iPad Mini-Style Specs, On the Cheap, In Android-Based ASUS ZenPad S 8.0

Posted by timothy on Thursday September 17, 2015 @12:57AM from the depends-what-you-want dept.

MojoKid writes: The ASUS ZenPad S 8.0 is a well-designed Android tablet based on an Intel X86 platform that boasts better specs than the iPad mini 3 in many areas and is also less expensive. As configured, the ZenPad S 8.0 Z580CA has an MSRP of $299, which is $99 less than the 16GB iPad mini 3, and $199 less than 64GB model. However, it's based on a quad-core Intel Atom Z3580 processor, 4GB of RAM, 64GB of internal storage, and modern amenities like 802.11ac Wi-Fi, a USB Type-C port and a 2048X1536 IPS display. A 2GB RAM and 32GB variant can be found for $199 as well. In the benchmarks, the ZenPad S 8.0 handles pretty well, offering middle-of-the-pack performance in both standard CPU tests as well as gaming, in addition to running the latest version of Android Lollipop.

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Literally nothing to see here by Anonymous Coward · 2015-09-17 01:30 · Score: 3, Interesting

This is a slashvertisment, please move along.
Re:Why x86? by dfghjk · 2015-09-17 01:40 · Score: 4, Interesting

"The x86 architecture is very old..."
In addition to all the stupid stuff that others have already responded to, I'll point out that ARM is also very old. It clearly upsets you that x86 competes successfully on a level playing field...but the news gets worse, your fresh architectural savior in ARM is a dinosaur as well.
Re:Why x86? by Guspaz · 2015-09-17 01:57 · Score: 4, Interesting

So? The instruction decoder makes up such a tiny part of a modern CPU that the instruction set is largely irrelevant in terms of efficiency.