Intel's latest Classmate: Who needs an iPad? Tweet

In addition to improved hardware, the availability of Windows 7 makes a real difference in the performance of the new Classmates. Boot up is quick, applications are generally snappy, and multitasking is certainly tolerable. Windows 7 also has native support for touch, making the tablet interface even more appealing.

So is this actually an iPad killer as I called it above? Watch the brief video review below to find out why I think most educational settings can benefit from one of these new Classmates at least as much, if not considerably more, than an iPad.

So, do we have an iPad killer on our hands? At least in education, the Classmate’s competitive price (final pricing hasn’t been released yet, but should be comparable to the $499 of the previous generation), physical keyboard, full-blown OS (as opposed to a phone OS that relies on Apps), a touch screen/stylus combination that feels remarkably like writing on paper, built-in webcam, and expandable components all make the iPad hard to justify. There are plenty of use cases to which the iPad is well suited, even in schools. However, my money is on the new and drastically improved Classmates for most situations.

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