MSI's 10-inch tablet launching this year at $500, patently ignoring the elephant in the room?
By Tim Stevens 
posted January 28th 2010 10:54AM
posted January 28th 2010 10:54AM
posted January 28th 2010 10:54AM
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multitasking? gsm? camera? I am buying.
@Dking7 +1
@Dking7 forgot gps with compass
@Dking7
And in other news apple releases:
"Our most advance technology in a magical and revolutionary device at an unbelievable price."
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=faEbTXXCJro
@kando And so does the iPad. If anything this looks like it has less bezel.
@kando It looks very similar to the iPad to me...
@Dking7
Agreed, I'm in too. They aren't ignoring the elephant. More like ignoring the expensive princess that doesn't do much except look sexy.
@Dking7 +1
wonder why tim $500 price tag doesnt look on this, is it because ipad is a lot cheaper at $499?
@Dking7
Me too;))) Screw Apple
@unwynd
seriously, i was like "whuuut?". i guess if it's an apple product, $499 is acceptable although it doesn't do half the things that this one does at $500.
@reader1
Just like the MacBook Air and Apple TV, and OSX, and Macs..."dominate sales"?
Or do you only latch onto those two devices as proof positive that everything Apple does is gold?
@Dking7
The problem is the UI .. the what's the browser UI like .. how much does it weigh? The iPad only weighs 1.5 pounds .. any casual web browsing system should be less than 2 pounds.
The proper way to design a tablet is with the low power new Qualcomm dual core ARM chips ( http://gizmodo.com/5443976/qualcomms-dual+core-15ghz-snapdragon-smartphones-are-about-to-go-hyperspeed ) and maybe a pixelQi touchscreen. It needs to have at least a front facing camera .. and the browser must be able to scroll via touch. The problem is Apple has the UI "magic" put together ..though they didn't invent all of it. Android may get there in a couple years. Current tablets all use the desktop UI paradigm, but unfortunately the desktop UI isn't suited for touch devices.
@MarcusMaximus And so does the iPad what? No multitasking, no camera.
@unwynd Its not like that 499 price tag gets you something you can say stream last.fm and read a book on at the same time.
@seven5suited Is it really that hard to look back at who I was responding to? So does the iPad look like a piece of junk, since the guy who I replied to said this looks like one.
@iamlilysdad
+2
@Drais
"Its not like that 499 price tag gets you something you can say stream last.fm and read a book on at the same time."
Well that's just "geeky" "techie" stuff.
Dont'cha know that "grandma" only wants to do one thing at a time. So this device, as opposed to spending 400.00 on her medication or food, is EXACTLY what she wants.
Because God knows after losing the war with the DVD player, she will take to this thing like a fish to acid...
All I really wanted from the iPad was to know the upcoming iPhone hardware and OS features. I just want the next iPhone to have a higher resolution screen, faster processor, and some select multitasking (they could integrate Pandora and FM into the native, backgroundable iPod application and that would suit me perfectly fine, for instance. Every other media player out there has built in Pandora!).
With a 480p iPhone that includes native Pandora (or allows multitasking), I wouldn't need an iPad.
But seeing the iPad in action makes me realize all I use a computer for at home is email, web, and multimedia (i.e. media consumption), and has peeked my interest in this platform for a device. Looks like the MSI might fit my needs just as well, but with Android multitasking this might be the better device. All it needs is the software/app support that Apple has (i.e. some good software to take advantage of the screen). I'm also considering a Mac Mini server to hook up to an LCD TV and just using an iPad as my media consumption device, the Mac Mini could stream Pandora to any speaker system in my house, and I can't see the iPad leaving my house if I have an iPhone already (except maybe on long trips or vacations with lots of down time). The iPad is truly a leisure time luxury device ... and $500 might be reasonable depending on how much leisure time one has.
I use a computer at work for all of my real work. Dual monitor setup cannot be beat for serious working. I can't see working on anything else, including netbooks ... and I'm unwilling to lug a big screen laptop around. For laptops, 13" is as big as it gets for me personally.
@reader1 I have to say, reading your post felt like reading a excerpt out of 1984. Thank god you're completely off base.
@unwynd ZOMG 1 dollar more for a tablet that has an internal webcam/mic, Tegra, can multitask, and has expandable memory?!?! Blasphemy, iPad FTW! [/sarcasm]
Engadget's Apple bias is just ridiculous. Hey I'm not saying that I don't like Apple, but wake up, the iPad just isn't the revolutionary tablet everyone was saying it'd be.
@Dking7
Yeah, you probably can install OSX on it.
@reader1
"The death of the open-platform PC has begun."
