New Apple Tablet

[dirk digler]

Cool stuff. On Engadget live right now

http://www.engadget.com/2010/01/27/l...est&refresh=30

[AustinChief]

Originally Posted by Silock

If you were going to get that, why wouldn't you just get a netbook? Adding a keyboard, battery, USB ports and a SD card reader completely defeats the purpose of a tablet.

Yeah, I get it that it's detachable, but if you have to carry all that other shit around to make it awesome, why not just get a computer?

When it is in tablet form, how does it actually perform?

Performance is about the same as the Xoom except it has a better display.

And I disagree about defeating the purpose. It's an almost perfect form factor for me. The docking station takes up a tiny amount of extra space and adds a ton of functionality IF NEEDED, but I can undock and have a top of the line tablet.

[AustinChief]

Originally Posted by Silock

If you were going to get that, why wouldn't you just get a netbook? Adding a keyboard, battery, USB ports and a SD card reader completely defeats the purpose of a tablet.

Yeah, I get it that it's detachable, but if you have to carry all that other shit around to make it awesome, why not just get a computer?

When it is in tablet form, how does it actually perform?

And if you don't see a purpose in the docking station... don't buy it. Instead focus on the fact that you are buying a tablet that is significantly cheaper than an iPad(assuming the Best Buy ad wasn't a mistake) with overall better specs and OS.

[Silock]

Originally Posted by DaFace

When it is in tablet form, it performs like a tablet. Why would it be any different than other options? Are you somehow insinuating that expansion options are a BAD thing?

No, but it loses half its battery life without the docking station attached. Other tablets offer expansion with addons, also. I guess I just don't get why you'd gimp half the cool shit on it if you don't take it with you.

[patteeu]

Originally Posted by DaFace

When it is in tablet form, it performs like a tablet. Why would it be any different than other options? Are you somehow insinuating that expansion options are a BAD thing?

A good tablet or a bad tablet? That's really the question here.

[patteeu]

Originally Posted by AustinChief

Performance is about the same as the Xoom except it has a better display.

And I disagree about defeating the purpose. It's an almost perfect form factor for me. The docking station takes up a tiny amount of extra space and adds a ton of functionality IF NEEDED, but I can undock and have a top of the line tablet.

Wow, the Xoom project must have been a monumental failure if Asus can put out a better product for half the price only a few weeks later.

[DaFace]

Originally Posted by Silock

No, but it loses half its battery life without the docking station attached. Other tablets offer expansion with addons, also. I guess I just don't get why you'd gimp half the cool shit on it if you don't take it with you.

You might have a point if it were lacking in battery life in the first place. The internal battery is rated at 9.5 hours, which is essentially equal to the 10 of the iPad2 and Xoom.

Your logic is the equivalent of saying my laptop is somehow inferior to other laptops because it'll take a docking station (which I've never used). Without the docking station, it's still as good as any other laptop.

[The Rick]

Originally Posted by NewChief

May I suggest a suitable thread title:

"Vaporware and wishful thinking..." (just kidding..... sort of).

[DaFace]

Originally Posted by patteeu

Wow, the Xoom project must have been a monumental failure if Asus can put out a better product for half the price only a few weeks later.

I don't think you'll find many who would argue against the fact that the Xoom was priced way too high. However, for the record, the non-3G version of the Xoom is only $600.

[patteeu]

Originally Posted by DaFace

I don't think you'll find many who would argue against the fact that the Xoom was priced way too high. However, for the record, the non-3G version of the Xoom is only $600.

Yeah, but I doubt that it was priced that high arbitrarily. There must have been something about the production cost that forced them to choose such a high and non-competitive price point and if so, the project must have really been screwed up (assuming ASUS is really putting out an even better product* at 2/3rds of the price).

-----------------

* Color me skeptical about this part.

[DaFace]

Originally Posted by patteeu

Yeah, but I doubt that it was priced that high arbitrarily. There must have been something about the production cost that forced them to choose such a high and non-competitive price point and if so, the project must have really been screwed up (assuming ASUS is really putting out an even better product* at 2/3rds of the price).

-----------------

* Color me skeptical about this part.

http://www.touchscreentabletcenter.c...-for-motorola/

The Xoom costs $278 to build. Motorola's just trying to cash in on the early adopters.

[Silock]

Originally Posted by DaFace

You might have a point if it were lacking in battery life in the first place. The internal battery is rated at 9.5 hours, which is essentially equal to the 10 of the iPad2 and Xoom.

Your logic is the equivalent of saying my laptop is somehow inferior to other laptops because it'll take a docking station (which I've never used). Without the docking station, it's still as good as any other laptop.

How about we wait until we see how it compares to similar tablets before saying it's equal or better? I agree that the specs look great, but the specs on the Joo Joo looked great, too.

[patteeu]

Originally Posted by DaFace

http://www.touchscreentabletcenter.c...-for-motorola/

The Xoom costs $278 to build. Motorola's just trying to cash in on the early adopters.

Wow, what a bunch of idiots. How much does the iPad2 cost to build?

[DaFace]

Originally Posted by Silock

How about we wait until we see how it compares to similar tablets before saying it's equal or better? I agree that the specs look great, but the specs on the Joo Joo looked great, too.

After all, no one in this thread speculated about how the iPad would perform before it was released.

[Silock]

Originally Posted by DaFace

After all, no one in this thread speculated about how the iPad would perform before it was released.

Looking back through the thread, I don't think anyone did. It was more of a "wait and see" approach.

[DaFace]

Originally Posted by Silock

Looking back through the thread, I don't think anyone did. It was more of a "wait and see" approach.

I'd argue otherwise, but I suppose that's really not the point. When you buy a new computer, most people look at the specs. Yes, some probably actually dig out reviews of the computers, but most of the time these days, you can tell what you're getting by just looking at the size, weight, processor, RAM, and hard drive.

It's the same deal here. The ASUS thing could be a gigantic flop. However, the company has always produced top-of-the-line devices overseas and is well-known for their components (motherboards, especially) here in the States. The stats say it should comparable to the Xoom, and it costs $200 less.

You're right - we will never know how good it is for sure until we all buy one, run a dozen benchmark tests, and try to run over it with a tractor to see how durable it is. However, the evidence we have here suggests that it will be at worst a compelling new entrant into the tablet market and at best the first full-featured Android tablet below $500.