ASUS Eee Slate EP121 Tablet PC Review: Consumers Get Beauty in This Beast of a Tablet PC

When the tablet was conceived originally, the notion was to make a handheld computer the size of a legal paper pad, but having a plastic or metal uni-body, a screen, and all the functions of a desktop PC. While no single manufacturer of tablet PCs have replicated that idea to date, ASUS has manufactured the Eee Slate Tablet, which looks much closer to the original concept than any other device on the market does.

ASUS Eee Slate Design

The ASUS Eee Slate Tablet is one of the largest and heaviest tablets on the market, and part of its weight comes from the massive 12.1-inch touchscreen, which is one of the largest screens of any tablet PC on the market. It weighs in at 2.5 pounds, so it is much heavier than other tablets, but on the other hand, it is just as heavy-or lighter in some cases-as some of the smaller laptops and netbooks are, and it is still comfortable to hold in the hand, without being to overbearing.

The screen is a capacitive multi-touch, with extremely accurate pressure sensing, and has an LED-backlight with a resolution of 1280-pixels by 800-pixels. Because of the screen dimensions, it offers a wide viewing angle so multiple people can view the screen at once without experiencing distortion when viewing on an angle.

Power & Performance

An Intel Core i5 CPU runs the Eee Slate, and it clocks at 1.33GHz. It also sports an Intel HD graphics system. This beast of a tablet also comes with 4 GB of DDR3 RAM, and a 64 GB solid-state hard drive for internal storage. As for ports and slots, Eee Slate offers two USB ports and a mini HDMI port as well as a dual card reader that supports both SD memory cards and MMC cards. There is no native mobile data option, but Wi-Fi 802.11 b/g/n and Bluetooth 3.0 is included, so tethering is possible.

Eee Slate Features

The Eee Slate Tablet PC also comes with a Bluetooth keyboard, which meshes perfectly with the included Folio, since it allows users to stand the Slate up while using the keyboard. It also comes with a Pen Stylus that, coupled with the multi-touch screen, makes note taking simple, but powerfully effective. The function that makes it a note taker's dream come true is the way the handwriting recognition works, as it has an excellent touch response and users can easily do email and word processing with the Pen Stylus.

ASUS Eee Slate Downfalls

There is little to say that cannot be easily hyped about this breakthrough device. Nevertheless, it does have its downfalls, as most gadgets do. The first, and probably the one that would stop sales in their tracks, is its price. Well, there are a few problems first is the price. The ASUS Eee Slate Tablet PC retails at a hefty $1099, but it is not out of line considering its specifications. However, consumers just might think twice about buying it as opposed to slightly smaller tablet PCs with better pricing and equal specs, such as the Xoom-or the iPad even.

The other downfall is that it runs the full desktop version of Windows 7 b y Microsoft. Not that Windows 7 is that bad of a desktop operating system, because it is not. The problem is that it is the entire OS, not a stripped down version for mobile devices. Running MS Office OneNote on the Eee Slate is perfection; however, because of the power needed to run the OS, the battery drains very fast. You only get three to four hours of standard use before needing a recharge, and only that much if the user is not watching video or surfing the Internet. Doing anything else will drain the battery much faster.

That said, the Eee Slate Tablet PC is a great product, and with the right marketing should do well, despite its price tag, since its features and overall performance make it worth the money. Besides, not too many tablets do Pen Stylus input as well as this tablet does. Personally, I would spend my money on this one.

Sources:

Chris Davies, "ASUS Eee Slate EP121 Hands On," SlashGear
Campus Life, "12.1" ASUS Eee Slate EP121 Features & Specifications," Campus Life ASUS