Touchtable is one of the many Microsoft Surface look-alike’s trying to earn a spot in the touch screen business. Like every good product should, it has some aspects that distinguish it from its competition, but at the same time, some parts of that aren’t so good. I’m going to compare the two products in different categories to see if Microsoft Surface is all that or if it is just getting more attention because it is a big company product.
Lag/Touchability: Basically this is how well the touch table’s interface reacts with touch. The questions asked here would be, Does the screen do what I want? Is it easy to navigate the programs through touch? Does it recognize my touch every time? Since I don’t have either of the products to compare this hands on, I watched two videos. For Microsoft Surface: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zxk_WywMTzc and for Touchtable: http://www.touchtable.com/technology-videos.php?videoId=2 . I noticed that very rarely in the Surface demo did the person on video have to retouch because it wouldn’t read the first time, and flicks seemed realistic. Compared to Touchtable, it seemed fast, because the simple swipe on Touchtable didn’t seem to move the data on screen enough. On the contrary, a pinch on the Touchtable did too much.
I would say that Microsoft Surface won hands down on this one. Surface: 1. Touchtable: 0.
Screen Size/Resolution: The specs for Surface can be seen here and for Touchtable, here. It’s no doubt that Touchtable won this one. It has a screen resolution of 1920×1080, much higher than Surface’s 1280×720. It also has a bigger screen size at 46″.
Touchtable ties it up at 1 each!
Size: This was a close one but Touchtable came out on top by a little bit. Microsoft Surface is a little bit smaller in width and length, but since it uses cameras, it has to be taller. The thing is, this doesn’t really matter, because unless you are laying down, and have your thousand dollar touch screen just sitting on the ground, having lower height doesn’t really matter. In fact, we found only one way that low height is a good thing, and that is if you would want to put a touch screen up on a wall, like you do with a flat screen tv. Other than that, it doesn’t really matter, but it was enough to get a win for Touchtable.
Surface: 1. Touchtable: 2.
Usability: Factors in this rating include How many applications are available for it, How many applications are expected to be made, and in general how useful the product is. I can only guess at this, but I think that Surface wins this category. First of all, as of now Surface has many more applications than Touchtable. Touchtable, according to its website, seems to be more of a government tool for controlling crowds and security rather than an all round tool. And second, Surface has a huge team of developers behind it. Right now, just Microsoft (which is huge by itself), but soon, when the SDK is released, many more developers will be a part.
Tied at 2.
Price: The determining category! I know that Microsoft Surface is pretty expensive, so Touchtable could possibly take this category for the win…
But after some googling (I couldn’t find the price on the website), I found how much a Touchtable costs, and the winner (and cheaper) touch screen IS!!…
Microsoft Surface!
A Touchtable is a jaw dropping $59,000 according to PBS.org! How’s that for expensive. It makes Surface look cheap…
I will hopefully be doing a similar article on Ideum MT2 in the future as well, if everyone likes this one. Make sure to leave comments.
Edit: Please note that the TouchTable isn’t the same as Surface on all levels. The TouchTable simply allows you to use your finger as the mouse (no gestures).
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