MSI Will Launch iPad Alternative

itwbennett writes "Underwhelmed by the iPad? Don't give up on tablets just yet, says blogger Peter Smith. MSI has a tablet coming in the second half of 2010 that measures up on price and size and addresses a lot of the iPad's most noted shortcomings. 'The iPad runs iPhone OS while the MSI runs Android,' writes Smith. 'That means the MSI will multitask of course, and Flash support in Android should be a given by launch time (though that isn't certain). It has a camera. It's running on an Nvidia Tegra2 chip which Ars Technica suggests puts it on par with the iPad's A4 as far as computing horsepower. And of course Android doesn't live in a walled garden.'" The post notes that the MSI device does not support multitouch in its built-in apps. Still, would an Android-powered iPad-alike tempt you?

Update: 01/29 17:58 GMT by KD : Dave Altavilla suggests Hot Hardware's coverage of Asus's recently announced tablet, also based on the Tegra2 chip.

Comments

Not really

[stoolpigeon]

I've yet to see a compelling reason to pay more for a tablet. My Acer Aspire cost less than any tablet I've seen yet but does quite a bit more. The only thing it is missing is the touch component but I have yet to find an app that makes me care.
 
If someone comes out with a tablet that is prices competitively with notebooks and has the same level of features, I'd think about it more seriously.

Re:Not really

[Lumpy]

For about $79.00 and a couple of hours of work you can make your Acer Aspire one touchscreen. I found a kit on ebay and made it fit.

it's not hard. give you touch which is actually really nice considering how crappy trackpad pointing is.

Re:Not really

[AnotherShep]

Y'know, I love my netbook, but there are some times that it really just doesn't do it for me. Like in a yaris, at night, while someone else is driving down a gravel road. The position you're in is uncomfortable. The keyboard is awkward. The trackpad is tiny and useless when you're bouncing around.

It's not always how much something does, it's how easy it is to use. I'm going to be watching this very closely.

Re:Not really

[brian0918]

For less money, you could get yourself one of these. I bet it's also more user-friendly than either the trackpad or a touchscreen.

Re:Not really

[rotide]

I'm excited about this announcement. I was also on the "iPad sucks" bandwagon but not necessarily because it's "cool" to hate on Apple.

To explain.

I'm in the market for a new portable computer. I've been looking at netbooks, etc. (Currently I do _not_ own a smartphone.)

Requirements:
Full web surfing capability. This means, even for all it's evils, Flash capability. Hulu, Netflix, Web TV, etc.

I don't need gaming, or at least "real" gaming. I don't need it to run Crysis, or even Quake. Some fun puzzles, etc, would be nice.

Bluetooth support and video camera abilities for video conferencing would be a plus, but not required.

Basically, when I'm out on vacation, etc, I want to be able to read the news, slashdot, gaming sites, etc. I also want to be able to watch Hulu if I get bored and want to chill to a missed TV show at night. Being able to pay bills/access my bank account is very very handy.

DVD playing functionality is a plus, but not required (especially since it would eat into battery life). The ability to connect an external drive would be very nice though (portable movie player).

_No_ _vendor_ _lock_ _in_. No apple store only and no AT&T only.

WiFi alone is fine by the way. A separate data plan just seems, redundant even if you can use it while outside of WiFi range.

But again, I don't have a portable computer right now and I don't need a full blown laptop to do what I need. But I do want an open platform that does what I need it to.

iPad does _not_ fit _my_ bill.
This new device _might_.
One of the other "iPad clones" may as well.

Re:Not really

[Lumpy]

A tablet? Too big to use one-handed or with thumbs, and no tilting screen.

I tilt my tablet all the time, why cant you tilt a tablet?

also I dare you to annotate an electrical diagram or blueprints on your phone with a client. OR better yet, take notes at a meeting. Everyone else is writing on their legal pad, I write on my tablet. I dont have to go to my desk afterwards and then get those notes into my system. In fact I can email my notes to others instantly with my 3G connection in the WWAN card or use the WLAN connection.

Stop trying to use a tablet as a PC and a lot opens up.

But when is fewer too few?

[langelgjm]

You make a valid point - Slashdot is not the market segment Apple is aiming at with the iPad. Rather, it's the woman in my class whom I overhead saying "I was thinking about getting a Kindle, but now I might get the iPad - it looks cooler and can do more stuff" or my buddy whom I saw last night saying "The iPad looks so cool, and it's CHEAP! [for an Apple product]"

Problem is, I pointed out to my friend that since the iPad lacks flash, he won't be able to watch Hulu on it. He was very disappointed to hear this. Unless, of course, Hulu releases an iPhone/iPad app. There was a rumor about that last year, but nothing solid so far. ATT complains that the iPhone is already killing their network, think they will really want to let Hulu on the iPhone? How will Apple feel about Hulu as a potential competitor to iTunes? Yeah, there are other streaming apps, but still.

Re:Productivity

[shutdown -p now]

If you want a real word processor or spreadsheet, then just bite the bullet and get N900 - it can actually run OpenOffice (UI not optimized for small screen, though... but still usable). So far as I know, this is unmatched by any competitor today, and none of them have plans to get anywhere even close in near future.

iPad vs $300 Netbook

[Enderandrew]

1.0 Ghz processor versus 1.66 Ghz processor
128 MB of RAM (assumed like iPhone, not explicitly stated in specs) versus 1024 MB of RAM
16 GB of storage versus 160 GB of storage
No webcam versus a webcam
No keyboard versus a keyboard
No Flash veruss Flash
No multi-tasking versus multi-tasking
No Windows or Linux apps versus install whatever you want
$500 versus $300.

The iPad does have a touchscreen. Does that offset the $200 and all other disadvantages?

Re:I've had a long-running problem

[Anonymous Coward]

Does your wife get into a car and complain that it doesn't drive itself? Or that back a few miles ago it didn't even bother steering around that poor pedestrian, just plowed right through?

Congratulations on b). Picking beauty over intelligence probably was a mistake. Which is why /. doesn't care about your wife.

Re:I can see you're great with non-tech

[TheGreek]

As with the iPod touch/iPhone if you are accessing Facebook and want to look up a contact, you have to quit safari and start the address book app, then to go back you have to start up safari again and wait for it to load facebook AGAIN.

1) Safari stays active in the background.

2) Use the Facebook app.

[I]t amazes me that Apple has dumbed down people's expectations of what computers are to such a degree that almost everyone on slashdot celebrates their crappiness instead of condemning it.

It amazes me that Windows and Linux have dumbed down peoples' expectations of what user interaction is to such a degree that most everyone on Slashdot celebrates shitty UI instead of condemning it.