Tablet Review: PROLiNK TW8

Tablet Review: PROLiNK TW8

A decent work companion
by May Chua
04:45 AM Mar 25, 2011

The slew of Android tablets unveiled recently may have Windows fans feeling a little left out. Fret not - here's a review of a Windows 7 tablet, the PROLiNK TW8 ($1,099), just for you.

This device's 11.6-inch capacitive touchscreen display (that's about two inches more real estate than an iPad) makes for comfortable reading, and photos as well as video render beautifully on it. The touchscreen feels responsive, and scrolling up and down pages is fluid. It supports multi-touch as well, so you can pinch to zoom. The speakers are a bit too soft for our liking and the audio sounds tinny. Besides WiFi and Bluetooth connectivity, it supports 3G too - just slide the SIM card into the slot on its side.

While we did initially find the TW8 a tad hefty (it weighs 995g), we didn't break a sweat holding it on one arm or propping the device up on our laps.

This tablet comes with the Bossa Nova User Interface, which is basically a screen where you can quickly access apps for Facebook, Twitter, Flickr, Internet browsing, RSS feeds, maps and media playback, as well as control the wireless connection, brightness and volume.

Typing on this device is tiresome and takes some getting used to, as is expected for any touchscreen device. For one, the keyboard does not automatically appear when you touch a text field - which is also a problem when you are using an app in Bossa Nova and the button to summon the keyboard doesn't appear (this happened several times). The lag in the text prediction system renders the "prediction" useless.

The battery life is decent - it easily lasts a day or more when we leave it on standby most of the time, only playing with it occasionally for minutes at a time. With constant use - including surfing the net, watching videos and playing games like Solitaire - the machine lasts about 3.5 hours.

Sometimes, the display does not re-orientate itself when you turn the device around. We have also encountered several incidences where the Windows taskbar glitches after you rotate the tablet, and you have to restart Windows Explorer to regain its function.

The TW8 is powered by a 1.66GHz Intel Atom N450 processor, and comes installed with Windows 7 Home Premium. There are two USB ports, a SDHC card slot and a mini-HDMI port.

In all, we found the PROLiNK TW8 useful for checking emails, running some light programmes, web-surfing and doing work that doesn't require typing essay-length texts.

For creatures of habit looking for a more portable version of their Windows machine, and prefer the familiarity and suite of applications offered by the Windows experience - in exchange for the gamut of casual games and a more touchscreen-friendly operating system - consider the TW8. May Chua

Source: www.todayonline.com