ASUS VivoTab RT Review
by Vivek Gowri on October 23, 2012 3:01 PM EST- Posted in
- Asus
- Mobile
- Tablets
- Windows RT
- Vivo Tab
The cameras are also pretty highly specced, with a 2MP front facing camera ready for 1080p video conferencing in addition to a backside-illuminated 8MP CMOS with a 5 element f/2.2 lens that features a hybrid IR filter. It’s pretty impressive from a technical standpoint, especially compared to Surface’s comparatively spartan 720p cameras front and back. Of course, I still believe that tablets don’t really need rear-facing cameras, but the IQ of the front facing camera is pretty great - I’m glad that manufacturers no longer are content to ship crappy VGA front facing cameras that all but ruin the point of having one. Combined with the upcoming Skype application, the VivoTab should be an excellent device for video chatting.
Weirdly though, the VivoTab RT ships with two camera applications installed. One is the standard Windows RT camera app, which is pretty spartan. The other is called ASUS Camera and adds a bunch of options, like applying filters, changing image settings like flash, white balance, focus modes, ISO, and the like. It also adds a panorama mode. Images coming out of the two applications appear to be the same, so all things considered I’d rather use ASUS Camera. The application design isn’t as clean as the included Windows one, but the additional functionality makes up for it.
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AahzNotOz - Tuesday, October 23, 2012 - link
One thing I haven't seen discussed about RT is will it play the Windows extracted Digital Copy movies you sometimes get with Blu-Ray? I know Win 8 Pro slates should be able to play them fine, but how about Win RT?KineticHummus - Tuesday, October 23, 2012 - link
Hopefully this thing can play back high profile H264 like what most people use for MKV's! I'd love to be able to take some 720p anime on the bus with me. None of the 10 inch android tablets are too interesting to me, and the nexus 7 is too small. The iPad is out of the question, it cant play my files.Urizane - Tuesday, October 23, 2012 - link
High profile H.264 in an MP4 container on an iPad...sure. I'm guessing you're just not thrilled about burning in subtitles. As far as Windows RT goes...I'm guessing MKV support is going to have to come by way of a "Modern UI" (Metro) app playing MKVs back in software (slow) rather than through the hardware accelerator. I only say that, because messing with the core components (e.g. adding a DirectShow filter) is probably not allowed out of the box, and any .AX file would have to be compiled for Windows on an ARM CPU anyway. In such a case, you're still better off with H.264 in an MP4 container, because that's guaranteed to work. The same tricks used on Windows 7 for hardware playback of MKV streams should still work in Windows 8 Pro. You might need to lean in that direction if you have a complete aversion to demuxing your MKVs and muxing them into MP4s.frozentundra123456 - Tuesday, October 23, 2012 - link
Sorry, but I guess I am not that familiar with Win RT. What can you really do on Win RT? I mean if it doesnt run x86 apps, does it run android apps, or just apps from the microsoft store?It seems like kind of in limbo to me. TBH, I really hate Android. Hundred, thousands, whatever of apps, but I have yet to find any that are useful and work well. The few useful apps that I have tried tend to have some fatal flaw such as being frustratingly slow, locking up. crashing, etc.
So if you cant run x86 apps, how is this an improvement?
Roland00Address - Wednesday, October 24, 2012 - link
When Windows RT launches there is going to be about 3000 apps in the Microsoft store.This will change with time, remember if an app is developed for the Microsoft store it will work on windows rt or windows 8 regardless of the processor in use.
Windows 7 phones launched with about 2,000 apps, it had 20,000 apps 6 months later, 40,000 apps 12 months later, and now has over a 100,000 apps.
You are going to see a similar or faster app development for windows 8 for the fact more people are going to use windows 8 then you are going to see people using windows 7 phone.
horibatech - Tuesday, October 23, 2012 - link
I dont know if it just because I have heard you talk on the podcast, but I love the 'tone' if your review. All the Anandech respectability with some Vivek flair. It's up to you, Anand, and the comments section, but I for one appreciate your candor and actually putting you opinion on the line. Keep up the good work and stay on the podcast!Death666Angel - Friday, October 26, 2012 - link
I think I'll wait until 2013 with new ARM and Intel architectures. Just feels like it is "too early" for IVB/CortexA9 Win8/RT. Haswell and A15 should do much to help with performance/battery life.BlueInAtlanta - Monday, December 31, 2012 - link
This device is the opposite of sleek. There's just too much machine around the edges and looks outdated. Still, I use it to sketch design ideas for my graphic design firm here in San Francisco. The tablet's nice display and its compatibility with AT&T's 4G LTE make it a very competitive model despite the looks.