the music.

[Motif88]

It’s all relative… I use my iPad Pro 12.9 with an Apple 2 pencil, magic keyboard and Notability for business everyday. The value of having my handwritten notes searchable without any text conversion along with the benefits of real typing and trackpad on the magic keyboard along with cellular connectivity makes the ROI calc simple.

As always, depends on your use case. For me, the value is dead simple…

[Polkahero]

I only spent around $350 for my second gen iPad Pro 12.9" 256 GB as a refurb.  Haven't had any issues with it yet.  Not sure how much longer Apple will keep updating the OS on it though as it came out in 2017.  BTW, 256 GB is almost overkill.  I have almost 3,000 charts uploaded and I'm only using about 10 percent of its internal memory.

[ElmerJFudd]

3 hours ago, Polkahero said:

I only spent around $350 for my second gen iPad Pro 12.9" 256 GB as a refurb.  Haven't had any issues with it yet.  Not sure how much longer Apple will keep updating the OS on it though as it came out in 2017.  BTW, 256 GB is almost overkill.  I have almost 3,000 charts uploaded and I'm only using about 10 percent of its internal memory.

Yes, a previous generation 12.9” at $350 is an excellent option.   
 

There are 6 generations of 12.9” iPad Pro.  The batteries can be replaced by someone with the right tools (preferably with experience).   Backing up your library is important.  

[stoken6]

8 hours ago, Polkahero said:

I only spent around $350 for my second gen iPad Pro 12.9" 256 GB as a refurb. 

 

4 hours ago, ElmerJFudd said:

Yes, a previous generation 12.9” at $350 is an excellent option.   

Agreed. My kids have s/h iPhones (good value vs Android, because of the support life), and I have a s/h iPad mini (the previous gen, with a headphone jack). I'm just about to order my daughter a refurb iPhone SE (2020) to replace her iPhone 7. All still get updates.

 

Cheers, Mike.

[Ibarch]

Surface Pro 6 refurbs start around £330\$400 for an i5 8GB ram and 256 GB SSD. And that is a full PC with Windows 10.

 

This is the earliest model I would recommend. 

[Polkahero]

20 hours ago, ElmerJFudd said:

Yes, a previous generation 12.9” at $350 is an excellent option.   
 

There are 6 generations of 12.9” iPad Pro.  The batteries can be replaced by someone with the right tools (preferably with experience).   Backing up your library is important.  

 

Hah, this iPad IS my backup to the original one I purchased back in 2019!  Everything transferred from the original to this one via AirDrop.  Sorry but don't trust this cloud backup stuff, lol.