Tuesday, July 19, 2011

Of Tablet and Desktop PC

First of all, let me rewrite the title... As I'm going to write about the Desktop part in next entry...

Of Apple's iPad and Asus' Eee Pad

I saw this article by Vijay Ravindran, the current senior vice president and chief digital officer for The Washington Post, on how Asus triumphed over Apple with Android tablet, the then hard-to-find Android-based Asus Transformer, known as the Asus Eee Pad. (So much for the name...) in a local newspaper this morning and I'm gonna summarize on what I get from this easy to digest article and if I may, let me add up things a bit... 

In the article he mentioned about lots of things regarding the said tablet PC.  As a passionate user of Apple techs, I'm eager to learn about this iPad-like gadget. 

First, he compared the price of the Asus Eee Pad with its closest relatives, the Acer Iconia Tab A500 that costs around RM1300 (according to here), the Galaxy Tab 10.1 and iPad 2 that cost around RM1499 and the Motorola Xoom that costs around RM1750 (according to here), while its 16 GB version only costs around RM1200 and the 32GB version costs around RM1500. Quite cheaper, I guess. 

As I'm also agree with the fact that making a direct pricing comparison is quite tricky, because different tablets with different features and of course with different prices. Plus, this Asus Eee Pad doesn't offer a carrier contract (unlike iPad) as it's a Wi-Fi-only device. Not for me then, as I need to online all the time and in my hometown, there aren't many of Wi-Fi hotspots and Starbucks cafes aren't open until 3 in the morning. 

Now, let's talk about the Asus Eee Pad best selling point which is its unique keyboard dock. While other tablets have Bluetooth keyboard options, he finds it lacking the option for a mouse. In addition to being Android keyboard with home, menu and back buttons, the dock supplies roughly 6 additional hours if battery life, 2 USB ports, and a full-size memory card slot. Actually, it's quite surprising for me to see the tablet when it's docked as the entire unit folds like a traditional netbook. 

Alright, peeps! Now we go to the part I enjoy talking about at any time of day; softwares i.e the applications. 

First, the DoubleTwist, it's an Android apps that allows you to sync photos, music and playlists on your iTunes with the Asus Eee Pad over a Wi-Fi network. This can't be done with first-generation iPad but with the new Apple's iCloud app that launched together with MacOs X Lion and iOS 5 on June this year, its feature now allows for iTunes purchases to sync on account holder's authorized Apple devices wirelessly. 

Next, he mentioned about browsing experience. Asus' stock browser beats Safari because it supports Flash. Take note of this, Apple-crews! 

As for e-mailing, Touchdown is a powerful e-mail app that is only available on Android-based gadgets. He said it can be directly compared to Outlook or Entourage and yes, I know how significant this is as it works quite the same as iPad's native e-mail client. 

So, I guess he's happy with his Transformer. 

Alright, so basically it boils down to your needs when it comes to gadgets, right?

The guy's MacBook Air had a meeting with his baby bottles so he was looking for a replacement and the Transformer has allowed him to replace both his iPad and his broken MacBook Air. 

As for myself, I'm still thinking of getting the iPad 2. Well, mostly because a DSLR camera has climbed up to the top of my 2011 wish-list so yes... I guess I'm going to wait some more. 

Same goes with iPhone. I was planning to get the white iPhone 4 myself but when Dad got it for himself early this month and landed me his 3GS while Mom is still using the white 2G, I learned that the 4th generation features are still not up to my satisfaction. 

So, again... Like I said, I'm going to wait some more. 

Anyway, the purpose of this entry is to warn you guys to buy your gadgets wisely (I learn it hard way though) and be sure to make thorough surveys especially when you guys are buying the expensive ones. Some will say that you still can upgrade it if you're not satisfied with it, right? True. But then, it's unlikely to upgrade to a better screen and a sharper even a HD camera, compare to what you already have in your hands, right?


P.S: Apple has developed wireless keyboards and of course the magic mouse, I guess it's not going to be much longer before iPad can be docked on a keyboard too. Who knows it also can be folded into half of its size and slipped into your back pocket?

Signing out!
V
1 comment on "Of Tablet and Desktop PC"
  1. http://www.geekblog.net/the-asus-eee-pad-transformer-is-the-netbook-you-wish-you-had-seen-before/

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