DigitalRise X9 tablet has Atom, multitouch, $780 price tag
By Donald Melanson 
posted January 14th 2010 9:45PM
posted January 14th 2010 9:45PM
This one doesn't seem to have quite made it to CES, but DigitalRise's new X9 tablet is now available to order, and it packs just enough familiar features to fit right in with the pack. That includes a 10.2-inch multitouch display, an Atom N270 processor, 2GB of RAM, a 160GB hard drive, a 1.3-megapixel webcam, built-in 3G, GPS and WiFi, and Windows 7 for an operating system. Of course, availability is apparently limited to import shops at the moment, and this one doesn't exactly come cheap, with it running a hefty $780 -- although that is a $220 discount off its $1,000 list price.
It will be relative cheap, when Islate come out.
@mianmian when i first looked at the picture, without looking at the headline, i thought it was the apple tablet
@bigdonny Me too but only for like a split second
@bigdonny
Same here.
This looks like what the Apple Tablet will look like. Simple, not too much going on on the outside, but strong enough on the inside. Of course, with a hefty price tag.
I'm still not convinced about these tablets. I'll be getting a good 'ole gaming laptop with Win7 for college... no exceptions.
Navigating around Win7 (or any version of desktop windows) from a 10 inch touchscreen is not my idea of fun.
Tablets could be cool, but only with a dedicated interface.
@mianmian
OP, +1 to you sir. Also, I'd like to think that it will have some other feature differences (for better or worse) if it's ever produced, but who knows.
@mianmian
Apple should call it iSlave instead.
@maddawg579 Definitely. The tablet experience was interesting and promising for me at first, but now I've realized that I really just want a nice, powerful laptop.
@FallenArms3 Yeah. Keyboards are seriously underrated. Ever try to do anything useful on a tablet? You can't because you can't scribble or poke at the screen nearly as fast as you can type.
Keyboards on phones work because the phone is small and you can use thumbs. A 10 inch screen is way too big for thumbs and typing with all your fingers on such a small screen sucks too because you block the screen when you're typing.
These are good toys, not useful computers.
@bebop As an actual user of Win7 with touch, I must strongly disagree. I use Win7Pro with a convertible tablet with touchscreen (Lenovo x200T multitouch), and it's actually not bad at all. The squarish taskbar items are easy to press, the on-screen keyboard is nice and big (and scalable, and easy to access). The one-finger scrolling in IE is really fun. The only thing I've found that's NOT finger friendly is the Close [x] in the corner of the window. I still haven't found a way to make that larger.
I'm seriously thinking about pulling the trigger on this, except that it doesn't say which version of Win7 it uses, and $800 for a brand I don't know is a bit steep. Plus, I really need a stylus.
@mianmian They’re calling it X9, and it is real multitouch. The specs of the DigitalRise X9 are nothing to laugh at: Atom N270 1.6GHz processor, 2GB RAM, 160GB SATA, GPS, 3G and Windows 7 preloaded.
More details to go: http://bit.ly/digitalrise-x9-details
iSlate will be around 1grand, for sure this one will look like cheap again.
Is that IE?
*barf*
@Solidstate89 Is that IE6 with XP's Royale theme next to Win7's taskbar (which shows the IE8 icon, though it's not running)?
Mockup FAIL
@Mysterius lol, nice
@Solidstate89
Could be XP mode, could be uxtheme.dll patch + custom VS, could be Windowblinds. You never know...
@Solidstate89 something is fishy with that picture; call me a skeptic or is that not win 7 running on that device? it looks like xp with a custom theme active.
The description at chinagrabber mentions "X9 includes 1GB of RAM" and then the specs say "Memory: 2GB DDR2". Very fishy, Oh Lord!
@Solidstate89
It looks like greenbrowser:
http://www.morequick.com/indexen.htm
So far this seems like it could be the windows 7 equivalent of the supposed Apple tablet. Pretty nice.
@werty1432k
ditto, it seems to have pretty much the same specs..
I wodner how their prices will match?
@Alexicov
what are you talking about? Apple will obviously go with an ARM system with a more powerful version of the iPhone's OS
all these companies sticking Atoms and Windows where they don't belong will find that they need to rethink their strategy, ARM is definitely going to win this fight
@JeremyBenthem The main advantage of ARM over x86 is the battery life, but then the processor only makes up a small proportion of battery drain (http://www.umpcportal.com/2010/01/a-warning-about-smart-device-battery-life/). In the real world (if and when the ARM tablets come out) I am sure they will have about the same battery life.
