 Everything I wanted and more |
| Review Date: November 30, 2009 |
| Reviewer: Yuval Zadok, CA. USA |
After using the t91mt daily for a month, I am still very satisfied. This is an updated review with some corrections and additions.
This wonderful Tablet was also sold on Amazon in a Black & White attire, which is the one I bought about a month ago. You can find additional useful reviews there as well (use your favorite search engine look for T91MT-PU17-WT, because amazon.com only sells the all-Black one now).
Another very informative source of info about the T91MT is: http://myt91.info/
My personal learning experience with this Tablet was very satisfying . After using it for extended periods of time over the 4-day long Thanksgiving weekend, and then on my daily commute and at the office for occasional use, it easily fulfilled all of my expectations:
1. Reading any size of PDF files was a breeze. Acrobat 9 ran quickly on the T91MT. The ability to rotate the screen by pressing a button on the frame lets you chose portrait or landscape. Although it's a nice to have, I found it most useful in just reading everything in the default landscape-mode.
2. Internet use was as fast as on my dependable desktop. Both PCs access the Internet via wi-fi and downloads to the T91MT were even a bit faster than what I get on the desktop. (600 kB/sec from fast servers).
As much as I liked using Google's Chrome to browse the Inernet for over a year now, I found the Microsoft browser to be a lot better suited for a multi-touch screen. The scrolling of pages is quick to respond, and zooming is quick too (either sweesh two fingers away or toward each other, or hold one finger steady and tap with the other). The zooming on the browser only happens in some increment, and I wish it was continuous, but it still served its purpose in getting the fonts/photos to a comforable size (however I am still looking for some tweak to make it zoom to precisely where I want it to be). Some applications do support continiius zoom.
Proper usage of 'flicks' - sweeping a finger right or left will take you back or forward on the internet pages.
3. Watching videos: Whether watching a full feature film or a video clip played from a file on the local Drive, or streaming Youtube in regular or HD resolution, the Picture was smooth and nearly always jitter free. An episode of a TV Series which I played with a "VLC player" was jumpy, but once I switched to Windows Media player, the picture was smooth again.
4. Power levels: the T91Mt has several power levels. Should the video not run smoothly, or any other action not be fairly fast, it may be an indication that it is in 'power-saver' mode. To bring it back to higher power usage, simply click on the small battery icon on the the toolbar and select 'high power'.
5. Battery: with declared battery life of of 5 hours, I initially carried the charger with me to the office and back, but soon enough realized it was not necessary in my case. The t91mt still serves me for a full day's use due to realizing that I use it as one would use his cell. When needed, it comes out of 'sleep-mode' in only 3 seconds (!), ready with Internet pages and ofher forms just as I left them, and goes back to sleep instatly at the slide of a button. After repeat casual use during a full day of 5-10 minutes at a time, there is still 2+ hours of life in the battery to last me the 45 min commute back home. You can also improve on battery life by turning off un-used blueooth and other devices if you have no need for them, or keep the screen brigtness at just the right level or do other tweaks easily with ths provided power options.
7. CPU: If you are looking for a powerhouse of a multi-tasking-supporting machine that can play demanding games, then this machine (and most availale netbooks probably) are not for you. For daily use of Internet, Music playing, eReading, and other common activities, the t91mt does a great job.
8. Sound/Equalizer: You cannot expect too much from the small standard speakers on the t91mt, so the sound quality is fair. It gets far better with headphones or a good set of PC speakers where the soundcard does a great job. Both streaming audio from Pandora and mp3 on the local disk sounded great.
9. Booting / Other Comments: The initial booting+setup took ~15 min but was without any glitches. Just hang with it and reply to the prompts. Setting up the Wifi Connection was very fast. Windows 7 may be Vista based but is a pleasure to work with. Many functions are intuitive. To me it seems like Windows has really matured. Because the machine has no moving parts(except for maybe a tiny fan on the CPU?) it hardly gets warm, and is totally silent. (you can also selct 'active/passive' cooling from the power-schemes menu).
