Quick Hit: Thoughts on the Sony Tablet P

While I was in Texas I had an opportunity to spend about half an hour with a Sony Tablet P. It’s an interesting tablet in that it uses a clamshell form factor. I’m a big fan of the clamshell design. Not exactly sure why, but I am. Perhaps it has something to do with the compact design and the fact that the unit’s screen is protected when it’s closed. Who knows.


The unit I played with was running Android 3.2 (Gingerbread), which was a real bummer. The good news is that Sony has begun rolling out an update for the device. Unfortunately I didn’t have time to upgrade and play with Android 4.x on the Sony Tablet P.

A couple of negatives that immediately came to mind while I was playing with the Sony Tablet P were that it had no external memory card slot and there was no way to take advantage of the dual screens, i.e. you can’t have separate apps running on each of the two screens. That’s unfortunate because I can see real value in being able to do that, especially when it comes to things like email, social media and internet browsing. The only apps that really take advantage of the dual screen are those that have been optimized by Sony. Unfortunately I don’t see developers building apps specifically for this device in the future as there’s almost no interest in it. With tablets like the Galaxy Nexus 7, the Samsung lineup, and so on, the Sony Tablet P is virtually invisible.

One final thing that bothered me was the gap between the screens.  It wouldn’t have been such a big deal, but the size of the gap can be distracting at time.

Overall the tablet was really cool. I could see owning one. I’ll be looking around eBay, etc to see if I can pick one up for a reasonable price. If I can I’ll grab one. The device is a throwback in its design, and it certainly grabbed my attention. I wish more companies would explore the clamshell form factor. It’s a shame that the Sony Tablet P will likely dip into the shadows and die a slow, quiet death.

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