eeeSlate EP121 Owner's Lounge

So... anybody out there actually own the world's fastest Windows tablet?
It's only been on the market for what, 6 months?.. but I see no threads discussing it.

The EP121 is definitely a very niche-market PC. It has great CPU performance and fast boot and disk access with a 32/64Gb SSD and dual-core i5 in a small form factor, but the limited storage and battery life mean it's on a very short leash. The capacitive touchscreen is bright, clear and responsive while supporting multi-touch and an included stylus. A few design quirks irritate me though, such as the poorly-designed USB ports. They are EXTREMELY narrow and stiff with tethered plugs to cover the ports when not in use. Be very careful when using any sort of radio receiver or small dongle in the USB ports as you may need pliers to pull it free!

My tablet makes for a fine browser, document reader and video playback unit around the house, but there are a severe lack of accessories to complement it, I think.

The included EP121 AC adapter is very good with its USB power takeoff port to charge cellphones or iPods, honestly ALL laptop power supplies should offer this port. However I'm disappointed with Targus for still not offering a compatible power plug for their APA-series laptop chargers (we use these with all our office Dell, Toshiba and ASUS PCs, the EP121 is the ONLY ASUS model so far it is not compatible with)

I'd really like to see a better case for this model though. The included faux-leather binder is bulky and cheap-looking, I think the eeeSlate would be well-served with a simple jelly shell as available for all iPhones, Androids, Blackberries etc.

For regular office use, any tablet stand compatible with Androids or iPads should work just fine. I have a tiny easel-type stand intended for iPad use that fits the eeeSlate just fine. The included ASUS-branded MS Mobile KB 6000 is a great Bluetooth keyboard with long battery life, my only disappointment here is that ASUS did not include the numeric keypad which you get with the 6000 retail edition. Likewise to the keyboard, any Bluetooth mouse should link to the eeeSlate with no problems.

Overall the eeeSlate is a great first effort in this market and much more powerful than its only real competitor, the Acer Iconia. The Iconia has a smaller screen and lower-powered AMD CPU with no better battery life. Compared to Android tablets or the iPads, the eeeSlate stands head & shoulders above on performance and flexibility as it is a real Windows PC, as well as its 12" 720p screen vs. the other tablets' 7-10" screens; however it does fall short if you expect long battery life. This is definitely not an 'all day use' machine without plugging in several times.

 

I just bought an ASUS EP121 in Tustin California, (1,200 bucks), packed it then checked it in with my luggage to China. When I got here, it turned on just fine BUT THE SCREEN IS BLACK!!!! When I complained, the official ASUS service center gave me the standard rebooting instructions already available in the User's Manual.
I am still in China! Anyone know what to do?
extrememly frustrated.

 

I bought one of the first ones here in Canada, have had mine since Feb 2011, nothing but good things to say about it. The battery life is a bit on the short side but other than that I love it. I have the 2gb 32gb version and upgraded the ram to 4gb and the ssd to a intel 80gb one. Everyone always asks me if it's an ipad, and when I show them its a windows tablet they are really surprised.

It's too bad there won'tbe one with better cpu/gpu ect before windows 8 comes out.

 

My wife has an EP121 and it crashed with a blue screen of death, then rebooted into BIOS... since the keyboard is bluetooth, it isn't activated at the BIOS stage, so there's no way she can hit F10 to exit BIOS and continue bootup.

Whenever she shuts it down and reboots, it goes to BIOS now.

Anyone got any ideas of how to get her back up and running?

 

Update: my wife plugged in a USB keyboard and used that to exit BIOS... it reboots and comes back to BIOS once again. Bleh!