Final thoughts:
I was aware of this tablet coming out already 9 months ago, and the wait was well worth it. Asus has created a Well rounded and refined product with attention to detail, from a well laid out keyboard to a nice suite of software. I did not find any need for the Asus Gate utility and some people chose to uninstall it altogether. I exclusively used the excellent virtual keyboard, and the so easy to use stylus & notepad to write this review. It makes writing so much more 'natural'.
If you had in mind to buy any extras for the T91MT, then depending on your needs, instead of an upgrade to 2GB you may chose to go for an additional Memory Card simply because the T91MT comes with a 32 GB card but about 12 GB are taken by the system + programs software.
As with any sophisticated device, it may take a little getting used to. The T91MT normally runs fast and the display is responsive, bright and sharp. If any of these parameters are not quite so, set it to use the 'high power' scheme or find what runaway proceses may be hogging te resources.
Some reviewers take issue with 'palm rejection' but with a screen only 9" across I find my hand rests on the frame and not leaving an impression on the notepad, hence did not see a problem there-but that may be a personal take.
Initially I though I would wait for the 10" T101 by Asus, but the 9" is light & more compact and was a good choice to take anywhere especially when my daily commute requires the use of public transportation.
Day to day use also shows me that this machine is much more practical than a 'flat screen only' Tablets (which do not have a real keyboard), because you can position the screen at any angle you want it on your lap or on a desk. The hinge is VERY Solid & stays in place exactly the where you want it.
After a month of use, this tablet pretty much put my desktop 'out of work'. I am now going to use my desktop as a part of my entertainment center, by connecting the TV to the PC and Internet via its wifi, not to mention using the deskop as a replacemet for the DVD p,ayer taking advantage of fhe hdmj output from the video card.
The welcome arrival of the T91MT was indeed a game changer in more than one way for me. |
What I expected
|
| Review Date: January 4, 2010 |
| Reviewer: RJMacReady, Green Bay, WI USA |
Watch Video Here: http://www.amazon.com/review/R2NVLE1H57TFL8 This is what I was looking for in a tablet PC. Very light, small and completely silent. The processor is slow but its enough for web browsing, eBooks and DVD quality video. There occasionally was lag, but only enough to be a minor annoyance. The build is solid - I don't worry about the hinge between the screen and the rest of the computer breaking off. It lived up to its advertising for the most part, so I've given it five stars.
I included a short hands on video so you can get an idea about its performance. |
I like this machine
|
| Review Date: February 5, 2010 |
| Reviewer: Fran C, Ontario Canada |
| I wanted something more than an ebook reader but would function like an ebook reader. This is great for enjoying ebooks and also lets me use my email program and others. It is sturdy, compact and light. I enjoy travel and this makes a great companion. There is lots more I can learn about how to use it's many features, but I don't have to do that to enjoy it. Lovely sound from the speakers and a really nice clear crisp display screen. Windows 7 is much friendlier than Vista, which I have on my other computer. |
Finally, tech has hit a happy note :)
|
| Review Date: January 2, 2010 |
| Reviewer: David C. Wallace, Las Vegas, NV USA |
Personal Background(to give you a sense of how my review helps you) I consider myself a top consumer, and a big fat geek. I research everything, incessantly, prior to purchase. I immerse myself in virtually every review I can find from reputable and not so reputable sources, because usually, with an amalgamation of the knowledge I have attained and the content of these reviews I can determine the true state of a device. That is why I use a custom HTPC that has a dual core Intel Atom and NVIDIA ION instead of the Popcorn Hour C-200 I originally wanted because I decided the pain of setting up a Linux based XBMC powered HTPC was, in the end, preferable to a closed setup. I have no professional knowledge of computers as far as certifications or on the job training, I am simply a kid who started taking apart his computers at age 10, and doesn't stop until something works, or is broke beyond repair. I am by all definitions I know of, a power user. I am not tooting my own horn, I just think that Amazon's review system is lacking a easy way to determine a reviewers competence, which is understandably hard to measure, and many reviews here are mottled with user error.
