VivoTab Smart ME400

It looks great, and I had the chance to try one a few weeks ago (in-store). It's a nice device, really, but the customer support on ASUS'part scares me off in buying one of their produtcs again.

(My main gripe with the 700 is the docking mechanism, and they seem to have used another type on the VivoTab. Still.. )

I like it too...
We had this discussion going before.
All the Windows tablet threads were shutdown however.

It looks nice, I initially had my hopes and dreams on it, but with ASUS reputation, I rather plonk the additional $300 and get the Surface Pro tablet.



Besides, what I read in reviews, the Intel Atom which I thought was going to be a much more improved generation made for this year, reports are that it struggles to playback Flash and other streaming video compared to the more powerful i5 core Surface Pro.

the_game_master said:

It looks nice, I initially had my hopes and dreams on it, but with ASUS reputation, I rather plonk the additional $300 and get the Surface Pro tablet.

Besides, what I read in reviews, the Intel Atom which I thought was going to be a much more improved generation made for this year, reports are that it struggles to playback Flash and other streaming video compared to the more powerful i5 core Surface Pro.

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Indeed, the only technical reason I'd see for staying away as to specifications s the Atom processor used. The full Intel mobiles are so much faster! (Reportedly, most Atoms struggle at even the simplest of tasks.)

For the $$ to me the win8 tabs just aren't worth it with the ultrabooks sitting at lower prices now.
Been eyeballing the HP Envy x2 selling today for 749 usd.

I personally stay away from Intel Atom as far as possible. Furthermore, 1080p screen is the main reason I bought the tf700.

With that CPU? Hell no.

MartyHulskemper said:

(Reportedly, most Atoms struggle at even the simplest of tasks.)

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There's a science joke just waiting to be made in there somewhere...

i played for a couple of days with the Vivo, and just bought the wife a Pro and have to say everything I hated about RT and the whole setup is gone. I am not getting rid of my Infinity any time soon, but that Surface Pro is a screaming cool piece of kit.

Putting things in perspective in terms of the the tablet you want to purchase.

If you need processing power, go with an ultrabook as several posters mention here. Prices are great, battery life is **pretty good**.
Remember, with ultrabooks, like any notebook, they require active cooling to go along with the power.

If you are looking for a alternative to an Android tablet, the Vivotab Smart is a great choice IMO.

I currently have a Galaxy Note that is running a custom ROM. It does pretty much anything I need an android device to do, even things in tablet mode through the benefit of the ROM I am using.

I was seriously considering the Note 10.1. Galaxy Tab 2 10.1 CPU is just outdated now compared to a quard core Tegra 3.

My main reasons for wanting (not needing :laugh a tablet: Do my web surfing, watch TV shows/Movies, listen to music, dabble a little in Word/Excel (nothing major), social networking and remote manage PC's on my network (Team Viewer/Real VNC).

I can do ALL of this on my Galaxy Note phone NO PROBLEM. However, I wanted a device with a bigger screen to do this, and use my phone as the tether device when necessary, and also save battery life to make that emergency call when I'm stuck in the middle of nowhere...instead of having a dead battery due to watching that extra episode of Battlestar Galactica.

I was thinking about an android tablet, but it was just too much of a direct extension of my phone. So I decided to look at Windows 8 tablets. My first choice was the Microsoft Surface RT. VERY VERY glad I did not go with this device. Fit and finish is spectacular. Hardware is debatable - personal opinions right? However, the functionality of Windows 8 RT is not much more than an Android OS, and the Google platform has MUCH more to offer than the RT platform right now. I have no patience in waiting for apps to be developed.

Surface Pro is a great option, since it is FULL Windows 8...however battery life is crap. 4-6hrs? Might as well go with an ultrabook.

With the usage that I was intending my tablet for, I needed something to last through the day. So I did not need to have a device that is eating away @ the battery life when it is doing nothing, just to power a high horsepower CPU.

That's where the ME400 comes in. Battery life? Spectacular! I listen to at least 2 hrs of music, do about 1hr of web surfing (cumulatively), watch about 1-2hrs of video, and still have AT LEAST 40% battery remaining after being on for 18hrs.

I've installed full Microsoft Office 2010, Real VNC, Team Viewer, Power ISO, some android OS related software to modify various Samsung Galaxy phones, a few gigs of music, 5-6Gbs of video and still have 11GB remaining. (waiting for my 64GB Micro SDXC!)

I can view full flash sites which most android tablets cannot, unless you stick with GB or ICS. (although flash is being phased out to HTML5).

And again, file management, network management is seamless as it is the familiar Microsoft OS interface.

The ME400 to me is a great compromise between processing power, battery life, and most of all price. @ $499 CDN, hard to get that much functionality for that price. I can do everything on my ME400 on my Android devices, and I can do almost everything on my Android devices, on my ME400. My only wish is to get Bluestacks working on the Clover Trail CPU so I can play some of my Android games on my ME400...but I don't think it will have the CPU/Graphics processing power to do it.

There's my 2 cents. :laugh:

wpbear said:

I picked one up yesterday. So far the updating is a problem. Asus live update cannot connect to server and Windows update wouldn't download at first but over night it did. I think the tablet won't do a Windows update unless in standby with no other user actions. Probably due to the slower processor Windows update waits till the user isn't playing. But as far as the Asus live update not connecting at all, that may make the device a deal breaker for me.