Quoting Mark Twain:
"The reports of my death have been greatly exaggerated"
@reader1
Your last paragraph is entirely true: Apple isn't selling the iPad as a DEVICE, it is selling it as an EXPERIENCE. The point isn't what the device does or doesn't do so much as how you interact with the device. Apple is hoping to leverage the App Store environment to flesh out the device's strengths. With all Apple products you're not buying just hardware, you're buying the computing ecosystem, which sounds silly, but that's the way Apple thinks ... and when you get sucked into that, you start to think of the computer as an appliance instead of a gadget. It becomes something you use to access and consume content ... not something to tinker with.
Buying an Apple is like buying a sexy looking car without the Supercharged V8. It gets you there and it looks good and makes you look good doing it, but you obviously don't open up the hood very much. Buying a PC with Windows is like buying a moderately attractive and functional car that doesn't look as good but you have more fun while you're in it. A Linux PC is an ugly piece of crap that you've dropped a huge engine into: you obviously love tinkering more than the driving experience itself.
Apple is a Corvette Grand Sport (looks without the 700 hp engine), Microsoft is a MazdaSpeed 3 (practical and encourages fun and tinkering), and Linux is an old Subaru STI (that you spend your spare time working on in the garage to making it run better and faster)
@kando
It may look like that to you, but the competitor (specifically iPad) is the real McCoy.... real piece of junk.
@James Sonne
Awesome explination!
@reader1 "The key to ending Microsoft's monopoly has always been to produce a closed platform computer."
I don't know about that. In fact I rather suspect that strategy virtually guaranties Apple will NEVER break Microsoft's "monopoly". Having an open platform means there will be competition between 3rd party developers and hardware manus. Competition means lower prices. That means Microsoft systems/platforms/eco-systems will ALWAYS undercut similar Apple systems on price. This means that CORPORATE buyers (ie the people who buy hundreds to thousands of machines at a time) will almost always go with Microsoft. And that will keep microsoft in the above 80% market share bracket indefinitely.
Besides...Apple isn't REALLY competing with Microsoft across the board. Apple likes charging exorbitant amounts of money for their products. And people pay it because it makes them feel elite. If everyone had a Mac, the lustre would be gone. People wouldn't be willing to pay that inflated cost anymore.
For the very same reason I doubt Macs will ever take over the proletariat consumer base en masse either. People in the lower income demographics just can't afford to...even the Mac mini didn't change that. Yet, you can go out and pick up a new PC for under $300, or a used machine for little or NOTHING, and do everything you can do on a Mac.
Mercedes and BMW don't have a goal to put one of their products in EVERY driveway either...they're perfectly happy to leave that to Toyota and Honda. And Toyota and Honda would rather sell millions of good basic cars than tens of thousands of luxury cars. While there is some crossover in their product lines (Toyota and Honda both now have luxury lines, and Mercedes and BMW also have their entry level vehicles) they generally compete amicably. And once people look past the ridiculous fanboy-ism they can see that actually Microsoft and Apple do as well (in the PC space anyway).
I mean microsoft could have bought out Apple and dismantled it a decade ago if they had really wanted to...but they didn't...
But, that's all just my opinion of course...
@Dking7
I'll be waiting to see how the HP slate performs
@NYNY
Well spoken. I'm so mad at apple for the IPad's functionality or lack thereof. I had even saved money up for it. I may end up just spending it on the MSI if it turns out to have decent performance.
@Dking7
So basically the same features and price of an iPhone 3GS.
....
Just get an iPhone and a external video adapter. Today.
@Dking7
Don't forget 720p please.
@James Sonne
..."and has peeked my interest "
I have a disorder that requires I let you know the word is "piqued". I'm sorry.
@Drais This a programming issue, at this very moment I am listening to our local sports radio station while reading this blog on my iPod touch usin the Chum radio app. If the app programmers want to find a work around they can. It just needs a bit of creative thinking. The upas is everything I wanted except for the camera. I work may not bee that interesting but it is look into the future at just what can be achieved. The next keynote will bring software and apps that will allow all kinds of possibilities.
@Dking7
It has USB ports.
We have a winRAR.
@reader1
Nothing else comes close? So like....a laptop? Or a netbook? Those things won't let you look at pictures or "read text" ? Man....thank god for this revolutionary product. What did people do before this????
People like you are funny. "All I need to do is drive from my job to my house. I don't need to go anywhere else, so I got this device that brings be straight to my job, and straight back home" And the device that will bring you to your job, and back, and anywhere else you want to go, even if you don't think you'd want to go anywhere...gives you "options", and that costs less, and performs as well if not better. You don't want that.....right.......
@Dking7
The sad thing is Steve knows this device needs a camera and multitasking and a thinner bezel and GPS and the whole lot. But it's not included so it CAN be included in the refreshes. The whole thing is so mercenary.
@recharged95 If you want a phone, sure, but if not then you might as well wait a bit and get a larger screen for less money.