That being said, the new ASUS line of Eee PC Touch computers, are great for what they are. I mean this wholeheartedly, and advise you to know what you want, need, and what you can afford. I am a scrooge when it comes to my computers, so it has taken me awhile to get into the net book game, as no device has had enough features to lure me. For semi-mobility I have a Toshiba x205-s9349 laptop which is a PITA to take anywhere as it's too heavy/hot/awkward for a lap and too powerful to get a decent amount of mobile computing time from it. I also have a q6600 desktop which currently handles file hosting, video conversion/encoding and whatever I need to do that takes a lot of time/cycles. For true mobility, I have have each iteration of the iPhone to date. For my TV I now have a Zotac ION/Atom N330 HTPC running a stripped Ubuntu that is 100% for the TV and plays everything. With the addition of T91MT I think I finally have all bases covered. The T91MT fits in my Diesel messenger bag along with my iPhone 3GS, Amazon Kindle 2, Casio Exilim Z55 5mp camera(i need to upgrade), Garmin Nuvi 765T, bag full of pens, USB drives, Wi-Fi thumb, blue-tooth thumb etc. You get the point, I'm a geek who carries everything with me. I carry it all, along with drivers so that I can use virtually any computer to do what I need. I also have a DiscGear CD holder that has an OS install disc for Linux, Windows, OSx86, various emergency discs, etc.
Most people don't have as many machines for singular purposes but there remains an ever growing need for a multitude of devices or devices that serve more and more purposes. As young as I am, 23, I still recall brick phones, car phones, and the first pocket-able cellphones that only, and barely, made phone calls. Now we have a global world where one needs access to a multitude of informational sources without being tied down.
The T91MT is a great device that will handle the needs of anyone needing a truly mobile device, without the limitations that come with most mobile devices such as a mobile phones/"smartphone"/pda. If you need to get in some solid word processing, to email a colleague, edit/finish a school report, or just send some IM's the keyboard is just fine for that. It took me less time to adapt to it than it took me to develop my thumbs of fire on the iPhone's on-screen keyboard(the key is to trust yourself, be one with the keyboard ;). You will stumble for the first few minutes, but it works, enough so that I find myself leaving tablet mode if I have to type anything more than 3 words. When I get my Lexerd screen protector I will try typing with my thumbs using the OSD, but I have huge fingers and they leave massive fingerprints.
The SSD performs satisfactorily, though my friend, mentioned above, has reported anecdotal improvements in overall performance using FlashFire the SSD speedup tool. As I figured out in my pre-purchase reading you need to run both the windows calibration tool and the asus calibration tool, and I have almost virtually perfect calibration that allows me accurate usage of everything. Also, using sticky notes I was able to confirm true to life handwriting using several of my usual boredom doodles and signature, plus random words. I don't have much experience writing on a touch screen though as my handwriting is akin to a doctors, and I don't like holding a pencil/pen/stylus, but it is fine. Also I, like one of the videos I've seen on YouTube I saved a file using the handwriting recognition, but it would take much more practice as I am more accurate with the on screen keyboard as far as data entry time.
The YouTube benchmark mostly fails as even with flash 10.1 beta 2 Active-Xfor MSIE) and plug-in(for FireFox) YouTube HQ/HD playback sucks. On FF it is useless, on MSIE it works but is just crappy FPS, but some SD YouTube does that too. So you understand, I tried watching some HULU in HD and it performed better than YouTube, but not quite perfect so it's partly YouTube, and partly what seems to be failure of flash to accelerate properly. As stated, with proper acceleration this thing can play any video you throw at it, but YouTube sucks on it. What we need, and if this exists already whoops, is a stripped down YouTube that decreases overhead. On the iPhone YouTube data is parsed into a custom optimized application, but on this net books we are forced to use a page that isnt optimized at all. I have enabled the YouTube Feather beta that is supposed to do this but I still need to figure out how to get it to actually work. Okay I'm gonna stop this review for now because my ADHD is overriding my ability to do this properly. I promise to come back with a proper review :) SD Video on YouTube via MSIE pays just fine, you just need to press F11 to remove the extras. Also right click the task bar, go to properties and set small icons so you get an XP/Vista sized small resolution friendly task-bar. So you can use it to watch YouTube at school, and you don't need HD/HQ because its a small ass screen.
