Review: Asus R1F Tablet
You know you want one.
You can already imagine yourself walking into a client meeting and pulling out your new, slick toy. Hear the ‘oohs and aahs’ as you swivel the screen and disengage your tablet’s stylus. Hoisting the plastic pen like a techno-geek’s Excalibur, you ready yourself to unleash your chicken scratches on an eagerly awaiting world.
Reality-check time. A tablet PC can easily cost twice as much as a regular laptop. Do you really need the functionality of a tablet? Are you going to use it enough to justify the additional costs? For the good of freelancers everywhere, I decided to find out — by purchasing my first tablet PC, the Asus R1F.
Tablet Functionality
Let’s not beat around the bush: you want to know how the tablet works and what you can use it for. After taking the brief introductory training lesson from Vista’s Welcome Center, I was ready to jump in.
Handwriting Recognition. My handwriting is bad. Chickens would be embarrassed to be associated with it. Despite that, Vista did an amazing job of translating it. My wife’s handwriting is much more stylized — and seems to change according to her mood — yet the translation was still very decent. Even in cases where the recognition was wrong it was very easy to correct, and as you continue to use it, the operating system will learn your handwriting style.
Every good review needs a hand-cameo.
Marking up your Word Documents. One of the major reasons I wanted a tablet PC was to take it into client meetings when discussing their website development. Normally, I would print out my needs analysis and write down important information. Now I can use Office 2007 and its inking feature to make notes right on my documents. It’s going to save me a ton of paper.
Freelancers are always looking for approval, aren’t they?.
Drawing in Photoshop. I have a Wacom tablet that I don’t use as much as I thought I would, so I was interested to see how well this tablet performed in Photoshop. My first impression was that I wouldn’t be throwing my Wacom away just yet. However, after discovering that Wacom makes a driver for use with other tablets, I’ve started to reconsider. With the updated driver I now have a lot of the functionality of a Wacom including pen pressure and the eraser. There was touch of lag if I really got motoring with the stylus, but overall I was very pleased with the results.
Screen Noise. Considering that you’re writing straight on to the screen, the tablet has a protective plastic and a touch sensitive covering. This creates a noticeable noise when you’re writing on the screen. You will get used to it but you may find it a little distracting if you’re doing a lot of coding or typing.
Digital Signatures. One of its neatest functions is the ability to have your client sign your contract right in the document. Be warned, however, that the legality of electronic signatures is still contested. With that in mind, it probably won’t be long before legislation is passed giving electronic signatures the same legal weight as handwritten signatures.
First thing you do when you take it out of the box, of course.Other Features of the Asus R1F
Spill-proof Keyboard. Here’s the scenario –- you’ve decided to take your work down to your local coffee shop. While you’re updating Twitter with your right hand you reach across with your left to take a sip from your coffee. While pulling your coffee to your lips you catch the bottom of the cup on the edge of your laptop. You’ve just spilled the entire contents of your mucho-grande latte all over yourself and your thousand dollar laptop. The good news is that the Asus R1F comes with a spill-proof keyboard to protect you from these occasional slip-ups.
‘Butterfingers’ Warranty. Asus provides a generous two-year standard warranty, but for Americans and Canadians, they also provide a one year accidental damage warranty. They will cover any drop, fire, water, and surge damage with no questions asked. Keep in mind that this warranty is not available if you purchased the laptop from Best Buy or The Source by Circuit City in Canada.
Weight and Noise. The Asus R1F clocks in at 2.5 kg or 5.5 lbs. It is very light on the lap but if you hold it up when using it as a tablet, as I do, you may find your arm becoming a little tired. I think I’ll have to learn to keep it flat on the desk if I’m writing for extended periods of time or make a stand for it to lean on. The noise from the tablet’s hardware is whisper quiet — unless you’ve been running it for a considerable amount of time and the fan has to kick-in full speed to keep it cool.
No Web Camera. The laptop comes with a built in microphone but no web camera. If you are thinking of doing any video conferencing you’ll have to pack a USB webcam with you.
Card Reader. Many of the standard card formats are supported on the side card reader. Sorry pre-SD memory Canon SLR users, there is no Compact Flash slot.
Conclusion
The Asus R1F Tablet PC performs excellently as a laptop and the added tablet functionality really makes it shine. There are many more good reasons to invest in a tablet PC –- I’m still looking forward to messing around in Microsoft’s OneNote –- but I hope I’ve given you an overall idea of how you can incorporate a tablet PC into your work flow.
For me, the extra cost is worth it, but if you’re buying it just because it’s ‘neat’, then it might be hard to justify the expense.