Gotta love that - take possibly the world's most popular single device, give it a bigger screen, and suddenly geeks don't want it. Maybe you should all replace your monitors with 3" screens, that'll make them better right? :D
RE the above - it looks decent but with 14x less apps it won't do as much. And all that multitasking will no doubt take its toll on interface responsiveness. Ever used a 3GS and then a Droid right after? Which felt faster? Yup.
@NYNY engadget actually doesnt have a lot of good to say about the iPad though
@James Sonne There are plenty PCs that look good.
@Dking7 But it doesn't have the shiny Apple logo on it, therefore it must be worse, even when its better. You see, the rules are very simple in Engadgetland.
@JS ...any casual web browsing system should also have FLASH.
@Dking7
But will it run.....Flash?
(Yeah, Flash is the new Crysis)
@JS I respect your opinion, but disagree with your premise that desktop OS's are not good for touch devices. I have owned XP, VIsta, and Win 7 tablets, and have enjoyed using them all via finger navigation. The first thing I do with any tablet is to increase the size of the close box, menu items, task bar icons, scroll bars, etc to a size comfortable for my finger / thumb size via the standard Windows Settings feature. No registry hacks, no 3rd party apps needed, just the WYSIWYG Windows Settings feature. Since the majority of PC users use Windows, their tablet OS layout is identical to what they are familiar with on their main machines, just with touch friendly bigger UI elements. No learning curve, and no new UI interface to master. It would be nice if the tablet manufactures shipped the devices with the bigger UI elements, but it is easy to adjust.
My latest gadget is the Archos 9, the much maligned by the tech press Win 7 tablet from Archos. I am a fan of Archos devices, and have used most of their devices over the years. After completing my usual UI adjustments, the Archos 9 is a pleasure to use. Iit doesn't play graphic intensive games, and I will not edit my next movie on it, but it does its intended purpose quite well. Since it is Windows 7 Starter Edition, it does not support multi-touch, but, for me, multi-touch is gimmicky on anything less than a Microsoft Surface. Other tablets, and convertibles I have used do have multi-touch, and although it worked well, I still feel it is gimmicky on smaller devices. For fans of multi-touch, I respect your opinion, I just don't care for it on smaller screen devices.
Last night, I caught up on the iPad coverage using the Archos 9. I went to the NYTimes home page, and it looked as good as what I saw in the demo by Steve. Wait a minute, there was something different, Oh yeah, the Flash video on the front page highlighting the intro of the iPad was playing quite well on the Archos 9. I then visited several other sites that use Flash intensively to catch up on other tech news. While checking the web, my email was downloading, and then I used my favorite desktop database. I know that HTML 5 may reduce the need for Flash support in the future; however, Flash support is essential for any media / internet centric device released now since it will be quite awhile before HTML 5 support becomes as ubiquitous as Flash.
One feature all the recent Archos devices have is the built-in stand that I use daily particularly when viewing video. Apple would not include it because it detracts from the looks, but it is an extremely useful addition.
I have not used this MSI tablet, but I do own a MSI netbook. The MSI netbook is well made, has a great screen, and is a joy to use.
@Eternity
"everything is just a few hundred clicks away"
@James Sonne
But at some point functionality becomes part of the experience. In your analogy, the iPad not having flash or multitasking is like a car without wheels. You can't use it - and therefore you can't "look good using it."
Maybe Apple's car is a KetCar (the little gokart-ish things that you peddle). If you drove it around - you'd get laughed at and beat up.
@unwynd Ipad does not cost $499. It's starting @ $499 for the 16 GB (which is parthetic) plus you need to pat $130 for wifi and 3G, you don't get a camera USB port or even flash (and it ment to be an Internet device.) then what's the point your just buying a big iPod; no new features that ibook thing apple copied that from an app called classic (which comes with FREE books)
@McPOW
No Apple logo = Major Fail
MSI should stick to making its cheap little netbooks for the Windows users. That's about as far as MSI should need to go. They'll lose their shirts building tablets for cheapsters who only want to spend $300 on a computing device. They'd never be able to offer decent customer support for consumers if their plastic tablets should get damaged.
@Dking7 Ah! Take that Apple!
@James Sonne
Remember when we thought the iPod was going to flop? And the iPhone? The iPad is going to be huge! I'll see your Kindle and raise you with a more readable screen (in color) and a library to purchase your books and Steve Jobs gets Apple into the exploding e-book market for an affordable price for the device. There's something the iPad doesn't do that you wish it did? There will be an app for that. And more in the next version. More details: http://bit.ly/apple-ipad-advantages
no mulitasking for now until ver. 4.0 just like Apple's plan for copy and paste
@Dking7 Here's the thing.... No, you're not.