Engadget has some hands on time with the $499 Asus Eee PC T91 Tablet PC-slash-netbook.
This 8.9″ Tablet with resistive digitizer and special-purpose pen-enabled software, sure makes you wonder about Tablets and smaller devices.
It all looks interesting, but the question is whether Asus is deviating the market from let’s say all the pen and touch innovations in Windows 7.
Would a multi-touch capable version of the T91 make more sense for instance–especially considering Windows 7? I think so. A resistive touch is OK, but the thing is by the fall I’d expect most people to be switching to Windows 7 and the question is whether all the special, ink-enabled software in the T91 would work well in 7.
You see, multi-touch on something like the T91 would get you Windows 7’s smooth scrolling and the like in IE and other apps. That would be a nice touch because then I could see using the T91 for my browser-based reading. As it is, I’m not so sure.
I’ve got to hand it to Asus though for continuing to innnovate–both in terms of hardware and software. There’s no doubt that a touch-enabled netbook makes lots of sense, not only in the home but let’s say the classroom. The T91 is one trial balloon into this area.
It does start at $499 which is on the higher side for netbooks, however, that’s not a terrible price. I would admit though that if it were $399 I’d be a lot more positive about at least picking one up to try it out–even if I weren’t exactly sure if it would turn into something I’d actually use. Yes, price matters.