HiPAD II: Korea's 10.4-inch answer to the cPC

After practicing incessantly on 4.3-inch and 7-inch form factors, a 10.4-incher is a piece of cake for those Koreans, and they're really just showing off with the new dual-OS HiPAD II. The 1-inch thick tablet weighs in at 2.9 pounds, but manages to run Windows XP Tablet PC Edition, Windows CE 5.0, WiFi, DMB, HSDPA and a navigation app that's possibly GPS based. There's an AMD Geode LX-800 processor under the hood, along with a minimal 256MB of RAM and a 20GB HDD -- pretty weak for regular PC tasks, but plenty of juice for a bit of browsing and the PMP-esque feature set. To round things out there's a webcam mounted at the top of the screen, and you can expand the storage or functionality with the CF and PCMCIA slots. The Win CE mode seems mainly aimed at quick access to media and navigation functions, unlike the cPC's full-fledged Windows Mobile OS, and seems similar to that of most Korean PMP/DMB/GPS units, but XP is always waiting in the wings if you need to do something silly like be productive. No word on price or availability, but we're hoping for the best.

[Via Akihabara]

[Tim T. @ Aug 23rd 2006 11:48AM]

Maybe it's just me, but that thing looks vaguely like an Etch-a-Sketch...

[tim @ Aug 23rd 2006 11:50AM]

wow. an etchasketch!

[cap'n @ Aug 23rd 2006 11:51AM]

That's it. I'm moving to Korea. If we Americans could just stop getting caught up in all the corporate BS that exists outside of R&D we might actually get to compete at this level. SOB! Arrrgh!

[Chris @ Aug 23rd 2006 11:54AM]

LOL, I thought it was an Etch-a-Sketch too.

[Harley @ Aug 23rd 2006 11:57AM]

A high tech Etch-a-Sketch

[Grant @ Aug 23rd 2006 12:12PM]

So it's a wireless Etch-a-Sketch?

[DarkFader @ Aug 23rd 2006 12:16PM]

That is e-paper, right?
Too bad they didn't show the remote controller.

[tekdroid @ Aug 23rd 2006 12:18PM]

expensive Etch-A-Sketch!

[Ben N @ Aug 23rd 2006 12:36PM]

I feel better knowing that i'm not the only one that thought this was an etch-a-sketch. At least the case mod on this would be pretty straight forward.

[Type-E @ Aug 23rd 2006 12:41PM]

I hope it is $500

[Josh @ Aug 23rd 2006 1:31PM]

Etch-a-sketch really has moved on...think everyone else thought it was one at first...

[PPB @ Aug 23rd 2006 2:17PM]

What happens if I turn it upside down and shake it? Can it draw curves? I know this is redundant, and I so badly wanted to be dundant, but it does look like an Etch-O-Sketch!

[mp4-games @ Aug 23rd 2006 3:23PM]

Is that antenna for WiFi or for a TV - tuner? If it is not for a TV than it is one of the strangest looking wifi antennas I have ever seen.

[Ben Freedman @ Aug 23rd 2006 4:07PM]

Tablet PCs are why PCs are better than Macs, IMHO...

For example:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f3ZTCZW_cRw

[The Steven @ Aug 23rd 2006 4:52PM]

And you hold it upside-down and shake it to reboot. Hey wasn't that in a Dilbert comic strip?

[Sam K @ Aug 23rd 2006 5:03PM]

Definitely looks like an Etch-a-Sketch.

[Andy L @ Aug 23rd 2006 10:07PM]

To echo my peers' comments it should come with a matching docking station with 2 knobs. Raised silver logo a must.

[Adam Zey @ Aug 24th 2006 3:09AM]

Ooh, a digital Etch-A-Sketch...

[Brandon @ Aug 24th 2006 12:58PM]

That antenna is for the S-DMB tuner. Satellite Digital Multimedia Broadcasting, not available in US or most other countries.

[Bruce @ Aug 28th 2006 3:04AM]

The original site says that it has WiBro support, which means that it's set for Wimax standard wireless support whenever it's rolled out.

As for CE not being productive, what percentage of people use their computers for more than e-mail, browsing and document writing? For modern work, heavy OSs seem overrated.

[Watch @ Aug 29th 2006 5:48PM]

Has anyone seen a portable with a stripped down Win XP. If you would take out all the unneeded drivers and extras and leave just what is absolutely necessary to run the XP - I think it would be as fast as CE and more compatible for sure.