Quad-Core Tablets Arrive this December

[tubemonkey]

Originally Posted by ScalyFreak

The main thing a laptop has going for it in the above scenario is that it's one single piece. A tablet with a docking station and a keyboard (even worse if the two are separate) is more of a hassle to transport and set up, than a device where all you have to do is open the lid and press a button.

Tablets and docking stations are still in their infancy. It won't be long before they'll be integrated such that they'll seem like a single unit and easily separate when only the tablet is needed.

[ScalyFreak]

Originally Posted by tubemonkey

Tablets and docking stations are still in their infancy. It won't be long before they'll be integrated such that they'll seem like a single unit and easily separate when only the tablet is needed.

Probably. But that still leaves us with the disparity in hardware between tablets and notebooks, and the fact that in a laptop you can fit a lot more than a tablet. Not to mention the upgrade abilities. My laptop has an SSD and 8GB RAM, and it did not start out with either. With tablets user upgrades don't happen.

[=X=]

Originally Posted by tubemonkey

Tablets and docking stations are still in their infancy. It won't be long before they'll be integrated such that they'll seem like a single unit and easily separate when only the tablet is needed.

One day this will be true in a long distant future ... oh hey look what we got here.






More pictures here (more...)

Personally I don't think it's the hardware that is the limitation. It's the software.

[covfam]

and the reviews for the above slider show it trouncing every android tablet outthere even slightly edging out its cousin the asus transformer with same spec's. you can look at anandtech or hot hardware or other place to read thier experiences with it. despite it having the same core guts ad every other tegra 2 tablet out there it sits on the top of the android mountain...well untill the transformer prime is released in december

[Sil_liS]

Originally Posted by tubemonkey

17" laptop - to carry around with you?

Not like I do with my 10" tablet, but if I wanted it to just sit on the desk, I would have bought a desktop.

Originally Posted by tubemonkey

Tablets and docking stations are still in their infancy. It won't be long before they'll be integrated such that they'll seem like a single unit and easily separate when only the tablet is needed.

This has been a concept for a while:


But I'd rather see this become reality first:

[Andrew H.]

Originally Posted by kartu

You mean Galaxy Tab 7"? Because 10.1 is actually tegra 2. And, to be honest, I'm not quite sure why one would need a faster GPU, being an owner of 10.1" version.

My mistake - I thought the 10.1 also had the Exynos chip.

(Yeah, I don't know whether you would really need a faster GPU - but since everyone seems to be using them, it struck me as odd that the Tegra 3 didn't jump ahead).

[Thrasher]

Originally Posted by John Carroll

Does a tablet really need a quad core processor?

It does. My original Transformer cannot play HD videos from my camcorder...

[Canuck_in_Japan]

Originally Posted by ScalyFreak

The main thing a laptop has going for it in the above scenario is that it's one single piece. A tablet with a docking station and a keyboard (even worse if the two are separate) is more of a hassle to transport and set up, than a device where all you have to do is open the lid and press a button.

Originally Posted by tubemonkey

Tablets and docking stations are still in their infancy. It won't be long before they'll be integrated such that they'll seem like a single unit and easily separate when only the tablet is needed.

Have the two of you even tried the original Asus Transformer? It can't possibly get any more stream lined. I bet I could dock and boot up the the Transformer 5 times faster than you could boot up a netbook (and that's being generous).

[kartu]

I'm thinking what would I do with a docked asus prime/transformer. Android is great for phones, ok for tablets (where I already miss possibility of having 2 apps running side by side) but as OS running on a (transformable) netbook?

Idea is great, but we aren't there yet OS wise, imo.

[ScalyFreak]

Originally Posted by Canuck_in_Japan

Have the two of you even tried the original Asus Transformer? It can't possibly get any more stream lined. I bet I could dock and boot up the the Transformer 5 times faster than you could boot up a netbook (and that's being generous).

Seen it and played with it, yes. I was responding to a very specific comment, not tablets in general.

If you're going to have a 17-inch tablet, and a docking station like the Transformer, you're spending enough money that you may as well get a 17-inch laptop, with considerably more processing power and upgrade ability.

[Andrew H.]

Originally Posted by ScalyFreak

If you're going to have a 17-inch tablet, and a docking station like the Transformer, you're spending enough money that you may as well get a 17-inch laptop, with considerably more processing power and upgrade ability.

I think the concept behind the tablets is that you already have the primary computer and want something lighter, faster, and more convenient.

I'm kind of torn on the docking keyboards, though. On the one hand, sometimes there is just no way around a keyboard. I have a bluetooth keyboard that I take with my iPad if I'm travelling for a few days and think I'll need to write more than a paragraph or so. When my internet went out at home for a few days, it was also nice to be able to use the iPad, keyboard, and 3G until things were back up and running.

