Sony's Xperia Tablet Z takes on water resistance

I took a 7 inch tablet computer and submerged it in a bowl of water for several minutes. I then poured more liquid onto it from a pitcher. Later, I gave the machine a cold shower.There were no ill effects after each dousing.I’ve been testing the Xperia Tablet Z, Sony’s latest showcase slate, the kind of notice-me hardware that the company hopes will help rescue its struggling electronics business from the deep end. It’s one of the best Android tablets I’ve tried.

Tablet Z is impervious to water, and resistant to dust, too. It can withstand the kind of impending disaster that would likely drown a rival tablet. You know, when the kids knock over your morning coffee or you accidentally drop the tablet into a puddle or the kitchen sink.

Tablet Z is water resistant, not waterproof, an important distinction. Though Sony invites you to bring the Z to the pool or the beach, you presumably wouldn’t want to drop it in saltwater or a swimming pool full of chlorine. The only claim Sony is making is that the machine is water resistant up to 3 feet for up to 30 minutes. You must also ensure that the flaps protecting the ports and connectors are firmly closed.

Keep in mind that you’re not really meant to use it in the shower. As water pounded the display, the multitouch-screen jumped from one app to the next. Once I dried the 10 inch tablets, order was restored.If water resistance were the only feature Sony had going with Tablet Z, I’d advise you to look elsewhere. Fortunately, Sony has designed an Android tablet with other benefits.dfdf1323D

Sony managed to pack a robust quad core Qualcomm Snapdragon processor into an exceptionally svelte (0.27-inch) and lightweight, 1.1-pound rectangular design. This is a good-looking, premium machine.The full high-definition 10.1-inch display (1,920 x 1,200) is very nice, though to my eye not as superior as some other tablet screens I’ve seen, including the Retina display on the iPad. I don’t shoot many pictures on a 8 inch tablet, but the results here are decent, if by no means exceptional. Tablet Z has an 8.1-megapixel rear camera and a 2.2-megapixel front camera.

It also has a microSD memory card slot, and HDMI for connecting the tablet to a larger-screen high-definition monitor. As expected, Sony leans heavily on its own entertainment properties — its Video Unlimited movie store and its Music Unlimited store. Gamers will appreciate that it is PlayStation-certified.

The tablet also takes advantage of Near Field Communication technology for wirelessly sharing music, pictures, Web pages or other files with compatible phones or other devices. I got it to work with a Google Nexus 7 tablets for sale, albeit with some trial and error.Sony claims up to 10 hours of video playback on its battery or eight hours of Web browsing.

Sony’s look-how-I-can-swim hardware isn’t cheap, but there are a lot of things to like: thin, attractive design, water resistance. The big question Sony faces is how big a splash that all adds up to, given all the Android tablets, and a rather formidable (albeit, keep-me-dry) rival in the iPad.