I've had the Asus Slate for about a week now, and I've put it through its paces. Overall, I'm really impressed.
Summary:
Pros
+ It's like it was was made for OneNote stylus input and handwriting recognition are incredible
+ Screen is very bright and crisp, great viewing angles
+ Touch input experience is good as well, supports pinch zoom, etc
+ Fast, responsive, boots quick, runs Win7 apps well, good experience with office suite
+ Email and Web browsing is surprisingly easy with either touch or stylus input
+ Can handle some higher end games, though not a gaming machine
Neutral
= Was expecting it to be too heavy but was pleasantly surprised that is was not
= Was expecting the Win7 touch experience to be terrible, but it wasn't bad
= Is expensive but not bad if you compare it to a laptop with a core i5 and active digitizer
Cons
Battery life is dismal
Password entry is not fun, wish it had a fingerprint reader
Important tip make sure to install the optional firmware update to the digitizer from Windows Update.
Details:
I've been keeping an eye out for a machine like this for years to use at work. I don't like using laptops to take notes. The flipped up screen and noise of typing is distracting to a conversation. This machine offers an experience like using pen and paper with all the advantages of electronic notes.
The combination of a good digitizer, the great handwriting recognition and palm reject of OneNote, and the general design of the tablet itself help make it the best machine I've seen for taking notes. The tablet is relatively heavy but still quite comfortable to hold in the palm of my hand or crook of my arm. It also rests well on a table. The stylus pops out of the tablet itself so you aren't forced to use a case (I don't). The tablet is quite thin and there is a solid border for gripping that keeps you from inadvertently touching the screen.
The screen itself looks really good very bright and crisp. It will likely be the first thing you notice when you pick it up. Touch interface is also snappier than I expected, though the pinch zoom is not quite as smooth as the iPhone/iPad.
I was surprised with the email and browsing experience (use Outlook, Gmail, and Firefox). Clicking on links and small icons really isn't as hard as I was expecting, the touch keyboard works ok, and windows picks up handwriting pretty well. You aren't going to write a page long email easily, but there is always the ability to use a bluetooth or usb keyboard and mouse if needed.
Windows apps work fine, similar experience to a core i5 laptop. Gaming isn't too bad. Civ5 works well enough, and I would expect most puzzle and strategy games to work. Will not do as well on games where you worry about fps. Videos look great, again much like a core i5 laptop.
Wish the battery life were better. On the highest brightness setting, I get about 3hrs. I can squeeze 4-5hrs if I lower it a bit. This means I have to charge it half way through the day, which is a pain.
Password entry is also not great. You have to use the touch keyboard, and for security reasons it doesn't light up the keys. Makes it easy to screw up. Wish the tablet had a fingerprint reader or some other support for easier password entry.
Overall, I am very happy with this tablet. I'd recommend it to anyone looking for a machine to use at work or school (or at home if you use windows apps or the office suite a lot).
Observation:
I've been following the marketing from ASUS for this tablet, and I think they have it wrong. They've been comparing it to an iPad. That'd be like Toyota comparing the Prius to a sports car. It doesn't make sense. Both the Asus Slate and iPad are fun in their own way, but serve very different purposes. Use the right tool for the task.
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