Would you buy a tablet to play PlayStation games?
We got a brief hands on play with the Tablet S today, an Android tablet whose main claim to fame is arguably the ability to play PlayStation games.
In our brief play, it seemed to perform reasonably well as a gaming device. We played Crash Bandicoot, an old game, but one that did a good job of showing off the ability of the Tablet S to handle a two handed control mechanism. Our first impressions are that the controls are responsive enough.
There's the price though, either $579 (16GB) or $689 (32GB). Meanwhile, the Nintendo 3DS has been spotted on sale for $199, and there's always your iPhone and Android smartphone for a spot of handheld gaming.
Game time: Sony's Tablet S
Given the price (as expensive as an iPad, or a cheap laptop), you'd certainly want to know the tablet's other features are up to scratch, like Web browsing, apps and music and movie playback.
On sale from the end of October, with pre-sales ending in September, Sony's Tablet S comes with Tegra 2, WiFi, a 9.4in screen, SD card slot, 5MP camera, and weighs 598g. Sony is claiming an eight hour battery life.
Fat end of the wegde: the Sony Tablet S side view
What struck is most is the design - the device is shaped like a thin wedge, or a folded over piece of paper, as Sony's slick marketing videos allude to.
Is this a good thing? Despite being thicker at one end than the iPad, the Sony Tablet S is actually slightly lighter than the iPad 2. It feels relatively lightweight in the hand, if a bit flimsy. The plastic wedge feels almost hollow, and doesn't have the same solid feel as some other tablets. This mightn't matter to some people. We also haven't had time yet to use the tablet for an extended period.
Transferring music from the Tablet S to a TV.
The other ace up the Tablet S sleeve is its ability to function as a universal remote. It's possible to pass music or video from the tablet to your TV, or stereo. Great in theory.
With Sony announcing a new worldwide music, video and games network for all its connected devices, it looks like the Tablet S is very much shooting for the home user who wants entertainment, not a device with any particular office credentials.
