Comments on: Netbooks Might Be Key To Mainstream For Tablet PCs

By: loyukfai

loyukfai — Fri, 20 Feb 2009 18:51:21 +0000

I think what should be looked at is the price difference between a similarly configured non-Tablet model and the non-Tablet model.

The moniker (netbook, low-end notebook, ULCPC, UMPC…) could be a bit more irrelevant.

Then, there have to be some “reasons” for consumers to pay for that particular difference. (The said “reasons” themselves can be real, or constructed. Regardless, the consumers have to be made aware of them.)

Once the price difference is smaller than the values consumers give to the “reasons”, people will flock to buy the Tablet model.

By: Estrelo

Estrelo — Fri, 20 Feb 2009 09:51:35 +0000

Some quick notes from my experience with the M912M:
Yes, it’s the standart netbook specs, apart from 2 things: the screen is LED, very bright and with a lower power usage, and the HDD is a 2.5 SATA drive. Makes a great difference in speed and upgradability.
The hardware itself has nothing on an equivalent P1630 of course. Plastics are a bit crap, keyboard/charger/other bits are borrowed from the not so great EEE PC 901, and the touchscreen has no active digitizer, limiting it’s usability.
That said, it costs 1/4 of the price of a equivalent UMPC, it has the form factor, size and weight of a UMPC, and runs Win 7 without a hitch (mine came with 2GB ram).
Sure, it’s a downgrade for most people here, but it’s a valid choice if you want the tablet form factor on the cheap.

(And before you say refurbished, remember that’s only an option for the US mostly)

By: Kenrick

Kenrick — Fri, 20 Feb 2009 06:01:41 +0000

Hmm, before there were Netbooks we had a great 10″ tablet PC – the TC1100.

By: Xavier

Xavier — Fri, 20 Feb 2009 05:23:57 +0000

I think a bigger problem for Tablets gaining mainstream adoption is that relatively few people ever get to see one in person when evaluating notebooks. Think of it- walk into Best Buy and you’re lucky to see one tablet (tx2 from HP). Walk into other computer retailers/flagship stores and you’ll see zero tablets (Apple, Sony, Staples, Office Depot,etc.). Nothing wrong with paying a few bucks more if you want/need tablet functionality but a lot of PC users are completely unaware of the choice.

By: Joe

Joe — Fri, 20 Feb 2009 04:57:33 +0000

The problem, is that the M912 at least is incredible overpriced. Hopefully the new one won’t be, but I doubt that.

Also, the M912 also has major vectoring issues, so presumably so too will the 10″ model.

By: GoodThings2Life

GoodThings2Life — Fri, 20 Feb 2009 02:09:27 +0000

When you look at Star Trek Next Generation and see the crew carrying around small tablet-style touch-based pads, you can’t help but notice that they’re a great size and form factor. The 8-12″ slate form factor is great for a small portable device as evidenced by the alleged appeal of netbooks in the first place.

Given a decent OS experience to go with it (Windows 7 is great on my 12″ tablet), I can only hope that netbooks will evolve into more tablet-based designs.