ExoPC Windows 7-based slate not coming until September, will play 1080p vids
By Joanna Stern 
posted May 6th 2010 5:17PM
posted May 6th 2010 5:17PM
posted May 6th 2010 5:17PM
powered by gdgt
Microsoft Windows 7
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Is the n450 better than the z6xx series? If not, why don't they use the Z6xx?
@st33ld13hl oh, windows can't run on z6xx series due to no pci
@st33ld13hl jSo does this have the ability to use a stylus with an active digitizer?
If not Engadget is as clueless as ever as to the whole point of running Windows 7 on a slate.... Productivity software and virtual annotation using software like OneNote.
@st33ld13hl
Z6xx is not out yet i think.
what's more z6xx is less powerfull, aimed at even smaller devices.
N450 is netbook-sized, z6xx is MID/smartphone-sized (in theory).
Still I think it's a shame, it would be very interesting to see a z6xx tablet somewhere near this summer, running Android or MeeGo maybe...
Someone listening ?
@Luxury Guy
You hit the nail right on the head wit that one, I dont see the feasibility or productivity in tablets unless they have a stylus
@Luxury Guy That's not the "whole point."
@Luxury Guy there are styluses that can be used on capacitive tablets, HTC I believe has the patent on them but they are only a few bucks a pop- you just have to have a specialty stylus with a little magnet on the tip
Yawn
(Breathe)
(choke)
@Boyo
(Die)
Well I still want the courier...
@Knightmare Me too.
@Knightmare This is going to be better than the Courier. This is the iPad killer we all have been hoping for. crApple suck on this.
@JojoMojo
A bit late to kill the iPad, don't you think?
WOW! i really like that interface. Finally somebody is stealing from the iphone and not just imitating.
@chekhonte how is that stealing from the iphone? im 100% sure having a grid of icons was around a long long time before any iwhatever products and the shape? *looks at laptop monitor* yeah im pretty sure that shape has been surrounding screens for a loooonnnng time
@chekhonte
Seriously...Grow up...not everything is derived from Apple...even if their patents imply it...ICONS have been around since ... FOREVER ...
@kapanak actually correct me if I'm wrong but Apple designed the first visual operating system and therefore invented the application icon...
Is that not true? >_>
I'm not saying this is copying the iPhone at all though. It's definitely not.
@jellotime91 Nope. Xerox actually invented the graphical operating system and invited Steve over to see it and he stole the idea.
In fact, you can see a picture of the Xerox interface pre-Apple:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Graphical_user_interface
What is also funny is that Steve was so excited about the GUI operated with a mouse that he didn't pay that much attention to their other huge invention - computer networking over Ethernet:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_Metcalfe
When people tell me that so and so copied Apple, I just remember that Apple is a thief just like the rest of them.
I still want the courier...
How long until this gets canceled?
@1 Infinite Loop Cupertino CA
That's what she said. To you.
$599 bit too much, you could get asus table pc for that price.
@techlord Tables PCs aren't exactly mobile.
@Zavrion
Table PC uh ?
Is it something you can use to browse the web when you have some very boring dinner guests?
I DON'T GET IT.
What's the point on 1080 playback if the screens resolution isn't even that high?
Some splain' these shenanigans :3
@Needsahaircut
HDMI output.
@David V
Oh okay, thanks.
@David V
Where does it say this will have HDMI output? It says it has 1080p playback, not that it can export it.
@Needsahaircut
You have a 1080p video that you downloaded, and you want to put it on a portable device to watch on a plane/train/bus. You don't have the time or knowledge to re-encode it.
Your choices are:
a) A device that can play it.
b) A device that can't.
Which would you pick?
@voodoo
The question is can the naked eye tell the difference between a 1080p video and a 720p video on a 10" screen?
The answer is no.
@Jack voodoo's point is that as 1080p becomes more prevalent, it might be hard to just download a 720p video from say iTunes or the Zune store. If this tablet can just play 1080p and then maybe even output on an hdmi out, the user doesn't have to worry about doing anything to his video (or to a lesser extent, wasting space by maintaining different copies).
@lostincake
The point is that 1080p is completely wasted on an 11" screen. Completely and totally wasted. 1080p is not prevalent yet - at all - so it's very far from being necessary. it's just one of those "a bigger number must mean it's awesome" things.
As far as HDMI output, there's nothing I've seen so far that says this tablet has it. If it does, that's great. Enjoy tethering your tablet to your TV. I'll just continue to stream HD content from my computer in the other room instead.
