Product Description
The
ASUS Eee Slate EP121 keeps you productive, entertained, and connected. Experience crisp, clear high definition entertainment on the 12.1-inch capacitive LED-backlit touchscreen display with finger or pen touch capabilities. Featuring a powerful Intel Core i5 processor and a solid state drive, experience snappy and smooth multitasking performance whether working on a PowerPoint presentation or viewing Flash content. With Windows 7 Home Premium, you can do all the same things as on your laptop or desktop with the added benefit of multi-touch and pen input. If you are at a desk, the included folio allows the EP121 to stand up and act as your display while you type on the included Bluetooth keyboard. You can also connect the EP121 to an external LED monitor via the mini HDMI port.
Product Details
- Amazon Sales Rank: #10 in Personal Computers
- Size: 64GB
- Color: White
- Brand: Asus
- Model: EP121-1A010M
- Dimensions: .67" h x 8.16" w x 12.28" l, 2.56 pounds
- CPU: Intel Core i5 1.3 GHz
- Memory: 4MB SDRAM
- Hard Disk: 64GB
- Processors: 2
- Battery type: Lithium Ion
- Display size: 12.1
Features
- 12.1" WSVGA (1280x800) Capacitive LED Touchscreen; Pen or Finger Touch; Windows 7 Home Premium (64 bit) Operating System
- Intel Core i5-470UM CPU; 4GB of DDR3 1333MHz SDRAM, 1x4GB; 1 slot, 4GB Max; Intel HD Graphics
- 64GB Solid State Drive; Wireless 802.11bgn; Bluetooth 3.0; 2.0MP Webcam; Internal Speaker; Internal Microphone
- Mini HDMI Port; 2 USB 2.0 ports; 2-in-1 Card Reader (SD & MMC); 4 Cell 34W/h Battery (Up to 3 Hours Battery Life)
- Includes Digitizer Pen; Folio Case; Bluetooth Keyboard
Customer Reviews
Well designed 
I've had the Asus Slate for about a week now, and I've put it through its paces. Overall, I'm really impressed.
Summary:
Pros
+ It's like it was was made for OneNote - stylus input and handwriting recognition are incredible
+ Screen is very bright and crisp, great viewing angles
+ Touch input experience is good as well, supports pinch zoom, etc
+ Fast, responsive, boots quick, runs Win7 apps well, good experience with office suite
+ Email and Web browsing is surprisingly easy with either touch or stylus input
+ Can handle some higher end games, though not a gaming machine
Neutral
= Was expecting it to be too heavy but was pleasantly surprised that is was not
= Was expecting the Win7 touch experience to be terrible, but it wasn't bad
= Is expensive but not bad if you compare it to a laptop with a core i5 and active digitizer
Cons
- Battery life is dismal
- Password entry is not fun, wish it had a fingerprint reader
Important tip - make sure to install the optional firmware update to the digitizer from Windows Update.
Details:
I've been keeping an eye out for a machine like this for years to use at work. I don't like using laptops to take notes. The flipped up screen and noise of typing is distracting to a conversation. This machine offers an experience like using pen and paper with all the advantages of electronic notes.
The combination of a good digitizer, the great handwriting recognition and palm reject of OneNote, and the general design of the tablet itself help make it the best machine I've seen for taking notes. The tablet is relatively heavy but still quite comfortable to hold in the palm of my hand or crook of my arm. It also rests well on a table. The stylus pops out of the tablet itself so you aren't forced to use a case (I don't). The tablet is quite thin and there is a solid border for gripping that keeps you from inadvertently touching the screen.
The screen itself looks really good - very bright and crisp. It will likely be the first thing you notice when you pick it up. Touch interface is also snappier than I expected, though the pinch zoom is not quite as smooth as the iPhone/iPad.
I was surprised with the email and browsing experience (use Outlook, Gmail, and Firefox). Clicking on links and small icons really isn't as hard as I was expecting, the touch keyboard works ok, and windows picks up handwriting pretty well. You aren't going to write a page long email easily, but there is always the ability to use a bluetooth or usb keyboard and mouse if needed.
Windows apps work fine, similar experience to a core i5 laptop. Gaming isn't too bad. Civ5 works well enough, and I would expect most puzzle and strategy games to work. Will not do as well on games where you worry about fps. Videos look great, again much like a core i5 laptop.
