Opinions - AMD launches a tablet, with a bit of help from Acer

[HEXUS]

The official launch of the Iconia Tab W500 was more about AMD than Acer.

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[jimbouk]

£80 for a USB keyboard?!? You could get a srubbishrubbishrubbishrubbishy blue-tooth KB+M combo for that.

Still, doesn't look like too bad a product otherwise, just so long as 6 hours really is 6 hours for the battery life!

[scaryjim]

The price of the dock is certainly a bit disappointing, and I do hope it comes down soon. Otehrwise I really like the look of this (if you google it you can find hands on video of it).

The point of the dock with this device is that it *doesn't* fold up like a conventional laptop - the two sections do pack neatly together but I think they're probably best used much like an old-style windows tablet + dock: i.e. the dock sits on your desk and lets you use a normal desktop environment more easily when back in the office.

It's certainly questionable how much market there'll be for an x86 Windows tablet: they should appeal to a lot of businesses as they should make much better productivity tools than iOS and Android devices, but the power draw is still a little high (although 4 - 6 hours of battery life is comparable to a lot of - bulkier - netbooks), and I think they did miss a trick not having a second battery in the dock. But I reckon there are enough people out there for thge market to hold a couple (although probably no more than that) of Windows x86 tablets. I certainly don't expect them to take significant market share, though.

That said, I'm likely to buy one, as Windows touch tablets are great for the old-style RPGs I like to play

[pauldarkside]

But £80 for a peripheral that doesn't even come with its own battery seems a bit steep.

It's a USB keyboard with a couple of supporting prongs for the tablet, judging by the 2nd image, why would it need it's own battery? As for the price, I've spent a heck of a lot more on a desktop keyboard so really that doesn't bother too much.

[Scott B]

It's a USB keyboard with a couple of supporting prongs for the tablet, judging by the 2nd image, why would it need it's own battery?

It doesn't need one, but it could extend the overall battery life of the system, in principle.

[[GSV]Myocardial]

It doesn't need one, but it could extend the overall battery life of the system, in principle.

Asus are offering a very similar product in the Asus Eee Pad Transformer BUT with an additional battery in the keyboard, and although running on Arm tech offers 16 hours of life.

[scaryjim]

Asus are offering a very similar product in the Asus Eee Pad Transformer

Expect that's an Android device, rather than Windows, so not really that similar As I said earlier, I can see it appealing to businesses who wanty tablets that will easily integrate with an existing Windows environment and can be supported by existing in-house expertise.

Although, AFAICT, this doesn't have a stylus / pen / digitiser, so how useful it'll be for business users is debatable.

[FRISH]

As for the price, I've spent a heck of a lot more on a desktop keyboard so really that doesn't bother too much.

Yeah for something more top range with flashy features. This is just a basic keyboard...

[[GSV]Myocardial]

Expect that's an Android device, rather than Windows, so not really that similar As I said earlier, I can see it appealing to businesses who wanty tablets that will easily integrate with an existing Windows environment and can be supported by existing in-house expertise.

Although, AFAICT, this doesn't have a stylus / pen / digitiser, so how useful it'll be for business users is debatable.

Wasn't really referring to the tech or OS, just the keyboard add on that they'll sell with it as it includes a second battery Seems a little pointless to have a keyboard add on unless it also comes with a second battery really.

[scaryjim]

Seems a little pointless to have a keyboard add on unless it also comes with a second battery really.

Well, two ways of looking at it. You either have the keyboard as a portable add-on that you're meant to carry around with the tablet, in which case a second battery (and proper hinges ) make implicit sense, or you have it as a workstation dock, in which case it should have its own power supply and a wide range of additional ports.

Sadly (as far as I can tell, anyway) Acer have gone with neither option