ASUS Eee Slate EP121 tablet to be released in Australia on 15 April
- — 02 March, 2011 11:04
ASUS today announced that its 12.1in tablet, the Eee Slate EP121, will be released in Australia on 15 April at a cost of $1499. The ASUS Eee Slate EP121 will have a 1280x800, LED-backlit capacitive touchscreen and it will weigh around 1.16kg. Using WACOM technology, it will be able to support both finger touch and pen input, which will make it appeal to users who want good handwriting and drawing capabilities.
The Eee Slate will run Windows 7 Home Premium and have beefy specifications: it will run an Intel Core i5-470UM CPU, 2GB of 4GB of DDR SDRAM, integrated Intel graphics and a 64GB solid-state drive. The Eee Slate will resemble a real computer without a built-in keyboard, rather than an iPad, as it will have plenty of inputs around its edges, including two USB 2.0 ports, HDMI, a 2-in1 audio jack and an SD card slot. You'll also get 802.11n W-Fi and Blutooth 3.0. It will run a 4-cell battery with a rating of 34 Watt-hours, which ASUS claims will be good for a life of four and a half hours, as tested in 3DMark Reader mode.
The screen is said to have a technology similar to IPS (in-plane switching) called Advanced Fringe Field Switching, which will help provide wide viewing angles from the sides. ASUS claims viewing angles of 178 degrees. Users who want to be productive with the ASUS Eee Slate EP121 won't have to put up with a virtual keyboard, as the tablet will ship with a full-sized Bluetooth keyboard by default.
Steve Guggenheimer, corporate vice-president of the OEM division at Microsoft, said of the ASUS Eee Slate Ep121, "this unique PC provides a great combination of productivity, entertainment and social networking that we believe delivers a no-compromise mobile computing solution."
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Comments
disappointedASUS
1
Have been following this since it was rumoured and eagerly awaiting release but $1499AUD?! While the same machine / specs selling on Amazon for $1099USD, cmon whats the excuse for the near 40% premium when our dollar hovers around parity? I was reaaaally looking fwd to this slate but if ASUS Oz is going to ream us over price im going to either import or buy something else. I hope the reported pricing is a mistake.. /rant over
alsoDisappointed
2
A$1,499! Move along, nothing to see here.
john195
3
Get it on ebay from the US, or you will be ripped-off.
Elizabeth van Aswegen
4
I am also interested in one of these
my friend bought hers at harvey norman for $799