On the other hand, if I carry the keyboard with me all the time, I lose a lot of the advantages of the tablet because it becomes (combined) bulkier and heavier. My iPad weighs 1.3 lbs and is about as thick as a pencil; I can basically carry in any bag and not think about it. But a transformer with docking station weighs 3 lbs (more than my netbook) and is also about twice as thick as a tablet alone. So if I carry it, I don't save any weight over a netbook, and there is more thickness, too. Of course, you can separate it and just carry the tablet (although you'll need an additional case)...but, except in special use situations, I would hate to spend $150 for a docking case that I mostly leave at home.

Zagg has had a keyboard case for the iPad since it came out (it's a BT keyboard seems to work well, although it doesn't offer as much functionality as the transformer's (it's about $50 cheaper, which is still $99). It's been somewhat successful, I think, but I've never seen one in the wild. So I'm not sure what the market is for, basically, separable tablets.

Of course, I might have this backwards. It's quite possible that the keyboard functionality encourages people to buy the Asus (w/o) the keyboard because they are not sure if they want a tablet or not, but can be assured that they can always buy the keyboard dock later in case they are not happy with the pure tablet. That - as I think about it - makes a lot of sense.

[covfam]

i have the zaggmate keyboard for my ipad2 thinking it would be helpfull but the way the case is made its very slippry when "closed" and akward to use with accessories... the actual typing is very respnsive and good. its the way it sits in the keyboard case and the very slick surface that makes it very drop prone.. the leather cases with blutooth keyboards feel quite a bit more function and not nearly as slippery and drop prone ... on the otherhand the keyboard isnt quite as nice. the keyboards on the transfomers and sliders are MUCH better than either of my keyboards for my ipad 2

[SeaKing]

Originally Posted by ScalyFreak

And that doesn't even begin to cover the differences between tablets, big laptops, and the gaming tower that I have at home. Let me know when they have 24-inch tablets with surround sound, 8GB RAM, a DirectX 11 video card and six-core CPUs.

And this doesn't just apply to gaming, by the way. Videographers, photographers, architects, and any other profession where large screens and copious amounts of processing power is a necessity to get the job done and keep the revenue flowing, will never abandon PCs for tablets. Not until tablets have evolved so far from what they currently are that they no longer are what we think of as a tablet today.

If all a person ever uses their computer for is email, Facebook and Twitter, then a tablet can probably be enough, but to paraphrase The Onion a little bit, "in the business world, where people use computers to do actual work rather than just ***ing around, it's doubtful that tablets will take over"

I knew a fellow, had a water cooled Dell desktop tower for games. Didn't know such a thing was possible. He swore it though.

[SeaKing]

Originally Posted by Andrew H.

I think the concept behind the tablets is that you already have the primary computer and want something lighter, faster, and more convenient.

I'm kind of torn on the docking keyboards, though. On the one hand, sometimes there is just no way around a keyboard. I have a bluetooth keyboard that I take with my iPad if I'm travelling for a few days and think I'll need to write more than a paragraph or so. When my internet went out at home for a few days, it was also nice to be able to use the iPad, keyboard, and 3G until things were back up and running.

On the other hand, if I carry the keyboard with me all the time, I lose a lot of the advantages of the tablet because it becomes (combined) bulkier and heavier. My iPad weighs 1.3 lbs and is about as thick as a pencil; I can basically carry in any bag and not think about it. But a transformer with docking station weighs 3 lbs (more than my netbook) and is also about twice as thick as a tablet alone. So if I carry it, I don't save any weight over a netbook, and there is more thickness, too. Of course, you can separate it and just carry the tablet (although you'll need an additional case)...but, except in special use situations, I would hate to spend $150 for a docking case that I mostly leave at home.

Zagg has had a keyboard case for the iPad since it came out (it's a BT keyboard seems to work well, although it doesn't offer as much functionality as the transformer's (it's about $50 cheaper, which is still $99). It's been somewhat successful, I think, but I've never seen one in the wild. So I'm not sure what the market is for, basically, separable tablets.

Of course, I might have this backwards. It's quite possible that the keyboard functionality encourages people to buy the Asus (w/o) the keyboard because they are not sure if they want a tablet or not, but can be assured that they can always buy the keyboard dock later in case they are not happy with the pure tablet. That - as I think about it - makes a lot of sense.

I had a friend tell me exactly that. He just keeps the keyboard in his big bag until he needs it.

[Prestidigitweeze]

Here's what a friend said after buying an iPad and official BT keyboard to check the apps he writes for a living: "It's like having to use a laptop that's broken in half."

Edit for SeaKing:

Originally Posted by SeaKing

I knew a fellow, had a water cooled Dell desktop tower for games. Didn't know such a thing was possible. He swore it though.