Apple iPad2 VS Asus PX-MU17-BU

[john price]

Please feel free to comment and make your own spec sheets or "correct" mine. I have allocated 30 points to Apple at the end to compensate for my bias against them.

Model Name		iPad2			1015 PX-MU17-BU			Who wins? Points?
Price			$500.00			$280.00				Asus (20) : Cheaper
Manufacturer	Apple			Asus				N/A
Screen Size		9.7”			10.1”				Asus (5) : Bigger Screen
Resolution		1024 X 768		1024 X 600			Apple (5) : Better Resolution
Processor		Apple A5		Intel N570			Asus : See below
Processor Speed	1 Ghz			1.66 Ghz			Asus (10) : More Ghz
Cores			2			2				Tie
Threads			2			4				Asus (5) : More threads
L2 cache		1 MB			1 MB				Tie
Instruction set	32 Bit			64 Bit				Asus (2) : Handles RAM better
RAM			    512 MB			   1 GB (2 GB for $15.00)		   Asus (5) : Double the RAM
RAM Type		DDR2			DDR3				Asus : Newer, faster, cheaper
Battery life	10 Hr			10 Hr				Apple : Slightly Better battery life
Capacity		16 GB SSD		250 GB Hard Disk Drive 		Asus (5) : Over 15X iPad capacity
Cameras			Front and Rear		Front only			Apple (5) : Rear camera
WiFi			a/b/g/n			b/g/n				Tie : No one uses “a”
Bluetooth		2.1 + EDR		None (Bluetooth for $15.00)	Apple (5) : No bluetooth in Asus
Microphone		Yes			Yes				Tie
Speaker			Yes			Yes				Tie
Headphone Jack	Yes			Yes				Tie
Microphone Jack	No			Yes				Asus (2)
Flash			No			Yes				Asus (5)
Card reader		No			Yes				Asus (5)
USB ports		0			3				Asus (10)
Ethernet		No			Yes				Asus (2)
Weight			1.33 LBS		2.76 LBS			Apple (5)
Upgrades Available	No			Yes				Asus (5)
OS			   iOS			Any (Win 7 starter included)	Asus (5)
Portability Ranking	10			8				Apple (10) : Can Use One handed
Supported formats	Some			All				Asus (3)
Total points		30 + 15 = 45	78 – 15 = 63		Asus : At least 15 w/ 30 Points Bias Compensation

Enjoy,
John Price

[Bear Bibeault]

Well, then you should buy the Asus. Congrats. Though I don't see the point of comparing a netbook against a tablet.

[Daniel Doboseru]

Of course ASUS would win such a contest :P Is a netbook vs tabled as Bear very good pointed If you want to make this even, compare a ASUS tablet with the iPAD (look for EEE Slate series).
Anyways, if you intend to buy one of these, I strongly suggest the iPad. Don't know about the others, but I hate netbooks, they're like laptops who s*ck big time. Want a Windows 7 with Aero? Pretty good performance. Want a HD movie? Well...it turns out to be a slideshow of frames. Want an SQL Server on it? System halt!

My point is, iPad are really cutting edge technology, of course with lot of advantages and disadvantages (see the 0.5 m cable and the need to charge it every day or often) and from what I've handled some by now, I would buy one ...but netbooks? Nah. I don't think those few hundred grams in minus with respect to laptop worth when the lack of performance is so big.

Also ....Apple is Apple

[Mohamed Sanaulla]

Seriously I dont see why you are comparing a netbook against a tablet. The usage of both is quite a lot different. Again Netbook doesnt give 10hrs of battery (I own a netbook and I know how it is).

[Jesper de Jong]

A few things:

The iPad2 has an ARM processor, the Asus an Intel Atom N570. Those processors have completely different architectures. You cannot compare their speed just by looking at the number of GHz, and the fact that the Asus has more GHz does not say anything about it being better or faster.

The fact that the Intel Atom N570 has a 64-bit instruction set also does not matter at all. It does not mean that it "handles RAM better". Since both devices have less than 4 GB RAM (the limit for 32-bit CPUs), it doesn't matter at all.

[Tim Moores]

Jesper de Jong wrote:The fact that the Intel Atom N570 has a 64-bit instruction set also does not matter at all.

While I agree with everything else you said, I take a slight exception with this. It doesn't matter as far as RAM is concerned, but a 64-bit processor can handle twice as much data in each step - that makes for faster processing for operations that aren't handled by the GPU, and where pieces of data larger than 32 bit are involved. A (not very good, but valid) example would be 64 bit integer and FP numbers. The effect of this might possibly be trumped by other factors, but it is a plus for 64 bit processors.

[Pat Farrell]

Tim Moores wrote: A (not very good, but valid) example would be 64 bit integer and FP numbers. The effect of this might possibly be trumped by other factors, but it is a plus for 64 bit processors.

While technically correct, this example is not valid for the typical netbook and/or tablet use case. Folks don't do serious computation on them, they surf the web, send email, and watch movies. The watching movies part could do better on a 64 bit chip, but everyone has the graphic card handle video, not the main CPU.

Additionally, your argument only holds if the memory is 64 bit, and all of the memory channels, controllers and other paths are all 64 bit. Lots of microcontrolers designed for low power usage have narrow paths to memory to save cost and energy.

IMHO, if you want to *use* a tablet, get an iPad. If you want to play around with one, and if you can find one a lot cheaper than the Apple, go for it. But today, all of the competing tablets want to get the same $500 as an Apple iPad, and I don't see the point. At $200, the competition may be attractive.

[Ankit Garg]

Daniel Doboseru wrote: but I hate netbooks, they're like laptops who s*ck big time.

Laptops s*ck, I strongly disagree. Notebooks s*cuck, I disagree. I personally feel notebook is better than a tablet, you at least get a keyboard (I know only like 1% people feel this way). I personally like convertible notebooks/laptops but there are not a large variety of models available