ExoPC Slate has iPad looks, netbook internals, Windows 7 soul

[sianon]

[QUOTE=zacheryjensen;768090]By whose definition? Yours? When the term "Personal Computer" was coined, maybe you're too young or new to computing to know this but, most computers required a room of their own to house them, and a team of operators to keep them running. Those computers were highly controlled, and though in some cases (such as at universities) a person could get away with using them generally, the common case was that the operators controlled everything those computers would run.


MMM when I first commence "computer studies" in year nine (we called it fourth form) we were compiling instructions we marked a punch card and then sent these away to be run thorugh some huge computer and the results were then sent back to us. My first hands on experience with a computer was in that same year with a machine which was larger than the average industrial photocopier and the most we could do with it was a text based games program (I crashe a multi million dollar space craft on the surfacxe of the moon). YOu average microwave would havemore computing power than that machine.

[sianon]

Originally Posted by DaleDe

Another interesting device in the same vein is the Archos 9 described in our wiki.

I have already posted this elsewhere but bears repeating in the context of this discussion

For me, my needs for a tablet device are simple. I want a device that is close to the size and weight of an A4 notebook in a solid leather writing compendium. I want the whole screen available to use for handwriting recognition. I want handwriting to instantly and accurately transform to text. I need a device that I can use for case noting at work and taking notes in university lectures.

The Archos 9 is in no way a competitor for the Apple Ipad. The Archos ships with a crippled version of Windows 7 which does not allow any tablet PC functions to work. I took delivery of my several weeks ago and one of the first things I did was upgrade to a higher specced version of Windows 7, it then took another day to get all of the tocuh functions working correctly. This is fine if you are technically minded or have people close to you who are.

The Ipad is designed to work out of the box from what I can see.

The Archos 9 is a slow and clumsy machine with a very slow boot time whereas the Iad is pretty much an instant on device.

Yes I can run a range of programs on the Archos whcih won't work on the Ipad, but there are a range of Apps that will work arounds these limitations.

The Archos 9 works well as an e-reader and all formats are readable on it. Turn the brightness down low and it realy is very comfortbale to read for hours on.

The Archos 9 is totally pathetic for watching video content on and you CANNOT watch any Ituens videos at all, way to choppy.

The windows handwriting recognition leaves a lot to be desired, although it is accurate. I really do not like the very small area that is proivided to write in.

And the aspect ratio of the Ipad is very much closer to what I want than the Archos 9.

For now with all it's limitations, I will stick to the Archos 9 (mainly due to my hubby becoming a little inpatient with my Gadget buying addicition) as it does allow me to use handwriting recognition to complete ntoes, although it could do with massive improvements.

Archos and Apple provide for totla opposite ends of the spectrum, with Archos merely providing the hardware and allowing users to configure to what they want. This leads to a huge frustration in getting the device to do what you want. Whereas Apple provide and easy to use interface with a closed system which will not suit those who want to tinker.

For me to veiw the Ipad as a MUST have, it will need to provie a way to view RAW image files from a range of cameras, Solid handwriting recognition (athought the write pad looks very good) as well as a very good library app (possibley Calibre) to manage different formated books, eg click on a book and the app will open thte correct e-book viewing app. Give me these functions in the form factor of the Ipad and I will be sold (with 3G of course)

[sianon]

Originally Posted by petermillard

Looks like VGA out - specs and comparison table with iPad and Archos 9 on this page - in French, but you can get the gist of it. I wouldn't bank on being able to swap out the batteries easily; my guess would be that it's a screwdriver job, but who knows?

I think it's quite telling that the best they've managed to build is something almost twice as thick as an iPad but with less than half the battery life. Building one of these is clearly not quite as straightforward as some folks seem to think...

Cheers, Pete.

Swapping hte battery in the Archo 9 coul dnot be simpler, it is simplyu a case of push down the realease mechanism, battery pops out and replace. Hang on, it owuld be that easy if replacement batteries were available.

[DawnFalcon]

Originally Posted by zacheryjensen

And sure, PSP would work, but it would be very slow. It probably wouldn't even keep up with tool actions. But if that's not a problem... well I'd recommend you at least be sure you can return the thing.

I think you're grossly overestimating the speed of PC you need to run PSP, especially one of the older versions. You might have a point on Visual Studio, now...

