Left Side: Headphone, microUSB, SD card, Speaker
On the left side of the tablet, you'll find ports for your headphones and USB devices. Though, if you want to connect an external hard drive or thumb drive with a full-sized USB port, you need a cable that converts microUSB to the standard USB A plug. Without that adapter, the port only serves to enable USB debugging mode in Honeycomb.
Sony doesn't include drivers that support the native Android Debug Bridge for Android's SDK, though, which means you need to perform a manual modification for Windows to recognize the tablet (a necessary step if you want to take screenshots on it).
- Turn on "USB debugging" in Sony Tablet S
- In Windows, put following device descriptions into the [Google.NTx86] and [Google.NTamd64] sections of extrasgoogleusb_driverandroid_winusb.inf:
SONY Sony Tablet P
%CompositeAdbInterface% = USB_Install, USBVID_054C&PID_04D2&MI_01
SONY Sony Tablet S
%CompositeAdbInterface% = USB_Install, USBVID_054C&PID_05B4&MI_01 - Add 0x54c into the .android/adb_usb.ini file in the Home directory by using following command from the shell prompt.
In Windows:
echo 0x54c>>%HOMEPATH%.androidadb_usb.ini
In OS X:
echo "0x54c" >> $HOME/.android/adb_usb.ini - In Windows: Restart. Plug in the tablet, and when driver installation fails, select "Have Disk" under "Device Manager." Select the driver named "Composite Adb Interface."
Right Side: Speaker, Volume & Power Buttons
Getting back on topic, all of the tablet's buttons are located on the right side. Sony wisely chose to recess them on the groove's upper lip, which prevents them from getting pressed accidentally. Our only quibble is with their small size, since it's difficult to know whether turning the volume up or down while looking at the screen.
The power adapter is a disappointment. Many competing tablets (A500, Galaxy Tab 10.1, Transformer, and Xoom) employ a power brick that plugs straight into a wall wart. Sony instead uses a power adapter with a built-in extension cable. Though not a big deal if you come back to a docking cradle every night, the power supply is less convenient to pack away for a business trip. Moreover, the dock doesn't even add any additional connectivity to the Tablet S.
It's difficult to see in the picture below, but the microphone is a pin-sized hole in the center of the back-side. The IR data port is just to the right of it (the left, if you're looking at the picture). And thus, the remote control functionality will only work with the thick end of the tablet pointed away from you. Remember that infrared communication requires line-of-sight.
The front-facing camera on the Tablet S is similar to the iPad 2's. But the rear-facing hardware is substantially better. Unfortunately, it's missing a flash, limiting its utility in dimly-lit environments. That's a bummer because Sony's tablet is nearly on-par with other compelling competitors. Acer's Iconia A500 is a good example; the Acer at least gives you a single-LED flash, though.
| Camera | Front-Facing | Rear-Facing | Flash |
|---|---|---|---|
| Apple iPad 2 | 0.3 MP (640 x 480) | 0.7 MP (960 x 720) | None |
| Acer Iconia A500 | 2.0 MP (1600 x 1200) | 5.0 MP (2592 x 1944) | Single-LED flash |
| Asus Transformer | 1.2 MP (1024 x 768) | 5.0 MP (2592 x 1944) | None |
| Motorola Xoom | 2.0 MP (1600 x 1200) | 5.0 MP (2592 x 1944) | Dual-LED flash |
| Motorola Xoom Family Edition | 1.3 MP (640 x 480) | 5.0 MP (2592 x 1944) | Single-LED flash |
| Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1 | 2.0 MP (1600 x 1200) | 3.0 MP (2048 x 1536) | Single-LED flash |
| Sony Tablet S | 0.3 MP (640 x 480) | 5.0 MP (2592 x 1944) | None |
| Toshiba Thrive | 2.0 MP (1600 x 1200) | 5.0 MP (2592 x 1944) | None |
- DLNA Certification And A Remote Control Catch Our Eyes
- Meet Sony's Tablet S (SGPT111US/S And SGPT112US/S)
- Tablet S: The Layout
- Sony's Android Skin: An Aesthetically-Clean Design
- Tablet S: A Keyboard With A Number Pad
- Multimedia Applications
- The Universal Remote Control
- DLNA (UPnP) And "Throwing" Media
- Sony's On-Demand Services: Music Unlimited And Video Unlimited
- PlayStation Store: Unimpressive Tablet Games
- Graphics Performance: Tegra 2
- Display Quality: Color Gamut
- Display Quality: Black And White Uniformity
- Camera Quality: Shooting Indoors And Outdoors
- Benchmark Results: Real-World
- Battery Life And Recharge Time
- Wireless Performance
- Sony's Tablet S: The Multimedia Enthusiast's Best Bet



Yeah, admittedly the name isn't catchy or memorable.
