For some time now the tech industry has
been holding its collective breath waiting for a touchscreen tablet to come
along and essentially blow the whole market wide open. The safe money is on
Apple and their long rumoured tablet—which may or may not be coming out this
October. After all the portable, touch-enabled format is a logical extension of
the laptop-netbook trend we’ve witnessed and as the purveyors of the most
popular touch device Apple carries a certain hubris in this area. But there’s
no guarantee of success on Apple’s part and besides ‘affordable’ isn’t exactly
an adjective one would use in reference to Cupertino’s
portable offerings. Enter Asus and their Eee T91 Touchscreen tablet.
Priced at a mere $499 the T91 is an
8.9-inch touchscreen tablet running on an Intel Atom Z520 with 1GB of RAM. Its
16GB SSD might seem to be on the low end but such restrictions inevitably keep
the T91 at its bargain price. Another area where the T91 seems a bit dated is
in the OS department. Asus has decided to go with a slightly modified version
of Windows XP Home. The results are mixed.
There is a nifty Mac-esque launcher but it
can only hold up to five icons before you’re forced to ‘unlock’ more apps via a
slider, limiting what should enhance functionality and accessibility. The T91
does add some touch-oriented software with a drawing application, as well as
other mundane apps for photos and internet radio. However, there is an added
benefit to such limited offerings. The performance of the T91 is noticeably
high. It’s responsive to the touch and accurate to the stylus strokes. And the
apps run with nary a hiccup.
Ultimately, if you’re in the market for a
touchscreen tablet the T91 should only come up on your radar if your budget ceiling
is $500. One thing to consider is given that it’s running XP the internet is
awash with compatible apps, some of which like RKLauncher and RocketDock could
easily be used to replace the more limited apps packaged with the tablet. Otherwise,
you’re better off looking at tablets that reflect current generation
technology, especially with Windows 7 around the corner and its promise of
increased touch functionality and integration.
Asus Eee T91 (including full stats)
