Hanvon Touchpad BC10C impresses
By Wilson • Mar 15th, 2010 • Category: Uncategorized
- Photo: Hanvon
Though all the tablet focus seems to be on the iPad, a small handful of manufacturers are making genuine competitors to the Apple tablet – enter the Hanvon Touchpad BC10.
Hanvon what?
Hanvon is a company founded in 1998 that first broke out in Europe making a cheap, yet competent e-reader and well-liked graphics tablets. The fact that they’re making the leap into what is quickly becoming a shark-infested shovelware-laden buzz market may be discouraging on the surface, given their lack of pedigree, but early impressions indicate their tablet is actually a worthwhile machine.
The specs
The Hanvon Touchpad BC10C runs Windows 7. Though we lament tablets that run shrunk-down desktop operating systems, the hardware specs are undeniably impressive. This 10-inch tablet runs video at full 1080P HD, sports a 1.3GHz Celeron processor as well as GMA4500 graphics. The requisite capacitive touchscreen is present and a deluge of ports, including HDMI-out for home viewing, are built into the device.
The not-so-good part
The device is scheduled for release in China on 25 March with Europe and North America being planned for later. Early price clues indicate the device will cost close on $900 (£600), an altogether alarming price that’s more expensive than the top-of-the-line iPad with 3G and a mere $100 (£65) shy of the price of two entry-level iPads. And while it may seem unfair to not judge this device on its own merit, the Apple tablet, much like the iPod to mp3 players, has quickly become the standard people judge tablets on.
Still, there’s something there
Even then, though, pricing and Windows 7 aside, the Hanvon Touchpad BC10C is very promising. It’s a widescreen tablet with sturdy hardware and a familiar operating system. Where it is not expected this first bite at the cherry will be comparable to that of the Apple tablet, this could very well be a fantastic framework for great things to come.
Tags for this article: Apple tablet, Hanvon Touchpad BC10C
