[citation][nom]chumly[/nom]Why are they still using Atom processors? This thing is going to be garbage next to an iPad (not an Apple fan).[/citation]
theres nothing particularly bad about the Atom CPUs, the current ones have decent GPUs, duel core with HT so it can multi-task, and finally a core clock speed that can actuially do something.
The issues with the netbooks of old that had Atom in them was mostly that the GPU could barely play back SD video, much less run flash games, or HD video, but this has been taken care of now.
Atom also suffered on the chipsets which could only support 'up to' 2GB of RAM, and typically only had 1GB which is simply not enough. You pair even an older Atom with 2GB and it acts like a completely different machine, the current ones should be able to handle 4GB of memory, which is more than enough (perhaps overkill) for tablet use.
The only thing Atom still kinda sucks on is battery. It is still their best CPUs on battery life, but they pit it against ARM CPUs... and there is simply no comparing the two as ARM takes 1/2 to 2/3rds of the load of an Atom. But if it means the difference between being able to run x86 with 1/3 less battery time, or being stuck with winRT or Android with a little more battery, I will pick the x86 every time, because there are a ton of handy little utilities that I would be nearly lost without, and I like that most software will run on it (all be it slowly) where on ARM it simply won't until someone makes an app which will cost more money, have less features, and integreate with the rest of the system less elegantly (not really an issue with ARM, and more an issue of the OSs that run on ARM).