Quite a few people, myself included, have had this question in mind, but the internet is not very forthcoming in answer. We all know that Instant On promises a choice between fast resume from sleep under its high performance mode or extended battery life during sleep under the battery saving mode., but Asus never explained how these promises are fulfilled.
After some testing, I can say with certainty that Instant On is simply Asus tagging its name on Intel’s Rapid Start Technology, which is a motherboard feature that allows the computer to go from sleep to hibernation without the operating system knowing.
Why is this useful, you might ask, given that OS’s are already capable of such a switch? The usefulness lies in the ability to save the hibernation file in a disk separate from the one the OS is on, something that Windows certainly cannot do on its own. With this ability the hibernation file can be saved on a small SSD while the OS resides on a large HDD, which allows for much faster resume from hibernation.
So what exactly are the high performance and battery saving modes in Instant On? The difference lies in whether the computer will go into hibernation from sleep after a certain amount of time. In high performance mode, the computer only enters hibernation if battery is critically low. Below I launch the IRST Manager to show the settings Instant On applied:
In battery saving mode, it does so after a set interval. While the IRST manager is showing an interval of 15 minutes, I am not sure whther that is in fact the default Asus has since that was the value I set with IRST before I install Instant On. Asus might very well be assuming a default interval of 0.
So how useful is Instant On/IRST? That depends on the type of hard drive you have.
For computers with only HDD the feature is useless, as the hibernation file needs to be written to the slow HDD anyway.
For computers with large HDD and small integrated SSD, it is very useful. While OS hibernation could take 30+ seconds to resume, IRST only takes 10 seconds.
For computers with modern large SSD, the feature is once again useless. Base on my testing, both OS hibernation and IRST take around 10 seconds to resume. While IRST is the faster one—and it is only faster if you switch the hibernation partition from the slow integrated SSD to the main SSD—the difference is typically within a fraction of a second.
Now that I have talked about the benefit of IRST over OS hibernation, I should mention that it also has a considerable drawback: SSD wear. Typically IRST is paired with an integrated SSD partition that is exactly the size of the computer’s RAM. What this means is that the same sectors of the integrated SSD are being written over completely every time the computer enter hibernation, making it more likely to wear out and requires expensive service repair. Yours truly experienced this first hand when his Zenbook UX32VD’s integrated SSD malfunctioned just after half a year of use, which was only resolved after a warranty service.
I encountered the white screen today while uniting WP 3.6 and phpBB 3.0.12, which only appears when user intergration is turned on. The problem is caused by WP and phpBB both having a validate_email() function, causing PHP to throw a redeclare error.
Soluton: validate_email() is actually deprecated on WP 3.6, so you can simply delete or comment out the ‘validate_email’ function in [wp-includes]->ms-deprecated.php.
My take:
iPad Mini – Low price to entice first-timers without $.
iPad Mini with Retina – For seasoned users and first-timers with $.
iPad 2 – Slow, low-res and bulky, most likely for commerical use such as product display.
iPad Air – State-of-the-art model for enthusiast.
I agree it is probably easier to manipulate Shanghai Composite via transactions instead of hacking. Moreover, the former is legal, though it is doubtful how meaningful this is in Mainland China.
Because manipulation via transaction depends heavily on the transactions in the last minute or even the last second, I personally think high-speed trading funds are the prime suspects. After all, their daily business concerns making transactions in ultra-short time frames to begin with.
Dedicated video lenses usually feature stepless aperture to allow for smooth adjustment of exposure. Most still photography lenses, in contrast, feature stepped aperture adjustment. This guide demonstrates how to “de-click” Canon FD lenses to get stepless aperture.
Before you continue, note that
De-clicking is easy. All you need to do is to unscrew the rear and take out one or two things.
The process will not introduce dust into your lens—the optical assembly is sealed in one piece inside the lens.
There is a “cheat” that gives you continuous aperture adjustment without the hassle of opening up the lens. All you need to do is set your lens to the smallest aperture, then turn the ring on the FD adapter. The downside of this cheat is you do not have any indication of which f-stop you are at.
With that in mind, if you still believe de-clicking is useful—and I personally do find that being the case—here is a quick demonstration on how to do so.
1. Take apart the lens from the rear and remove parts that cause un-smooth movement
You need to remove the two parts indicated by the blue arrows if you want the aperture ring to rotate smoothly. If you can stand the un-smoothness, however, you can keep the parts on—with the parts on, step 2 alone is actually sufficient to give you stepless aperture.
2. Remove the piston
On lens such as the the 28mm—in which you lock by rotating the whole lens—the piston underneath the aperture ring provides the click. Remove the piston de-clicks the lens. If you have kept the two parts on in the first step, you can now re-assemble the lens.
If instead your FD lens locks with a rotating metal ring, you will need to remove the two ball bearings inside the aperture ring.
3. Removing the spring holding the aperture selector
At this point if you re-assemble the lens without the jiggering parts, you will notice that the aperture bounces back when you try to set a small aperture. This is due to the spring mechanism used in FD lens’ aperture control: the aperture ring is actually only capable of driving the aperture in one direction; reverse movement is driven by the spring holding the aperture selector. Removing the spring solves this issue.
