[cameradork]

Vizio debuts its first Windows 8 tablet, an 11.6-inch slate with a 1080p display, AMD processor

Really. 2GB of RAM for W8 Pro? Here's hoping it's upgradeable.

[socialcarpet]

I seriously doubt it's upgradable.

Windows 8 should be less RAM hungry than even Windows 7 though and I suspect they figure you aren't going to have nearly as many apps open at the same time on a tablet as you would a laptop or PC. It's a safe bet that people will use tablets less intensively than they would a PC, that's why they can get away with slower, energy efficient processors like the Intel Atom or the AMD equivalent and less RAM.

They are also probably trying to keep the price down since Windows RT tablets are already on the high end of the price scale for tablets and Windows Pro tablets are going to be even more, yes I know they run full Windows, but to a consumer seeing a $700 tablet next to a $399 one, it's still a harder sell.

They are probably designing some planned obsolescence into it too. Give you a 2 GB version now so they can tempt you with a 4 GB version at the end of the year.

[Kebero]

Where does the article say it's Windows 8 Professional?

[palandri]

I am thinking 2GB of RAM should be ok on a W8 tablet. My wife has an Asus netbook with 1GB of RAM. The first thing I thought about doing was upgrading her RAM, but it runs Win7 home 32 bit without a problem. So I left her RAM alone.

I do understand your concern. I am into having a lot of RAM also. My Samsung laptop came with 4GB of RAM and I upgraded it the day I bought it to 8GB of RAM.

[socialcarpet]

Where does the article say it's Windows 8 Professional?

Well they called it a Windows 8 tablet, not a Windows RT tablet, of course they could be wrong.

By Pro, I meant the the "Pro" designation that they are giving all the Windows 8 tablets to distinguish them from Windows RT tablets, not that it was necessarily Windows 8 Professional. If I had to guess, I'd say it's probably the 32-bit version of regular Windows 8, not Pro and probably has some unnecessary fat trimmed off to save space.

[cameradork]

Where does the article say it's Windows 8 Professional?

Engadget says it here, three lines into the article:

"...an 11.6-inch slate running full Windows (i.e., none of this RT business)..."

[cameradork]

Well they called it a Windows 8 tablet, not a Windows RT tablet, of course they could be wrong.

By Pro, I meant the the "Pro" designation that they are giving all the Windows 8 tablets to distinguish them from Windows RT tablets, not that it was necessarily Windows 8 Professional. If I had to guess, I'd say it's probably the 32-bit version of regular Windows 8, not Pro and probably has some unnecessary fat trimmed off to save space.

Oh, oh... I see what you were getting at. You're right, maybe it's an entry-level Win8 not-RT, yet not-Pro tablet, in which case 2GB might be fine - that hadn't even occurred to me. I guess I just want a Photoshop/Lightroom-worthy tablet already ;)

[cameradork]

I am thinking 2GB of RAM should be ok on a W8 tablet. My wife has an Asus netbook with 1GB of RAM. The first thing I thought about doing was upgrading her RAM, but it runs Win7 home 32 bit without a problem. So I left her RAM alone.

I do understand your concern. I am into having a lot of RAM also. My Samsung laptop came with 4GB of RAM and I upgraded it the day I bought it to 8GB of RAM.

Oops, didn't see this before. Yeah, for what I want to use a tablet for - drawing in Photoshop and sorting photos on the go in Lightroom, 8GB (and even 16) would be better than 4. All of the other specs on these things are fine for that - a Core i5 or better, a nice 1080 screen (most laptops don't have those), pressure-sensitive Wacom tech (maybe not in this one, but in the Surface Pro at least). 8GB of RAM adds nothing to the weight or bulk and is relatively cheap right now - why not at least offer that option?

[BIGPADDY]

It could be a notebook with those kinds of spec but I seen good review with that amount of RAM inside and today RAM is not important like it use to be so it should be fine.

As long as it dosen't have Intel Celeron inside

[Winning Guy]

When I see 2GB RAM, I see it mainly as an RT device where you can use Desktop every once in a while, as needed.

If I was getting something primarily for Desktop use, I'd want at least 4GB.

[cameradork]

It could be a notebook with those kinds of spec but I seen good review with that amount of RAM inside and today RAM is not important like it use to be so it should be fine.

As long as it dosen't have Intel Celeron inside

No spec is ever important until it gets in the way of what you want to do with the device.

2GB is plenty for word processing, surfing, email and casual gaming, but it is not enough for Photoshop or Lightroom. 4GB is a good baseline for those programs, but 8GB gives them some room to breathe if you're dealing with large files or want anything else open at the same time.

