Hanvon's multitouch tablet previewed, surfaces in China March 25th with 1080p playback

Though cheap Android craptablets were a commodity item at CeBIT 2010, that doesn't mean we didn't find the occasional diamond in the rough. Specifically, the Hanvon Touchpad BC10C, a sleek, multitouch Windows 7 device with specs firmly entrenched in high-end netbook territory. Thanks to our friend jkkmobile, we now know exactly what's powering this thing -- a comparatively juice-gulping 1.3GHz Celeron M ULV 743 CPU and GMA4500 graphics -- and that when it comes to the US and Europe, it'll cost a little more than we thought, hovering around $877. Mind you, that price bump might be worth it when you consider just how smoothly the 10-inch tablet performs (peep 1080p video and Microsoft Surface Globe demos after the break) but also know your YouTube surfing sessions will be limited by a simply sad 3.5 hours of battery life. For when "mobile" isn't an important word in your vocabulary... the BC10C launches in China March 25th.

[benny90 Posted Mar 15th 2010 8:26AM]

Damn that thing is awesome!

I would really consider buying one but 3.5 for a tablet kinda defeats the purpose, I would want to be away from a charger for at least 5-6 hours.

[benny90 Posted Mar 15th 2010 8:35AM]

@benny90 nevermind after watching that video and seeing the speed of the device I'd gladly take the trade off!

[MaTdg Posted Mar 16th 2010 3:33PM]

@benny90 Why not buy your tablet that lasts for 5-6hours and more and get the 'real work' done on a laptop? ;)

[vitamincm Posted Mar 15th 2010 8:32AM]

Wow, it's kind of like an iPad. But with features and consumers in mind.

[MaTdg Posted Mar 15th 2010 1:15PM]

@vitamincm Features, yes. Consumers, no.

There is nothing this thing has to offer that my laptop can't do, it doesn't have great batterylife, is pretty chubby and costs way to much.

[WiesiAut Posted Mar 15th 2010 9:09AM]

if you really wanna use the web and all of it's features you can't use anything without a full desktop os. That's why i personally think this device is heading for the right direction. With devices like the ipad you'll run into impossibilitys even at lighter tasks (for example i often get compressed e-mail attachments which won't open on a iphone/ipad, or i want to watch series with extra subtitle files (what i do every day). I also prefer a device that can run firefox with mozilla weave so that my bookmarks, tabs, passwords etc. are synchronized and abp so that i don't see annoying ads. Also synchronizing with a (Windows) Desktop PC is far easier when you can use homegroups etc.

Win 7 has excellent touch features and is highly adjustable to the needs.

So the only thing to complain about this device is it's "not so stellar" battery life, but as i understand from that video, the energy saving functions of the processor are not working yet, but will allow some higher battery life in the future...

[htd Posted Mar 15th 2010 9:35AM]

nice form factor, bad cpu and price

[dxdragon Posted Mar 15th 2010 9:56AM]

@htd I think you mean bad cpu, bad weight, bad battery and horrible price.

How can they charge that much for something with netbook internals when the iPad starts at $500.00? iPad as brand name, battery life, weight, and custom apps advantage I would think that would be enough to drive the competition to lower their pricing.

[WiesiAut Posted Mar 15th 2010 7:23PM]

@dxdragon

yeah bad cpu, but a least 5 times faster than the iPad's. (when you compare ARM A8/A9 to a full Core2Solo)
2GB Ram vs. 256MB, 10 times faster GPU, 320GB HDD...

...and of course all of the windows programs offering much more possibilitys than thousands of mostly useless apps (only a few build for the iPad)

I have tried Win7 on a Multi-Touch Monitor and the OS is clearly very well built for Touch - Input.
A shame that Apple didn't manage to do this with OSX.

[harpy Posted Mar 15th 2010 9:48AM]

I'm excited to see this coming out. I doubt I'd get it unless the battery life could get up to at least 7 real hours of battery life.

They key thing for me is that I want to be able to lay on a couch while web surfing, or read a pdf in bed. I'd bought a netbook hoping that I could pull those things off with it, but it's still too heavy, too awkward and too hot.

This kind of form factor though will let me have as close to a desktop media consumption experience whether I'm on the couch, in bed or on the toilet, which is when the true revolution will begin!

[marmota Posted Mar 15th 2010 10:02AM]

how long before apple's lawyers will jump on them and sue like crazy for patent infringement?

[Pookiewood Posted Mar 15th 2010 11:13AM]

@marmota In 5....4....3...2....

[theleth1 Posted Mar 15th 2010 10:58AM]

i think i'm in love...

[Pookiewood Posted Mar 15th 2010 11:05AM]

I see people getting that iPad and then when all these other tablet devices come out they are going to see how truly limited the iPad is.

[MaTdg Posted Mar 15th 2010 2:16PM]

@Pookiewood I see you buying this thing and then cursing the short batterylife :p

[gavin721 Posted Mar 15th 2010 11:30AM]

So they say 3.5 hours... which in reality equals 1.5 to 2 if your lucky?

