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ASUS Eee PC T91 review wrap up

Heather — Wed, 15 Jul 2009 09:59:56 +0000

It 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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Software

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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Videos

Videos courtesy of Liliputing

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.

New hands-on video with the Asus Eee PC T91

Heather — Sun, 28 Jun 2009 16:28:59 +0000

The Asus Eee PC T91 is certainly one of the most eagerly awaited netbooks on the horizon. Netbook Choice managed to get hands-on with the 8.9-inch convertible tablet at a press event yesterday held at Lamborghini London. Overall their experience of the unit was a positive one, although they do have some reservations about the interface:

“The main problem we had is that when trying to navigate pages, the screen seemed a little unresponsive. Some commands needed a few button presses to register , as you’ll see in the video below. It has to be said though that using the stylus worked much better than our fingers. We were playing with a pre-production sample so hopefully these issues will be sorted out upon release. We do think Asus have a very nice device here but much will depend if they can nail that interface down, especially considering the steep £450 price tag. Check out our hands-on video below.”

However the size of the machine impresses them:

“What strikes you when you first catch eyes on the T91 is just how small it is. The model doesn’t have the curves that you see on the Seashell Eee PC range, the T91’s design is more ‘boxy’, but that doesn’t detract from the styling. We found the T91 to be very solidly built, with the hinge mechanism feeling quite sturdy, something that’s crucial for such a device. We noticed no creaking when pressing on the case and, despite its size; I felt that I could comfortably put the T91 into a bag without worrying about its fragility.”

Asus T91 launches in UK: hands-on review, new photos

Heather — Mon, 18 May 2009 18:52:23 +0000

The Asus Eee PC T91 has finally landed in the UK. The touchscreen works great with a stylus but not so great to control with just fingers. Included in the T91 package is Asus’ Magic Desktop which needs improvement and might be the reason for the sluggish response with fingers. The model looks great with a black glossy finish and the just as glossy screen.

Check out the entire review.

Asus T91 cleared by FCC, shows new photos of internals

Heather — Sun, 17 May 2009 17:17:23 +0000

FCC has just given the Asus T91 clearance to be sold in the US. The FCC clearance documents show us many new photos of the tablet netbook.

As you can see, the T91 does not have a user-removable battery, which is unfortunate.

The T91’s RAM is upgradeable to 2GB from the standard 1GB. It has dual SSD card reader. One is for normal usage and one is for disk expansion, to create more internal storage.

There is a SIM card slot on the GPS chip, it seems to be possible to replace the GPS chip with a 3G chip, enabling the mobile functionality of the T91.

No news from the FCC about the Asus T101H though, we hope to see that one cleared by the end of June.