Early Win8 tablet specs?

VaporPunk · 05-28-2012, 04:16 AM

Well, there ain't no Windows 8 subforum, so I'm putting these here.

Dell Win8 tablet.

HP x86 tablet.

Forgot to add - I ain't impressed so far.

exscentric · 05-28-2012, 11:16 AM

What little I've been reading makes me wonder if win 8 is a two level system. A simple androidish system for tablets and ease of simple tasks on top of a deeper regular windows platform to run normal windows stuff.

The tablet would only get the top and the pcs will get the works or maybe a more robust tablet would get the works.

Just a thought.

HansTWN · 05-28-2012, 12:15 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by exscentric

What little I've been reading makes me wonder if win 8 is a two level system. A simple androidish system for tablets and ease of simple tasks on top of a deeper regular windows platform to run normal windows stuff.

The tablet would only get the top and the pcs will get the works or maybe a more robust tablet would get the works.

Just a thought.

Two types of tablets. Those with ARM processors get the simple Metro only Windows, while the Intel equipped ones will be fully capable computers. Computers will always get the whole enchilada.

VaporPunk · 05-29-2012, 04:47 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by HansTWN

Two types of tablets. Those with ARM processors get the simple Metro only Windows, while the Intel equipped ones will be fully capable computers. Computers will always get the whole enchilada.

Thats my understanding too. I'm not sure if the licensing costs will be the same. They shouldn't be, only one of the above versions will support legacy apps.

RainingLemur · 05-29-2012, 07:50 PM

I am somewhat interested in the "fully capable" computer tablet things. But, I'm still skeptical of the whole thing. The idea sounds wonderful. Full PC function in a tablet? I have some reservations about how well it would actually work.

HansTWN · 05-30-2012, 08:16 AM

Works great for my windows 7 PC (though with a Wacom pen). Just the hardware hasn't caught up, once the machines can be thin and light enough, don't run hot and can have an extended battery life and an more finger friendly interface we could enter the 'post mobile OS' era for tablets. Or rather tablets with Android and IOS will all drop to $50-200 or they won't sell. Looks like it won't be longer than 2 years. Tablet OS as they exist now were only necessary to make the devices usable given current hardware limitations. It would make no sense to spend 400 on a tablet with a mobile OS when you can get a full OS, just as easy to use but much more powerful, for the same price.

RCR · 06-02-2012, 11:25 PM

What about the Samsung Slate? Didn't Microsoft hand these out to the folk developing Win8?

I got one about two months ago with Win7 installed and I'm happy with it. The Slate comes with a docking station and bluetooth keyboard. With its two usb ports, it works well with a usb mouse and usb dvd player plugged in. With all that attached, the Samsung looks like an elegant desktop, (with a touch screen). And of course you can pull the screen out of the dock and just walk away with a tablet in your hands.

I also have a Consumer Preview of Win8 which I installed on an old laptop just to play around with it. My impressions of Win8 are mixed. It has two switchable flavours: "Metro" which is the ugly tiles that are supposedly tablet friendly and "Desktop" which is a slick version of Win7. There are already third-party fixes offered on the internet to work around some of the dud bits of Win8.

When Win8 is commercially released I may buy it and put it on my Samsung. I think I would keep it in "Desktop" mode though.

I was going to review the Samsung Slate as an ebook reader, but first I wanted to road-test it on an overseas trip I'm taking in the second half of June.

wodin · 06-03-2012, 03:38 PM

At work we have a large network of around 40,000 Windows workstations, and so have a dedicated Microsoft support team under contract. A couple of weeks ago Will, the lead MS weenie brought in a prerelease Dell tablet running Windows 8. It was an Intel Atom with 4 GB of RAM, 10” capacitive touch screen, SSD drive (don’t know how big) and all the peripherals one would expect on a high end 10” tab.

Will gave me a little demo, and I have to admit the Metro interface was impressive, and sort of looked like a giant Windows Phone, but the legacy interface was kind of useless. All of the buttons were too small to use accurately with a touch interface. But the biggest problem was with the apps; have you ever tried to use the desktop version of Word or Excel on a touch screen? It’s just too hard to use the ribbon bar and the drop down menus. He kept hitting the wrong selection, and having to go back and correct it. Luckily the “go back” button worked fine.

I have an old Asus 9” touch screen netbook running Windows 7 that I relegated to the dead IT stuff closet years ago. When Will was showing me the slick new tablet, my feelings of déjà vu were overwhelming. All of the same old problems not yet addressed.

I am interested in seeing how da buggah runs on the Asus though.

VaporPunk · 06-04-2012, 03:19 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by wodin

At work we have a large network of around 40,000 Windows workstations, and so have a dedicated Microsoft support team under contract. A couple of weeks ago Will, the lead MS weenie brought in a prerelease Dell tablet running Windows 8. It was an Intel Atom with 4 GB of RAM, 10” capacitive touch screen, SSD drive (don’t know how big) and all the peripherals one would expect on a high end 10” tab.

Will gave me a little demo, and I have to admit the Metro interface was impressive, and sort of looked like a giant Windows Phone, but the legacy interface was kind of useless. All of the buttons were too small to use accurately with a touch interface. But the biggest problem was with the apps; have you ever tried to use the desktop version of Word or Excel on a touch screen? It’s just too hard to use the ribbon bar and the drop down menus. He kept hitting the wrong selection, and having to go back and correct it. Luckily the “go back” button worked fine.

