Terra Pad 1060 Windows 8.1 tablet and Type Cover review

I’m taking it that most of us are pretty used to our tech coming from Japan, China, Taiwan, and such but what if you want to buy your next laptop or tablet from a European maker? Well, German-based Wortmann has come up with a new Windows 8.1 tablet dubbed Terra and I’ve been spending some quality time with it.

The Terra Pad 1060 landed upon my desk last week along with the rather natty keyboard case.

The 10.1-inch tablet runs Windows 8.1 by way of a dual core Intel Celeron N2805 CPU clocked at 1.46 GHz and belongs to the Bay Trail family which is partnered by 2GB of RAM.

Look and feel

The Pad 1060 has a reassuringly chunky feel to it, owing to its 10.8mm waistline and weighing in at 545g but this is running a ‘real’ operating system and not some lightweight mobile os.

The 10.1-inch HD IPS multi-touch panel is clear and vibrant although it does suffer from reflections when trying to watch films on the train or attempting to take photos of it. Indoors and on the tube it’s not so much a problem though.

The plastics used in the Terra Pad 1060’s construction feel solid and of a good quality.

What’s it got?

The full name of the tablet is the Wortmann Terra Pad 1060i-C and, along with its 10-point touchscreen HD IPS display with a 1280 x 800 pixel resolution, there’s 64 GB of storage, WiFi, Bluetooth 4.0, a 1 megapixel webcam on the front and a 2MP snapper around back.

Along the top edge of the Pad 1060 you’ll find a USB 3.0 port as well as a micro HDMI output, along with headphone and power sockets. This is also where the in-built mic lives.

Down the right edge is the screen rotation lock, volume rocker and a microSD card slot so that you can increase the onboard storage.

On the left-side is the power button and SIM tray should you opt to add the 3G module.

The Terra Pad 1060 is not a the lightest or thinnest tablet out there but, in terms of function, you’re dealing more in the laptop zone than a general tablet because the Pad 1060 is rocking the full-fat version of 64bit Windows 8.1, not RT, Android or iOS for that matter.

The weight is also due in part to the 3400 mAh battery which should deliver around 6-7 hours of usage.

How’s it to use?

This has actually been the first time for me using Windows 8.1 on a touchscreen and it makes the operating system practically make sense. Terra kindly supply Microsoft Office 2013 Home & Student pre-installed on the Pad 1060 which is nice and means you can get to work straight away.

Navigating the Windows tiles using the touchscreen is swift and smooth. Adding the Terra Type Cover Pad gives you a very handy keyboard that confidently snaps in place through powerful magnets. The back of the cover folds to create a stand to make movie watching, as well as work tasks, even more straight forward.

Audio and video playback was great and the screen reacts quickly although, as mentioned previously, does reflect quite a bit and has also proved to be a bit of a fingerprint magnet. Thankfully the Terra Pad comes packing a purple screen cloth.

Hooking the Pad up to my various Wi-Fi points was quick and easy and pairing the tablet to my Bluetooth headphones took a little longer but the connection between devices has been faultless and I’ve not had to perform that task again.

I figured that other reviewers would test the general functionality of the Terra Pad 1060 so, as a working musician (well, bassist), I decided to see if this little 10-inch tablet would prove its worth as a mobile studio.

I hooked up my portable audio interface (TASCAM US-366) to the Pad’s USB 3.0 port after installing Ableton Live 8 Lite and the interface’s control panel. I am pleased to say that everything worked as expected and it has actually got me thinking about purchasing a Terra Pad as having such a compact device means that slinging down ideas could literally happen anywhere whether it be in the back of a van, in a hotel room or in a park.

Points for improvement

These are by no means deal breakers but just something that I’d like Wortmann to take in to consideration. First off is that, on occasions, the Pad 1060 found some multitasking a little too much for its 2GB of RAM. 4GB would be pretty sweet and make the Pad a bit more tempting for some casual gaming.

The case has a cut out for the charging/power cable but not for the headphones port. Thankfully I rock a decent pair of Bluetooth cans so my mobile movie moments are wireless but I know that there are many out there still tethered by cables so, if they decided to have their music library playing from an SD card in the tablet as they move about town, then it would have to be done with the cover off or at least undone.

Conclusion

The Terra Pad 1060 is certainly a handy thing to have around. Anyone that knows me also knows about my general ambivalence towards tablets. You see, since the dawn of the smartphone I have had one. This means emails, videos, note taking, music and all the other things that tablets can do, my phone can also do. Granted, the screens tend to be a tad bigger on tablets but, if I need to do anything on a larger screen and remain mobile, then I’d get a laptop. Laptops also use the same operating system as my desktop PC and the programmes on both are fully compatible because, you know, they’re exactly the same.

The Terra Pad 1060i-C runs Windows 8.1. Now, this is useful. Not only can I update my websites, perform full Microsoft Office tasks, take notes in meetings and at press events but I can also record musical ideas and lyrics and then, thanks to DropBox and Evernote, have everything synched up by the time I get back to base.

If I was to buy a tablet I would definitely consider the Terra Pad 1060 and the optional Type Cover. It has already found its way in to my everyday life so I am definitely going to notice its absence when I package it up to send it back.

I would like to see how the Toshiba Encore 2 10-inch tablet performs as it costs slightly less but has half the storage in lieu of a better 5MP camera. I guess it’s down to how you plan to use your tablet. Taking photos with a tablet? Really?

About the Terra’s storage. The 64GB SSD is a ‘true SSD’. By that I mean it’s not an embedded eMMC, so swapping it out should it need to be is a simple and quick process. It also means that you won’t lose all your data if the Motherboard needs changing for any reason, like you would on a eMMC if you hadn’t made adequate backups.

Prices

The TERRA PAD 1060 i-C N2805 W8.1 including MS Office costs £339 with the optional MOBILE 1060 3G Module for on-the-move data costing £41.99. The TERRA TYPE COVER PAD 1060 adds a keyboard and £84.99 to the total.

For more details and products visit the Terra Computer UK website.