The netbook is back, this time in the guise of a tablet computer with a keyboard dock. At least, that's what we thought as we went through the specs of the Asus Tablet 810.
Asus basically "Transformed" an x86-based tablet to get the Tablet 810.
(Credit: Vincent Chang/CNET)
It has an 11.6-inch display, an Intel Atom processor and 2GB of RAM. And it runs Windows, though it's the new, touchscreen-friendly Windows 8, instead of XP.
What's different this time?
As it happens, plenty. Asus' netbooks — the company did come up with the concept — were small, inexpensive laptops built mostly with plastic. The new Tablet 810 uses mostly aluminium, and you can separate the keyboard dock from the screen. The build quality is also significantly better. You could say that it's pretty similar to the company's Transformer Android slates.
The Asus Tablet 810 appeared to have no trouble running more than one app at the same time.
(Credit: Vincent Chang/CNET)
Of course, the biggest change is in the operating system, with Windows 8 adding the touch interface. This means that you could use the Tablet 810 as a slate, without ever touching its keyboard dock, which serves a dual role of extending the tablet's battery life and increasing your productivity for tasks that aren't suited for touch. It also adds a USB port at the side.
The screen resolution — 1366x768 — isn't as high as Asus' upcoming Zenbooks, but it's good enough for an 11.6-inch screen. Some may find the screen bezel a bit thicker than usual, but it's a requirement mandated by Microsoft to ensure an optimal user experience. The main reason: Windows 8 depends heavily on touch gestures involving swiping in from the bezel edges. Viewing angles, however, are excellent, thanks to the Super IPS+ panel used.
To show that the Tablet 810 is more about creating content, it supports a Wacom digitiser pen.
(Credit: Vincent Chang/CNET)
An optional accessory is a digitiser stylus pen from Wacom. It's touted as a useful tool that shows the productivity side of Windows 8 tablets. The tablet will also come with dual cameras — a 2MP front-facing camera and an 8MP version at the rear.
Notice the new Windows logo on the keyboard?
(Credit: Vincent Chang/CNET)
Although the Metro interface on the Tablet 810 ran smoothly, and there was no lag even with multiple apps open, it's hard to tell whether the new Clover Trail Atom processor within the device can sustain this once you start using more intensive applications. Its 2GB of RAM seems like too little, even on Windows 7. We have a feeling that the 810's snappy performance over a typical netbook is down to the 64GB SSD within — netbooks generally come with HDDs.
Asus has yet to announce the price and availability of the Tablet 810, but, as with all the Windows 8-based devices that we have seen at Computex, you can probably expect them later this year, when Microsoft officially launches its OS.
Via CNET Asia
Check out more stories from Computex 2012.
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