Travis King is a freelance web design and international man of mystery.
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Excellent Article! Looks like a nice machine.
I think that sleek notebook is good for clients and some writers who’s always on the go (travelers), but not for PRO designers, illustrators or photographers. The max. memory isn’t enough as well as its screen size. Cintiq still works best.
This is a fantastic article. My freelancing has picked up and it’s time for a new laptop — so naturally I’ve been curious about tablets, but no of my friends really knew anything about them. This article touched on all key points I’d been wondering about and I even learned a few things. (I had no idea it started to recognize your writing — that’s so cool!) I laughed at the part about “chickens would be embarrassed to associate with my handwriting”. Too funny.
Well done!
Welcome to the tabletscape Travis!
I’m now on my second tablet and couldn’t be happier. I did all the illustration for my first book on my tablet. Illustrators will love it.
The best part is you truly have the best of both worlds. Need the keyboard? There it is. Want to draw or mark up documents? There it is.
Rotating the screen is so easy to go from keyboard to digital ink. I usually use it in cramped quarters but there is nothing like sitting on the couch or lying in bed – computing to my hearts content in portrait mode with the pen. And friends have gotten used to my handwritten e-mails (never to clients though) since my handwriting is a little better than chicken scratch.
There are other alternatives to the standard TIP on a tablet but it is good to get started. Eventually you’ll want something more advanced but the TIP will cover 90% of your needs just starting.
Office is great for the pen but I am surprised as much as Microsoft champions tablets, it isn’t more integrated :s. You can do a lot in Office with the pen, I just thought it would be even more. Hopefully they’ll get it right in Office 14.
OneNote rocks and you’ll find you actually may use Journal more.
The only thing I don’t get is the lack of total support in Outlook. That goes to my above statement about not understanding why the signature software from Microsoft isn’t more “pen aware” as it is in Word and OneNote. You really should be able to directly write an appointment, contact, note or task using the pen in Outlook without having to use the TIP as you can in Word or OneNote.
@Renee, HP just came out with a very budget conscious tablet that retails below $1,000. It is aimed at students so you should check those back to school sales. I’ve seen it on sale here and there for as low as $899.99.
Otherwise, I got my tablets used (hello eBay) with both being below $800 so anyone can try without breaking the bank. It won’t be the latest model, but at least you get to start with a farily decent tablet and not feel guilty.
Looks very nice. But i don’t think i need the additional functionality of a tablet. A regular laptop does all the job.
Wow I wish I have a machine like that, I think that is very expensive gehh when can I buy like that. lol.. great post and great machine. Thanks for sharing.
I’m really looking into buying one of these. However, my eye has also been on the new Macbook Pro. So… i’m still not sure still what i want!!
Where do you buy one of these? Looks awesome.
With regard to electronic signatures, Bill Clinton signed a law back in 2000 that gives electronic signatures or signatures transmitted electronically the same weight as pen and paper. Several states including Georgia passed legislation backing up the Federal legislation as well. This is how you can click to accept an agreement for a mortgage online or fax an agreement without having to have an original with blue ink mailed in addition to faxing. The law does not address specific technology (e.g. digital certificates), nor the authenticity of a signature, and leaves it up to the parties conducting commerce to determine what is valid. If you’re collecting signatures on a tablet pc using a stylus there would be little to dispute since a handwriting expert could validate the signature (think Wal-Mart’s credit card machines). For those that are really concerned with the legality of electronic signatures, I would recommend including a clause in your paper contract stating what the two parties agre to be bound to electronically. I’ve dealt with clients where we exchange digital certificate thumbprints for validation of communication, while others agree that anything authorized in email is binding. You then save copies of of the emails if a dispute arises, then reference the paper contract.
I was hoping more details on using tablet pc/notebook with Photoshop or Illustrator, or even Flash (for graphic designer that is). Can you perhaps explain more on what do you mean by “motoring” and “lagging”? I am searching for a notebook that can do vector easily.
Thanks
@Nasha
Perhaps I’ll have to write another article just looking at Photoshop/Illustrator
By “motoring” and “lagging” I meant that if I was scribbling very fast the actual output would be a tiny bit behind in displaying. Nothing extreme, but certainly noticeable.
@Jesi
I imagine that some of your local electric stores should stock them. There is a newer model out, the R1E, that comes with a faster processor.
@John & Aaron
Thanks for the great info!
Also, sorry about the spelling error in my tag line. I don’t mean to say that I am the embodiment of freelance web design
I am in the same boat as Nasha, but thanks all the same for the article.
If you ever get a chance to compare it with a friend’s Modbook that would be sweet to hear about!