ASUS Eee Slate EP121: Early Thoughts, Touch UI Caught on Video

Can’t get enough of the ASUS Eee Slate EP121? You’re in luck. The 12.1-inch slate just might be the most enjoyable Windows 7 tablet we’ve seen. Why is that? Because it runs on an Intel Core i5 processor as opposed to the simpler ARM or Qualcomm chips found in most other tablets. The more robust Intel chip helps the slender tablet run Windows 7 with promising performance. We played with Art Rage, the Eee Slate’s painting software for stylus and finger input, as well as an install of the Flash game Plants vs. Aliens on video you can watch below. Both devices worked well, though not  completely perfectly.

While we were at it, we took notes on the hardware and design. The Eee Pad Slate 121 is a tablet device, but it will ship with a Bluetooth keyboard. It also includes a stylus, HDMI output, Bluetooth 3.0, a 2MP camera, and a capacitive display with a 1280×800 resolution. Some of the hardware highlights include a spring-loaded stylus dock, a dedicated Bluetooth pairing button for the keyboard, and another hardware button to the right of the display that launches Aero Flip to slide between windows.

The Bluetooth keyboard is a point of concern though. It’s got a deep curve that looks really slick on camera, but could prove annoying in real life. Just look at the N key to see what we mean.

Unfortunately, the Asus booth was too crowded to do a full hands-on, but help yourself to all the video and snapshots below.