ASUS EEE Slate

Currently, the tablet market is undeniably dominated by Apple, with Google’s Android looking to take some share with Honeycomb. The tablet OS that has seen far less of the limelight so far however is Windows 7. Known of course as a desktop and laptop OS, it’s also perfectly useable on a tablet, and this is what the Asus EEE Slate EP121 brings to the table.

As Windows is so associated with that desktop/laptop usage paradigm, you would expect a tablet that was to use it to its full effect to pack some punch, and on paper, the EEE Slate certainly looks to be shaping up. The tablet holds an Intel i5 dual core 1.3GHz mobile processor, sporting Hyper-Threading and Turbo Boost, 4GB of DDR3 RAM and a 64GB solid state drive, which is an impressive specification. It’s got the room for all of that though, as it has a 12 inch capacitive touchscreen and is almost three quarters of an inch thick. And at almost 1.2kg, this isn’t something you’re going to forget is in your pocket.

With that screen though, you also get a digitising layer and a stylus to go with it, allowing for easy note-taking and similar tasks as well as the ability to draw on the EEE Slate like a graphics tablet, with what you’re drawing right under your pen. This brings the tablet into a different niche, especially when matched with the ability to run full Windows applications, such as Photoshop.

The EEE Slate isn’t trying to compete with the iPad on its home turf. To really prove this point, there is no 3G version of the tablet, so Asus isn’t trying to market this to the “surf-on-the-go” consumer. I can easily see the majority of those who buy this tablet being businesspeople – taking notes in meetings and working on software they’re used to on their commute. And when they get to the office, they can easily transfer their files to their main PC and continue work.

On the other hand, the fact that this tablet almost acts like a mini, touchscreen laptop means that you can’t expect a huge battery life. But for those using it for meetings and short journeys, this probably won’t be an issue, and the convenience of using the programs you’re used to on the go will be a huge advantage. Therefore, despite a fairly hefty price tag, I can see the EEE Slate selling, and possibly bringing some of that limelight to Microsoft’s offering.