No, there is no support for pressure sensitivity or an active stylus. There is such limited demand for such a feature that I only know of 2 tablets that offer it.
this tablet option looks interesting…I’ve really been scoping out the Surface RT a lot lately, in fact, I plan on going to my local Best Buy (sorry w00t) Sunday (tomorrow) to look at it in person
People who want to learn more about the pros and cons of Windows RT should this excellent Wikipedia entry.
This is also an excellent, less technical article.
Sadly, it sounds like hardware companies are abandoning the OS so buyer beware.
That’s never been made clear by Microsoft. When asked what RT meant, the company refused to give an answer. Many people believe that it may be related to Windows Runtime, but why would anyone want to name an operating system after that?
You aren’t alone. HP, Dell, Samsung and a whole host of others are in the same boat. Speaking of which, if Microsoft will add a 50 pound weight to these things (theirs and all of the other RT pads from the ever-shrinking list of manufacturers) they’d make fair boat anchors. Just 5 lbs more and you’ve got a doorstop.
Why!?
Can’t decide whether to go for this or wait for the Asus Transformer Book T100 coming on the 18th.
Looking for something to take class notes on, as well as for other productive uses.
Pros of VivoTab RT vs. T100
*$65 cheaper (but Factory reconditioned, see Unsure section)
*Has a rear camera
*Same storage amount
Cons of VivoTab RT vs. T100
*Windows RT is limited compared to Windows 8/Windows 8.1 (cannot add new programs?)
Unsure of Differences
*Bay Trail vs. Tegra 3
*Ports all seem about the same?
*Factory Reconditioned vs. New
*Windows RT vs. Windows 8.1 (What will I be missing out on? Will I actually miss out on downloading new programs)
*Hybrid vs. Tablet + Keyboard?
Can anyone elaborate on the ones I’m unsure of? Any other differences that might influence my decision? I’m also…not entirely sure what I want…perhaps the most functionality for the price…and perhaps which will last longest. Since it seems hardware companies are abandoning the RT…that may be a problem…
I own one and I am writing this on one right now. I have been waiting to give a review and here is my chance.
I own several tablets and I am a geek and computer tablet collector.
The Bad.
Windows RT think Windows CE, think PC jr. Almost Windows.
Like IPAD, all programs come from the Microsoft market place. The first thing is that there are very few programs and especially very few games. I tried to find out before hand what was available, but could not find it because you have to own one to see what they have. Maybe there is a link or listing but did not find it. The games and software is all very good, but if its a dollar for android, 3 for ITunes, its 5 for RT. Racing programs, Angry Birds Space is about as good as it gets. Very few games, so do not buy it if you want to collect and play games.
Bootup and battery - excellent it boots faster than any computer or tablet. Speed on the Internet is OK. Not really fast.
Internet issues. Only IE, no chrome available from the market place. It has wonkey active x and java issues. You cannot signup for Obamacare because when you try to pick your state the listing is blank. This is true for other pages like live radar at some sites, rare, but irritating. The back button sometimes does not work or is delayed. Some sites are very slow.
Email, will not connect to Outook if you do not have a certificate. Note: Outlook is rumored to be a part of 8.1 upgrade.
Work- Microsoft spent a billion dollars on an advertisement showing a bunch of people at work jumping around on tables with clicky keyboard. For work, this product is dead on arrival. Unlike Apple who has been trying to take an IPAD a home product and turn it into a corporate tool, Microsoft has done everything to make this home only. Will not connect to corporate networks. Once they found people were using a usb to network cable converter they disabled it last January. Wireless only and no corporate connections. Home only.
Keyboard, is small, but you can get use to it but it is on a negative side.
Camera, colors are bad, but maybe I need to adjust it or maybe it is me.
No slingbox
Half of the 32 gigs is OS and backup and unusable. This has 16 gig available. I wonder how much will be left in three years of patches.
Unusual power cable, where did I leave it, it is always buried under the micro usb cables that work with all my other tablets for charging. Good luck keeping track of the usb converter for the tablet when it is not connected to the keyboard. I have not looked, but no real case for the tablet alone, and just some universal cases for the keyboard and screen bundle.
The good
I use it every morning, it powers up fast and I am on the Internet in a minute. I only charge it once a week and a true long distance flying machine with really great battery life, the best of any device I own. The few times I have ever taken it off the keyboard I am amazed at what a great stand alone tablet it is by size and weight.
The sdhc expansion card is fast and adds storage for media, pictures and documents. I spent $17 for 32 gig.
The sound is ok, and you won’t get hearing loss from the volume.
Basic MS home office is good and better than anything you find in IOS or Droid, it is just like the real thing. Using web Outlook to work and viewing and editing files works great.