Cheers,
Andrew Ku
TomsHardware.com
I think SONY should have included an HDMI port, but wireless works too. HDMI has a limited life anyway as the video industry is moving to CAT6 instead. Its cheaper and can be far LONGER cable than HDMI.
There are both good and bad things about the SONY, its problems are rooted in Android in general and reminds me WHY I'm glad we went with an iPad(1), even compared to todays modern designs.
- Connectivity. The USB is for debug mode? How easy it is to share your data between a desktop and the tablet? My Samsung Android experience in this area is just as crappy today as it was a year ago. I doubt I'll ever buy another Samsung phone ever again, much less another Android. I'm looking to MS's WP8 next year.
- Performance: All these new tablets (I'm eying the Lenovo ThinkPad tablet - why they didn't name it ThinkTab? or Simply ThinkPad) have the same low Nvidia Tegra2 performance compared to the OLD iPad2. Same shorter battery life. Why would a typical person pay $500 when the iPad2 does it faster?
- Love the shape and remote control aspect of the SONY. Looks comfortable. When I went to Android (from a basic phone) I had a choice between the Samsung Galaxy and Sony's Android. Sony still had some quality issues to work out. Samsung had the better OMLED display and a cover for the USB port - rather than a stupid rubber cover to fight. Sony had a much nicer weight and feel. But considering that both phones hit the market at the same time - SONY using Android 1.6 vs. Samsung's 2.1 made me nervous about SONY's ability to upgrade. And then I experience Samsung & at&t failure for a proper Froyo update. Ice Cream has lots of improvements... but still buggy.
Its crap like that, that make me NOT want to buy another Android device. iOS 5 is a very nice update, it was far less painful than getting Froyo onto my Phone! (I had to use an old XP computer to do it) - but Apple pisses me off with their anti-competitive legal games they play against Android. And I have my issues with Microsoft.
Okay, they are ALL EVIL! So I'll go with the easiest and best thing at the time of my purchase.
With Amazon & RIM selling tablets at $200 now, the game will be different next spring when the iPad 3 comes out as well as Windows Mobile 8. Hopefully MS will just call mobile devices "Metro 8".
The IR blaster was the one feature that made me consider keeping it. It works VERY well.
The Transformer Prime is going to be the same price and is better in every way, other than not having an IR blaster. Who would buy this instead? You'd either REALLY have to want that IR blaster or be a Sony fanboy.
Bad ergonomics
Cheap plastic build
Expensive
Terrible battery life
Sony bloat on it
I played with one in store and found it to feel and look like a cheap toy compared to some of the other Android tablets.
good price good options.
However on your graph cart.
Higher is better or lower is better?
Hi Andy,
Which chart?
Cheers,
Andrew Ku
TomsHardware.com
I don't understand why more vendors don't include that. Having a universal remote seems like a no brainer to me.
If only we could get a Tegra 3 with an IR Blaster, a Wacom/Pressure Stylus Pen, micro usb/hdmi and an SDCard slot - that would be an artists go to tool.
I'll second that sentiment. All these features cost more money to implement, so it simply might not be cost effective. We'll have to see how things turn out with Transformer Prime.
Cheers,
Andrew Ku
TomsHardware.com
* For a device this thick it's really odd that there's no SD/microSD, HDMI, USB-A. It suggests to me that design and aesthetics were completely seperate until the end.
* I don't understand their choice of bright white background for a media control when there's a good chance you'll be using it in darkened rooms.
What do you mean by "control a PS3"? Do you mean replace the PS3 remote? Or are you talking about using it like a dualshock controller?
I'd say yes to the first question and no to the second.
Cheers,
Andrew Ku
TomsHardware.com