[Asus  Eee Pad Transformer Prime] e.mote:
>I'm really disappointed by Asus (granted by most win 8 tablets at the show) at Computex

Computex this year was mostly about ultrabooks. Tablets I think got hit by a double-whammy: WinRT was a no-show, and Clover Trail probably wasn't ready for many vendors. It's still too early. Ultrabook was an easy choice to lead with, since HW is proven, and Win8 beta is available.

>I still think the biggest disappointment is Asus opting to use Medfield in T800

I think that's probably an error along the rumor grapevine, as most Win8 tabs are said by Intel to have Clover Trail, and Asus is certainly a leading vendor.

>I'm staying away from any Asus device for a while after purchasing TPrime

I think people put too much stock in the brand, either pro or con. You should judge by the product rather than brand, and the best way to do that is to get feedback from early adopters, meaning of course that you shouldn't be one yourself.

Scheduling trouble aside, the underlying question that needs to be answered is, what the heck is a "productivity" touch device? Nobody has a firm handle on the use cases, mainly because productivity touch apps aren't yet available. It'll be a hunt-and-peck process for both vendors and buyers.

The current picture is that the "touch-OS" era will span a spectrum:

1. mobile tablet, mobile OS: iPad, most Android tabs

2. mobile tablet w/ keyboard dock, mobile OS: TF Prime, Asus 600

3. mobile tablet w/ keyboard dock, desktop OS: Acer W510

4. performance tablet w/ keyboard dock, desktop OS: Asus TF Book

5. laptop w/ touch, desktop OS: ultrabooks

Most tablets to date are clustered at one end of the spectrum, led by the iPad. They're the most mobile and have longest battery life, but they also have the least functionality. The iPad is a unique exception, since its large market share commands high level of ISV support, thus mitigating its deficiencies. The main rationale of this bracket is low cost.

We'll use Prime as an example for the 2nd case (ignoring its various issues). While the keyboard dock enhances its use, the main gating factors are Android OS, and lack of productivity and tablet-specific apps. This bottleneck mostly offsets the keyboard's advantage, to the extent that the added ($150) cost becomes a liability. We can extrapolate this to apply ARM tabs w/ WinRT, at least until there are more WinRT apps. One factor in WinRT's favor is that Office--the key app for productivity--will be available at launch.

My opinion is that the sweet spot will be for the 3rd bracket, ie a mobile tablet w/ keyboard dock and using a "full" OS. At this point, it's a Clover Trail tab. This would change in the future as WinRT amass enough apps to vie for the functionality top spot, but then isn't now.

The 4th group, the performance tablet, suffers from a "neither fish nor fowl" syndrome, of not being as fully mobile as the "mobile" tablets, yet not being able to run the latest games as regular laptops. It also suffers from high cost. This group is subjected to change, once vendors start to offload more functionality into the dock to enhance mobility, eg having discrete GPU when docked to play high-end games. As Wynand32 mentioned, I do see as it as being a popular niche for business users who aren't price sensitive.

The last group isn't tablets, but is still within the "touch computing" sphere by virtual of its touch screen. At first blush, one would think the ergonomics are against it, as raising your arms to use the touch screen for extended periods would be a major problem. But this assume the traditional position of a vertical display. If the laptop were moved closer to your body, and the display thus positioned at 30-deg angle, then touch use would be facilitated. It would still be somewhat awkward, so I don't know how this will play. But obviously, there'll be such a group. Its main advantage is best performance, and with a lower price than the 4th group (similar to the desktop-vs-laptop comparison).

My winner picks are groups 1, 3, and 5--the last group being that we'll always need regular laptops, just as we still need desktops. Group 1 are the cheapies, which will be dominated by $300-and-less Androids for the near future. Group 3 is where the action will be for tablets. iPad again is a unique exception, although at some point Apple will be forced to upgrade Mac OS to touch, and to figure out the tablet/desktop OS relationship just as MS had.

There are bound to be many questions from users as to the "best" tablet to get. The answer is still the age-old favorite: Determine your use and your budget, and you will know.