Final thing for now, this device will let you play any media you need if you want to consume media mobilely(s?) whether its music, pictures, videos, emails, books, comic books, etc. You can also do all of that in tablet mode, the only thing thta works worse in tablet is YouTube, you can see the frame-rate cut in half the second you put it in tablet. And the second you life the screen to go back into notebook, and the sensor is disengaged, the FPS jumps back up which proves that the hardware acceleration is not fully working. I have tested it on the desktop and laptop I mentioned and have no performance increase either setup so I'm worried that the hardware acceleration that is supposed to come in Flash 10 is not going to be the magical problem solver of the hardware acceleration implementations that make it possible for this net book to play 1080p. So BOO YouTube and BOO adobe. Please post questions about whatever I missed because I know that I missed something obvious.
Music
Not much to say here, headphone port puts out sufficient audio, loud enough and decent quality. I would still prefer my iPhone's audio output. Apple MP3 players always seem to have the best audio output for mp3 and stuff. I'm sure any and everyone researching this sort of device all have a proper music player anyway. I must stress, that it by no means sounds bad, it is just not as good as a premium media player.
Video
Love the video playback. Hardware acceleration of all the video formats that require it ensures that I can play every video I have on this device. At the price-point it can replace a lot of devices, and its awesome at it's weight, and the screen, while obviously not perfect, is really good. I was worried that it would look bad at this price.
Pictures
Good device for looking through pictures with the multi-touch, you can view them in tablet mode with the touch screen. The fun feature is the pinch and spread which is pretty neat. I am presently looking for and app that will let you rotate like you can on the Microsoft Surface but you can rotate an image with multi-touch in Windows Photo Viewer so I am getting as many ooh's and aah's as I did with iPhone. I think if you are a shutterbug, you will like viewing your photos on this tablet.
Documents
PDF and various documents load up in nice time. I scroll through PDF's using the touch screen and it's very use-able and I am free to do so from bed or a couch anywhere in the house. Though I wouldn't want to do it for the long term, the keyboard is use-able for some word processing as you can adjust to the size of the keyboard. One thing that is a PITA is the lack of a proper bumped. There is however one on the keyboard utilizing some of the keys already there and the function key, which is better than nothing. I'm not big at reading on the computer since I have a kindle, so I can't think of what to add to this section, but was told I should.
YouTube
Example: [...] That video is the The Guild - Do You Wanna Date My Avatar music video, which is a HD mastered video which is delivered in HD as a 57.8 megabyte MP4 video. As shows in the 1080p MKV this net book plays flawlessly, the net book is capable of the video decoding which is in AVC with FULL acceleration. It is not necessarily a streaming issue as I waited for the video to fully load, and it still sucked via YouTube in HD and in SD. I downloaded the video using Orbit Downloader and the video plays back flawlessly with MPC-HC and the included version if Windows Media Player. So know that if YouTube gets their act together, which the YouTube Feather product shows they are at least attempting to do, YouTube will work in the future. If you are considering some of the closed devices like the JooJoo, which may or not work with YouTube, know that this is a device like the T91MT is a good idea because you have full control of it, nothing is impossible and can always get better in the future.
Summary: YouTube, as far as I can tell fails, at least to offer an optimal experience due to the site being too busy. Pop-over ads, the various pop ups that video authors can add, all add CPU cycles that are limited on a device like this. My experiment with YouTube in tablet/laptop mode shows that it is purely CPU.
WEB BROWSING
Web browsing is amazingly snappy. You can scroll with your finger/stylus for full iPhone style browsing, but on a bigger screen that is actually use-able long term. Without using any plug-ins, I would suggest MSIE(Internet Explorer) because as it has been revamped for Windows 7(and Windows 7 has been revamped for touchscreen navigation) it is much snappier and makes more use of the touchscreen.
NETWORK PERFORMANCE
So far I have unscientifically tested the Wi-Fi speed/range and I have no plans to test it scientifically beyond what may be measured with consumer software. The speed of connection with an AP is on par, perhaps superior, to all my current devices. The range in which the device can acquire/maintain a connection to your AP is also above par. Just scanning for Wi-Fi AP from my computer room, it found two extras that my laptop and desktop never found in the same placement. Based on signal quality, if I had access to those AP, I'm confident I could get a decent connection to at least one of them. I know they are there on the fringe because my DD-WRT routers both show the AP during a Wiviz survey. The AzureWave BGN adapter in the T91MT often gives me 20-30% better signal as per both windows tray icon and the DD-WRT web GUI, when in the same room as the router i get 95-100%(100% at the moment) whereas all my other devices are reporting 60%. At the time of the screen-shot the number matured to 65% average, which is, as pictured, 10% higher than my iPhone 3GS which is right next to it. Based on the placement of devices I think the % may not be the best way to measure signal, but it still gives an idea of its signal in relation to other devices.
