Here come the Windows 8 hybrid all-in-one ultrabook tablet transformers

http://www.extremetech.com/computing/135283-ifa-here-come-the-windows-8-hybrid-all-in-one-ultrabook-tablet-transformers

by doc4t • 14 years ago

16 12 14 years ago

extremetech.com

Toshio• 14 years ago

Yes, here they come ... and they are all going to be heavy and pricey and noisy and have poor battery life.

option_greek• 14 years ago

I wonder if apple would dare to block these new windows tablets through litigation.

gnaffle• 14 years ago

I'm not sure how they could block them through litigation. My guess is that they will sit quietly and watch the PC makers having another go at this "no compromise" form factor.

Roritharr• 14 years ago

I'll probably get a Microsoft Surface pro. I just hope for a great Dockingstation. This kind of All-in-One Device is right up my alley. I hope that in a few years i can use my phone as that all-in-one device, that powers my work environment...

Tyrannosaurs• 14 years ago

I'm not saying that anyone should sue over it but that ASUS keyboard / docking station looks on hell of a lot like the bottom half of a MacBook Air fell off.

freehunter• 14 years ago

Have you ever seen the HP Envy (minus the Spectre line)? It looks like an entire Macbook Pro fell off and was caught by Meg Whitman. Something tells me either Apple doesn't have the look of the Macbook protected or perhaps that they just don't care.

bitdiffusion• 14 years ago

I would favour a first-party device like the surface pro in this case rather than one of these as my perception is that something is likely to "just work" if hardware and software are from the same vendor (see: apple).

Should be interesting to see how the likes of asus can compete in the long run (I am guessing price and slightly garish features will most likely differentiate); having an actual product on the shelves surely gives you a head-start.

rbanffy2• 14 years ago

For me, it's exactly the opposite. If I'm ever going to find an x86 machine designed to not run Linux reliably, it's sure going to have Microsoft's logo on it.

Too• 14 years ago

Would power and battery life be extended when you dock it with the keyboard?

I think it would be hard to fit a powerful GPU or a big battery in the screen alone. Some extra storage in the keyboard wouldn't hurt either.

Nice to see the hardware manufacturers joining microsofts new paradigm of tablet/laptop combo in windows 8. I bet those who complained about a combo OS before are quieter now.

rbanffy2• 14 years ago

> Would power and battery life be extended when you dock it with the keyboard?

At least the HP model prefers to use the keyboard battery when connected in order to preserve the one on the tablet side.

The problem with having too much smarts on a detachable piece is that you start running into interesting engineering problems when dealing with sudden disconnects. What do you do if your data disk suddenly becomes unavailable?

I remember being able to add and remove CPUs and memory on Sun machines running Solaris, and I remember reading about Linux having something like that for CPUs and memory - although you should tell the system you are about to unplug something so that data and processes can be moved somewhere safe. IIRC, you can just yank out a CPU module from a live IBM mainframe with not that many ill effects too, the price you paid for the ability excepted.

At least in theory, you could have a very low power processor on the tablet side and some extra memory, a faster processor and extra storage on the keyboard side, but, again, this would be an interesting problem for less careful users. Unless you design a lock mechanism where you press a soft undock button and, when the OS considers it safe to undock, it would release the locks that keep the mobile portion docked.

In any case, transparent hardware removal is something one would expect on serious server iron, not a laptop running Windows.

grecy• 14 years ago

Those keyboards look so familiar.....

fumar• 14 years ago

The Sony Duo design is different from the other "dockable" tablets. It is not the first by any means to have the slide form factor. Yet, I can not help think, how cool it looks. It looks "Sony" to me. The worst part is that cramped looking keyboard. I hope it comes to the US.

I have an HP Touchpad running ICS and hardly use it. I use my Gnexus most of the time. But, I have been looking at more "robust" tablets with pen capability. The Modbook Pro looks neat. http://www.modbook.com/modbookpro

Here come the Windows 8 hybrid all-in-one ultrabook tablet transformers

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