X-bit labs

Origami Project from Asus: Asus R2H Tablet PC Review (page 3)

Category: Mobile

by Alexander Britvin

[ 08/15/2007 | 10:03 AM ]

Exterior Design and Ergonomics

Externally, the ASUS R2H looks more like a puffed-up PDA rather than a notebook. It’s got a widescreen display in the center with buttons and positioning devices on both sides of it. The metallized texture of the front panel resembles the W2 series. The case is thick because all the hardware components of the UMPC are located behind the matrix.

Above the screen there is a 1.3-megapixel web-camera with an ASUS logo to the left and a mono microphone to the right.

To the left of the display there are (from top to bottom):

• Fingerprint scanner to boot the OS up without entering your password
• Two buttons that perform the functions of the mouse’s buttons
• Movement and Enter buttons
• Microsoft Touch Pack button to launch preinstalled UMPC-ready software
• Monophonic speaker (you have to attach an external speaker system or headphones for stereo sound)

And this is what you can see to the right of the display:

• Joystick (another alternative to the mouse)
• Up and Down buttons
• Button that allows changing UMPC parameters such as sound volume, brightness, resolution and power mode without evoking the respective Windows tools

With an Origami computer, the user has a wide choice of positioning devices each of which is near at hand, so you can use the one you like for the particular application.

The single group of status indicators is located at the bottom edge of the front panel. It includes (from left to right):

• Power indicator (alight when the device is turned on; blinking when in power-saving mode; off when the device is turned off or in sleep mode)
• Battery (alight when the battery is being recharged; off when the battery is charged or fully discharged; blinking when the battery charge is less than 10% and the device is not connected to the mains)
• Storage (shows that the hard disk is being accessed)
• Wireless (blinking when the integrated WLAN adapter is sending or receiving data packets)
• Bluetooth (alight when the Bluetooth interface is enabled)

The ASUS R2H is equipped with a 7.0” display that has a native resolution of 800x480 pixels. You can set a higher resolution to zoom into the image. The display has a glare-free matte coating with inductive technology that reacts not only to the included stylus but also to your fingers (the display of the ASUS R1F was not sensitive to your fingers, for example). The notebook being designed in UMPC form-factor, which implies a frequent tactile contact with the screen, the matrix surface has a special protective layer.

The UMPC also features ASUS Splendid Video Enhancement technology. It allows adjusting the onscreen image by means of preset modes (selectable with the Fn+C combination; the current mode can be see in the onscreen menu).

We measured the brightness and contrast of the notebook’s display using a Pantone ColorVision Spyder with OptiCAL version 3.7.8 software. We selected the highest brightness setting before this test. ASUS’ power-saving technologies are enabled in the battery mode, resulting in lower brightness and contrast values.

AC power source:

• 99.2cd/sq.m brightness, 91:1 contrast ratio

DC power source:

• 86.9cd/sq.m brightness, 65:1 contrast ratio