In the interest of fairness, I will state that the T91MT is running on my second router Linksys 160v3 with DD-WRT v24-SP2 (11/17/09) mini in N only, which is configured as a bridge for my 1st router a Linksys 350N with DD-WRT v24-sp1 (07/27/08) mini running in G only. Both are in the 2.4GHz spectrum, channel 11 on main router, 6 on second. Both are equidistant from my desk. As far as I know, this setup gives me affordable simultaneous G/N with 7 LAN ports. Because of the G devices, I can't run the net book/router in the 40MHz width necessary to get Full 802.11N speeds on the 2.4GHz spectrum, but I still get faster than G speeds, currently reported 65.0Mbps, I can stream up to 1080p MKV to the net book. Tested using a 1080p of Serenity which is AVC Video at 7259 Kbps, DTS 5.1 1510 Kbps. The key to video playback is ensuring that you use a player that offers proper hardware acceleration. I'm using Mediaplayer Classic Home Cinema with built in codecs. It doesn't hardware accelerate AVI, but it was capable of playing SD XVID as well as some HD 720p XVID I have of star wars. You must use the EVR Vista/.NET3 renderer, the others are problematic. Also, you cant do much else while you do that, if for example an IM window popped up, or a Windows Live Messenger notification of a friend signing online, the video would lag behind, while the audio played along in time, but soon after the pop-up stops rendering the video will catch up at a very fast pace so even then its just an annoyance. So you wont be playing video in the corner while surfing the web, but I can view all my media from the bed or couch over the network. Also I have a friend who has the device who does all that plus view CBR files and he has no problems doing so. I have read a few pages of a book with it, and it's doable, though i prefer my kindle still for obvious reasons.
HARDWARE PERFORMANCE
After 3 full days with the device, using it at my desk, in bed, on the couch, in the kitchen while I cooked, in the car when I went out. I got a sense of the devices EXTREMELY annoying perfomance bottlenecks. But there is an upside, this device does all the things I mention in the review, with annoying performance issues that are not showstoppers. Starting an XVID AVI of The Big Bang Theory over my SMB protocol Windows 7 File share took the obvious 3-4 seconds longer than a local file, then proceeded to take a unique(to a stock T91MT) delay of 4-8 seconds for audio and video playback to get up to sync. Also pausing said AVI files took 1-3 seconds, and the same for resuming playback. There was also a delay when switch a video from windowed, to maximized window, to border-less full screen that was accompanied by video/audio sync issues that took up to 5 seconds each and every time to catch up. Audio, if I wasn't multi-tasking usually kept along with the clock while video sped up to catch up, so it wasnt too annoying.
All this changed on the 4Th day when I swapped out the 1GB included ram for a 2GB stick. This computer is now EXPONENTIALLY quicker in all tasks that were affected by what was apparently a RAM bottleneck. Videos start up in the same speed they do on my desktop computer if the player is opened with audio and video synced up from the start. There is no delay when maximizing the video and un-maximizing(is that a word) a moment later, i can also now browse the web/IM while a video plays in the corner of the screen which was impossible before. Prior to the upgrade, if MSN popped up a notification during a full-screened video the computer would virtually lock up for 20-30 seconds. This has been cut to about 8 seconds before you can pause the video to wait for the pop-up to dissipate. That particular issue is not a problem if you turn off those types of notifications as they are mostly useless, or just log out of MSN when you want to watch a video in full-screen.
COMPARISON TO Gigabyte T1028
Because of the processors power, which is not as lacking for regular usage as many say, and the unique capabilities of the video card for graphic acceleration this device again proves to be an awesome device. The current industry is often confusing, and devices like this offer a great alternative to other devices that aren't planned as well in that it gives you the cheapest option without any true sacrifices. It is my opinion that a faster CPU, while nice, drives the initial price point too high. This T91MT, at the time of writing is $528.34 if you use the free shipping option, and I was able to get it for 410$ from a retailer offering open-box that came in perfect retail boxing/accessories/condition. The closest competitor to this product is the Gigabyte TouchNote T1028 which is presently 688$ which is 160$ more, or 30% more.
