FIRST IMPRESSIONS: Asus Eee Slate EP121 – huge Windows 7 tablet

On sale from 6th April in the UK, we grabbed a quick hands-on with the Windows 7 Asus EP121 Slate.

At £999 you’d expect some seriously impressive specs and it has them:

Key specs:
– Intel i5 chip – a 2.66GHz quad-core power monster
– 12.1inch Gorilla Glass screen
– Windows 7 Home Premium (64bit)
– 2 megapixel front-facing camera
– Stylus
– 4GB RAM
– 64GB memory

Our first impressions:

1) My god it’s big: that 12 inch screen makes it feel like someone ripped a monitor off a laptop.

2) It’s also quite heavy: this isn’t the sort of thing you could whip out of your coat pocket – it’s quite thick (17mm) and heavy, and need cooler vents to make sure that power-hungry i5 chip is kept cool.

3) Battery life is so-so: with a quad core chip, a big bright screen and running normal Windows 7, this tablet eats battery power. It has a measly 2.5 hr battery life: not great next to the iPad’s 9 hours, or the Transformer’s 16 hours.

4) Windows 7 works fine with touch, but it is not an intuitive interface: Note that this is Windows 7 for PC, not Windows Mobile 7 – which has a lovely user interface. I’m a PC user so I’m used to those awkward browser windows – the menu options etc, but compared to the Android and Apple’s iOS, it’s fiddly and frustrating.

5) Powerful: to the positives – it really is quick. Windows burst open immediately, tools like paint are lightening quick. It’s like a desktop computer just with a touch screen. I imagine video editing and other memory intensive tasks would be a speedy pleasure.

6) Surprisingly great for graphics and visual work: With the stylus, huge screen and powerful chip, the Eee Slate is actually going to be good for graphics – architects etc. I had this down as businessman’s tablet, but it could be a powerful tool for the creative industries.

7) Contains the kitchen sink: Asus get one over on Apple here – this has 2 USB ports, a mini HDMI port, a headphones port, Flash of course, and will be compatible and shareable with your PC at home and at work.

For more more pictures click through the gallery below…