Wish the battery life were better. On the highest brightness setting, I get about 3hrs. I can squeeze 4-5hrs if I lower it a bit. This means I have to charge it half way through the day, which is a pain.
Password entry is also not great. You have to use the touch keyboard, and for security reasons it doesn't light up the keys. Makes it easy to screw up. Wish the tablet had a fingerprint reader or some other support for easier password entry.
Overall, I am very happy with this tablet. I'd recommend it to anyone looking for a machine to use at work or school (or at home if you use windows apps or the office suite a lot).
Observation:
I've been following the marketing from ASUS for this tablet, and I think they have it wrong. They've been comparing it to an iPad. That'd be like Toyota comparing the Prius to a sports car. It doesn't make sense. Both the Asus Slate and iPad are fun in their own way, but serve very different purposes. Use the right tool for the task.
Good Windows 7 Tablet 
I think the EP121 is the best windows tablet to date. It's well designed and performs pretty well. I plan to use these devices at work during client meetings and presentations.
What I liked:
- It's Windows 7 so we will be able to use it in a corp environment. Clients want us to use iPads but compatibility, security, and flash support just isn't there yet.
- It already comes with the keyboard and stand. Please factor that in with the price.
- Has bluetooth and many of the ports I expect to use.
- The screen is a nice size so you can demo applications or slide desks on it to a small group.
- The unit isn't heavy so you can hand it around to people.
What I don't like:
- Windows 7 touch interface isn't as good as other touch interfaces. Hopefully this will improve over time
- The cost of the ep121 will probably make it a non-mainstream device.
- If they sold this without the keyboard, I could use one I already have and save money
- Like the other reviewer said, a finger print reader would rock.
Who should buy it:
- Those that want a tablet experience AND the ability to run windows 7 applications.
- Those that want to use a tablet in a corporate environment, as this tablet should meet security requirements.
Who shouldn't buy it:
People that want to mostly surf the web, consume media files, play games, etc., should consider cheaper options available (ipads, android tablets, etc.).
Eee Slate vs iPad:
I wouldn't say that these devices compete with each other. The iPad is great for consuming content while I see the Eee Slate being more of a productivity tool. Coupled with a keyboard, the Eee Slate is basically a laptop. When Asus releases some android tablets, we'll see how well they stack up.
Amazing Windows 7 based tablet.
I got my hands on this system recently and I did play with it. I must say I am impressed with it
Pros:
+ Price includes Bluetooth KeyBoard and a folio as well. $100 value at Apple rates. Doesn't come with a docking option.
+ Comes with a digitizer Pen, which is very useful for hand written notes and also helps overcome some of the UI related issues with Win 7 (tiny icons, etc.)
+ The boot time on this system (Press the power button --> desktop is usable) is awesome: 18-19 sec (no initial POST Messages). That is faster than iPad shutdown --> desktop.
+ Media Playback is excellent whether it is H.264 or VC1 content. And the CPU does it so easily
+ Thermal: Excellent. After hours of use (media playback, streaming, etc), the bottom surface is pretty normal temperature. Absolutely no heat. Vents are the top and bottom middle. Fan exists, but is very quiet. Design is good.
+ 12.1" panel size and 1280x800 resolution are a good combination. Text on the screen looks the right size.
+ 2.5 LB: is not too heavy. A smaller size (11.6") could have made it a little lighter.
+ With all the USB, SD, mini-HDMI, etc, it can do everything your regular laptop can do.
Well it doesn't obviously address to Win 7 OS native issues - like hard to touch the window buttons, etc. But if one is looking for a Win 7 based tablet, this is an excellent choice. Also, Windows not having a Market Place like Android/Apple, the usage is still going to be PC type (Start --> Control Panel:)) So, if you don't like that, this tablet will not do any magic. You may wish Microsoft does things differently in Windows 8.
Battery Life: With a 12.1" screen size and a powerful system, you can't expect this system to be performing like iPad. But I think it can easily do 5-6 hrs of continuous use. Check out what ASUS Claims.
Well I have run quite a whole list of benchmarks on this system, but won't post those here. But with a 1.33Ghz Intel Dual Core CPU, this is an awesome system. A 699-799$-ish price tag would make the system a good deal. $1000 base price tag has little too much premium for portability and tablet form factor. that takes a star away of my review.
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ASUS Eee Slate EP121-1A010M 12.1-Inch Tablet PC, Visit HERE>
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