In my regular check of availability for Windows 8 tablets and Ultrabooks I found a couple of interesting new products. The HP Envy X2 and ASUS Vivo Tab are now shipping but these are CloverTrail dockable tablets that won’t really interest anyone looking for desktop-level performance (see UMPCPortal.com for more.) For those looking for some touchscreen Windows 8 mobility with a ‘Core’ inside though, check out the MSI S20 i546 a slider with an 11.6” FullHD screen and a weight of just 1.16KG. Loaded with a Core i5 and 128GB of SSD this little gem is shipping in a number of countries in Europe now.
The price of €999 for a package like this isn’t bad at all, especially as there’s a reasonable selection of ports on-board. Two USB3.0, USB2.0, mini HDMI, SD card reader, Gigabit Ethernet and separate headphone and mic ports.
As always with lightweight Ultrabooks one must question the size of the battery inside. With a slider mechanism adding weight and reducing usable casing volume there’s not much hope for a huge battery. MSI say that the S20 will run “up to” 7hrs.
The slider design didn’t come out as the most popular of the convertible form factors in our recent poll but if you’re in the market for something that’s quickly convertible from tablet to laptop, the slider is one of the quickest.
More information on the MSI S20 Slidebook here.
Alternatives: Sony Vaio Duo 11 and Toshiba Satellite U920t
If only it had a trackpoint, non-white and a mini DisplayPort (I have cables already). What’s the dimensions? The bezels look pretty big like the Vaio Duo.
Steve, just wanted to add from personal experience rather than as an Intel employee I find that the phrase “Desktop level performance” equating to Core not Atom may not have the divide it once had. I am so impressed with Atom Clover Trail on Windows 8 that I don’t recognize it as a sub Desktop experience as I had before. Granted I have to be sure not to run too many apps, but that might be RAM, and CPU intensive apps like video & photo editing take more time to process. But other than that the experience of running most apps is relatively the same. Anyway food for thought and additional context to readers.