8.9-inch ExoPC Slate has iPad looks, netbook internals, Windows 7 soul
Yes, we realize that it's hard to provide too much visual differentiation between tablet PCs with large, ebony bezels, but we can't help but think that this 8.9-inch multitouch tablet looks a lot like another, recently announced 9.7-inch multitouch tablet. Nevertheless this one's quite different on the inside, delivering "the web without compromise," meaning full browser support with flash courtesy of Windows 7 on an Atom N270 at 1.6GHz, with 2GB of DDR2 memory and a 32GB SSD with SD expansion. Yeah, those specs are familiar too, and while we're not thinking this will deliver the sort of snappy performance seen on the iPad, it will certainly be a lot more functional. Battery life is only four hours, but at least it's user-replaceable, and a price of $599 matches the 32GB iPad. Likewise it will be available in March -- or you can get a non-multitouch prototype for $780 right this very moment. If, that is, you speak enough French to manage the order page.
[Thanks, Jean-Baptiste]
[Thanks, Jean-Baptiste]





























@John Doe
John, the problem with people like you is; you REALLY want an Apple Ipad. Don't you?
But you want them to make it easy for your to load up all your torrented movie files, you don't want to use itunes cos you gotta pay for most of the good stuff.
That's why you're so angry. That's why you never really bothered about tablets until Apples came along. Now you want it, but it's gonna cost you.
Why not buy another tablet? There's 100s of them, and they've got a full OS and USB slots and everything! They probably suck, but nevermind!
@pukerocket
Yup, this is why you see bitching about lack of codec support. Is there any evidence this is an issue at all unless you're dealing with the type of video files downloaded via torrent? Does any legally purchased media require special codecs? I honestly would like to know, as I have never run across this problem, ever.
It's the same thing with people that complain about the lack of quality apps for the iPhone, but then say they have to jailbreak to use valuable apps. I have tons of useful, quality apps on my iPhone and have not jailbroken it. I did, however, pay for those apps. I suspect that those who complain about lack of quality apps are using only free apps and are opposed to paying a few dollars for someone's hard work. For example, Star Walk on the 3GS (the compass adds quite a bit) is one of the most wonderful programs I have had the pleasure of using on ANY system with ANY operating system.
who said this looks like the iPad?
http://failblog.files.wordpress.com/2010/01/ipad.jpg?w=500&h=500
Any tablet or slate that runs a full version of Windows 7 will be a stinking heap of failure the same as those that went before it. Non-tech consumers want nothing to do with a sluggish, virus-laden OS that will run the battery down in a tablet-sized device in couple of hours. The penny-pinching hordes of netbook users are not going to pay $499 for a tablet with no keyboard when they already own a cheap $299 device with a keyboard. Windows users alone will make any Windows tablet a heaping mound of instant failure.
It runs windows, ergo is sucks.
First commenting on the battery life. Apple said 10 hours on STANDBY not in usage, so in reality the iPad has a much lower battery life than 10 hours, maybe 6-8 hours, but not 10 hours according to their presentation where it says 10 HOURS ON STANDBY. I'm still waiting for a nice slate tablet with an active digitizer for the stylus and capacitative touch screen. Having a tablet that I can't write on with some sort of stylus defeats the purpose of a slate tablet. The iPad is not a computing tablet, merely a internet tablet, which Nokia should have captilized on long ago, but failed to do so.
@SDreamer
You should check your facts. Apple claims 10 hours of video. You were talking about standby time, which I believe is rated at 30 days or something like that for the iPad.
Nice OS if you want to have viruses and blue screens.
@kikoteixeira Never had a virus with many versions of Windows, and I see more grey screens of death, or spinning beachballs of doom than BSOD.
I would definatly buy this rather than the iPad, mostly because I have an iPhone so i basically already have an iPad
@BenRH
Yeah, the iphone has a 10 inch screen
@pukerocket
Since when do we need ten inch screens to run iPhone apps? Hence, the iPhone being a better purchase.
@BenRH
Yeh, I wont be buying a new 47 Inch LCD HD TV, cos I already have an Iphone.
Oh hang on, one of them is a phone, the other is a TV. Like one of them is a phone, n the other is an Ipad (not a phone).
I
You might well of said you would buy this rather than buying a chicken sandwich, cos I already have an Iphone. It makes no sense.
Well, hello useful.
Google translate that page!
@John Doe
its ok John, help is on the way - just look out the window for the men in white coats
FTW .. Egypt just won the African cup of nations ... for the third time in a row ... for the seventh time in history ...
EGYPT RULES AFRICA!
@amirmah No one
FTW .. Egypt just won the African cup of nations ... for the third time in a row ... for the seventh time in history ...
EGYPT RULES AFRICA!
@amirmah CARES!
We are gonna see a tonne of tablet devices this year, it's gonna follow suit with the releases of netbooks last year. Is this the biggest push we'll ever see for ultra-portable? I think it might be. I'm predicting a huge shift in opinion on the iPad by the end of the year, haterz will be loverz.
@John Doe wow man. I really don't care for Apple products either (MPB are nice machines), think the iPad is a joke, and generally have a pretty bad opinion of Apple Fanboys, but you have taken it a step too far.