Yes Asus screwed up the infinity Rom but the community here fixed that. If Asus update won't work out of the box with this I don't want it since we all know how bad Asus customer support is.

Click to expand...

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The Live Update not working is a known issue. Reading old posts, apparently the Live Update did some bios updates that royally messed up the tablet. Perhaps Asus has taken the whole system offline until they get their drivers and updates in order.

My Windows updates were a little slow at first too. But eventually got through them as well.

---------- Post added at 12:08 PM ---------- Previous post was at 11:42 AM ----------

Here's my conversation with Asus Tech Support Live Chat.
After my response to Dominic's comment about the 24-48hrs, there was no response. I waited 5min I think, typed my thanks anyway message, then ASUS side dropped the connection. Go figure. <sigh>

wpbear said:

I've been playing with it all day and the best thing is the battery life after 8hrs of continuous use it still is at 25 %. But the lack of apps and not Google integration may be the death of it!

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What sort of Google integration are you looking for? My emails are synced in with the stock mail app...although it is mediocre. Contacts are all loaded in People...

Google Talk, you can just install the app, albeit doesn't run in the Modern UI screen...I just have it synced with IM+ for that. Again, not the best choice, but will do the job for now.

wpbear said:

I should have been more specific on the Thread Title. I am talking about the ME400 Smart which is full windows.

I think I might get one and test drive it. I am leaning 60-40% to get it. I am worried about the lack of apps and the speed. But the positive of the Atom processor is the battery life. I need to find somewhere with the White model locally in stock so I can return it easily if it is slow and laggy.

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What did you decide? I've been using a Smart for a month or so now, and haven't had any lag issues. Storage can be a bit limited, I've installed Office 2010 Pro and then upgraded (for free) to 2013 (note: this upgrade process didn't uninstall 2010, so I now have both versions), dumped on 20 or so CDs, half a dozen movies and around a dozen apps and I only have 21gig left to play with.

Issues:
1) the screen is the worst for finger prints I've ever used - other than that viewing is ok
2) the windows button seems really unresponsive (on this particular model) - so I end up swiping in from the right and hitting the button from there
3) installing updated and upgrading Office seemed to take longer than I would have expected
4) finding the keyboard and cover (transleeve) isn't easy, I'm still using a cheap cover off eBay. If you have the option I'd buy with the kb and cover if I could start over again...
5) it doesn't come with the Micro USB to USB converter or the Micro HDMI to 9 pin (the Acer w510 has both in the box) - so a purchase off eBay is needed (and associated wait while shipped from China if you want a cheap one)

other that that, it's been all good. really like this little machine, does all I need it to!

kd

Kiwi_Dave said:

What did you decide? I've been using a Smart for a month or so now, and haven't had any lag issues. Storage can be a bit limited, I've installed Office 2010 Pro and then upgraded (for free) to 2013 (note: this upgrade process didn't uninstall 2010, so I now have both versions), dumped on 20 or so CDs, half a dozen movies and around a dozen apps and I only have 21gig left to play with.

Issues:
1) the screen is the worst for finger prints I've ever used - other than that viewing is ok
2) the windows button seems really unresponsive (on this particular model) - so I end up swiping in from the right and hitting the button from there
3) installing updated and upgrading Office seemed to take longer than I would have expected
4) finding the keyboard and cover (transleeve) isn't easy, I'm still using a cheap cover off eBay. If you have the option I'd buy with the kb and cover if I could start over again...
5) it doesn't come with the Micro USB to USB converter or the Micro HDMI to 9 pin (the Acer w510 has both in the box) - so a purchase off eBay is needed (and associated wait while shipped from China if you want a cheap one)

other that that, it's been all good. really like this little machine, does all I need it to!

kd

Click to expand...

Click to collapse

ok, one more observation (which is both a pro and a con). There is only 1 micro USB which is also used for charging. Having the tablet use a micro USB for charging is a plus in that I can use my phone chargers (including existing car chargers etc) interchangibly. However, I didn't charge the tablet last night (plug was off at the wall) and it was dead this morning. I'm working from home, and can't connect my mouse at the same time as charging the device - which is a bit painful. My keyboard is full Bluetooth, so no issues there - but the mouse uses a USB dongle (which is std for most mouse at the moment) - I'll need to invest in a full Bluetooth mouse as well...

not a biggie, but something to consider for those looking to make a purchase (for example the Acer W510 has a separate charging point, so this wouldn't be an issue. but on the other side of the coin the micro usb car chargers etc wouldn't work.....)

wpbear said:

Also it charges slower with the the standard micro USB.

The only thing that Win 8/VivoSmart added for me was the ability to use a SmartCard reader to authenticate in a web browser. But there was too many shortfalls in apps as a tablet interface. I would still want/need a tablet. Now If I didn't already have a full size ultra book then I would consider the VivoSmart due to price and portability. The goal of carry one device still eludes......

Sent from my ASUS Transformer Pad TF700T using Tapatalk HD

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Hey wpbear - not sure I understand your post ? The Smart is a tablet - doesn't come with a docking station - the keyboard (most often purchased seperatly) is more like the Surface, than a ultrabook...

I guess the app thing isn't really an issue for me. As the Smart is running full Windows (rather than RT) I'm not really using many apps at all. I tend to use full Office and Firefox.. Covers most of my needs.