So much for "mobile", what a joke for nearly $900 lol. wtf

[Epyon Posted Mar 15th 2010 1:52PM]

@gavin721
If you actually watched, or paid attention to the video, JKK states that there's no power-saving enabled yet (pre-production model).
So battery life will be much better.

[WiesiAut Posted Mar 15th 2010 7:40PM]

@gavin721

JKK mentioned it's getting 3 - 3.5 hours of real usage out of it without the proper working energy saving. So i guess somewhere near 4-5 hours should be possible...

[wesh Posted Mar 15th 2010 11:52AM]

Windows needs to come up with some sort of shell over their Windows 7 for their Touch enabled devices (but not as limited as the Phone Series).
Sure, takes notes from Apple, it's the greatest form of flattery :)
No matter how smooth Win7 works with the touch, it'll still be less attractive and comfortable to use as Apple's UI on their touch devices.

Once they come up with a completely new look n feel for their touch stuffs, there'll be real competition, imo.

[thanhpluv Posted Mar 15th 2010 11:54AM]

So I'm sure this tablet will be affected by viruses easily. I rather buy ipad or an android tablet than windows tablet.

[wesh Posted Mar 15th 2010 11:58AM]

@thanhpluv
In my opinion, getting infected by viruses, depends mostly on the user.
Browse smartly and don't click/install whatever, and you'll steer clear from most threats. And all the other cases should get caught by a decent firewall/anti virus.

[WiesiAut Posted Mar 15th 2010 7:35PM]

@thanhpluv

yeah, viruses have been a great threat for win7 lately.
apple's marketing really works well.

[hj Posted Mar 16th 2010 4:30AM]

@thanhpluv
How can you be so sure? Any special powers you want us to tell about?

[thanhpluv Posted Mar 16th 2010 2:13PM]

@hj Nothing special, just my own eyes. I saw my brother struggled with viruses on his laptop last Monday even he's using windows 7. Laptop is definitely more powerful than this small device so I think buying tablet running windows 7 is not a wise choice.

[hvakrg Posted Mar 15th 2010 12:11PM]

Damn this looks amazing. This definately goes onto the list of tablets I might buy. Perfect as a hometablet, and it might even be able to replace my HTPC.

[fourzero40 Posted Mar 15th 2010 1:50PM]

Damn it. My Ipad-less list of most wanted tablets/slates just keep adding.

[kenny goo Posted Mar 15th 2010 4:07PM]

Aside for the keyboard, which needs a redesign in my opinion, this thing is a fucking beast. Swap out the Celeron for an Atom to get that battery up a bit and it's sold. Seriously this is fucking awesome. It's so smooth and it looks like such a quality device.

[MaTdg Posted Mar 15th 2010 5:12PM]

@kenny goo Hello kenny :P,

Still insist on using x86 based CPU's? ;)
This is what I mean with "ARM is more efficient".

[kenny goo Posted Mar 15th 2010 5:25PM]

@MaTdg

What can I say. I want my tablet computers that I'm going to spend hundreds of dollars on to amount to more then glorified and oversized cell phones from both a hardware and software perspective.

That's just me though.

[MaTdg Posted Mar 15th 2010 5:55PM]

@kenny goo I want my tablet that I'm going to spend max $500 on to give me a great mobile experience: long batterylife, visible screen in the sunlight, lightweight/touch optimized OS,..

For the 'real work' and dektop experience I have my laptop ;) And common, this thing is a laptop... without a keyboard :P

[kenny goo Posted Mar 15th 2010 6:26PM]

@MaTdg

Then the iPad is for you. To each his own.

[WiesiAut Posted Mar 15th 2010 7:41PM]

@kenny goo

there is a version with Atom too..

[MaTdg Posted Mar 15th 2010 9:44PM]

@kenny goo iPad? No way: to limited and to expensive. I'n not an apple fanboyyou know: I don't own a single apple product (and yes, I do have the money for it) and I think it's going to be like that for a long time.

The iPad is not the only ARM tablet out there you know ;)

[kenny goo Posted Mar 16th 2010 3:07PM]

@MaTdg

Lol. I was just being general. Just picked the most well known mobile OS and ARM powered tablet out there, and at its core that's what it sounds like you're looking for, even if it's not specifically the iPad.

[primarycloud Posted Mar 15th 2010 4:48PM]

I just see nothing that compares to the NotionInk Adam.

[MaTdg Posted Mar 15th 2010 5:20PM]

@primarycloud Not an ipad-fanboy and yet... not screaming for a windows tablet with netbook specs because 'you want flash'... +1 for you my friend :)

Notionink Adam is indeed the best tablet to be released soon imho.

[Keanedi Posted Mar 15th 2010 5:11PM]

low the price to 600, i will go and get one right away!

[Tank2007 Posted Mar 19th 2010 3:30PM]

I can't help but crack up when he says "wents" and "Vindows"

[JayQ330 Posted Apr 1st 2010 9:39PM]

oh look its not only better in every way, but the border around the screen is seems to be slimmer than 1 inch. plus has a front camera, im gonna get one....maybe.

[Trickymaster Posted May 4th 2010 10:39PM]

3 hours battery life? That's just too sad for such a great tablet.