5It probably did not pass you without notice when today an entirely new consumer computing segment was born out of nowhere. ASUS did its trick it before with creating the netbook sgement, and now they are doing it again by launching the world’s first touchscreen tablet netbook.
The ASUS Eee PC T91, as it is called, was launched today in stores worldwide and reviews were all over the place.
ASUS Tablet gives you a wrap up of the day. Opinions were divided around the internet today. As per usual, Engadget was one of the first to hit it with a complete in-depth review. Followed by Gizmodo, Liliputing and CNET.
Design
Starting with the design of the device, most reviews agreed on one thing: this is a good looking and well thought-out product. Engadget called it attractive and very slim, Liliputing felt it had a definite sex-appeal, CNET agreed, but Gizmodo complaint about the size of the dimly-lid screen. In addition, with its barely 1 kilogram , the device feels light.
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Hardware
The performance of the device is a concern however. Engadget noticed the device sometimes responding slowly and hanging in the touch interface. Gizmodo agreed that it had sub-par hardware under the hood, even for a netbook, which are usually low-specced any way. Liliputting called its processor “sluggish” and said it ocassionaly slowed down the software interface; watching HD video on it was not recommended, as the display of the video quickly became choppy. CNET agreed that the T91’s processor was not powerful enough.
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All reviews agreed on the fact that Windows XP Home is by far not able enough to be used with this device. It is simply not prepared for touch, Liliputing agreed. However, Engadget and CNET appreciated the Touch Gate software layer, ASUS installed on the device to make XP usable with touch. Gizmodo felt it to be confusing and annoying at times and called it a “glorified app launcher”.
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Battery
Time registered was around 3 hours with high performance and 4 hours with maximum battery and low performance, according to all four reviews.
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Swivel functionality and touch screen
And now, on to its greatest selling point, the swivel screen. The T91’s screen can be turned around 180 degrees and put flat on the keyboard to form a tablet with only a touchscreen. All reviews agreed that the swivel screen feels solid and the movement happens natural and moves smoothly.
There was some discrepancy about the brightness of the screen, Engadget reported it to be brightly-lit, while Gizmodo said the opposite; it was “typically ASUS-like” dimly-lid. Did they receive different models?
All reviews mentioned the touchscreen itself worked well and was precice enough to take notes with. However, Engadget mentioned that when putting your palm on the device while writing, it registered touch there. Meaning it is not possible to write completely naturally, as you would on a notebloc.
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Price
The Engadget reviewer felt it hard to justify the cost of $499.99 for the device. Gizmodo did not mention the price. Liliputing mentioned that it was about the same for competing small touch screen tablets. While CNET appreciated ASUS’s efforts to keep the price in the netbook range (below the famous $500 netbook mark).
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Overall
With 10 negative and 13 positive reviews, it seems as though the receival of the ASUS Eee PC T91 went quite well for a first-time device in a new consumer computing segment. Remember that, except for the ASUS Eee Top, this is the first actual touchscreen personal computer device ASUS has launched. It is obvious that there will be kinks in the cable that need to be worked out. Especially the software. With the release of the touch-enabled Windows 7 yesterday however, we are sure these software problems will be ironed out.
We are looking forward to seeing its bigger brother, the ASUS Eee PC T101H hit the streets soon. It is obvious that ASUS is testing the streets with this device. Being the company that it is, it will take all the pointers reviewers and customers give them, and implement these in the T101H.
What about you?
The question that remains…are you going to get it? How did these reviews make you feel about the T91? Leave your answers in the comments as usual.
Via Engadget, Gizmodo, Liliputing and CNET.
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techie Said,
July 18, 2009 @ 4:33 am
Did you order one Brianna? If so, I look forward to seeing a review from you. It would be nice to see how reviews from real users match up to the ones on the tech sites. If you didn’t order one, are you waiting for the T101H?
Terry Said,
July 27, 2009 @ 2:40 am
I have been really exited hearing about the launch of these new products. And i want one of these babys bad.
However I feel let down about the final specs and GUI Performance. Come on 16gb solid state drive? this doesn’t leave you with a lot to work with and I’m sorry i don’t want to be wearing out SD cards just to get some decent storage.
I guess asus have created a new market segment here and are trying to gain an understanding of how these netbooks are going to be used. yes they are going to be more tactile than a laptop that will sit on a table most of its life so i can understand the SSD from that POV.
My other concern from the T91 software overview is the performance of the touch screen and the new GUI. Can the atom processor handle the resources demanded by a touch screen interface? will windows 7 be our savior?
I’m probably going to wait for the T101 just because of the screen size, I’m still not sure this will be big enough for me. The key is not to compare it to a laptop or even a desktop. I really hope these guys find themselves a market somewhere between the smart phone and the laptop. offering portability and convenience while still being practical for a range of tasks.
Asus if you are listening!! Hurry up and release in Australia
eric Said,
August 7, 2009 @ 3:28 am
overall T91 looks nice tho it seams that windows XP / IE
is not optimized for this platform its Well known that XP uses lots of memory and so does IE personaly i find that IE is way too crapy and that version 7 is winME like …
i would really like to see someone put a lightweight Linux on this machine to see how well it does.
tho i must admit that X11 (Linux’s graphical engine) has gotten a little chubby over the years .
nice review btw
ASUS Eee PC T101H release date in September 2009 “at the earliest” Said,
March 10, 2010 @ 3:04 am
[...] Slashgear reports that ASUS is using the sales of the Eee PC T91 as a prediction for the success of the T101H. The T91 was met with some strong criticism but overall it was received quite well. [...]
Buy ASUS Eee PC T91 today, but where? Said,
March 10, 2010 @ 3:47 am
[...] ASUS launched the world’s first touchscreen tablet netbook. It hit stores and reviews were quite positive. But of all retail stores worldwide, where’s the best place to get it from? Asus Tablet [...]