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iPad Mini-Style Specs, On the Cheap, In Android-Based ASUS ZenPad S 8.0
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.
If you're doing product presentations in this venues, the least I expect is an assessment on how easily a device can be rooted. Otherwise I can go to the abundant shiny press release regurgitators out there.
Why are we so slavishly stuck with x86?
When tablets first came out they threw away all the baggage, ans started fresh with a smaller and leaner platform. This gave us battery life, and finally gave us apps which were small, functional, and didn't take gigs of space.
I worry that everybody is going to try to turn these damned things back into x86 based dinosaurs, and start spec'ing out the damned things like desktops, and then we're back to the damned bloatware of old.
The x86 architecture is very old, full of stuff it probably doesn't need anymore, and is just going to encourage people to essentially treat tablets like they're desktops. And while I'm sure it's come a long way in terms of power, I just don't see why we can't keep tablets smaller and less tied to this damned architecture.
But, then again, I guess this allows everybody to be lazy and just reuse the same architecture they've had for decades and slowly turn the tablets back into low end desktops for no good reason.
Lost at C:>. Found at C.
But, then again, I guess this allows everybody to be lazy and just reuse the same architecture they've had for decades and slowly turn the tablets back into low end desktops for no good reason.
Asus could have used ARM just as easily. They chose Intel because they thought it was the best SoC for their needs, not because of the legacy x86 compatibility. Nobody is going to install DOS or Windows on these.
I assume its so that Asus can swap the OS and make a Windows version cheaply in small quantities. Doing so they qualify for the return of their patent fees for Microsofts 'inventions'.
(We learned that Samsungs settlement for Microsoft 'Patent' lawsuit was a fake payment, which was waived as long as Samsung got made Windows phones too, and when they stopped making Windows phones, Microsoft sued them for patent license fees).
I also suspect Intel gives them a price cut on PC x86 chips if they use x86 in tablets and phones because only PC makers use these x86 chips, as if there's an incentive to use them thats only available to PC makers who use Intels other x86 chips. But that would be monopoly abuse, and Intel would never do that... again... no sir.... certainly not a serial offender....
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Very happy with my Samsung 12.1 Galaxy Note Pro. But, they've discontinued it. Will Apple be the only offering this form factor? Or does it take them to legitimatize the 12" screen size?
To Copy from One is Plagiarism; To Copy from Many is Research.
I get a chuckle every time either side of the droid/apple ecosystem does an "X sucks" and then follows it up with "this Y has specs just as good as X!" comparison.
So they both suck?
Solving Unix problems since 1989...
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The only thing necessary for evil to triumph is for it to be pitted against a slightly greater evil
I have an ASUS Memo Pad 10 FHD, that has served me pretty well for just over a year. My one complaint is that the company stopped supporting it way too early (it's running Android 4.3), and this seems to be standard practice. My next tablet will be Nexus or Apple, simply because that should provide me with 2-3 years of OS updates. That little bonus is worth an extra $100 or so to me.
No, really. For some of us it's a factor.
I don't want some $500 tablet, I want a relatively cheaper tablet which has enough specs to do what I need without trying to be bleeding edge.
For some of us, the $200 price point is the sweet spot, it's not a super low end piece of garbage, but it's not a super high end thing we don't need with features we don't want.
That was pretty much how I ended up with my Nexus 7. It was right in the $199-$219 price range when I bought it, was a 'vanilla' Android, and covered what I needed it for.
Contrast that with, say, an unlocked Nexus phone these days .. which is, what, a $600 unit? Sorry, don't need one of those. An iPad mini 4 looks like it starts at over $400 where I am, and then goes up from there. That's a lot of money for what I want it for.
The affordable end of the market is probably larger than the "latest and greatest" end.
My mother in law has a Nexus 7 which she uses for everything she needs a computer for -- and she'd never spend $500 or so on a device. Never in a million years. And for a tablet, neither would I.
Lost at C:>. Found at C.