[cameradork]

Never mind - I want this:

Lenovo ThinkPad Helix tablet / laptop hybrid gets a power-up when it docks | The Verge

[Daniel0418]

I agree with some of what you are saying, but most of the 2 GB of RAM tablets are running Clovertrail. Which is low power dual core processor. More RAM won't benefit you in most use cases you can even be in with this tablet. I am currently using the W510 and I went through and kind of pushed it as much as I could with the apps and programs it comes with. I had about 7 apps open on the desktop including microsoft paint, IE 10 with flash running, Windows live movie maker, audacity playing music. On Metro side of things I also had open a browser with 4 tabs, people app, msger app, skype app, drop box app, sky drive app. With all of this running when I checked task manager it was only using 63% of the total RAM. It said 1.3 of 2 GB. So the RAM won't be an issue on these tablets, now if your looking to use Photoshop and light room like you mentioned in your last couple comments, then you are going to need a better processor, GPU, and RAM. So if anything isn't running a Core i processor or better you prob shouldn't even consider it.


P.S. Yes that Lenova Twist looks pretty amazing. Expensive though.

[cameradork]

I agree with some of what you are saying, but most of the 2 GB of RAM tablets are running Clovertrail. Which is low power dual core processor. More RAM won't benefit you in most use cases you can even be in with this tablet. I am currently using the W510 and I went through and kind of pushed it as much as I could with the apps and programs it comes with. I had about 7 apps open on the desktop including microsoft paint, IE 10 with flash running, Windows live movie maker, audacity playing music. On Metro side of things I also had open a browser with 4 tabs, people app, msger app, skype app, drop box app, sky drive app. With all of this running when I checked task manager it was only using 63% of the total RAM. It said 1.3 of 2 GB. So the RAM won't be an issue on these tablets, now if your looking to use Photoshop and light room like you mentioned in your last couple comments, then you are going to need a better processor, GPU, and RAM. So if anything isn't running a Core i processor or better you prob shouldn't even consider it.

Yeah, I think what threw me is that the article said it was running "The full version of windows - not RT". I just gloss over any new RT devices, but when there's a tablet running regular Windows, I perk up. I had thought that this was AMD's Core i competitor and that any tablet not running RT was running 8 Pro, so now that all that's sorted out and I realize this is a low-end normal Windows tablet, I'm fine with it having 2GB and I can just gloss over similar ones as I see them. I was really just worried that there was going to be a RAM-limiting trend in Win8 Pro tablets.

P.S. Yes that Lenova Twist looks pretty amazing. Expensive though.

Specs like that in a tiny form factor put it in line with the Vaio Z, so I wasn't as sticker-shocked as most. Of course I haven't seen the price for the fully decked-out one, so that could cause a heart attack ;)

[Kebero]

Engadget says it here, three lines into the article:

"...an 11.6-inch slate running full Windows (i.e., none of this RT business)..."

Does that say "Windows Professional?" No, it does not. There are two versions of Windows 8 (three, technically, but only two commercially available versions): Windows 8 and Windows 8 Professional.

[cameradork]

Does that say "Windows Professional?" No, it does not. There are two versions of Windows 8 (three, technically, but only two commercially available versions): Windows 8 and Windows 8 Professional.

Trying to tone down the snark here, so I'll try to be polite. I realized that. Read the previous comments.

[Jeffrey Seymore]

I know that these low power CPU's can't always access that much RAM. For example anything running Clover-Trail (Atom) can not access anything more than 2 gigs.

[Kebero]

Trying to tone down the snark here, so I'll try to be polite. I realized that. Read the previous comments.

Bad day at work coupled with not reading all the replies means inappropriately snarky response. Sorry about that.

[Kebero]

I know that these low power CPU's can't always access that much RAM. For example anything running Clover-Trail (Atom) can not access anything more than 2 gigs.

Kinda sad wwhen you think about it. The AMD C-60 can access 8GB.

[cj-m]

The mysterious Kupa X15 has 8GB RAM...

[cameradork]

Bad day at work coupled with not reading all the replies means inappropriately snarky response. Sorry about that.

No worries - happens to me all the time (see my initial post )

[cameradork]

The mysterious Kupa X15 has 8GB RAM...

Cool - that might match my 920 pretty nicely too, as far as shape, styling and color goes :) Hopefully it uses Wacom tech instead of whatever janky digitizer Sony uses that's not supported too well by Adobe. Keyboard on the Kupa also looks a little flat... one of the things that's attractive about the Helix is that it's a Lenovo keyboard, which are usually really good. Guess I have to determine how often this will be used as a tablet, and how often as a laptop. Also have to see how much a fully tricked-out Helix is going to cost. Top-of-the-line Kupa is only $1600 which is pretty amazing considering what you get.

Also have to figure out if size matters... both are full hd screens, but the Helix is is 11.6 vs the Kupa which is 15 (1200 vert px vs 1080, though.. that's pretty nice)