With the T1028 you get a screen with 1.2" more viewable screen.The screen has a higher resolution which I will assume has a similar pixel size, so everything should be the same, just more text can be visible at the same size which is good, but that among other things comes at a price of 3.26lbs(1.48kg) which is significantly more than the 2.12lbs(0.96kg) which I think approaches defeating the purpose of this device. This is a personal decision, and if you are already carrying too much it could be a deal breaker. I would say this is a point to the T91MT.
You also a processor that is 268/333MHz faster(it lists two models) which is a fair thing to consider as CPU's are simply not logically upgradeable in a device like this. That CPU is roughly 25% faster, which sounds impressive as it implies things will take 1/4 less time but in practice this is not true. This device, which is called a net book is designed for that, low intensity net based activities which work fine on this processor. Also, the applications load nice and quick on the T91MT because of the SSD which will load all data at the same speeds across the disk because of the technology, and wont be affected by physical movement. But let's say for the sake of fairness that the device will feel 20% faster in anything that takes over a full second, so something will take 3 seconds to load on the T1028 for every 4 seconds it takes on the T1028. for 160$ you get a minute or more time saved on app loading and tasks over the course of the day, if money is not a concern in your purchases then the point goes to the T1028 for this.
3G mobile support in a device like this makes me angry. I haven't understood why they have added it to any of the net-books thus far. I understand that you don't want USB dongles hanging from everything, but I believe that it is unwise for a manufacturer to throw in such niche features that people would be better served adding on their own if they need it. Many of us with a net-book like this will have the option to tether via our smart-phones for which we already pay 100$ a month for as it is, and they expect me to consider it a value when they add the functionality to something like this. I say the point for offering my a more universal device without bells and whistles that are statistically less useful goes to the T91MT.
The larger HDD that utilizes the less-efficient damage-prone tradition hard disk technology in the Gigabyte T1028 is a mixed bag. It is well accepted that the most antiquated part of computers is the hard disk drive, which is the last mechanical moving part in the system. Because of the age of the technology, and the nature of the tech they simply fail at random intervals that range from months to a few years, and this is under optimal conditions which include proper cooling, shock absorption and lack of exposure to static electricity. Using a traditional HDD wipes out many of the gains from a faster CPU in that it introduces the delays from accessing data that is likely fragmented and spread around the HDD on what is already a slow HDD. Also it takes significantly more power to power the mechanics in a hard drive so this decision raised the weight because hard disk drives are heavier than SSD, and require a larger battery to get the same battery life. The battery also needs to be larger to get the same life due to the screen size.
There is also was appears to be a more powerful video card, but I am unsure if the chip of the GPU offers the same video acceleration, but let's assume it does. You aren't gonna be playing any high resource 3d games on these devices, so the extra power wont make a difference.
The T91, and now the T91MT seem to be a popular device and I believe it is because of what I have mentioned. It offers a screen that is far and away larger than any of the smart phones on the market, but is careful not to get to big so as to have decent battery life
|
MY FAVORITE (scouters out there will understand)
|
| Review Date: January 17, 2010 |
| Reviewer: Lyssa A. Wilson, Houston, TX |
I have owned my T91mt for 2 weeks now and it is my favorite computer ever. As mentioned in several other reviews - it is not a powerhouse. But for the price to have a Tablet PC - it is incredible.
It does everything I need and more. I did purchase the memory upgrade - be sure you turn the boot booster off before installing (directions in the owners manual) and I bought 32GB of extra storage space. But with that it holds everything that my old powerhouse laptop held.
The only thing I am disappointed in is how the Windows 7 handwriting input works. I had owned a hand held PC in the past and was looking forward to have the "transcriber" type of input on this computer - you don't - it is a bit awkward. Then my husband introduced me to "OneNote" it made everything better. :) I will have to write a review for Windows separately (it is still a fabulous version of Windows - I would just like a different handwriting method). BUT the computer itself is FABULOUS. |
|
No video reviews found for this product.
