Anthony Caruana
Tuesday, 11 May 2010 21:50
Your IT -
Mobility
Page 1 of 2
A few months ago the tablet PC was a dead duck. But then Apple announced the iPad and all of a sudden the category become hot and sexy again. The Handii Tablet, running Windows 7 Professional, tries to pull back some of Apple’s momentum, addressing many of the iPad’s shortcomings but missing on some key features.
The Handii Go Generation has a last generation netbook set of specifications. Powered by an Intel Atom N270 1.6GHz processor, it’s never going to blitz the PC market with its performance. Also, our review unit was running just 1GB of memory - we’d recommend at least double that, the Go Generation’s maximum, if you’re running Windows 7 Professional unless you disable all of the Windows 7 eye candy. With some of the Aero effects like translucent title bars on we found performance to be sluggish. Some stylus taps didn’t register for two or more seconds.
When it comes to connectivity, the Go Generation delivers. There’s a D-SUB port for connecting a projector, 10/100 Ethernet, mic, headphones, two USB ports and and SD/MMC slot. The wireless LAN is 802.11b/g/n, there’s a proper Bluetooth stack that supports mobile phone tethering and file transfers and an integrated 3G radio. In this regard, the Go Generation kicks the iPad’s butt as it delivers a more complete set of integrated connectivity options than the iPad.
The Go Generation has a larger footprint than the iPad with its 10.2 inch display running at an adequate resolution of 1024x600. However, the Go Generation is almost 25mm thick and weighs in at 1kg with its removable 3500MaH Li-Ion battery.
Storage is covered off with a 160GB hard drive. Out of the box, 138GB is free and ready for you to add to the complement of pre-installed apps. Anti-virus is covered off with Avira and Skype is there as well. Interestingly, our review unit included Kindle for PC and Evernote. Handii is trying to position the Go Generation as an eBook reader although we think it’s too heavy for that specific purpose - it weighs about three times as much as a Kindle. For travelers, the inclusion of Skype is a great boon as it can take advantage of the 1.3MP camera and microphone integrated into the Go Generation’s bezel.
Evernote is a great app. It’s all about capturing those tidbits of miscellaneous, unstructured data that you come by. It allows you to store web pages, audio notes, written notes - letting you categorise them. Best of all, if you use the Go Generation while travelling and a desktop system in the office, you can sync your information in the cloud or access it by a web browser.
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