Tablet Hands-On Roundup
by Vivek Gowri on January 27, 2011 10:25 AM EST
We hit up T-Mobile’s keynote, and while the biggest news was the Honeycomb-based G-Slate by LG, Big Magenta also showed off the new Dell Streak 7. It’s a larger version of the previous 5” Streak that we reviewed last year, this time with a 7” screen (hence the name) and Nvidia’s Tegra 2 instead of Snapdragon. The industrial design is pretty similar to the smaller Streak, just stretched to fit the newly enlarged screen. It’s larger and thicker overall than both the Galaxy Tab and the PlayBook, and at 450 grams, it’s heavier as well.
The build quality is good, and the weight gives the system a very substantial feel. I’ve been a fan of Dell’s recent handheld products - the Venue and Streak families are well-designed, well-built products that are honestly pretty decent to use (now that the Streak has been updated to Froyo). As with the other Streak, this one has Dell’s proprietary Stage UI on it, and it’s a good bit quicker than the 5” Streak. Even with Froyo, we found that one to be a bit on the sluggish side, but given the extra power on tap here, that wasn’t a problem.
The rest of the specs are good, with an HSPA+ radio (supporting T-Mobile’s “4G” network), a 1.3MP front facing camera, a 5MP rear camera, 16GB of internal storage, 2.4GHz 802.11n, Bluetooth 2.1, GPS, and Corning’s Gorilla Glass on the screen. But there’s a big problem - the screen resolution. This is a 7” tablet with an 800 x 480 (WVGA) screen resolution in a world running at 1024 x 600. I’m guessing Dell stuck to WVGA because Stage UI didn’t scale well to WSVGA screens, but really, WVGA is considered the standard for 3.5-5” screens. On a 7” display, WVGA computes to 133 pixels per inch, which just doesn’t cut it.
Other than that though, this appears to be a well built and highly specced tablet that is one of the better Froyo tablets we’ve seen. Unfortunately, with Honeycomb on the horizon, Froyo isn’t going to cut it for much longer. Hopefully, Dell has something up its sleeve for the future.
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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