Tag Archives | ViewSonic

ViewSonic Tablet Runs Windows and Android: Good Idea, Poor Execution

Posted by Jared Newman on November 8, 2011 at 9:46 am

As a holdover until Microsoft ships the tablet-friendly Windows 8, I like the idea of a Windows 7 tablet that also runs Android. Sure, Windows 7 doesn’t play nicely with touch screens, but it’s a great operating system for getting work done, and when you’re finished, you can switch to Android for leisure.

That’s what ViewSonic tries to accomplish with its ViewPad 10pro tablet. The 10-inch slab runs Windows 7, and also includes an Android emulator on the desktop, letting you run proper tablet apps without restarting the machine. (A previous ViewSonic tablet, the ViewPad 10, dual-booted Windows and Android, requiring a restart to switch between them.)

It’s a neat idea in theory. But in practice, the ViewSonic 10pro only proves that some ideas are better left unrealized.

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Sorry, Two Operating Systems Aren’t Better Than One

Posted by Harry McCracken on March 9, 2011 at 4:22 pm

Leo Apotheker, HP’s new CEO, says that in 2012, every HP PC will run the company’s WebOS operating system–presumably in conjunction with Windows in most cases, although no details are available just yet. ViewSonic has an Atom-powered ViewPad that dual-boots between Android 1.6 (a version so old that I’ve forgotten what its dessert-themed codename was) and Windows 7. Lenovo continues to demo its Windows laptop that lets you pop out the screen and use it as an Android tablet. Other companies are also working on split-personality, multiple-OS computers. More than one of the hardware makers that are doing this is using the phrase “the best of both worlds” to explain why it makes sense for one device to run two operating systems.

Is it just me, or is this a profoundly lousy idea?

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ViewSonic's 4-inch Android Device: Is It a Phone or a Tablet?

Posted by Jacqueline Emigh on January 6, 2011 at 11:18 am

At CES today, ViewSonic will launch a four-inch, Android 2.2-based tablet/phone dubbed the ViewPad 4, a ViewSonic exec said on Wednesday night, confirming earlier rumors around an until now nameless gadget in the same general category as Dell’s five-inch Streak.

The ViewPad 4 will have phone calling features, and it will sell for $549 unlocked upon its eventual release, said Josephine Chiu, a ViewSonic product manager, speakng with me at a pre-show Pepcom press event in Las Vegas.

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Tablet Phone Seekers, Here’s Your ViewSonic ViewPad 7

Posted by Jared Newman on November 1, 2010 at 5:00 am

When I asked you all for questions on Samsung’s Galaxy Tab, I was surprised by how many people wanted to see a 7-inch tablet that doubles as a phone. Since the Galaxy Tab won’t have voice service, tablet phone seekers may consider ViewSonic’s ViewPad 7 instead.

ViewSonic announced U.S. pricing and launch details for the 7-inch tablet today. The ViewPad 7, running stock Android 2.2, will be available in November or December for $479. ViewSonic also announced the ViewPad 10, a 10-inch tablet that dual-boots Windows 7 and Android 1.6, coming in January or February for $629.

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More and More iPadversaries: ViewSonic, Toshiba, Archos

Posted by Harry McCracken on September 7, 2010 at 11:00 am

A few weeks ago, I rounded up scads of current and upcoming tablets–ones from big companies, ones from little companies, ones that look a lot like the iPad, and ones with personalities all their own. It wasn’t the least bit shocking that my list was incomplete when I published it, or that it grows more out-of-date every day.

Gizmodo’s Gary Cutlack has a new post up about five tablets that weren’t among the thirty-two I wrote about. One’s the iPad itself (hey, it’s a tablet and it seems to have potential!). Another is the reasonably interesting Samsung Galaxy Tab, which I saw last week at IFA.

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