Samsung shows off tablet-cum-netbook convertible
Can't choose which form-factor you fancy? Have both
CES 2011 Can't decide whether you want a small notebook or a tablet? Samsung's latest lets you have both.
The rather sexy TX100, unveiled at the Consumer Electronics Shows (CES) today is a 10.1in, 1366 x 768 LCD tablet with a built in physical keyboard too. The 80-key deck slides down and forward, turning touchscreen tablet into a laptop.
Samsung's tablet-cum-notebook isn't the first of its kind. Yesterday, Asus took the wraps off a similar gadget, the Android 3.0-based Eee Pad Slider, and late last year Dell released the Inspiron Duo, a netbook convertible with a swivel display.
The Samsung machine's notebook pretensions mean it's based on an Intel Atom chip and runs Windows 7 Pro rather than the ARM'n'Android combo favoured by Samsung's Galaxy Tab tablet.
Not quite as well connected as most netbooks and notebooks, the TX100 has Wi-Fi and a Micro SD memory card slot, plus a proprietary port into which you can hook a selection of USB and HDMI adaptors.
Like the MacBook Air, the TX100 will only be offered with SSD storage: a choice of 32GB or 64GB. Ditching the HDD helps give the tablet a battery life of up to nine hours, Samsung claimed.
The TX100 goes on sale in March. Samsung didn't say what it plans to charge for the tablet-cum-notebook. ®
COMMENTS
Pretty, but...
"plus a proprietary port into which you can hook a selection of USB and HDMI adaptors"
These are portable machines. Their poor users shouldn't have to schlep adaptors around just to use USB peripherals.
Manufacturers, why do you do this? CEO's son just finished his undergraduate engineering project?
USB ain't broke!
In other news Balmer is having kittens, white and cuddly ones
And you think that Microsoft will allow that?
Let me look through the window... It wet, gloomy and only the casual Mom's taxi parked along the street. I definitely do not see Mr Lucifer taking the snowplough out of the garage and driving it to work.
Windows? Shared storage? Transition from Windows to Android at the slide of the screen panel? Yeah... right... Where did that OEM agreement go. Your Windows license fee just went up by a factor of 4 times. Have a nice day.
Fail
The reason tablets didn't take off last time is that they were running a dog of an OS (Windows tablet edition). The reason they are now taking off is IOS and Android. Windows can go wrong in so many billion ways that it's not suited to the casual sofa user.
The smart thing to do would be force it to Android mode when the keyboard is stowed, but switch to Windows when it's time to do some work. Shared storage for user content.
That looks really slick
if the price is right, I might just want to get one.
mac book air alternative
I have a 13inch mac book air purely for the weight.
This looked like a possible alternative to upgrading to the newer one this year, but with an Atom chip and windows 7 I'm not going to bother. If it had been the ARM n Android mix i would be seriously thinking about it but another good looking underpowered machines with windows is just a waste of everyone's time.
