Visualize this: You are giving an elevator pitch on a tablet – just like in the TV ads.
Now, imagine you’re at your desk or in a hotel room accessing your company’s internal network. Are you using a tablet or a notebook PC?
Chances are you were thinking about a normal notebook PC in the second scenario, because that’s the way we work in the real world.
But in a perfect world, we would not need two devices. A single device could be both a tablet and a notebook, and be compatible with existing systems and software.
Welcome to the world of the VivoTab and VivoTab Smart, ASUS’ latest tablet-notebook hybrids.
Just like the popular Transformer tablet, both VivoTabs can morph from a tablet into a notebook PC. But unlike its Android cousin, the VivoTabs run Windows 8 on Intel Atom microprocessors. This means they can run most Windows PC based software – from your favourite PC games to enterprise business software.
Feature wise, both VivoTabs sport an 1.8MHz Intel Atom Z2760 dual-core microprocessor, 2GB RAM, 64GB internal storage, 1366×768 pixel display, Wireless LAN and Bluetooth 4.0. On top of that, they’ve thrown in an HDMI port, a mini USB, an 8-megapixel back facing camera and 2-megapixel front facing camera, and a micro SD reader. Where they differ is the screen size and accessories.
VivoTab, the bigger of the two, sports an 11.6-inch screen, Wacom stylus technology and stylus, quad speakers and optional dockable keyboard. The keyboard itself houses a full-size USB port and extra battery that extends the VivoTab battery life from 10.5 hours to 19 hours.
VivoTab Smart, on the other hand, comes with a smaller 10.1-inch screen, two speakers and does without the dockable keyboard and stylus. However, since it’s Bluetooth-enabled, you can connect any Bluetooth device ranging from a mouse to a joystick, transforming it to a notebook.
For the creative industry roadies and photographers, the VivoTabs are a dream come true. Want to do location documentation? Not a problem for VivoTab with its camera and GPS. Want to edit photos? Just load up Photoshop. Want to present a new idea to the client? Just draw it up with the stylus on CorelDRAW.
Others, like system administrators, will love VivoTab for different reasons – compatibility. Since both the tablet and traditional notebooks run Windows 8, no separate training is needed and most of the software will be compatible. This means less work and lower cost.
Mark