All you may need to learn about netbooks, with news along with the best testimonials and ##################
Asus EEE Laptop T91MT
Asus EEE Computer T101MT
Lenovo IdeaPad S10-3t
Viliv S10
HP TouchSmart TM2
Having a touchscreen on your cellular laptop or computer may be extremely valuable. It tends to make browsing all around way less complicated, web-browsing a lot more exciting and intuitive, will help you get hand created notes, etc. Of course, each one of these when the touch display used on the machine is exact and trustworthy.
Such laptops with touch-screens that will be effortlessly swiveled, transforming them into veritable tablets, have already been close to for a even though. Even so, the majority of them aren’t at all affordable, having price tags of 1000 bucks and more.
In the last months though, a new class of this kind of gadgets emerged: the tablet netbooks, computers able to combine the qualities of a mini laptop (portable, light, cheap) with those of a touch-sensitive screen. They are still in their early days, but there are quite a couple of good these kinds of touch screen netbooks available already, with great prices; in the next rows you’re going to find what are the ones in consider very best and would recommend. Naturally, recommendations are made with all the top interest at heart and are based on my previous experience with those devices and opinions and testimonials from experts and regular buyers about the world (gathered from the world wide web).
Once again, this is not a top of finest tablet netbooks,
Office 2010 Standard Product Key, but a list. All the mini laptops in here are extremely good and you should be able to choose between them the one better for you, based in your requirements and budget.
Asus EEE Laptop T91MT – light and portable
If you will need a convertible netbook with a compact and light body, this Asus is the one for you. With an 8.9 inch resistive screen (with multi-touch) and weighing just around 2.1 pounds, the T91MT can become you greatest travel partner.
Inside you’ll get an Intel Z520 1.33 GHz processor + GMA 500 graphics, 1 GB of memory, up to 32 GB SSD storage,
Office 2010 Professional Plus Product Key, a 6 Cell battery capable of up to 5-6 hours of life in real-life tests and
Windows 7 Starter as the OS. Outside, the device looks good, but comes with a glossy exterior and only a standard flat keyboard (decent, but not as comfortable as a chiclet one).
Overall, the device is a lot more than interesting. The version with the specs mentioned above sells right now for all around $433 (with Free Shipping included) and benefits from some very good evaluations from previous buyers.
However, whilst it is a quite nice and affordable light tablet netbook, it does have its drawbacks, the biggest one being the small storage space (also difficult to upgrade) and the lack of palm-rejection technology (screen won’t detect your palm when taking notes, so you won’t be able to lean your hand within the screen like on a regular piece of paper).
Asus EEE Laptop T101MT – a looker with a great price
The much awaited Asus T101MT was expected to solve much of the inconveniences the T91MT had. And it mostly does.
For starters, the T101MT is a 10 inch touch screen netbook, so it’s a little bit heavier and bigger than the 8.9 incher above. Comes with a multi-touch resistive show, one that’s actually quite precise once you calibrate it. Can be utilized for all kind of activities and hand-writing works just fine in Onenote or other similar programs (you do get palm-rejection on this one).
The T101MT is still fresh on the market and at the moment there’s only one version available in the US, with the N450 processor + GMA 3150 graphics, 1 GB of memory, 160 GB storage, 6 Cell 5 hours battery and
Windows 7 Starter. On the outside is where the T101MT really impresses, being right now perhaps the very best looking 10 inch netbook (in its price range, needless to say). It’s only available in black (a white version should be available soon too), but the matte finish is amazing and overall build quality is very solid. Also, you get a very nice trackpad and ergonomic chiclet keyboard, so using the device in the classic laptop mode will be a delight.
As for prices, the Asus T101MT is available right now in the US for $458, with Free Shipping included. You can buy it, see a lot more pics, detailed specs or read testimonials from buyers by accessing this link here.
And there’s one much more thing: performance levels are decent for this Asus (as decent as they can be on an ATOM N450 powered device), but i do advice upgrading to 2 GB of memory and
Windows 7 Home (so you’ll be able to benefit from multitouch). And if you want to understand far more about this device, i do recommend reading my full review of the Asus EEE Pc T101MT, with pics, videos and thorough explanations. Also, check out this post for the comparison between the T101MT as well as the T91MT.
Lenovo IdeaPad S10-3t – capacitive display
The Lenovo IdeaPad S10-3t is a device pretty much identical in terms of specs to the 10 inch Asus above. Inside you get the same hardware, but the 10 inch exhibit is capacitive. This means it’s going to be far more responsive when employed with your fingers, but will make hand-writing far more difficult (you’ll only be able to use a special pen – provided in the pack – as well as the results are not as good as on the Asus T101MT).
