Tablet Hands-On Roundup
by Vivek Gowri on January 27, 2011 10:25 AM ESTEnspert was one of the most promising of the numerous new tablet makers we caught up with at CES. Enspert is the new name of Inbrics, a Korean company that made Android-based smartphones, and they were showing off a range of smart looking new Android tablets.
Let’s start with the S200 home phone tablet. It’s a combination of a 7” tablet and a VoIP phone, and is designed to be a media convergence hub. The tablet itself has an aluminum front face, with a white plastic backing. The build quality is solid, and the design is definitely attractive. The 7” screen has a disappointingly low 800 x 480 WVGA resolution, but is otherwise bright and has acceptable viewing angles. Interestingly, the Enspert tablets are all running Samsung’s Hummingbird SoC (1GHz Cortex A8 and PowerVR SGX 540, for those that don’t remember) with 512MB of RAM, so they’re on par with the Galaxy Tab as far as computing power goes. The rest of the spec sheet is fairly standard - 4GB ROM, SD card slot, front facing camera, mini-HDMI, mini-USB, WiFi, and Bluetooth, but the one fairly major blemish on the spec sheet is Android 2.1. Eclair was over a year ago, guys, get with the program. Enspert promises an update to Froyo shortly, but I’ll believe it when I see it.
The E201 is Enspert’s first entry to the Android tablet space, and it has the same basic configuration as the S200’s tablet. That means Hummingbird, 7” WVGA, mini-HDMI, WiFi, Bluetooth, and Android 2.1. It also has an aluminum chassis (aluminum panels instead of a unibody construction like the iPad), and is set to hit Best Buy shelves for around $200 later this quarter. For the price, it feels pretty good, but the lack of Froyo is a big deal. As with the S200, an upgrade to 2.2 is promised soon.
The newest and most promising Enspert tablet is the E301. Designed as the successor to the E201, it’s set to hit market later this year as a higher end alternative to the E201. The specs are pretty similar, with three major upgrades: a 1024x600 WSVGA 7” display, Android 2.2, and updated industrial design. It’s still an aluminum sandwich, but it’s a cleaner design that’s less reminiscent of the iPad. With the small lip on the right side and the capacitive buttons, the design is actually a bit like the OpenPeak tablet that we saw at IDF. The entire chassis is aluminum and glass, so it feels like a very high quality product. Definitely one of the more well-designed new tablets we’ve played with recently. Enspert has partnered with one of the three largest US carriers to sell the E301 for a subsidized price on the good side of $300, and if they can deliver on their promise to have Gingerbread by the time the device releases, it’ll be a very interesting addition to the 7” tablet market.
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jade_angel - Thursday, January 27, 2011 - link
"Cloud control"? Yuck. I'd really rather not have control over my TV or set-top box mediated through some random company's servers out there in Cloudland. Hello security problems, or else massive amounts of PKI ickage to secure it.Now, if it's entirely within the LAN, that might be a different story. Still a potential security issue, but not to nearly the same magnitude.
That said, I'm not convinced IR's old-and-slow nature is actually a problem for use as a TV remote (though, more bandwidth would allow unforeseen use cases). IR would also have the advantage of potentially working with existing TVs.
bupkus - Thursday, January 27, 2011 - link
Maybe Logitech has just that in mind with their universal remote, perhaps broadening that to a tablet. They charge enough for their remote now anyway.PeterS1 - Thursday, January 27, 2011 - link
Thank you for the preview on Notion Ink Adam, I am very much looking forward to a in-dept review of the Adam from the industry experts whom I trust the most.Kamen75 - Thursday, January 27, 2011 - link
The Enspert 201 tablet looks like a winner. Yes froyo is needed so let's hope it really is coming soon. I would like to see a higher resolution than 800x480 but to put that in perspective it is 133ppi, while the ipad at 9.7 inch and 1024x768 is 132ppi so text and everything else should be adequately viewable. Given it's nearly Galaxy Tab matching specs and it's $200 dollar price point this IS what a tablet should be right now. Cheap and disposable.geniekid - Thursday, January 27, 2011 - link
"2011 is the Year of the Tablet. With all due respect to the rabbit, who would have otherwise been assigned to this year..."I loled.
melgross - Thursday, January 27, 2011 - link
None of these seem impressive. If it's true that a dual CPU is required for honeycomb, then any tablet that doesn't have that is already obsolete, and not worth bothering with. That seems to cut out the majority of the tablets shown at CES. We can move on.The Notion Ink screen also looks crappy in the photos. If it's supposed to look good in sunlight, then it's a fail.
Kobaljov - Thursday, January 27, 2011 - link
Based on the experiences of the first Adam buyers, the screen is glossy, the Notion Ink offers a matte screen protector for it.(source: http://liliputing.com/2011/01/roundup-of-notion-in... )
Beenthere - Thursday, January 27, 2011 - link
...they are called TOYlets. Because they are toys.rpmurray - Friday, January 28, 2011 - link
It's TABlets, not TOYlets. A toilet is something you drink from, although its a shame you forgot to flush first.Enlightenment777 - Wednesday, February 2, 2011 - link
Apphole Toilet