RM Slate 100 - Anyone got theirs yet?

[dhicks]

I never realised you could do that I thought the user and the computer both needed accounts in AD to connect to files on the server.

 

Just to add more confusion, don't forget that any client autenticating against your AD server will need a CAL, i.e. if users bring in home computers they should be able to connect just fine but you will need to pay for a CAL (£3-ish?) for each computer.

 

--

David Hicks

[SimpleSi]

don't forget that any client autenticating against your AD server will need a CAL,

 

So, if I don't setup AD on the server, can I save the £3

 

Simon

[AngryITGuy]

Mines been despatched since Monday and its still not here, just had an email to say the stylus has been delayed till the new year!

 

Really looking forward to getting my hands on it and trying it out.

 

We plan on using it as an interactive slate to VNC the workstation connected to the whiteboard.

[Dos_Box]

Well, it's arrived and is a cracking tablet. I'll get a preliminary review up as soon as I can, however let me just say, it's solidly built, nippy and the screen is great. However, (there is aways a 'however') W7 is not suited as an easy to use tablet OS. I think Micosoft really need to reskin W7 for tablets, and as a matter of urgency too. Also, it has a SIM card slot but no built in 3G modem (grrr!!). As for access to the device there are no visable screws and it looks like the back of the device may just be 'pop-on\off. I'm not willing to test that theory yet though, but I think Ubuntu netbook edition may be on the cards. More to follow, but let me finish by saying that I think RM have a definate winner here in that they have got the features and price point just right, but W7 really needs some tweaking to get the icons and text more visable, and IMHO, if you are going to stick with W7 then a stylus is going to be de-rigur when operating it as menues and small icons are very fiddly when just using your fingers. Edited December 10, 2010 by Dos_Box

[jpaterson]

Thanks for the update Dos_Box.

 

With regards to teh Win7 finger interface, try increasing the screen DPI. It helped heaps on my Lenovo S10-3T, You'll need to have a few goes at it to find the right balance between size and real estate.

[john]

I have got a HP TX1000 tablet running Windows 7, fine not as new and shiny as the RM one but its a good machine and as suggested the DPI change made the difference for me its a great tablet now, well was until the nVidia chipset started playing up, it needs a quick oven session then it should be good as new

[russdev]

Still waiting loan unit from RM how dare they give it to paying customers first. Did get my hands one for a quick look last month and really impressed.

 

Russ

[Dos_Box]

I'm really warming to it now. It also has a Broadcom HD video decoding chip however when I visited the Apple trailers site and viewed a couple of HD trailers all I got was a juddery mess. I'll try it later with it plugged into the mains as it may have been a power saving option when runnning on batts. YouTube worked fine.

Also, in the spirit of investigation I attempted a small rummage around the innards of it, You can push up the top cover at the back to reveal a screw which holds the back on, however it has an anti-tamper cover on it. I may just go for it tomorrow. All in the spirit of investigation y'know. Also, I still can't find a 3G modem, which is stange becasue the sim card does 'lock' into somethign, which must be a modem. There are no BIOS options for a device like this though and nothing shown in device manager. It is rather strange that having a sim card slot is shown as a 'feature' on the RM site but there is no modem. It's not as if I need somewhere to park a spare sim is it? Some haptic feedback wouldn't go amiss either (but perhaps I'm gettign fussy here!).

[Chris_]

Also, I still can't find a 3G modem, which is stange becasue the sim card does 'lock' into somethign, which must be a modem. There are no BIOS options for a device like this though and nothing shown in device manager. It is rather strange that having a sim card slot is shown as a 'feature' on the RM site but there is no modem. It's not as if I need somewhere to park a spare sim is it? Some haptic feedback wouldn't go amiss either (but perhaps I'm gettign fussy here!).

 

I have a Samsung Q1 Ultra.. It's got a SIM card slot but no modem, it requires a mini PCI-e modem like this Sierra Wireless - HSPA+ embedded wireless module

 

At school we've got some Stone netbook that have a SIM card slot under the battery, but again, there's no modem. The RM Slate 100 looks a little small to have space for an additional modem to be fitted.

[Dos_Box]

I have a couple of mini PCI-e modems, but they tend to get hardware locked to manufacturers, I have a HP and a Lenovo one (made by other people of course!) Oh sod it. I'm taking the back off it tonight to see whats underneath. it's got 2GB of DDRII 800, but I wonder if it's fixed? Surely a 4GB stick would be much better Edited December 11, 2010 by Dos_Box

[Luke_T]

How did the "investigating" go? I'm getting curiouser and curiouser

[jpaterson]

How did the "investigating" go? I'm getting curiouser and curiouser

 

Info here : http://www.edugeek.net/forums/hardware/67455-stripping-down-rm-slate-100-a.html ;-)

[Dos_Box]

There is an initial review due to go live any minute now, but all I can say is that I'm very impressed. Whilst it's not a fully fleged laptop in tablet format due to lack of storage it will happily run Windows applications and cloud services in a small and light package, as well as having a really, really good screen.

[jpaterson]

Well, I've had mine for three days now, and in all seriousness, I'm strongly considering sending it back.