Also, the Lenovo is not even in the same league as the Asus when it comes to looks. First, it’s bulkier, heavier and glossy. Then, it only offers a standard flat-keyboard as well as the trackpad is one of the tiniest I’ve ever seen on a netbook. Nonetheless, it comes with a better battery than the Asus (an 8 Cell capable of up to 7 hours of life in real tests – but this adds up to overall weight) and accessing RAM and HDD for upgrading them is a lot easier.
The Lenovo S10-3t sells for $498 in the US, with Free Shipping included. You can access this link for a lot more details about it, a lot more pictures and testimonials from users, plus the options to buy one yourself. It’s up to your judgment if the small advantages it has over the other tablets in this list compensate for the lacks along with the slightly bigger price. I for one like the bigger autonomy, but still I would rather go for the Asus.
Viliv S10 – ultra slim,
Microsoft Office Standard 2010 Key, but expensive
When you’ll first lay your eyes on a Viliv S10 you’ll be amazed by how slim it is. This one is also a 10 incher and you can see it compared to the Lenovo and Asus above in this clip. But although slim, it’s not that light, weighing close to 2.8 pounds, so definitely not a competitor in terms of weight for the smaller T91MT. I’ve mentioned this tablet as the Viliv S10 shares similar hardware platform: Intel’s Moorestown.
There are going to be many different versions for this tablet netbook, the entry model offering an 1.6 GHz Z530 processor, 1 GB of memory, 32 GB SSD storage and Windows XP Home, even though the top one will come with a 2.0 GHz Z550 CPU, 2GB of memory, 64 GB SSD, buil-in HSDPA and
Windows 7 Home.
The Viliv S10 has a couple of strong points over the other mini laptops listed above, like the HD 1366 x 768 px screen (multitouch resistive), the faster CPUs, the SSD storage and the bigger battery life (up to 10 hours). You can read far more about these in this preview of the Vilis S10 series.
However, every one of these extras come with a hefty price, the S10 possessing a start price of $699, whilst the top version goes for $1149 (ouch). They are not yet available in stores, but should be shortly (I’ll update once they are). And even though the S10 is definitely an interesting device with decent performance, good touch-display and fast hardware, it is at least 1.5 time more expensive than its rival. And this aspect alone will hang heavy in the balance…
HP TouchSmart TM2 – just from another league
All the mini tablet PCs listed above were built on various versions of Intel’s Atom platform, one known for energy efficiency rather than power. So although offering decent performance levels, when faced with heavier tasks, these tablets might choke.
And here’s when HP’s TouchSmart TM2 comes in, a device a little bit bigger than the others above, with a 12 inch screen (also recommended in my list of greatest 12 inch mini laptops). So, overall heavier (4.7 pounds) and less portable than the tablet netbooks above, but if you can put aside these aspects, the HP TM2 is just the perfect mini notebook: powerful, good looking, solid, with good autonomy and affordable.
Let’s get them one at a time. First,
Office Enterprise 2007, inside this device you’ll get the Intel dual-coreCOre i3-380M processor + Intel HD graphics, 4 GB of memory, 500 GB HDD (7200 rpm) and
Windows 7 Home Premium. Combine the power of that hardware with a 12 inch capacitive multi-touch display and you’ll end up with quite an experience.
In terms of looks and build quality,
Microsoft Office Professional, the pictures below speak for themselves: there’s little to nothing to reproach this TM2. Also, notice the full-size chiclet keyboard and big trackpad.
The TouchSmart TM2 packs a 6 Cell battery able to offer up to 7 hours of life on paper, so probably about 5-6 in practice, far more than you’ll will need.
All in all, the TM2 is a great tablet laptop. It’s not as compact or light as the above netbooks, but definitely much more powerful.
As for the price, the HP TM2 with the above features sells right now for around $850, with Free Shipping included. That’s nearly 80% much more expensive that the Asus or Lenovo options presented above, but if you’re a performance addict like me and want a snappy touch-experience, the difference is well worth it.
Conclusions
That’s about it for now. I’ve showed you a couple of different options for greatest tablet netbooks. Based on you budget and preferences, you should be able to choose one that will fully satisfy you.
Of course, in the near future a lot more and far more this kind of compact and affordable touch screen netbooks will enter the market, that’s why you should check out this post from time to time for updates.
Also, if you have any questions or want any advices regarding small touch tablets, don’t hesitate to post your comment and I’ll be glad to support if I can.
Last updated: March 27, 2011 | Tags: tablet netbook, touch netbook, touchscreen