ASUS VivoTab RT Review
by Vivek Gowri on October 23, 2012 3:01 PM EST- Posted in
- Asus
- Mobile
- Tablets
- Windows RT
- Vivo Tab
Tegra 3 is a pretty known quantity at this point, we’ve seen quite a few tablets and smartphones based on this chip and it’s been quite solid in all of them. Nvidia has done a good job executing with their mobile SoCs, and Microsoft choice of T30 to be the heart of their launch platform is a pretty significant hardware win for Nvidia.
So with that said, how does the Tegra 3-Windows RT combination hold up versus the who’s who of the tablet world today? Well, that’s a bit complicated. As far as Windows RT benchmarks, we’ve got relatively few, so we’ll stick to some of our cross-platform JavaScript benchmarks, all of which happen to be browser-based.
This is important to note, because in Windows 8 and Windows RT, there are of course two browsers. Both run the same IE10 engine, so performance is actually essentially the same - I had some margin of error level differences (~2%) that aren’t really worth reporting in the graphs. Compared to the third generation iPad, performance is a bit low due to to IE10’s JavaScript performance, and the A6X-based fourth generation iPad should only extend that lead (significantly) based on the performance of the A6-based iPhone 5. But trying to make cross-platform performance comparisons are kind of a waste here.
Tegra 3 is fast enough to run Windows RT, but until we get some other comparison points and better ways to benchmark it, there’s not too much else to say here. Tegra 3 is adequate, but anything less and I could see parts of the UI (particularly in the desktop) becoming a drag. But given how well RT runs on quad-core Cortex A9, I’m just eager to see shipping devices with faster SoCs - Krait and Clover Trail in the coming weeks, A15 in the not-too distant future.
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N4g4rok - Tuesday, October 23, 2012 - link
This review definitely made my view of Windows 8/RT tablets a little more optimistic. I'm still set on the Surface Pro or some other x86 capable Win8 Tablet, providing the price is right.Good to know RT is starting out so well. Let's hope the developers jump on it quickly.
andykins - Tuesday, October 23, 2012 - link
I'm really optimistic and excited about Win8/RT :Dtipoo - Tuesday, October 23, 2012 - link
Interesting that it goes from a wide lead in Sunspider to such a loss in the other tests, if I'm not mistaken the x86 IE10 does not have that kind of variance. So I wonder if it has to do with Tegra 3s memory bandwidth becoming an issue, or something else. However if it can beat the Nexus 7 by such a margin with a similar Tegra 3 that says good things about ARM IE10.lowlymarine - Tuesday, October 23, 2012 - link
Actually, that's right in line with x86 IE10. On my Core i3-based ASUS laptop, IE10 crushes every other browser at Sunspider but is only about half as fast as Chrome at Kraken and V8/Octane.Given these results and the results from the iPhone 5 review, it's clear that IE and Safari are locked in a "who can cheat more at Sunspider" contest.
VivekGowri - Tuesday, October 23, 2012 - link
Yeah, basically this. It's not much of a credible benchmark anymore, too many people are starting to optimize very heavily for it in software.The1nchicago - Tuesday, October 23, 2012 - link
This is the ONLY blog site I visit where I truly believe Anand opinion is not biased. I got blessed out by people for saying the Ipad Retina was not the greatest business tool. Glad someone shares my view in a sense.JKflipflop98 - Wednesday, October 24, 2012 - link
I think you mean that his bias matches your own.augiem - Tuesday, October 23, 2012 - link
"Side note: in Windows 8, particularly for normal notebook and desktop users, this is an entirely overblown issue - ... but people who claim that Windows 8 will ruin their desktops just sound ignorant to me. But I digress."This does not belong in a review of this tablet. And calling people ignorant who don't agree with you on how their workflow is affected by the changes to the UI is totally inappropriate.
Boogaloo - Tuesday, October 23, 2012 - link
If you've actually used win8 you'd agree with what he's saying. It's literally exactly the same as windows 7, except with a fancy startbar. The only way someone would profess something different is based on ignorance (which isn't stupidity, it's lack of knowledge).Pirks - Tuesday, October 23, 2012 - link
only slowpokes and lame/dumb oldfags keep saying Metro "ruins" somethingthey will slowly get it that they are wrong and the noise will disappear
don't pay attention to them. I use Win8 RTM for more than a month already and I know what I'm talking about.