This is one of those "solution looking for a problem" products. 1080p is not prevalent yet, doesn't look better than 720p on its 11" screen and even if it does have HDMI output, keeping it connected to your TV is just stupid when there are so many better ways to do that.
"Wasting space" is exactly how I would describe putting a 1080p movie onto this tablet.
@Needsahaircut
The ExoPC supports wireless HD output to a display. You don't even need to a connect a cable with WiDi.
From the website: "Wireless Display - Intel WiDi HD ready"
@Jack
The hdmi connection is listed on the company's website.
@Jack
Give it up Jack, Voodoo had it right first time. It's not about being able to tell the difference, it's about being able to play the file ... and patch it through to an HDTV.
@Jack I've heard your argument before, and it never sat well with me, so I'm gonna go ahead and break it apart real quick, k?
So I did some quick math (with my stylus) based on my Android phone. It has a 3.5" 480x320 screen, and I've played videos on it before in native resolution, as well as some 320x240 video. Maybe it's just the AMOLED speaking, but I could tell the difference. Native resolution simply looked better, cleaner and crisper. What does that mean? It means that, at least at my phone's DPI, native resolution differences were visible to the naked eye.
So we do very basic Pythagorean stuff and determine how that DPI would translate to an 11" wide display. The result? My phone's DPI would extend roughly to 1580x890. Not quite 1080p, but equally far away from 720p.
Interestingly enough, demonstrations have clearly shown that people notice the difference in clarity between an 480x854 3.7" display (ala Moto Droid) and my lesser 320x480. How can this be? That's a dramatically higher DPI, on an equally tiny screen, but you contend that the naked eye can't detect any detail higher than the DPI of an 11" 720p display. The evidence seems to be against you.
But it's okay, I understand. I know where your attitude comes from--HDTVs. A couple years back, when many of us were facing the decision between 720p and 1080p TVs, the knowledgeable among us said 1080p was completely unnecessary on anything less than 40". This was good advice. After all, you're sitting several feet away from a TV--even a 28" one. The distance between yourself and the screen blurs the difference in detail, and makes it perfectly reasonable to stick with 720p. However, as anyone will tell you, the same can NOT be said of computer monitors--a 1080p 28" monitor that you're sitting only 2' away from will be more than obviously superior to 720p. What happened? Distance happened! You're closer now, and the finer aspects of the image are much more apparent.
So all of this information very nicely sits atop the reality that you're holding a slate in your hands. It will always be no more than 2' away from your face, and therefore DPI differences will always be much more apparent. The threshold at which resolution no longer "matters" is moved to a much higher bar, and you can take your HDTV-centric argument and sit on it. Nyah.
@josah
thanks for that common-sense-infused demonstration, it was very eyes opening
@josah I want one that will play 1,000,080p
@Jack
well, technically you cooouuuuld tell the difference, but you would have to be about 2mm from the screen (thats a guess not a calculation). But even on a 50" screen, to tell the difference between 1080p and 720p you have to be dramatically closer.
http://www.cnet.com/hdtv-resolution/
Looks good in size, specs, etc. If it had a Wacom pen digitizer I would buy it to take notes at school and at work (lab notebook, meetings, etc.).
@shishi all i want is a tablet that I can write on in class, and i would like it before i graduate in two years. You hear that Microsoft?!
@mdb92888 google Fujitsu ST-6012
Win 7 tablets are meh.
I've always wondered: wouldn't you have to spend all the time shutting down / restarting or waiting for hibernate like on normal PCs?
No instant-on like mobile OS's would get annoying.
@Johnny Rockets
Ever heard of Windows sleep mode?
@DazzlingD
I mentioned hibernating.
And can you honestly say it's as fast as the instantaneous on/off of webOS/Android/iPhone?
The point is still there.
@Johnny Rockets With a good laptop and SSD waking up from sleep is pretty darn close to as fast as waking up my Nexus One.
@Johnny Rockets
I see what your getting at, but bringing a win 7 machine out of sleep mode is very quick, as in less than 5 seconds quick.
At least that's how it works on my 3 year old Core2 notebook.
Your mileage may vary
@Johnny Rockets
Hibernating saves the contents of RAM to the local disk and powers the machine off. Sleep mode puts the machine into very low power mode which preserves the memory contents in RAM and allows 1-2 second wake up. My Win 7 work machine wakes as fast as my personal Macbook, which in turn is only slightly slower than my iPhone.