Tablet comparison

Wondering which tablet to purchase next? Have you considered the upcoming Asus slate, the Eee Pad Slider, which comes with an integrated slide-out keyboard? Or are you still hung on the iPad 2? Whichever one you do choose in the end, here’s how these two tablets compare when we look at them side by side.

Beginning with the design, there are some differences. First of all, the Eee Pad Slider integrates a slide-out keyboard, and second of all, the iPad 2 comes in either black or white, so there’s more diversity. Here are the exact dimensions of the two devices: iPad 2 – 9.50 x 7.31 x 0.34 inches (241.2 x 185.7 x 8.8 mm) and 613 g, Eee Pad Slider – 10.75 x 7.09 x 0.70 inches (273 x 180 x 17.7 mm) and 886 g. So, if we were to judge by these dimensions alone, then the iPad 2 is clearly the winner, it’s a lot thinner and lighter than its Asus competitor.

Going on to their display, we find that the iPad 2 comes with a 9.7-inch touchscreen with a resolution of 1024 x 768 pixels, while the Eee Pad Slider features a 10.1-inch screen and a higher resolution of 1280 x 800 pixels.

What about the cameras? Here, the Asus Eee Pad Slider is the winner, thanks to its 5MP camera in the back and its 1.3MP front-facing camera, for video calling. The iPad 2, on the other hand, only comes with a 0.7MP rear-facing camera and another VGA front-facing camera, so it can’t really compare to the Asus tablet in this category.

Now it’s time to take a look at the processor. The Eee Pad Slider comes equipped with a 1GHz Nvidia Tegra 2 processor and 1GB of RAM, while the iPad 2 features a 1GHz A5 dual-core chip and 512MB of RAM. And what about storage space? The Eee Pad Slider comes in two flavors: 16GB and 32GB, and it also features expandable storage, via microSD card, while the iPad 2 comes in three variants: 16GB, 32GB, and 64GB.

Heading on to the software section, we find that the two tablets are very different. The Asus tablet integrates the Android 3.0 operating system, while the Apple iPad 2 comes with its very own iOS 4.3.

In the end, let’s take a look at connectivity options. Both devices are compatible with Bluetooth, WiFi and feature HDMI ports. If you’re also interested in pricing and availability details, you can already get the iPad 2 starting at $499 (16GB), $599 (32GB), and $699 (64GB). The Eee Pad Slider is not available, it’s expected to become available soon, though, its price ranging between $500 and $800.

Wrap-up

If you’re looking for portability and high performance, you can always choose the iPad 2, but if you want to be able to use the slide-out keyboard every time you need it, then go for the Asus Eee Pad Slider. There are advantages and disadvantages to both tablets, you just have to see which one best suits your needs.