I have an old Asus 9” touch screen netbook running Windows 7 that I relegated to the dead IT stuff closet years ago. When Will was showing me the slick new tablet, my feelings of déjà vu were overwhelming. All of the same old problems not yet addressed.

I am interested in seeing how da buggah runs on the Asus though.

Hopefully stuff like this can be addressed before the final version is released.
Thanks for sharing this though, I'm really interested in hearing about Win 8 experiences.

05-28-2012, 04:16 AM	#1
VaporPunk Evangelist Posts: 409 Karma: 49204386 Join Date: Mar 2012 Location: Belgium Device: Kindle 4 + Asus Transformer	Early Win8 tablet specs? Well, there ain't no Windows 8 subforum, so I'm putting these here. Dell Win8 tablet. HP x86 tablet. Forgot to add - I ain't impressed so far. Last edited by VaporPunk; 05-28-2012 at 04:32 AM. Reason: Memory brain-cells malfunction.

06-02-2012, 11:25 PM	#7
RCR Addict Posts: 334 Karma: 992487 Join Date: Dec 2007 Location: Melbourne, Australia Device: 2 x Sony 505, iPad, Samsung 7 Tablet, ASUS Transformer, Nexus 7	What about the Samsung Slate? Didn't Microsoft hand these out to the folk developing Win8? I got one about two months ago with Win7 installed and I'm happy with it. The Slate comes with a docking station and bluetooth keyboard. With its two usb ports, it works well with a usb mouse and usb dvd player plugged in. With all that attached, the Samsung looks like an elegant desktop, (with a touch screen). And of course you can pull the screen out of the dock and just walk away with a tablet in your hands. I also have a Consumer Preview of Win8 which I installed on an old laptop just to play around with it. My impressions of Win8 are mixed. It has two switchable flavours: "Metro" which is the ugly tiles that are supposedly tablet friendly and "Desktop" which is a slick version of Win7. There are already third-party fixes offered on the internet to work around some of the dud bits of Win8. When Win8 is commercially released I may buy it and put it on my Samsung. I think I would keep it in "Desktop" mode though. I was going to review the Samsung Slate as an ebook reader, but first I wanted to road-test it on an overseas trip I'm taking in the second half of June. Last edited by RCR; 06-02-2012 at 11:28 PM.

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05-28-2012, 11:16 AM	#2
exscentric Addict Posts: 379 Karma: 1033424 Join Date: Dec 2010 Location: WY Device: Kindle keyboard	What little I've been reading makes me wonder if win 8 is a two level system. A simple androidish system for tablets and ease of simple tasks on top of a deeper regular windows platform to run normal windows stuff. The tablet would only get the top and the pcs will get the works or maybe a more robust tablet would get the works. Just a thought.

05-29-2012, 07:50 PM	#5
RainingLemur Spork Connoisseur Posts: 2,355 Karma: 16780603 Join Date: Mar 2011 Device: Nook Color	I am somewhat interested in the "fully capable" computer tablet things. But, I'm still skeptical of the whole thing. The idea sounds wonderful. Full PC function in a tablet? I have some reservations about how well it would actually work.

05-30-2012, 08:16 AM	#6
HansTWN Wizard Posts: 4,538 Karma: 264065402 Join Date: Jun 2009 Location: Taiwan Device: HP Touchpad, Sony Duo 13, Lumia 920, Kobo Aura HD	Works great for my windows 7 PC (though with a Wacom pen). Just the hardware hasn't caught up, once the machines can be thin and light enough, don't run hot and can have an extended battery life and an more finger friendly interface we could enter the 'post mobile OS' era for tablets. Or rather tablets with Android and IOS will all drop to $50-200 or they won't sell. Looks like it won't be longer than 2 years. Tablet OS as they exist now were only necessary to make the devices usable given current hardware limitations. It would make no sense to spend 400 on a tablet with a mobile OS when you can get a full OS, just as easy to use but much more powerful, for the same price.

06-03-2012, 03:38 PM	#8
wodin Illiterate Posts: 10,279 Karma: 37848716 Join Date: Mar 2009 Location: The Sandwich Isles Device: Samsung Galaxy S10+, Microsoft Surface Pro	At work we have a large network of around 40,000 Windows workstations, and so have a dedicated Microsoft support team under contract. A couple of weeks ago Will, the lead MS weenie brought in a prerelease Dell tablet running Windows 8. It was an Intel Atom with 4 GB of RAM, 10” capacitive touch screen, SSD drive (don’t know how big) and all the peripherals one would expect on a high end 10” tab. Will gave me a little demo, and I have to admit the Metro interface was impressive, and sort of looked like a giant Windows Phone, but the legacy interface was kind of useless. All of the buttons were too small to use accurately with a touch interface. But the biggest problem was with the apps; have you ever tried to use the desktop version of Word or Excel on a touch screen? It’s just too hard to use the ribbon bar and the drop down menus. He kept hitting the wrong selection, and having to go back and correct it. Luckily the “go back” button worked fine. I have an old Asus 9” touch screen netbook running Windows 7 that I relegated to the dead IT stuff closet years ago. When Will was showing me the slick new tablet, my feelings of déjà vu were overwhelming. All of the same old problems not yet addressed. I am interested in seeing how da buggah runs on the Asus though.

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