Laptop Thoughts: News & Reviews on Laptops, Netbooks, Slates, and More.

"Here is a quick update with the Quadrant benchmark results with the ZiiO 7". I have managed benchmark scores both a little higher and lower than the Quadrant score of 2001. I currently don't have a screen capture app for my ZiiO yet, so please bear with the photo of the results."

Wow, 2001 is a great Quadrant score for a $250 tablet! Benchmarks can be deceiving but just going by Quadrant this looks like a fast device. Actually, the most impressive thing about that Quadrant score may be that the ZiiO is only running Android 2.1. The Creative ZiiO 7 is a 7" Android tablet that uses a ZMS-08 CPU which was designed by ZiiLABS, a subsidiary of Creative. It only has a 480x800 resolution screen but for the price that's not bad. It also has 720p video out and Creative X-Fi which does real-time interpolation of audio to improve sound quality. This could be a good device for consuming audio and video content. Do these benchmarks and it's media features make interested in this tablet?

"Somewhere in the world, Creative just announced a pair of 7-inch (480 x 800) and 10-inch (1024 x 768) Ziio tablets running the Android 2.1 OS. Both feature a ZiiLabs ZMS-08 processor, Bluetooth 2.1 EDR, WiFi 802.11b/g, and microSD expansion."

Another vendor jumps on the bandwagon with a pair of Android 2.1 tablets. Creative has announced 7-inch and 10-inch tablets scheduled to ship in December 2010. According to many of the comments, the resistive screen technology is a big negative, but I think, if done right, they can be used in all types of weather, and offers a great deal of precision. Interesting that the commenters seem surprised that the tablet may be targeted to China, and 1.5-billion potential buyers (who prefer resistive technology for writing). Critics seem to be scared of the great numbers of tablets flooding the market, at all price points, but in my opinion, choice is good, and consumers will vote with their wallets.