Battery life
Battery life is the Achilles’ heel of Windows 7 tablets. Sandy Bridge processors may help this. But the EP121 processor is not Sandy Bridge.
Per the ASUS specs, the battery is lithium polymer, 34 watt/hours. The same specs rate battery life at 4.5 hours. My experience is less, 3+ hours, depending of course on parameters like screen brightness, whether WiFi or Bluetooth is on or off, etc. The MTR Review rates battery life similarly: “Asus claims the EP121 can run for up to 4.5 hours, but with brightness set to 50% and both WiFi and Bluetooth on, we average 3 to 3.5 hours on a charge. inch
Switching batteries is not an option; the battery is sealed. Therefore, you need to bring your AC adapter, which for an extra one is a whopping $99.99. On the bright side, the AC adapter, as shown in the following picture from the MTR review, is relatively small and light, and the built in USB charging port is a nice touch.
Having to bring a relatively svelte AC adapter is no big deal. The problem is that it’s not always feasible to plug in. For example, next week I have a trial in an older and therefore not computer-friendly courtroom where plugs are not readily available and the quality of the power is open to question. However, the morning and afternoon sessions each are about 3 hours, near the outer limits of the EP121’s battery life. Yes, there is tweaking I can do while using the EP121 to maximize battery life, but that distracts from the task at hand. To me, battery life is the weak link of this device.
IO Ports
The EP121 has the following IO ports:
- 2 USB 2.0
- 1 2-in-1 Audio Jack (Head Phone / Mic-in)
- 1mini HDMI port
- 1 Card Reader: MMC/ SD(SDHC/SDXC)
- 1 DC-IN
The following picture from the ASUS EP121 site shows the IO ports:
The EP121 does not have an Ethernet port. However, when I need one, I just an Ethernet to USB adapter, which works fine (once you install the driver of course).
Upgrading
I mentioned before you might consider upgrading the SSD, or even the RAM once a 6GB or 8GB stick became available. But this may not be for the faint of heart. The MTR Review tells us how:
“How do you break into the Asus to upgrade components? There are no screws or obvious points of entry since Asus didn’t design it to be opened by novices. To remove the white plastic back cover, you’ll need to pry it off, starting at the USB port area. Use a credit card or spludger tool continue working around the edges to pry off the back. It’s actually not that hard, but do watch out for the ribbon cable that runs from the motherboard to the back cover. Once you have the back off, you can access the single RAM slot (it takes standard DDR3 10666 RAM), the mini PCI network card, and mSATA SSD drive under a copper RF-shield film. To replace it, simply snap it back on by pressing on the edges where it joins the aluminum frame. inch
Hmmm … better them than me; there’s a reason my brother is a surgeon and I’m not. I still remember some heart-thumping moments years back upgrading my similarly designed Motion LS 800. But the following picture from the MTR review shows you what awaits you when your mission is (hopefully) accomplished:
Top-Notch, 'Real-World' Review of the Eee Slate EP121 by @genghiskhent http://www.umpcportal.com/?p=23687
#technology Asus Eee Slate EP121 User Review: Many thanks to Jeff Kent (Mobile Barbarian) for sending us this de… http://bit.ly/hX4LUN
Asus Eee Slate EP121 User Review: Many thanks to Jeff Kent (Mobile Barbarian) for sending us… http://goo.gl/fb/MRsQG
Great view. Thank you.
Too big, pass.
@c_davies Asus Eee Slate EP121 User Review http://bit.ly/fMH1KF You asked when it was posted on UMPC Portal
@jkendrick FYI Asus Eee Slate EP121 User Review http://bit.ly/fMH1KF My review posted on UMPC Portal
@Jenna_Ice FYI Asus Eee Slate EP121 User Review http://bit.ly/fMH1KF My review posted on UMPC Portal
@chuongvision FYI Asus Eee Slate EP121 User Review http://bit.ly/fMH1KF My review posted on UMPC Portal
OK so I’m no stranger to 12 inch Windows Tablet PCs and come to the slate form factor and tablet usage scenario from very similar perspectives as Jeff, and I really appreciated his review.