In posting about the iCult, your illogical ranting and emotional arguments make you sound an awful lot like them.
Stop personalizing so much, it sounds psychotic.
Yall want some cheese with that WHINE?
Sheesh, of course mr. nobody's products should get the same level of webplay as Apples new kit. I mean, they are all equally titans in the electronics space...I mean, the world has been just drooling for this exoPc slate tablet thing (what!!?)...
Or maybe not. OOps.
PS- man some of youz iz da stoopidz
wow, the first post on my newly bookmarked "/exclude/apple" link is a tablet that is immediately compared to the ipad disfavorably, even though windows 7 ran perfectly fast on my dell mini 9 that has worse specs than this. nice, engadget. slashgear, dedicated forums (XDA/NotebookForums, etc.) and BGR are looking real appealing right now, and have been ever since the site ditched it's clean look and went for this resource-hogging flash-heavy design a few months back.
@aniym
Go over to BGR, because they aren't running any iPad stories at all. Give me a break.
Proving once again that just about any company can make a better tablet computer than Apple.
Amazing that Engadget has already determined that the performance won't be as good as the iPad. Glad to see there's no bias in tech journalism.
How can it have "iPad" looks? That's ridiculous, the iPad not even out, it was just announced.
@Tim,
IMHO your knock on the iPad for its lack of removable battery your pandering to the anti-Apple crowd. At 10 hours of battery life, the lack of a removable battery is pretty immaterial.
Come on Engadget.
Apple is not the inventor of round edges!
OH MY GOD, can't you stop with comparing stuff to apple junk when it's even earlier shown as the apple junk? the iPad looks a lot like a HP tablet... Nothing is original about the iPad, and you are better of with another brand if you want a tablet.... stop believing in the apple BS and don't be a blind sheep...
Honestly, more and more *real* tablet PCs are just going to continue to make the iPad look overpriced for what it really is: the child of an MID and E-Book. I doubt this'll have the build quality and polish of most Apple products, but it will still be more valuable given that it can do a shit load more.
Never cared for companies who don't take their time to make their own OS and just use shitty Windows OS
@mtnDewFTW
Dell, Compaq, Gateway, Toshiba, Panasonic, Acer, Alienware, Sony...
You don't really like computers much, do you?
If this was designed to be primarily a media player or a phone, I'd be with you. I can't stand windows phones; they never have the power to use it the way you'd want. The way you'd *want* to use windows is for broad range of compatibility with software and hardware. Not to mention compatibility with other OS like Linux. *shrug*
I will buy this. Unless HP's slate gets more of an official reveal anytime soon, this will probably be my next device :)
Hmm.... still, with no front camera, netbooks still win. That doesn't change the fact that iPads are in a totally different, inferior, category of devices.
If this battle were just about the hardware this would have been settled there have been plenty of decent notebook/tablet hardware platforms out there for years.
The thing that makes Apple products stand out is that they spend a lot of time designing the user experience, and that means software. With the iPhone they figured out how to make using apps on a handheld device intuitive, and with the iPad they are taking that same approach with a wider range of apps.
If you try to use a regular OS like osx or win7 on a tablet you always feel like "this would be easier if I had a mouse and keyboard" because that is what the interface was designed for, and that is why previous tablets sucked.
I wonder how many fewer reads this article would have gotten if it didn't have iPad in the title?
Any padlet device running Windows (or even OS X or Linux) will fail. No one wants that kind of complication in what's suppose to be an easy-to-use, quick, simple device. Lowest common denominator people...
@(Unverified)
Yup. I also would prefer not to have a full OS like Windows or Linux on an internet tablet. It's must the same reason why I don't want that stuff on my phone.
When I want to check Wikipedia very quickly, find out tomorrow's weather, or pull up the phone number to a Chinese restaurant, I want to just pick up something, touch the screen a few times and be done with it. It's the same reason why I'll use my iPhone for these purposes when I have a perfectly good laptop sitting right next to me.
iWant.
i bet they don't rely on magic for this one, just plain old boring technology
@ToTTenTranz
Wow! You are too funny! Actually, dimwit, I'm a loyal PC user that also owns a few iPods and an iPhone. I don't particularly like Apple as a company, in fact, they tend to piss me off more than anything. The fact of the matter is that they are a major player in the market and deserve to be heard. Hey, I thought you were leaving Engadget? Decided to stick around a bit, huh? Oh, and I'm whining about other people whining so that cancels out my whine. Now, ToTTenTranz, go away.
Does this thing have an IPS screen???????????
@zzzzz
Sounds like a personal problem. There's a whole internet out there.
Each time I return to this damn 'End'gadget site I remind myself why I keep away.
"8.9-inch ExoPC Slate has iPad looks"
It starts here and from now on, due to crappy sites like this, EVERY tablet will have a reference to the iPad, like it's the only one available. Obviously we're forgetting the many, many tablets that have gone before. Heck, why not say that the iPad looks like a smaller HP TC1100!
ExoPC is a serious contender for the Slate King title, IMO.
Here's a comparative chart - Apple iPad vs. ExoPC
http://www.techpinas.com/2010/02/exopc-slate-vs-apple-ipad-tablet-battle.html