Three slate devices to consider before buying an iPad

by Adam Turner on Mar 9, 2010

Tags: ipad | slate | notion | ink | joojoo

6 Comments

Despite all the hype around Apple's iPad, it's defined more by its weaknesses than strengths. Before you hand over your cash for Cupertino's latest wundergadget, here are three other options to consider.

All three of these devices should be available some time in 2010, priced under US$500, but such details are yet to be finalised.

HP Slate

Steve Ballmer whipped out the Windows-powered HP Slate at CES, hoping it will be Microsoft's white knight in the slate wars. It runs Windows 7 on a 10-inch display - so you know it will run all the applications you want - plus it will support Flash and multi-tasking. It's also expected to feature a USB port and webcam. In short, the HP Slate promises to be everything the iPad isn't.

While Windows 7 is the HP Slate's strength, it will probably be its weakness as well. Previous Windows-based tablet devices have failed to excite because the interface isn't designed from the ground up for a handheld touchscreen-friendly interface, nor are most of the apps. An iPad killer has to be more than a netbook with the keyboard ripped off.

Notion Ink's Adam

Amazon's Kindle is a great e-book reader thanks to it's E-Ink screen technology, but it's no competition for a true slate computer. Notion Ink's Adam promises the best of both worlds.

The Adam runs Google's smartphone operating system Android on a 10-inch display, so you know it will be touchscreen friendly and you know it will have access to a mobile-friendly apps store. It should also offer the option to boot into Google Chrome OS and Ubuntu.

The Adam's secret weapon is its Pixel Qi transflective display, a capacitive touchscreen which can operate in two different modes - as traditional full color LCD or as a low powered e-book style display that's easy to read in bright sunlight.

Fusion Garage's JooJoo

A dark horse in the slate race is Fusion Garage's JooJoo, which grew out of Michael Arrington's CrunchPad project. The JooJoo features a 12-inch multi-touch capacitive display and runs a custom operating system. It won't let you install apps, it just boots directly into a browser (reportedly in 9 seconds). Garage Fusion has announced plans to launch a "web store" to make it easy to find web applications that will work with the Joojoo's browser.

The device does feature a USB port and a 4GB solid state drive, plus it reportedly has full Flash compatibility and the grunt to run 1080p content - which might make an impressive browing and video playback device.

It's a dust magnet and the screen hates sunlight, but the iPad is undeniably slick. Read our First Look review.

Is the iPad outrageously overpriced? You might also be interested in joining the discussion here.
Also see William Maher's story debunking common criticisms of the iPad.

6 comments in this discussion

"What about the EEE PC T91? While it's more tablet than slate, it has a real keyboard, is small, light and has been around for some time at $999. The only impediment I see in buying it is that ..."

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Comments: 6

Thoughts on this article? Add a comment below.

Melly71 Mar 9, 2010 1:49 PM	Notion Ink's Adam. Anyone know when this is being released? Comment made about the PC Authority article: Three slate devices to consider before buying an iPad? Despite all the hype around Apple's iPad, it's defined more by its weaknesses than strengths. Before you hand over your cash for Cupertino's latest wundergadget, here are three other options to consider. What do you think? Join the discussion.
Bozo01 Mar 10, 2010 8:13 AM	"It runs Windows 7 on a 10-inch display - so you know it will run all the applications you want" Not likely. Crysis probably won't even start up on it. The thing that makes the iPad good is the huge number of apps already available for it when it's released. It should also be a good "portable" game console as well because of all the games available for it. It might take a while for people to make games on Windows that are meant for tablets to run.
Slatts Mar 10, 2010 7:54 PM	Bozo01 wrote: "It runs Windows 7 on a 10-inch display - so you know it will run all the applications you want" Not likely. Crysis probably won't even start up on it. The thing that makes the iPad good is the huge number of apps already available for it when it's released. It should also be a good "portable" game console as well because of all the games available for it. It might take a while for people to make games on Windows that are meant for tablets to run. Yes Bozo. But I bet the iPad won't run Crysis either.
Slatts Mar 10, 2010 8:02 PM	Adam Turner wrote: The Adam's secret weapon is its Pixel Qi transflective display God Damn. You've just got to love those marketing blokes! Then again, WTF? Quote: A dark horse in the slate race is Fusion Garage's JooJoo An obvious case of over doing the self medication. Edited by Slatts: 10/3/2010 08:08:13 PM
ajbate Mar 13, 2010 7:13 AM	What about the Samsung Q1EX?? It is available now.
totoaus Mar 20, 2010 11:41 PM	What about the EEE PC T91? While it's more tablet than slate, it has a real keyboard, is small, light and has been around for some time at $999. The only impediment I see in buying it is that someone spec documents say it has 320 GB HDD (good), while other say 32 GB FLASH (too little for me). Frankly, I think anyone wanting small, light and portable; plus decent Crysis is living outside reality. Games are like Windows, no matter how much power you put on the desktop, the next program to come out leaves it floundering. If anyone invented a machine the size of a watch that ran Crysis well, they just release a new version that exceeds the machine's abilities within 3 months. Thus it has always been, since the PC-XT was supplanted by the PC-AT.