[DaleDe]

Originally Posted by sianon

I have already posted this elsewhere but bears repeating in the context of this discussion

For me, my needs for a tablet device are simple. I want a device that is close to the size and weight of an A4 notebook in a solid leather writing compendium. I want the whole screen available to use for handwriting recognition. I want handwriting to instantly and accurately transform to text. I need a device that I can use for case noting at work and taking notes in university lectures.

deleted the rest

thanks for the review. It is appreciated. would you mind if I added it to the wiki? Or you are welcome to do it. Could you rotate the screen when reading eBooks?

Dale

[Sweetpea]

Originally Posted by DawnFalcon

I think you're grossly overestimating the speed of PC you need to run PSP, especially one of the older versions. You might have a point on Visual Studio, now...

Looks like it... And I know about VS, that's why I said, "if even remotely possible"


And I just checked the requirements of my version of PSP...

Minimum System Requirements
300 MHz processor or faster
Microsoft® Windows® 98SE, 2000 (SP4), ME, XP
256 MB of RAM
500 MB of free hard drive space
16-bit color display adapter at 800x600 resolution
Microsoft® Internet Explorer 6.0 or later

Shouldn't be so much of a problem, right?

[sianon]

Originally Posted by DaleDe

thanks for the review. It is appreciated. would you mind if I added it to the wiki? Or you are welcome to do it. Could you rotate the screen when reading eBooks?

Dale

You are welcome to add it Dale. You can rotate the screen to portrait mode, but htis has to be done by going through the control panel and stwitiching to portrait mode. I find reading it in landscape with two pages displayed the most convenient for reading novels.

[DaleDe]

Originally Posted by sianon

You are welcome to add it Dale. You can rotate the screen to portrait mode, but htis has to be done by going through the control panel and stwitiching to portrait mode. I find reading it in landscape with two pages displayed the most convenient for reading novels.

Done Archos 9 review

Thanks, Dale

[kjk]

http://www.engadget.com/2010/02/06/e...-world-to-see/

What is inside, for those who love that kind of stuff.

Just noticed, it has a little fan over the processor.

[fugazied]

I think the ExoPC Slate is the best competition to the iPad, and for the Windows devotee it might be a great device, despite the 4hr battery life.

I would be slightly skeptical about the multi-touch support in windows 7 though, can it do one of the SIMPLE things the iPad can do.. say for example photo viewing like this? http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FWW7yD0q3i0

[kjk]

And, here is a video of it in action:

http://www.engadget.com/2010/02/08/e...tuff-on-video/

[CyGuy]

This is a very interesting device indeed, I will be keeping a close watch on this one. Looks like it will be out in March.

[MikeRo]

I hadn't noticed before but the company's headquarters is in Rimouski, Quebec. I grew up in that part of the world and my first thought was "Huh? A high-tech company based in Rimouski???" I know there is a thriving marine technology industry there but computer devices? So I did some digging. The address of the company is listed on their website as 514, boul. Saint-Germain Ouest, Rimouski. This is the same address as the local Honda car dealer: http://www.lamontagneauto.com/fr/index.spy. The president of ExoPC is listed as Francis Lamontagne, who is also the president of the dealership (Lamontagne Auto Ltée). A search through the local paper's website showed no mention of ExoPC. That I find unusual because a local company making a splash in the international tech media would surely generate some local coverage. Now, I don't know how thorough the online archive is, so I also took a quick peek at the most current copy here http://progresecho.canoe.ca/webapp/sitepages/. Again no mention of ExoPC or Mr. Lamontage. Now, Mr. Lamontage seems to be a pillar of the local community based on a couple of older news stories so I can't see him trying to pull a fast one here.

Right now I am confused. I may try phoning Mr. Lamontage tomorrow to see if this is true.

[MikeRo]

I checked the local weekly paper again and ExoPC is the front page story for yesterday's paper. See here: http://progresecho.canoe.ca/webapp/s...ssif=Nouvelles

So it is legit - sorry for the false alarm.

[SCION]

Originally Posted by MikeRo

I checked the local weekly paper again and ExoPC is the front page story for yesterday's paper. See here: http://progresecho.canoe.ca/webapp/s...ssif=Nouvelles

So it is legit - sorry for the false alarm.

Thanks for the update.