 

It just doesn't seem to be able to hack any sort of workload. i have IE running with two tabs, bluetooth and wifi on, and the unit on mains, and i find that it 'sticks' randomly (hangs - unresponsive to screen taps, for anything up to 20 secs) when asked to do even basic thing like play a youtube video (with music in the vid that i can listen to, and therefore switch tabs). i have uninstalled non essential software (ie. the Millennium rotation app - couldn't even get an BT audio stream to stabilse with that running), which has made it a bit more responsive, and disabling BT can help a bit too.

 

The battery life is pitifull, and i feel cheated by the absence of the 3g modem, despite the advertisement of a sim card slot - its just madness...the statement of the sim card slot is completely irrelevant in its current config.

 

You might think i'm a bit harsh on it given that its a tablet netbook. However, i also own a Lenovo S10-3T Netvertible, with the same spec and it runs much smoother. fair enough, the s10 has an 8 cell battery, but it doesn't start blowing bubbles the minute i try and push it.

 

Perhaps a phone call to my account mgr at RM on Monday to send it back. I'll just wait for the HP Slate to make its entrance in the UK.

[AngryITGuy]

It just doesn't seem to be able to hack any sort of workload. i have IE running with two tabs, bluetooth and wifi on, and the unit on mains, and i find that it 'sticks' randomly (hangs - unresponsive to screen taps, for anything up to 20 secs) when asked to do even basic thing like play a youtube video (with music in the vid that i can listen to, and therefore switch tabs).

 

The battery life is pitifull, and i feel cheated by the absence of the 3g modem, despite the advertisement of a sim card slot - its just madness...the statement of the sim card slot is completely irrelevant in its current config.

 

Agree totally about the battery life the most I have had from mine is just under 4 hours and thats was when it was sat on my desk doing nothing! Under use I'm getting an average of 3 hours.

 

I'm surprised you have found the performance of the unit an issue, mine has been fine when multitasking with Office and IE. Haven't tried YouTube or anything else media orientated so I can't comment on that yet.

 

I have disabled all non essential services courtesy of the guide on BlackViper on my unit, you might want to give that a try to see if that helps.

[Dos_Box]

I did mention the freezes in my review. The stange thing is, it only (so far) occurs during browsing. I suspect it may be down to a Flash problem, it also really does not like streaming Quicktime either. Given that it's spec is that of a respectable netbook (minus storage space) I am suspecting it is more a driver than hardware issue. Yes, I agree the fact the actually advertised it as having a SIM card slot implied that it had a 3G modem built in (it does not) nor does it have space to install a mini PCI-e one either (I've had a good look), but, with the appropriate tweaking do what it is intended to do. Yes, you have to set the screen timeout to be low and increase icon and font sizes to make it useable, but as Windows tablets go it is, from what I've seen, the best specced and performing Windows tablet on teh market for it's price point. There are better, but you get into £xxxx territory.

When it comes to battery life I suggest you take a good look at the screen brightness (it really is BRIGHT on the highest setting) and ramp it right down. If you are interested the battery is a 7.4v 5000mAh/37wh, but how many cells it has I can't tell you. I would also suggest disabling blutooth.

Also it may be time for Microsoft to start to push for more 'widget' type apps to be developed for productivity purposes. Using full fat Office on it as well as large browser packages won't do battery life any good, and both iPad and Android have small light-weight les sprocessor intensive browsers and software on their platforms. Perhaps Microsoft would care to either port a version of Windows Mobile 7 for tablets or produce a skin +developers package for producing lightweight processor light applications. I'd hate to use the term 'app' here as having such tiny apps would, in all fairness, not take full advantage of the platform presented to them. I wonder if we can set this as a challenge for ourselves to find the best applications to stretch the battery life out a bit more? And has anyone put Ubuntu Netbook Edition on it yet? I wonder if the touch screen will work with it?

Edited December 20, 2010 by Dos_Box

[AngryITGuy]

And has anyone put Ubuntu Netbook Edition on it yet? I wonder if the touch screen will work with it?

 

Looking to install it later on today so will let you know how I get on with it.

 

I'm surprised no one has mentioned the charger yet, I think the power jack is way too thin and will not stand the test of time, especially if the unit needs charging to get it through a school day!

[Dos_Box]

Yes, I would have liked to see a USB charger, but it would have taken a year and a day to recharge like that.

[AngryITGuy]

However, (there is aways a 'however') W7 is not suited as an easy to use tablet OS. I think Micosoft really need to reskin W7 for tablets, and as a matter of urgency too.

 

Although not likely to resolve you current issue with the RM Slate it looks like Microsoft are finally getting their act together regarding a "proper" tablet OS Microsoft planning new Windows tablet OS

[brooker101]

Sorry may have missed this somewhere, but how much does the RM Slate knock out for in the education space ?

What kind of warranty will RM give us ?

[dsmith8]

Sorry to like resurrect a dated post but just rescued an RM slate from our store cupboard and would really love the try it with the dock and or stylus if anyone has any lying around I'd happily pay for them?