4. Linking the aperture ring to the aperture diaphragm
Because the aperture ring is designed to only drive the aperture in one direction, you need to manually link the aperture ring to the diaphragm. Here I used a short polyester thread, lopping around the coupling pin on the diaphragm and held underneath the link on the aperture ring. Make sure the aperture size match up with the f-stop indicated on the aperture ring.
If your FD lens locks with a rotating metal ring, you will be lopping around the coupling fork instead:
I have the same view. It’s not that demand for journalistic photo has decreased, but rather the supply has vastly increased, thanks to ever more amateur photographers with ever better skills and cameras. The result is an increase in journalistic photos, but a substantial decrease in professional photojournalism.
The move towards paper-free academic environment has long been an objective in the development of tablets. As enthusiastic as I am about this goal—having owned at various point two tablet PCs, one UMPC, two Windows Mobile Devices, a Palm IIIxe, three Android devices and two iPads—even I have to admit that technology had been falling short of expectation. But with multiple touch-based tablets, under competing plaforms, being introduced this year, perhaps we are finally accomplishing the goal? If this is a question you have in mind, read on.
Because this review is meant to focus on the aspects that are of particular concern to students and academics, it does not cover some topics, such as battery life. Interested reader can refer to the many reviews in major gadgets sites (e.g. Engadget: Flyer, Iconia, iPad 2nd Gen, PlayBook, Xoom).
Here is my verdict—scholars from other disciplines often joke that economists are impatient, wanting to know all the findings of a paper in its first pages—if note-taking is crucial the HTC Flyer is the only serious option. If reading fine text is more important then the iPad is the best choice.
The Review Units
The tablets under review are the HTC Flyer, the Acer Iconia Tab A500, the Apple iPad 1st Generation and the BlackBerry PlayBook. All four tablets are being sold in Best Buy. These four tablets cover the two most popular size (~10″ and 7″) and the three available operating systems (iOS, Android and QNX).
A few competitors are not included in this review, notably the Motorola Xoom and the Samsung Galaxy Tab. I find the former sufficiently similar to the Iconia and the 7″ version of latter inferior to the Flyer, and as such I decided not to obtain them for review. A 1st generation iPad is used in this review instead of a 2nd generation one because I own one of the former, and because the latter benefits mostly from being lighter and have cameras. Tablet PCs are excluded from this review—even though I own a Fujitsu P1610—because I consider them belonging to a separate league, as I shall explain in the end of this review.
Size
The iPad and the Iconia are (approximately) 10″ in diagonal, while the Flyer and the PlayBook are 7″. There have been plenty of debates on the merits of each of two sizes. On one hand, 10″ tablets clearly offer more screen estate over 7″ ones. On the other hand, 7″ tablets takes up considerable less space and are much easier to hold with one hand. The choice is ultimately a personal one, depending on your own need.
Left: the iPad 1st Gen. Right: the Flyer
Built
1. PlayBook 2. Flyer, iPad 3. Iconia
Tablets have essentially standardized on how they look from the front: touchscreen with a bezel around it. Thus when it comes to looks, the back is the battleground. That being said, bear in mind that most tablet users will have a case on their device, so the difference in built material is not that important.
From top-left to bottom-right: PlayBook, Flyer, iPad, Iconia.
The PlayBook has a matte rubberised finish, giving a professional feel that ThinkPad users will be very familiar with. The Flyer and the iPad both have a aluminium shell, which is both stylish and eye-catching, the latter not necessarily a welcome attribute at work. The Iconia has a brushed metal finish but is actually made of plastic. While that design is decent looking, it makes the Iconia looks much more like a media-consumption device than a machine for work.
Accessories and Extensibility
1. Iconia 2. Flyer, iPad, PlayBook
Only the Iconia Tab uses a standardized Micro USB connector. The other three each has their own proprietary connector, an approach that I abhor because of the hassle it impose to users.
From left to right: Micro USB, PlayBook’s connector, Flyer’s connector and iPad’s connector.
While all of the tablets in this review have batteries big enough that will handily last you a full day, if you, like me, have a habit of working in multiple locations, chances are you would still want to have multiple chargers. The iPad only comes with one cable, doubling as a changing cable and a data cable, while all the others come with a separate data cable. Base on my personal experience, as long as you have wireless network at all your workplaces there is little need for transferring data with a cable. Thus, the data cable can be used as a charging cable, either by plugging it into a computer or by buying a separate USB charger.
Besides the charger, the PlayBook comes with a nice porch, while the Iconia Tab comes with a microfiber cloth. Now comes the bad news: not only does the Flyer not come with a Pen in the U.S., it does not come with the Porch included with those sold in the rest of the world either. This is somewhat disappointing.
Left: PlayBook’s box. Right: Iconia Tab’s box.
Now comes the biggest selling point of the Iconia: extension ports. While all the other tablets in this review only provides you with a proprietary port, the Iconia actually has a full-size USB port and a HDMI port. The former means you can connect external mouse, keyboard and hard drives to the Iconia. How useful this feature is varies by individual, but there is no doubt Iconia is best among its class when it comes to connectivity.
