I have seen the AsusTek before and that was why I said "no vendor of note". The AsusTek isn't bad but it is also true that most people have never heard of them either. I'm not terribly keen on that solution because it runs a smaller screen dimension (width and height) while being over twice as thick and 40% heavier than the iPad. With the inclusion of a keyboard, it is more of a touch-capable netbook than a tablet. If they made the keyboard detachable and connect over bluetooth, they might be able to ditch some of the weight and thickness and come up with a nicer competitor. I think that the worst comparison point between the two, however, is the battery life. They quote 5 hours for the AsusTek machine. I haven't seen any independent battery life tests, but I've never seen a Windows device that matched the battery specs in the real world. Normally, everyone lies about battery life. The iPad is the first exception I think I've seen, where they quote it at 10 hours and it actually seems to do better than that.
This form factor is still definitely a work in progress. It remains to be seen if people are going to use it like a consumer entertainment device like Apple seems to be favoring or a light-weight computer, which netbook makers and people like AsusTek are pushing. If it is the former, battery life, lack of complicated dongles, a slim smooth form factor and simple interface will probably win out. If it is the later, keyboards, general productivity applications, user upgradeable features and business ecosystem compatibility will probably win out. Apple has thrown their chips in and laid a bet firmly on one side. Thus far the other big boys have yet to place their bets. I don't think that anyone has won or lost *yet* but for companies like Adobe, Microsoft, HP, Dell and Google, the lead that Apple is gaining works against them as Apple doesn't show signs of stumbling on their own. But then again, I didn't think that the iPad would be much of a big deal, so what do I know? :) Judah On Mon, May 10, 2010 at 7:56 PM, James Holmes <[email protected]> wrote: > > http://www.asus.com.au/product.aspx?P_ID=KIqtSJ1aVsmVpeqS > > Cheaper than the iPad, supports multi-touch on Win7. The keyboard is a good > thing and you can get rid of it when you don't need it. > > mxAjax / CFAjax docs and other useful articles: > http://www.bifrost.com.au/blog/ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~| Order the Adobe Coldfusion Anthology now! http://www.amazon.com/Adobe-Coldfusion-Anthology-Michael-Dinowitz/dp/1430272155/?tag=houseoffusion Archive: http://www.houseoffusion.com/groups/cf-talk/message.cfm/messageid:333567 Subscription: http://www.houseoffusion.com/groups/cf-talk/subscribe.cfm Unsubscribe: http://www.houseoffusion.com/groups/cf-talk/unsubscribe.cfm
