Sony Vaio Tap 20 = Vassal on Big-Ass Ipad

I'm looking at this Vaio Tap 20 that's due out for Christmas, and it appears to be a full functioned PC that you can pull the 20 inch screen off of and use as a touch pad. Ten simultaneous inputs. Due to run Windows 8, Vassal and games like Memoir Online and Formula De and anything that runs in a browser are already available on the machine. MSRP looks to be adjusting down to about $900.

That's a big-ass screen. That's a screen where a map like Virgin Queen's can be presented without zooming and panning around.

I've been reluctant to go after an iPad because I haven't been happy with the cost-benefit ratio that it provides me personally. It's very slicky but it's very limited. I need a full blown machine with Office (and the keyboard to use it) plus the ability to host a full web site and heavy business software for the other parts of my life. Owning both makes no sense. If it's rugged enough this machine might end up being my "digital gaming platform" especially when you consider it has four times the real estate to work with. I could do presentations on it without a projector too.

S.

The device looks interesting, but have you tried Win8 or Office 365 yet? It's a smartphone experience on a PC. It's going to be truly dreadful in the enterprise environment.

I've seen it and it's not bad, but it doesn't make sense on a big screen. I'll be interested to see how they adjust for a bigger screen. On a 20 incher you're going to need to swipe twice to get the old app all the way off the screen.

S.

By far the worst thing about the iPad is that its still too heavy, I'm not sure how this would work, or why you'd want to use this instead of sitting at a PC, I can't imagine a lot of comfortable positions with this on your lap.

Truly we're all waiting for light emitting polymer technology and such like so that we can have large area displays that are "paper thin", weigh very little and can be rolled away, stuck on a wall or stand, or mounted to a lightweight frame for holding etc.

It would be lying flat on the table.

S.

The screen size is nice, but since nothing about VASSAL is designed for a touch/swipe interface, I'm curious if would be as cumbersome as it currently is on the iPad over Splashtop Remote Desktop.

Hey if I get a Microsoft Surface, will I be able to play games with any of you guys? Or is it not going to be compatible at all with iOS stuff? What about other PC stuff?

Sagrilarus wrote: It would be lying flat on the table.

S.

I'm not seeing the advantage against the 27" monitor that most of us already have next to our comfortable desk chair, until it becomes a paper thin LEP device that can be like 4 or 5 feet wide, essentially a table top surface that's practical.

I don't really see it as a replacement yet. The most important thing is the interface and having big ass tablet doesn't change anything here. Unless you have a proper PC version of a board game with a slick UI, Vassal and similar roundabout ways of playing board games on a PC are always going to be much more of a hassle. As they aren't commercial projects I don't think they'll be optimized for touch interface anytime soon. Just look at open source games that have been ported to touchscreen devices. Both Freeciv and Battle for Wesnoth originally had mouse and keyboard interface now you can play them on tablets but the interface is far from slick and just gets in the way too much. It's probably quicker to just set up a proper board, cards and counters if you are having friends over or use your PC, mouse keyboard and all if you want to play VAssal.