Iconia’s extension ports. Top-right: HDMI connector. Bottom-left: USB connectors.
Reading
Large format documents: 1. iPad 2. Flyer, PlayBook 3. Iconia Novels: 1. Flyer, PlayBook 2. iPad 3. Iconia
10″ tablets definitely have an edge when it comes to displaying documents. That said, the 7″ tablets performed surprisingly well. I had no problem reading an article from the Quarterly Journal of Economics on the Flyer or the PlayBook. Furthermore, the smaller size of the 7″ tablets make them quite a bit easier to hold with one hand, which is a considerable advantage for those on the go.
Left: Flyer. Right: iPad.
The Iconia, while having a 10″ screen, is ranked third in both formats because its default PDF reader was not able to correctly display the document above.
The iPad, the Flyer and the PlayBook are essentially a match in terms of screen quality, which means you can expect rich, deepy colors from all of them. The Iconia Tab, on the other hand, is a notch behind the others in this regard. Note that the Iconia’s screen is by no means of poor quality, but just that the competition is better.
From top-left to bottom-right: PlayBook, Flyer, iPad, Iconia.
Text Input and Selection
1. Flyer 2. iPad 3. Iconia 4. PlayBook
Because of limited screen estate, on screen keyboards of all the tablets in this review shows by default only the keys for alphabets and a few essential punctuations. By doing so, the 10″ tablets have keys that are almost as big as a full-sized keyboard. Fluid typing on these tablets are achievable provided that you have a case or a stand holding the tablet. The 7″ tablets, on the other hand, are very versatile if you are comfortable with thumb typing.
From top-left to bottom-right: PlayBook, Flyer, Iconia, iPad.
The Flyer ultimately stands out because of its excellent implementation of symbol entry, which allows the user to enter numbers and symbols by press and holding varies keys. Note that Samsung tablets, not included in this review, came along with an input method called Swype, which is arguable an even better input method.
Flyer’s keyboard.
Text selection is a feature that has come a long way. The iPad and the Flyer has what many considered the best method of text selection on tablets: when you press and hold on text, a magnifying glass appear to allow for fine control of the cursor points. Iconia, with default Android 3.0, only have cursor points, as is the PlayBook.
From left to right: iPad, Flyer, Iconia
In the end, while these tablets work well for typing notes and email conversations, trying to type an essay on them would bound to be frustrating. Users who need to do a lot of typing are better of with convertibles like the Fujitsu P series, or hybrids like the Eee Pad Transformer.
Inking
1. Flyer 2. iPad 3. Iconia 4. PlayBook
Unless you only deal with the basic alphanumeric characters, chances are you would find typing notes insufficient. The ability to record handwritten notes has always been one of the reason I use tablets. In this regard there is no competition—thanks to its active digitizer, the Flyer is the best by a large margin. As the videos below demonstrate, the capacitive touch screen of the other three tablets is not accurate enough to allow for good handwritten notes.
From top to bottom: Flyer, iPad, PlayBook.
The Flyer’s advantage extends beyond simply being more accurate. The included Notes application integrates with Evernote, a service which automatically synchronizes your notes online and do character recognition, making your handwritten notes searchable.
Email
1. Iconia, iPad 2. Flyer 3. PlayBook
The Iconia and iPad both have a two-panel threaded email client, which takes advantage of the screen estate of a tablet. The Flyer, currently only on Android 2.3, does not have access to the newest Android Gmail client. As such, its users at the moment have to choose between using the Gmail client, which is threaded but single-panel, or the HTC email client, which is two-panel but not threaded. The PlayBook does not come with an email client.
Instead of using an email client app, a user can instead opt for using a webmail interface. By default, Gmail displays a two-panel interface on iPad’s browser. Follow the instructions here—except at the last step, choose ‘iPad’ instead of ‘iPhone’—to enable the same interface for the Flyer.
Office Applications
Because none of the tablets comes with office applications by default, this review does not go over them. Quickoffice and Documents to Go are two suites that are available on all platforms, with the iPad having the additional optiona of Apple’s own iWorks.
Price
At the moment of writing, an 16GB Wi-Fi version of: the Flyer fetches for $500 + $80 for the pen, the Iconia for $450, the iPad 1st Gen for $350, the iPad 2nd Gen for $500, and the PlayBook for $500. Given that the Flyer is noticeably more expensive, it only makes sense to go for it if you really, really need to write notes.
Is there a place for Tablet PCs?
To conclude this review, I would like to come back to the topic of Tablet PC. Steve Job famously noted that Apple has sold more iPads in nine months than all Tablet PCs combined. The problem with Tablet PCs is that none of them have more than two of the three essential characteristics of a successful tablet—portability, battery life and versatility. This makes Tablet PCs ill-equipped to compete with the newer crop of tablets.
That being said, sometimes having two essential characteristics is enough. If you need a active digitizer to work with Photoshop or offline character recognition, Tablet PCs are still your best bet. Hardly anyone would conclude from more people use Window’s Calculator than Matlab that Matlab is a failure. Each tool simply has its own role.
