Tablet plus laptop is the future, it would seem. Blame Microsoft! With Windows 8 around the corner, it won’t be long before ‘tiles’ become a part of everyday life. Yes, the Metro UI in Windows 8 is better suited for tablets, and the result is the hybrid tablet
Still can’tfigure out what it is? It’s what you get when a tablet merges with a laptop. Atablet with keyboard. And no, that doesn’t make it a laptop, because you canuse it just like a tablet minus the keyboard. And yes, it is confusing at themoment. But we’ll demystify it for you. At least we’ll try to!
While mostmanufacturers should eventually offer something in this range, first off theblocks are HP, Samsung, Sony, Dell, ASUS and Toshiba. What the present devicesare offering is the ability to either separate the screen from the rest of theassembly and use it as a tablet or swivel (or slide) it to cover the keyboardand use only the tablet part. Configurationsfor the devices range from using Snapdragon S4 processors to Intel i7 chips.Note that the Snapdragon processors are typically used in mobile devices. Whilethere isn’t too much detail available about the performance of the products, itis safe to assume that these are mainly tablets that will have the optionalkeyboard for ease of use.
While some ofthe hybrids are tablet to laptop, most seem like laptops that will allow thescreen to separate and become a tablet. Some products like the Sony Duo, ASUSTaichi and Samsung Series 5 and 7 hybrids also offer a pen to work with in addition to the keyboard. What is certain is that all these devices willboast HD display, some even going as high up as 1920 x 1080 (Samsung Series 7).As is the norm with Windows devices, hardware specifications will vary, chipsin the hardware will vary (welcome Snapdragon!) and there will be multitudes ofsizes to choose from.
Of the earlymovers, the Toshiba Satellite and Sony Duo are impressive with their formfactors. Samsung is interesting since it boasts the most robust hardware whileDell offers the most versatile of these products (along with Samsung). We justwonder how odd the rest of the assembly would look sans the screen! Pricing formost of these products is not available as yet. Samsung Slate 7 is expected toretail at about Rs 66,000 (approx.) at the top end of the spectrum. So the restof the products should be somewhat affordable. Of course, this will once againopen the stage for a Mac versus Windows debate (vis-à-vis price points).
Windows 8 isscheduled to launch around October/November and expect these devices to floodthe market. While Windows 8 is receiving its share of bouquets and brickbats,the hardware makers are ready and waiting with bated breath!