You can get the orginal Microsoft tablet for close to the same price without the keyboard. It has slightly better rating. To get their lame squishey flexible keyboard it will cost half the price at about $150 extra. The way the keyboard folds up into a mini laptop configuration is really good.
Nice screen, good colors, much better than the Acer W3 - however the W3 is regular windows 8.
The bottom line, if you wait you will be get it cheaper or one of the other RT tablets cheaper in the future. If you only play a few games like solitaire, angry birds, or a high graphics adventure once in awhile. Good choice. For basic Internet it is good, but you may need another system because you might not be able to get some sites to work.
Basic office, gmail, etc it is good.
Then of course it has the bipolar Windows 8 experience with two different Internet explorers.
NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO Surface RT runs RT… Surface pro runs Full windows 8!
I don’t know where the dallas cowboys spell correction came from, sorry - Anyway the Microsoft flexible keyboard sucks and this one is ok.
How would this compare to a low-end ($300) laptop for yer basic internet stuff? I looked at this Windows RT 8.1 review and it looks kind of acceptable?
I’d have to disagree on the demand for it. Also, the non RT version of this tablet has the Wacom Digitizer, which is why I asked. I think there are 4 tablets that I know of that have a digitizer, and any person in the graphic arts field would probably want one. I think the reason it is uncommon is because Wacom is releasing their own tablet and is probably trying to keep the number of competing tablets to a minimum.
It’s funny that nobody ever knocks Apple or Android mobile devices for not running desktop software. Somehow because this product has a “Windows” mobile platform, the expectation is that it should do everything that a desktop computer can do.
Skip both. Literally any windows 8 tablet j&d better than RT. It takes the one advantage ms might have and tosses it out the window. The lynx windows 8 is cheaper and all current 8 tablets will be too once the new line of chips hit.
I don’t understand why people keep knocking the RT for not running full Windows Programs. Do you buy Android tablets then complain that you can only run Android apps and not full blown Android programs? Do you buy iPads and complain that you can’t run full blown Apple programs?
If you want to run full blown Windows programs then buy a Surface Pro or a computer. The RT is a tablet and should be compared with other tablets not computers.
Forgive me for pointing out things from 3-4 years ago, but (aside from gaming and touch screens) how are these really a lot different from the sub-notebooks or “netbooks” offered a few years ago?
I have two: an Aspire and an eMachine (same company) running Windows 7 (or Linux, dual-boot) with 250 GB hard drives and nice keyboards, SD card slots, USB, VGA out, etc. Sorry, no HD out.
One came from WOOT as a refurb and the other was a clearance item at Wally World well under $200.
I use them for everything from digital audio recording to Netflix. If I had only one portable item to own, including my iPad2 and droid tablet, I would choose either of the little laptops.
Try to avoid dead-end technology.
When you get this it will not come with outlook, but the free Windows RT 8.1 upgrade that is coming on Oct 18th is going to include Outlook as part of that office package so you will end up with it.
I’d think long and hard before buying anything associated with Windows RT. Asus itself gave up on RT in August:
Just a couple of days ago, Dell dumped it as well, for the same reasons:
That leaves Microsoft itself as the only company still supporting RT, and their mobile business isn’t exactly booming either. Basically, RT is dying and it’s pretty unlikely that much software will be developed for it past this point. Lack of software compared to iOS and Android has always been a big problem for RT and that will now only get worse. Not a great time to blow $300 on an RT machine by any means.
-Bay trail is an x86 processor vs the ARM processor that the tegra 3 is. The difference there is that the ARM processors run Windows RT and all x86 processors runs full Windows 8 which is your traditional desktop/laptop OS.
-Yes, the ports are the same as a standard computer and the built in drivers will work with most peripherals that people are used to plugging into a traditional PC. i.e thumb drives, digital cameras, even printers.
-Factory reconditioned, in most cases is just a tiny notch below new. The warranties are usually not a full one due to them being not new but the product has been returned to as close to new as possible and verified to work by the manufacturer themselves (in this case Asus)
-RT vs Windows 8.1 is this. Windows 8 will run all programs you have been used to using since the beginning of windows in addition to the new start screen and the Windows app store(think touch enabled apps like would be found on an iPad or android tablet). Windows RT is only the start screen and app store with the added inclusion of Office (it’s basically MS’s tablet OS with some added functionality). The nice thing there is though, if you have a windows 8 computer/laptop and an RT tablet your apps, skydrive data, personalization settings, IE favorites and such sync over using your MS live account so you have everything available to you on the tablet that you would have been using at home.
-A hybrid tends to be the term for describing a laptop form factor that can transform into a tablet form factor whether through being 2 separate pieces, folding back on itself as in the Lenovo yoga or several other form factors being offered by Dell, Sony, Acer or Toshibe. They have all offered their own take on the hybrid form factor whereas this device on sale is a tablet and keyboard.
Hope that explains it.