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iiView Vpad tablet computer debuts with Intel Atom N270; starts at $499

By | February 18, 2010, 5:52am PST

Summary: The iiView Vpad has jumped into the growing mix of touchscreen tablet computers today. It’s a basic one, but it’s available now.

The iiView Vpad has jumped into the growing mix of touchscreen tablet computers today. It’s a basic one, but it’s available now.

The Vpad comes in three editions, with varying options in HDD space and internet connectivity, specifically. Here’s what you can expect in the most basic model:

  • 10.2-inch color touchscreen display (1024 x 600 resolution )
  • Windows 7 Starter Edition
  • Intel Atom N270 1.6GHz processor
  • 1 GB of RAM
  • 160 GB hard drive
  • 802.11n 10/100 Ethernet
  • Wi-Fi
  • 3 USB ports
  • VGA
  • 2-in-1 headphone/microphone jack
  • Measurements: 2.1-lbs.; 6.57- x 10.5- x 1-inches

The only real sour point is that the battery life is only three hours, although you can step it up to 8 with an optional additional battery. Otherwise, it’s could be considered a standard tablet.

The base edition has an MSRP set at $499. An upgraded version for $699 includes a 320 GB hard drive, 1 GB more of RAM and 3G.

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Topics

Hard Drive, IEEE 802.11n, Microsoft Windows 7 Starter, Intel Atom, Computer, Intel Corp., iiView Vpad, Tablets, Keyboards, Notebooks, Internet, Hardware, Notebooks & Tablets, Peripherals, Rachel King

Rachel King is a staff writer for ZDNet based in San Francisco.

Disclosure

Rachel King

Rachel King has no business relationships, affiliations, investments, or other potential conflicts of interest relating to the content posted in this blog.

Biography

Rachel King

Rachel King is a staff writer for CBS Interactive in San Francisco. Before serving as a contributing editor at ZDNet in New York City for two years, she previously worked for The Business Insider, FastCompany.com, CNN's San Francisco bureau and the U.S. Department of State. Rachel has also written for MainStreet.com, Irish America Magazine and the New York Daily News, among others. Rachel has a B.A. in Mass Communications and History from the University of California, Berkeley and a M.S. in Journalism from Columbia University, where she served as art director for the student magazine, Plated.

Talkback Most Recent of 37 Talkback(s)

  • I still think that using a Desktop OS
    on a slate tablet is the wrong way of going about it. I think that if tablets are going to be a success that the OS really needs to be optimized for a touch screen slate.
    ZDNet Gravatar
    Snooki_smoosh_smoosh
    18th Feb 2010
  • Easy solution: Go back to Origami roots
    http://www.microsoft.com/windows/products/winfamily/umpc/demo.mspx
    ZDNet Gravatar
    Joe_Raby
    18th Feb 2010
  • thank you
    for bringing some common sense here into the zdnet forum. i totally
    agree.
    ZDNet Gravatar
    bannedfromzdnetagain
    18th Feb 2010
  • iPad to the rescue ...
    I think I may wait for a few weeks to get some hands-on time with the
    iPad at an Apple store ... but you are correct about the OS ...
    ZDNet Gravatar
    ron.connal@...
    18th Feb 2010
  • Don't see an issue
    I use Win 7 on my multi-touch tablet as well as my multi-touch desktop monitor and both work great

    A lot of people spout about needing a "new user interface" but offer no ideas of what they perceive as needed improvements
    ZDNet Gravatar
    archangel9999
    19th Feb 2010
  • I especially like the fan exhaust on this thing.
    (nt)
    ZDNet Gravatar
    Zukuzu
    18th Feb 2010
  • desktop os
    so let me get this straight. since 2001 the concept of having a
    desktop os on a touchscreen has failed big time in the market place
    but this company and hp with their upcoming slate pretend as if it
    didn't happen and the pc media gets excited about the exact same
    thing that is available today: a laptop with intel parts without the
    keyboard and the same windows desktop os on it that was developed
    for mouse and keyboard?

    for starters: the ipad will introduce another interaction paradigm and
    ui to tablets, totally centered around touch. the idea of the device is
    fundamentally different than that of the hp slate or this one here.

    apple is sailing away while the pc box assemblers are still in the port
    - adding ports.
    ZDNet Gravatar
    bannedfromzdnetagain
    18th Feb 2010
  • Nothing new
    The super-sized ipod offers nothing new for the user interface

    As far as touch based experience - I already have full multi-touch interaction on my Win 7 tablet - not sure what more you think Jobs is offering

    As far as past tablet endeavors - the idea was before its time - came out before there was adequate hardware capabilities - everyone hated stylus only interface and they cost too much

    Times have changed - more advanced tech, stylus optional, greater touch integration, lower price point - the past is merely prologue
    ZDNet Gravatar
    archangel9999
    19th Feb 2010
  • Offer's nothing new?
    lol... grin

    Remember this clunker?

    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/XP_Tablet_PC_Edition#Tablet_PC_Edition

    I do. My dad bought a Toshiba version of this back in 2005. Worst piece of junk ever.

    This tablet looks like the same-ole same-ole taskbar-type desktop interface. A Win7 OS (without keyboard and mouse pointer) slapped on to the latest Taiwanese junk HP can get their hands on.

    The iPad is based off the iPod touch. A user-friendly interface years ahead of anything Windoze can come up with commercially.
    ZDNet Gravatar
    Wintel_BSOD
    20th Feb 2010
  • I like Windows - well, the applications.
    It's a tablet device that runs all your modern desktop Windows software. Isn't that what they want? Why they didn't all buy PocketPC or Windows Mobile or whatever if they don't want application compatibility?

    And - my regular hobbyhorse - speech recognition, surely.
    ZDNet Gravatar
    Robert Carnegie 2009
    18th Feb 2010
  • "It's a basic one", yet does a lot more than an iPad ever can
    Jobs was right: "We don't know how to make a $500 computer that doesn't suck".
    ZDNet Gravatar
    Qbt
    18th Feb 2010
  • RE: does a lot more than an iPad
    Psychic are you? I don't see the battery life expectation, thickness, or
    weight. Nor do I see how many applications will run well or any
    indication of how well they did on the interface. And since no-one has
    used either device, it seems a bit early to speculate with religious
    certainty.
    ZDNet Gravatar
    RedVeg
    18th Feb 2010
  • It's a real computer, so right there it does more than an iPad
    Since you aren't limited to what Stevie says you may or may not run on it, that alone makes it much more than an iPad.

    It is much more than just the iPod Touch, Jolly Green Giant Edition.
    ZDNet Gravatar
    Qbt
    18th Feb 2010
  • It certainly does, just like the last 8 years
    So this is just the same as every tablet that has been available for the last 8 years. I wish them a lot of luck with that paradigm.
    ZDNet Gravatar
    billtahoe
    18th Feb 2010
  • Got to love
    Got to love people who make sweeping statements about something they know nothing about and haven't actually tested

    If you've not used a Win 7 tablet, your commentary is merely hyperbole
    ZDNet Gravatar
    archangel9999
    19th Feb 2010
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