However, I balk at the “not quite a handheld†comment in the lead-in. Certainly, 12 inch slates like this are much bigger than a phone and much heavier than a phone. Certainly, I wouldn’t walk around clutching it for hours on end like a phone or using it one-handed like a phone. However, a primary design consideration that motivated the development of the slate form factor was to enable hand-held computing. Certainly, it’s pretty hard to use any 12 inch clamshell device in a purely handheld manner. You might be able to awkwardly balance the device in one hand or cradle it on one arm and then peck away at the keyboard or push around the pointing device with the other, but that’s not very practical. In contrast, it’s very, very easy to hold a device of this size and weight in one hand/arm and use your free hand to work the active digitizer or the touchscreen directly. Certainly, I wouldn’t want to do this four hours at a time, nor do I. Certainly, I wouldn’t want to do this or several minutes at a time without taking breaks, nor do I. However, it’s not just a slate. It’s also a tablet, and there aren’t many tablet applications in which away-from-the-desk scenarios would need so much constant device-in-hand time. This is why real tablets that are pure slates tend to be larger. Surely, the tablet functionality can be appealing when you’re up walking around or standing or sitting at a desk, but if you’re never up and about then you’re better off getting a purely clamshell tablet or adding a tablet peripheral to your existing desktop or clamshell. Otherwise, if you’re in need of tablet functionality and need to do computing on-your feet or away from a desk, then a slate with tablet functionality is ideal. It’s very hand-held and very productive in the hand.
Good review of the Eee Slate EP121, but that 3+ hour battery life doesn't work on thin slates. http://bit.ly/fMH1KF
Una buona recensione per Eee Slate EP121 – http://bit.ly/fMH1KF
Very good review. Looks like we finally have an affordable and powerful tablet pc. Kinda wish the battery life was better. I saw the device at Frys and liked it.
I can’t think of another Core i5 device at that weight / price ratio. Makes me interested in using it as a video editing slate.
Isn’t this kinda late? I think this came out in October and ASUS is already not starting to sell it in certain places :P
No it was just released. It’s sold out in couple places but amazon.com and newegg.com still have a few.
Last year Asus also showed the EP101tc and I was hoping that there will be a 10″ version of the EP121: bit cheaper and better battery life. But no news on that one it seems (only Android devices which all look fairly similar).
Uhh, I’m pretty sure it’s been out for a while as I was even going to buy it last year
Here’s a user review all the way from January
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=itmSlqDN20I
Listen to the video carefully, this was after CES 2011 and he just got it from Fry’s and they only started to be sold when he made the video and posted it Jan 29, 2011. In most places it was still only pre-order!
January is when it went on sale. It was officially launched and made available for preorder at CES and started shipping towards the end of January.
Surprised that this huge thing is on this site.
As I mentioned in the intro, in some respects this is ultra mobile. In terms of processing power per gram, it’s very good. Video tablet, photo editing tablet and, as the review says, production level performance.
They need to get a Sandy Bridge ULV Slider with 10.1 inch screen at the same thickness. I think its reasonable enough to do it, but such efforts aren’t done anymore.
Gigabyte might be one to watch at Computex in this respect.
We may have to wait till Ivy Bridge replaces Sandy Bridge and brings the manufacture size down to 22nm before we see real improvement on size and weight. But Ivy Bridge is going to be introduced this year and should start taking over next year…
What you don’t understand is that for high end processors, process shrinks are used for better performance. Rather than seeing equal frequency processors at lower power, we’ll see equal power usage processors with better performance.
Great review! I was actually considering a purchase of this tablet , but what stopped me is the absence of wireless WAN connection. So now I forced to wait for Fujitsu Q550 , although 12 inches screen’s mighty attractive. I use HP TM2 now, and this size of a screen is perfect for me!
I’ve owned it now for over a month, (replacing my Motion LE1400). I Love it, love it, love it! Real Tablet computing for real computer users!