Tablet PC's...

Hades · 14 Jan 2010 at 19:31

Doz007 said:
That's the only downside so far

It's a fair bit louder than my previous laptop. Have you got one?

Not yet. I'm tempted though. The fan noise is the only real concern. There is another version due out shortly (the TM2) which has a C2D and a Wacom based screen rather than NTrig. So it is quieter and pressure sensitivity works n Photoshop. The downside though is that it will obviously be more expensive and it also has a weaker graphics chipset. The TX2's HD3200 seems ok for a bit of occasional gaming but the rumoured Intel stuff on the new TM2 is likely to be weak.

I read somewhere that you can adjust the fan settings in the BIOS which can help a bit.

Doz007 · 14 Jan 2010 at 19:57

I was swayed by youtube videos like this one: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4f8iIU2RNO4

It really is great when both me and the other half can mess around with photos in surface collage. Both of us pinching and zooming as much as we like.

All my usage is in tablet mode, i'm even typing this using the multi touch keyboard. Scrolling etc. is smooth on websites, I'm using the firefox 3.6 beta 5.

Rroff · 14 Jan 2010 at 20:14

Amp34 said:
As good as smartphones (and my HD) are they are not really a replacement for a proper computer running a proper OS, the screen isn't big enough for one and they will never have enough storage or power to really play around with.

Lack of a proper desktop OS is a bit of a hold back... but we aren't far off the processing power to run that - just lacking the battery life to back that up... my xperia with resistive touchscreen is very useful the screen is a little small at 3" but is 800x480 and pretty useable - 4" or so would be a bit better... it has dual ARM CPUs running at 528MHz (tho ones dedicated to phone functions), 256MB RAM and dedicated VRAM (rumoured to be 128MB) for the GPU which is an ATI Imageon chipset faster than the old voodoo 1 cards and with basic shader support, etc. you can expand storage to atleast 16gig.

^^ completely useable in an area with atleast 1 bar of 3G or faster network.

Hades · 14 Jan 2010 at 22:31

Doz007 said:
I was swayed by youtube videos like this one: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4f8iIU2RNO4

It really is great when both me and the other half can mess around with photos in surface collage. Both of us pinching and zooming as much as we like.

All my usage is in tablet mode, i'm even typing this using the multi touch keyboard. Scrolling etc. is smooth on websites, I'm using the firefox 3.6 beta 5.

I'm almost sold on a multitouch tablet now

But I really can't decide whether to grab a TX2 while they are being discounted, or to hold on for the new TM2 which is launched in the US next week (no idea when it will come here though).

Main differences:

TX2 = cheaper, built in DVD, better GPU, AMD based, nTrig screen.
TM2 = adopts the Envy styling (multi touch trackpad, chicklet keyboard), no DVD, adds HDMI out, low voltage C2D, Wacom screen.

Now this is one reason I'm tempted by one of them...

Amp34 · 14 Jan 2010 at 22:58

Those last two videos really have sold me on a touch screen tablet, I just hope the new slates that come out are powerful enough and not media tablets!

Amp34 · 14 Jan 2010 at 23:00

Rroff said:
Lack of a proper desktop OS is a bit of a hold back... but we aren't far off the processing power to run that - just lacking the battery life to back that up... my xperia with resistive touchscreen is very useful the screen is a little small at 3" but is 800x480 and pretty useable - 4" or so would be a bit better... it has dual ARM CPUs running at 528MHz (tho ones dedicated to phone functions), 256MB RAM and dedicated VRAM (rumoured to be 128MB) for the GPU which is an ATI Imageon chipset faster than the old voodoo 1 cards and with basic shader support, etc. you can expand storage to atleast 16gig.

^^ completely useable in an area with atleast 1 bar of 3G or faster network.

The extra .7" on my HD is partly why I got it over the X1, internet browsing is a dream, but sometimes you want a bigger screen.

Doz007 · 14 Jan 2010 at 23:14

Hades said:
I'm almost sold on a multitouch tablet now But I really can't decide whether to grab a TX2 while they are being discounted, or to hold on for the new TM2 which is launched in the US next week (no idea when it will come here though).

Main differences:

TX2 = cheaper, built in DVD, better GPU, AMD based, nTrig screen.
TM2 = adopts the Envy styling (multi touch trackpad, chicklet keyboard), no DVD, adds HDMI out, low voltage C2D, Wacom screen.

Now this is one reason I'm tempted by one of them...

That is one of the apps I have on my TX2, you can zoom up close in New york for example and all the skyscrapers etc. are rendered in 3D

It's called Surface Globe, part of the windows 7 touch pack. Surface lagoon and Surface collage are also included as well as a few others. They're basically bits of software that Microsoft developed for the Microsoft Surface table.

Have a look at some recent demos of 'Natural UI' its free to download and has some impressive multi touch software.

Hades · 14 Jan 2010 at 23:35

Doz007 said:
That is one of the apps I have on my TX2, you can zoom up close in New york for example and all the skyscrapers etc. are rendered in 3D

It's called Surface Globe, part of the windows 7 touch pack. Surface lagoon and Surface collage are also included as well as a few others. They're basically bits of software that Microsoft developed for the Microsoft Surface table.

Have a look at some recent demos of 'Natural UI' its free to download and has some impressive multi touch software.

Imagine googleearth with it!

Amp34 · 28 Jan 2010 at 14:13

Well the iPad was a let down, worst fears realised, doesn't even have flash!

So anyone know any more details on the HP slate, or any other slates coming out in the near future?

alex24 · 28 Jan 2010 at 14:22

I agree with the OP in this one.

I really love the tablet format, been tempted by ebook readers recently for my reading, but what I really want is one that can do that and browse the net, photos, maybe even music etc. A touchscreen machine that doesn't look like a giant iphone and has Win 7 on it would be awesome at a reasonable price - I'm thinking about the same as a netbook, so sub £300 seems reasonable atm. Perhaps netbook innards from, say, Asus 1008HA but maybe even more compact/low power, and with a touchscreen. That would be ace.

I'd also like to know what's on the horizon if anyone has an idea. Hopefully with this icrap, other manufacturers will speed up their versions.

Amp34 · 28 Jan 2010 at 22:40

I just hope someone eventually takes the innards of the Dell Adamo or the Apple Macbook air and sticks a touch screen on it. Problem is, although i'm not normally a fan of Apple design they do seem to be one of the very few that don't use cheap plastic everywhere.

cokecan · 29 Jan 2010 at 09:15

Amp34 said:
I just hope someone eventually takes the innards of the Dell Adamo or the Apple Macbook air and sticks a touch screen on it. Problem is, although i'm not normally a fan of Apple design they do seem to be one of the very few that don't use cheap plastic everywhere.

It does look as though Apple have really thought about the design of the iPad (physically). It looks pretty damn nice and as you said, no cheap plastics anywhere from what we can see. I've read comments from people moaning that the border round the screen is too big on it too but I'm fairly sure Apple have done that for a reason! The border means you can hold the tablet with one hand without accidentally interacting with the screen.

It's a shame it doesnt quite meet the requirements some of us have