Update at bottom of post....
Hopefully this belongs here and not in Mobile, since this thing was nearly as powerful as a laptop.
I've had an Asus EP121 for quite a few years now, and it's been feeling sluggish for several months as software gets more...."feature-rich," shall we say? It's got an i5 470UM (1.33GHz) - dual-core, Hyperthreaded.
Then recently the fan bearings started groaning, and they conveniently use fully sealed bearings that can't be oiled. Its battery life has also been kind of pathetic from the start, clocking in at around 90 minutes if it's doing something like playing 720p video or using the Internet. I can squeeze 4hrs if it's only acting as an oversize music player with the screen turned off.
So maybe it's time for something new.
What I like about what I have now:
- Two full-size USB ports. When traveling for work, I always bring along a USB hub. I'd prefer a tablet with 4 or more USB ports. :whiste: I have to bring along a USB Wifi adapter because I've yet to be in a hotel where I can get decent access with the built-in Wifi.
- It has a stylus and a built-in slot for storing it. It uses a Wacom digitizer, and the stylus includes pressure sensitivity functionality on both ends.
- Mini-HDMI output, 3.5mm headphone jack, and an SD card slot.
- 12.1" IPS widescreen. I don't like anything that has a tiny screen, unless it's a graphing calculator, and I wouldn't want anything smaller than this. While it is IPS, there is some brightness loss and color shift when viewed off-axis, but it's far better than a TN screen.
- It survived a 2ft drop onto concrete, landing corner-first. It incurred some scrapes and some deformation of the frame, but it still worked. I don't intend to drop my new tablet very often , but that was a nice surprise.
- The I/O is all built into the same unit. There's no docking station. On most other units, the vast majority of connectivity options are on the docking station/keyboard.
Microsoft's got their Surface tablets, but:
- MicroSD slot only, not a full-size SD slot.
- No HDMI port, but it looks like I could get an adapter for its DisplayPort. (I'm not up on the latest connectors for displays. Heck, most of what I use is still DVI.)
- A single USB port.
- 3:2 aspect ratio? I thought everything was 16:9 or at least 16:10 these days.
What else is available that approaches the specs of the EP121?
I'd likely keep the thing if only I could upgrade the processor, but it's a BGA device soldered right to the motherboard, so no luck there. The wifi board, RAM, and SSD can all be upgraded, but they went with the BGA thing to save weight, cost, and space. Bummer.
I can go >$1k cost on this.
Thank you!
Update: When making this thread, I did end up forgetting how little time I had available. This fan problem came at a rather bad time, as I'm leaving in about a week for a 2-week training trip for work. I'd really rather not have to rely on either public hotel computers, if any are even available, or else an old loaner laptop from work. Any replacement fans I can find for the EP121 ship from China, and likely wouldn't arrive until well after I've left.
"Google it" was the answer here, as it turns out that other people are also specifically looking for EP121 replacements. It seems like this tablet was a bit ahead of its time, at least so far as being a massive workhorse (a 2.55 pound tablet), and for awhile there weren't any others on the market that could match its feature set. So, it earned a decent following, but Asus seems to have little interest in making a successor.
Winner: Fujitsu Q775. They have some other hybrid options that serve as both laptop and tablet, but many of them offer virtually no connectivity options on the tablet part. The Q775 offers most of what I was looking for, including two USB ports and micro-HDMI, but no full-size SD card slot. Oh well, guess I'll need a USB plugin for that.
I do get a 2x boost in CPU speed, a bigger SSD, a slightly bigger fancier screen, and much better battery life.
Update 2: Ordered the tablet. It lit up every fraud protection alert warning light from here to California. Visa put a hold on the charge and called. TigerDirect then put the order on hold and called. I'm on hold at the moment....
Maybe trying to buy cocaine would have aroused less suspicion.
Hopefully this belongs here and not in Mobile, since this thing was nearly as powerful as a laptop.
I've had an Asus EP121 for quite a few years now, and it's been feeling sluggish for several months as software gets more...."feature-rich," shall we say? It's got an i5 470UM (1.33GHz) - dual-core, Hyperthreaded.
Then recently the fan bearings started groaning, and they conveniently use fully sealed bearings that can't be oiled. Its battery life has also been kind of pathetic from the start, clocking in at around 90 minutes if it's doing something like playing 720p video or using the Internet. I can squeeze 4hrs if it's only acting as an oversize music player with the screen turned off.
So maybe it's time for something new.
What I like about what I have now:
- Two full-size USB ports. When traveling for work, I always bring along a USB hub. I'd prefer a tablet with 4 or more USB ports. :whiste: I have to bring along a USB Wifi adapter because I've yet to be in a hotel where I can get decent access with the built-in Wifi.
- It has a stylus and a built-in slot for storing it. It uses a Wacom digitizer, and the stylus includes pressure sensitivity functionality on both ends.
- Mini-HDMI output, 3.5mm headphone jack, and an SD card slot.
- 12.1" IPS widescreen. I don't like anything that has a tiny screen, unless it's a graphing calculator, and I wouldn't want anything smaller than this. While it is IPS, there is some brightness loss and color shift when viewed off-axis, but it's far better than a TN screen.
- It survived a 2ft drop onto concrete, landing corner-first. It incurred some scrapes and some deformation of the frame, but it still worked. I don't intend to drop my new tablet very often , but that was a nice surprise.
- The I/O is all built into the same unit. There's no docking station. On most other units, the vast majority of connectivity options are on the docking station/keyboard.
Microsoft's got their Surface tablets, but:
- MicroSD slot only, not a full-size SD slot.
- No HDMI port, but it looks like I could get an adapter for its DisplayPort. (I'm not up on the latest connectors for displays. Heck, most of what I use is still DVI.)
- A single USB port.
- 3:2 aspect ratio? I thought everything was 16:9 or at least 16:10 these days.
What else is available that approaches the specs of the EP121?
I'd likely keep the thing if only I could upgrade the processor, but it's a BGA device soldered right to the motherboard, so no luck there. The wifi board, RAM, and SSD can all be upgraded, but they went with the BGA thing to save weight, cost, and space. Bummer.
I can go >$1k cost on this.
Thank you!
Update: When making this thread, I did end up forgetting how little time I had available. This fan problem came at a rather bad time, as I'm leaving in about a week for a 2-week training trip for work. I'd really rather not have to rely on either public hotel computers, if any are even available, or else an old loaner laptop from work. Any replacement fans I can find for the EP121 ship from China, and likely wouldn't arrive until well after I've left.
"Google it" was the answer here, as it turns out that other people are also specifically looking for EP121 replacements. It seems like this tablet was a bit ahead of its time, at least so far as being a massive workhorse (a 2.55 pound tablet), and for awhile there weren't any others on the market that could match its feature set. So, it earned a decent following, but Asus seems to have little interest in making a successor.
Winner: Fujitsu Q775. They have some other hybrid options that serve as both laptop and tablet, but many of them offer virtually no connectivity options on the tablet part. The Q775 offers most of what I was looking for, including two USB ports and micro-HDMI, but no full-size SD card slot. Oh well, guess I'll need a USB plugin for that.
I do get a 2x boost in CPU speed, a bigger SSD, a slightly bigger fancier screen, and much better battery life.
Update 2: Ordered the tablet. It lit up every fraud protection alert warning light from here to California. Visa put a hold on the charge and called. TigerDirect then put the order on hold and called. I'm on hold at the moment....
Maybe trying to buy cocaine would have aroused less suspicion.
Last edited: