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Want a tablet but struggling to justify the laptop-like price tag? Want a laptop but thinking that the larger size could be an inconvenience? Asus aims to make those problems a thing of the past with its best-of-both-worlds VivoTab Smart (ME400C) ‘hybrid' tablet. Has Asus successfully implanted laptop-class, x86 hardware into a 10.1″ tablet form factor?
As far as large screen tablets go, it's hard to beat Apple's 9.7″ iPad with Retina display. But for many customers who value performance, the base model's laptop-like – £399 – price tag is equally difficult to justify. So how does a company offer mobile hardware that justifies a device's circa-£400 price tag, while maintaining the flexibility and ease-of-use of a large screen tablet? Asus' approach is to combine low-powered, laptop-class hardware with a 10.1″ IPS touch screen display and full-blown, 32-bit Windows 8 operating system.
Packing a 1.8GHz Intel Atom Z2760 dual-core processor, 2 Gigabytes of memory, 64 Gigabytes of storage and a full-blown Windows 8 operating system into a 580g, 9.7mm-thin, 10.1″ tablet form factor, Asus' VivoTab Smart appeals to both the laptop and tablet audiences. With its x86 chip and proper Windows 8 operating system, the VivoTab smart can operate in a conventional – desktop – environment to run ‘standard' software, as well as the fresh – tablet – alternative with modern apps.
Aiming to provide a solution which eliminates the performance and compatibility shortfalls of ARM-based tablets and increases the portability of a laptop, has Asus hit the mark with its VivoTab Smart ‘hybrid' Windows 8 tablet?
Specifications:
- Display: 10.1″ with Multi-Touch Screen WXGA (1366 x 768) Screen, IPS Panel
- Processor: 1.8GHz Intel Atom Z2760 dual-core (1MB Cache, Hyper-Threading technology)
- Memory: 2GB
- Storage: 64GB + 32GB ASUS Webstorage space
- WiFi: WLAN 802.11 b/g/[email protected]
- Bluetooth: Bluetooth V4.0
- Camera(s): 8MP rear-facing, 2MP front-facing
- Battery: 25Wh Li-polymer
- Operating System: Windows 8 32-bit
- Dimensions: 262.5 x 171 x 9.7 mm (WxDxH)
- Weight: 580g
- Colours: White/Black/Red
Fantastic review Luke, how do you feel it shapes up against the Windows Surface? have you managed to get a hands on with it yet yourself? (as they are both Windows 8 im curious).
This looks great, I had been looking at an android tablet for months, and still cant decide as I liked the Surface in a local store.
Dont know what to get now 🙁
It is not ASUS fault, but Windows 8 APP store is very weak, its put me off moving over from my iPAD, but I dont like Apple or their practices using slave labour in china etc.
Its so hard to get a do it all tablet, but this is a good attempt by ASUS.
I need to get a hands on with this, as I will never pay for the Surface PRO to get access to X86 apps. this is a great move by ASUS considering the ATOM is probably a bit slow. very interested, but need to see one in the flesh. time to hunt this weekend in my local etailers. is it out now?
If I select “View All Pages” I get to a news item titled “All of humanity to own an Android phone one day”.
No apps? I’m running everything from Wireshark (try that on your iPad) to my PLC programs and games such as Age Of Titans. Quit thinking of it as being a Win8 tab and try thinking of it as a Windows PC. After you share your devices from your own PC tower, you’ll also have access to all of them as well so mine sits with my Canon Imagerunner, Pioneer DVDRW and 3TB Seagate External all available. For media I use Plex for video and Itunes for my music.
These true Windows 8 tabs are only hamstrung by their users… PERIOD. I’ve yet to see a reviewer do half of what I do as an actual daily driver of the Vivotab Smart. When compared to either my daughter’s 3rd gen iPad or my own Galaxy tab to my Vivotab Smart, the former are truly little more than really large phones and the latter a fantastically thin PC.
Had one and sent it back.
Its well made a relatively light, the display is really good.
Its slow to boot from cold and the wireless is weak. In desktop mode you need the bluetooth keyboard, i found the onscreen keyboard got in the way of many things when trying to use in desktop mode.
After i installed Windows updates and Firefox the wirelss was lost and nothing i tried could restore it. I rest the tablet to factory default which meant going through the setup process again and once it was all done it refused to accept the new account.
Personally i dont think its worth £400 especially if you wish to add the keyboard, your then looking at a nigh on £500 device and its simply not good enough for that money. At £400 with the keybaord it would be good value.
I had one too and sent it back, it was too slow and very frustrating. Those ATOM processors can barely handle basic tasks. This is a good buy if you must have a full windows 8. I cant believe the guy above said the app store is good and that he can run games on this? I could barely get solitaire to run smoothy.