And, all things being equal, I would personally rather have a full-fat OS like OSX/Windows 7 on a tablet over the skinny iPhone OS/Android/WM any day.
@JeremyBenthem
"all these companies sticking Atoms and Windows where they don't belong will find that they need to rethink their strategy, ARM is definitely going to win this fight"
I think all the sales numbers of sub-laptop sales in the last 2 years beg to differ.
But don't let me stop you from comparing a currently non-existent device's computing power to existing tech that is already in it's second generation.
@gaooxing did you REALLY just try to sell something on here?! Honestly?!
@gaooxing
Oh God another adbot.
@gaooxing Dont bother selling on here everybody's cheap.
Wait, whats going on in that screen? It's got the Windows 7 taskbar on the side, and IE with a horrible toolbar running under XP. I mean, I know the Chinese are obsessed with the Windows XP GUI...as evidenced by Ylmf OS...but now XP with windows 7?
Now, the real question is. Does it have an active digitizer?
Looks relatively like a cross between Windows 7 and Media Center Edition 2005.
Put a PixelQi display on it, Android in it, and lower the price to under $500, and I'll be interested.
What is it about these tablets that are so expensive, when you can get convertible tablet netbooks with similar specs for less?
@cobaltage
because the tablets they have now are laptops with a fold down touch screen to many people that's not a real tablet. Personally I want the new apple tablet because I use iPod touch for email and inet on the go. If the iSlate is " a big iPod only better ", well that's what I'm looking for. I would probably by a new iPod if they came out with one 2 times the current size
@cobaltage
You'd certainly think so. Less chasis to house the screen, no need for fancy hinge, no keyboard, no trackpad, and yet you pay more.
Simple answer is, you're paying for the niche, the current trend.
checked it is only selling in PRC only 40xx CNY with 1GB RAM spec. There will be another upgrade model with CPU Atom N470 1.83GHz in JAN ~
another crap-tablet
@swastyka why do you have a Nazi symbol as your avatar?
@HighestRanked Actually it's a symbol that pre-dates christianity.
dont know why a netbook with a touch screen and no keyboard should cost three times what a netbook with a keyboard costs though... seems likely i'll be able to buy this for $300 within a year
@(Unverified)
yeah... I'm not paying that much for either.
@(Unverified) It's a new type of product, projected sales is unknown, spreading R&D to fewer units, niche product pricing. if it's not selling, it maybe $300 within a year, or it may disappear from market all together.
@(Unverified)
Agreed. I don't see the market for a 10" slate at this time. The slate market is mobile, 3-7". Eventually, a slate UI could evolve to replace the keyboard/mouse/touchpad, but it'll happen as people adopt mobile slates and adapt to the absence of conventional keyboard and mouse. If I don't need the slate UI for mobility, I want to leverage my existing skills. I want one-handed, rapid touch typing, and multi-touch tablets offer this possibility, but the standard hasn't emerged yet. A desktop/laptop slate is not attractive until it does.
@restonthewind yep. If you want a slate running a desktop OS, get the Villiv X70. The 7" screen is just about perfect. Can't give up the keyboard? Try the Villiv S7 convertible tablet.
Both are nearly perfect form factors (although the X70 would be improved by adding an optical mouse).
As much as I like gadgets, I don't think this 10" slate can find a place for itself in my book bag (and it definitely wont fit a suit pocket... unless it is a clown suit, of course... (to go with the clown pants).
Atom processer HHHHAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHhhhhhhhhaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa!!!!!!
@mklein and so was the 4-spoke swastika, everybody knows that. But we all know swastikas now mean Nazism and all that it represents. So I ask again, why is that guy using a swastika?
@HighestRanked We all know a *particular* swastika "now means Nazism and all that it represents." And that version was only ever associated with the Nazi's, and no one else.
swastyka's isn't the Nazi one. All further posts on your part here will be considered trolling (as if it wasn't obvious already).
Tegra 2 or Ion. Digitzer. Then we'll talk. Maybe.
@Treefingers +1. It seems so obvious. Um, duh, maybe I'd like to draw and play games on it too?
@HighestRanked
Technically it's a triskelion, not a swastika, but specifically it's the flag of the Afrikaner Weerstandsbeweging, (AWB), a South African white supremacist paramilitary group led by Eugène Terre'Blanche.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Triskelion#Political_Extremists
@Treefingers
"The AWB flag is composed of three black sevens (forming a triskelion) in a white circle upon a red background. It has a strong resemblance to the Nazi flag, likely due to the historic admiration for Nazism among the far right in South Africa." - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Afrikaner_Weerstandsbeweging
So really, HighRanked has a point.
Apple will make it better...