As I prepare to return the review ExoPC Slate it’s time to sum up my conclusions about the device.  If you missed the first three parts of this review you can catch them at Part1, Part 2 and Part 3. 

So what’s the ExoPC like to live with day to day?  Obviously there’s been talk here in the article comments about battery life which I haven’t mentioned yet.  The quoted battery life is 4 hours and this is accurate.  It’s long enough for some light use on an evening but if you really want to put it to heavy work it might be worthwhile investing in the (forthcoming, currently in production) docking station.  The battery is set to last two years after which time you’ll need an authorised service centre to replace it, but after two years anybody could be looking at a new tablet anyway as these things are bound to get some knocks during that time. 

Then there’s the size and weight.  I was mostly using this tablet, crashed out on the couch watching TV, for some light web browsing and email, but was also occasionally carrying it around too.  The size and weight of this tablet are superb.  It’s great when watching the BBC iPlayer to get full screen 16:9 video, which you can’t get on the iPad due to it’s 4:3 aspect ratio.  On this point the ExoPC Slate scores highly (though you do look a bit like a warehouse foreman if you walk around with it cradled in your arm). 

You would probably not want to use this out and about except perhaps for long train or coach journeys, but I’ve not seen anybody using an iPad or any other tablet outdoors either. 

The screen is great, even after you’ve smudged it you can still see it clearly and not finger marks.  This is something you definitely must have in a tablet.  The graphics performance lets the tablet down a bit though as the graphics weren’t up to running the Surface Lagoon interactive pond program in the Microsoft Touch Pack, so complex games might be out. 

It’s on the software and performance though that things aren’t quite so great.  As the machine is non-upgradeable I found myself wishing that it had come bundled with a bit more than 2Gb of RAM.  It has a dual-core Atom processor and a solid state hard disk which make it nippy, but pairing those with just 2Gb of RAM spoils the show and can make Windows 7 feel sluggish if you have a few windows open.  If you already have a netbook and are used to the performance they offer then you won’t mind, but tablets aren’t falling into the netbook price bracket and so I hoped for more. 

I’ve found, oddly, that I can actually live with Windows 7 on a tablet but the ExoUI still needs works and polish.  That said they’re on this every single day and had yet more announcements as I was getting ready to write this article, more on those in a bit. 

Of the few Windows 7 tablets on sale at the moment this is undoubtedly the best.  It has the best build quality, screen, size, weight and interface of them all.  If you want a Windows 7 tablet and can afford to be patient for a few months while they update their UI then I’d buy one as soon as they go on sale in your region.  If you want the full whizzy tablet experience then you won’t get it here, at least not with Windows 7 on board, those people should get an iPad. 

Windows 7 has clear advantages over the iPad in many ways however despite not being designed for a tablet and we’re now only a year away from Windows 8.  Some of you I know are beta-testers for Microsoft like me and we can look forward to getting Windows 8 sooner rather than later.  This again can make the ExoPC a compelling purchase. 

There’s been fresh and recent news from ExoPC Towers however that not only is a new tablet coming later in 2011 with upgraded hardware, but that it will also come with a glasses-free 3D screen, and this is literally news that’s broken in the last 12 hours. 

ExoPC's Mock-Up of their 3D Interface for Later in 2011

I’m not so sure how a 3D screen will work with Windows but as ExoPC are claiming that in a few months you’ll be in their UI “90% of the time” perhaps it doesn’t matter.  Upgraded hardware is definitely a plus though. 

So in conclusion is it worth buying an ExoPC Slate.  If you need a tablet and want the power that goes with Windows 7 then I’d say that the ExoPC is definitely the tablet to get.  The only caveat is the occasionally sluggish performance, but as I said if you’re used to a netbook this won’t bother you. 

ExoPC should also be supported as they are a start-up and we all know the perils that can befall such technology companies.  They are doing excellent work though and I can’t overstate the fantastic build quality of this device enough.  If they carry on like this then the upgraded UI in the spring and a new tablet later this year will be something truly special indeed.