Double Bonus – The Best of Android & Windows Together!
My ancient PC recently broke down and thus I was in need of a new device. So my husband and I decided to search online for laptops or tablets which could fit our budget and fulfill my needs from a computer. But we didn’t know that we’d have a much harder time than anticipated as a volley of choices would appear before us. It is truly difficult to search for the perfect gadget today, be it a smart phone or a tablet. Of course everybody wants the best specifications like RAM, hard disk space, processor speed, screen resolution, applications, graphics and sound cards etc. and that too in their budget, but even with all such specifications narrowed down, there are 2 major decisions most of us face when investing in a gadget – the brand name and the operating system (OS).
As far as the OS is concerned, Android and Windows 8 have become the recent favorites among people and they are the very reasons many people choose one gadget over the other. While one of your favorite brands might be offering an Android based gadget, another one close in line might be offering all the same specifications in a Windows based gadget. Personally, I love the ease of use with Android, but I am also mesmerized by the colorful and creative look of Windows 8. And this lead to a solid confusion! But I think God was listening to me closely as out of nowhere, came out the perfect device for me – a dual-boot tablet with both Android and Windows 8 operating systems. Now that’s something I should definitely have!
I have this knack of reading about the latest trends in technology. That’s how I first got introduced to CES. Let me tell you a bit about it. While most technology giants generally organize exclusive press events or releases with announcements about their forth-coming products, many choose to demonstrate their products at global technology events. These events are bound to attract customers who are offered a first-hand chance at using and experiencing the products for themselves. One such event is the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) where new technologies in a variety of fields are launched and demonstrated to the general public. The CES 2014 was held in Las Vegas and marked the launch of the dual-boot tablets I was talking about.
Leading the introductions was Asus who brought forth the Transformer Book Duet TD300 which is claimed to be the first dual-boot laptop-tablet where both operating systems will run on a single Intel chipset. Though dual-boot devices have been around for some time, they always need their own independent chipsets to operate. Having them operate out of a single chip is a first. This means that whenever a user switches from one OS to another, there isn’t much overhead and the resources used are also significantly lesser. In the Transformer’s case this makes the switch possible within a time span of 4 seconds. Wow! This device can be used as a laptop as well as a tablet by detaching its display from the keyboard.
On similar lines, Micromax, an Indian technology giant manufacturing smart phones, HDTVs and now tablets, has launched the LapTab at CES. The LapTab is also a dual-boot laptop-tablet which can run on both Windows 8.1 and Android Jelly Bean. Apart from the wonderful concept of 2 inter-switchable operating systems, these devices offer the usual features of laptops and tablets including an LCD backlit display, touch screen, Wi-Fi capability, USB connectivity, strong internal storage, primary camera with video recording capacity and many more. Add to that an amazingly affordable price range with the Asus Transformer at $599 and the Micromax LapTab at $500, and you have yourselves a definite grabber!
So come to think of it, these devices have brought the whole array of options together at one place. When you want to work on documents or presentations, switch to Windows and for play and entertainment, switch to Android. Sounds really interesting! But with all the work and switching between the two systems, what still remains to be seen is how the device’s battery or for that matter processor will respond. Does the battery on these devices drain out really soon or do the devices suffer from lag times in applications? I guess I’ll find the answer to such questions only when I have one of these babies in my hands. Super-excited!