Asus Eee Pad tablet: two versions announced

CULV processor, 10-hour battery, 12-inch screen

Mobile computing News

By Adam Hartley and Dave James

May 31st 2010 | Tell us what you think [ 1 comments ]

Asus unveils Windows 7 Eee Pad PC with 10-hour battery life

Asus has finally unveiled its Windows 7 Eee Pad tablet PC, featuring an Intel CULV processor and a 10-hour battery life.It's the first big news to come out of this year's Computex show taking place in Taipei, Taiwan this week.

The device wants to provide users with a 'real-time, real life and real human' cloud computing experience according to Asus chairman Johnnie Shih.

It comes in two flavours; the 12-inch EP121 powered by an Intel ultra low voltage Intel Core 2 Duo CPU, and runs Windows 7 Home Premium. You can either use it as a standard slate or plug it in to a keyboard docking station to make it more netbook savvy. It's also got a purported ten hours of battery life. To be honest we'd rather the Windows 7 had been a little more customised and could deliver the sort of instant-on performance we get from a certain other tablet in the wild.

But the second version, the 10-inch EP101TC could well get close to delivering on that, sporting as it does Windows Embedded Compact 7. It looks to offer a smart, touch-based solution without the standard Windows 7 desktop.

Couple that with Asus' upcoming, Windows-friendly, app store for its new range of products and the EeePad could make a bit of a niche for itself. Still, the Android Marketplace is far more mature and with possible Google-powered tablets tipping up in the next few days it could be a difficult sell.

Keyboard and dock add-on

Asus is also offering a dock and keyboard for Eee Pad consumers that might want to use the machine as a media tablet and a regular laptop for home and work use.

Asus' Eee Pad will no doubt appeal to PC fans familiar with Microsoft's Windows 7 operating system. The machine will also be capable of Skype-ing with its integrated webcam and will feature at least USB port. Two connectivity features notably absent on Apple's recently-launched iPad.

The range of Eee Pads will cost US consumers anything from $399 to $499 and they should be available early 2011. No word from Asus on UK launch plans as yet.