back to article Asus Eee Pad Transformer Android tablet

Billed as the year of the fondleslab, 2011 has so far failed to deliver on the hype. With sales of Motorola's Xoom sluggish at best, the BlackBerry Playbook too idiosyncratic for most and the Samsung Galaxy 10.1 tantalisingly conspicuous by its absence, Asus looks to steal a march on the competition with its Eee Pad Transformer …

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  1. Arctic fox
    Thumb Up

    Now *that* is priceless!

    ".......Of course, capturing pictures and video on a 10.1in tablet makes as much sense as trimming your toenails with garden shears, ..........."

    I also agree with the sound common sense informing your remark!

    Whilst I feel that it is difficult to say whether this type of "bespoke" docking station solution with *built in* keyboard will be a really big seller I certainly feel that the docking/charging station (with extra ports) solution with your tab giving you the opportunity to connect keyboard and mouse if you want to will be a form-factor that a lot of people will appreciate. Kudos to Asus here, I am impressed. I am not ready to take the plunge yet - the next generations hardware (in the next eighteen months or so) will be even more convincing, and *then* yours truly will blow the dust of his wallet.

    1. Anonymous Coward
      Meh

      I suspect

      People would rather appreciate a kickstand and a few USB ports to connect their own choice of mouse and keyboard, rather than being railroaded into buying the official accessory (or even a third Party plugin adaptor).

  2. Tom 7

    I look forward to

    cheaper docking stations from others sources PDQ.

    1. juice

      3rd party docking stations are unlikely...

      Given that the keyboard connects via a proprietary plug.

      S'just the price you pay for Android's hardware agnosticism...

      1. petur
        FAIL

        @juice (3rd party docking stations are unlikely...)

        Right, I forgot that the ipod/pad use standard connectors....NOT

        1. Steve Ives
          Facepalm

          @petur - you're right, of course...

          you don't get 3rd party docks, sound systems etc for iPads/iPhones etc

          Steve

    2. Arctic fox

      @Tom 7 Re "I look forward to"

      To be honest if this basic idea looks to be a winner in the market place I am sure that "generic docks" will be produced. In fact I would be surprised if Asus themselves did not start to produce a range of such stations both with and without keyboards. It is such an obvious peripheral for a tab-pc that it is likely that there will be quite a market in them.

    3. Thomas 18

      Might behard to beat on price

      Given it's £50 (when bundled) and includes battery, ports and keyboard. Laptop batteries usually cost around that on their own.

  3. Alan_Peery

    Weighty issues

    "at 675g it's far from the one-handed holy grail that is the iPad 2"

    IPad2: 601, 607, or 613 grams depending on the model

    iPad1: 680 or 730 grams

    I'd say it's pretty NEAR to the one-handed Grail myself.

    1. Anonymous Coward
      Coat

      Re: Weighty issues

      Of course, "one-handed holy grail" sounds like some kind of auto-erotic state of perfection. Something to bear in mind as a retort next time the iBrigade pipe up about something or other.

  4. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    Looks are in the eye of the...

    Fondleslab beholder.

    I, and my other half, both think that the Asus is a very nice looking bit of kit. the metal bezel around just the outside is what adds that extra touch.

    1. Geoff Campbell Silver badge
      Thumb Up

      Absolutely agree

      I love the way it looks, and the build quality is also absolutely superb - odd that this only ever gets a mention in Apple reviews, not those of other manufacturers' kit.

      One little trick that wasn't mentioned in the review, which is worth the entire purchase price on its own. Use the tablet until the battery goes flat, then plug it into the keyboard unit and leave it for a few hours, and the table recharges fully and is ready for another 8 hours of use. Very nice indeed.

      Another thing not mentioned in the review, is that the SD card slot in the keyboard unit is SDXC, and so supports cards up to 2TB, although only 64GB and 128GB cards are currently available.

      I've started using this as a replacement for my laptop when travelling, and it fills the role very well indeed. Not so good for heavyweight document creation, of course, but I rarely do more than take notes and do minor edits to existing documents when I'm on the road, which this does perfectly well.

      Overall, 10/10, I'm very impressed.

      GJC

      1. Anonymous Coward
        Devil

        Re: Absolutely agree

        "I love the way it looks, and the build quality is also absolutely superb - odd that this only ever gets a mention in Apple reviews, not those of other manufacturers' kit."

        Note also that Apple now claim to own "shiny" and "round". Hence any tendency by other manufacturers to avoid such difficult-to-come-up-with "design" features on their own products.

  5. petur
    Thumb Up

    Lovely

    I've seen it in action and talked to somebody who bought it and used it every day, and this really is a nice piece of hardware. Want to buy, but still looking for the use-case :)

    1. Code Monkey
      Happy

      Use-case

      Shiny?

      Trolling aside, I'm with you. I expect my use-case to be "broken netbook" and not before.

  6. Rovindi
    Coat

    Fondleslab loveliness...

    mmm... It sounds a very impressive machine, but there is definitely something retro about it´s look. Casio sums it up. Guess I´m shallow like that...

    Whilst I really like the idea of large form slabs, the convergence with keyboard and mouse isn´t quite there yet and begs the question, why not just get a wee lappy/tabby instead. I use a Galaxy S and a HP Tablet and think there is merit in both, but neither device has enough of the magic stuff that makes me want to completely ditch one of the other. Tis a reet bugger sometimes.

    I really want this sort of tech to work and get a foothold, but with manufacturers vomitting products at us with alarming speed, it´s all feels like landgrab/goldrush and needs to settle down.

    Nice review, BTW...

    Mines the coat, overly stuffed and bulging with doubled up tech...

  7. sT0rNG b4R3 duRiD
    Thumb Up

    Now all we need...

    ...is a proper linux for it. Or rather, the drivers etc to use a proper distro on it.

    Won't buy one just yet till I know it can be (relatively) painlessly done. Has it yet?

    1. hyartep
      Linux

      meego

      it would be great, if asus would support meego as well (on transformer -> arm tablet).

      after all, they plan to sell atom netbooks with meego)

  8. Anonymous Coward
    WTF?

    something's gone wrong!

    .. what's with the acceptable 1280x800 screen res?

    1. Danny 14

      and

      not sure what is unacceptable with it?

  9. Tim Brown 1
    Thumb Up

    the right way forward

    This is the future of the tablet for me, the current crop of purely handheld designs restricts their usefulness in my eyes. Having said that, it would be nice to see some standardisation emerge for the keyboard connection so that tablets and keyboards become interchangeable (yes, I know I'm probably dreaming). I can see a setup like this replacing my current laptop when the time comes.

    As an aside, does anyone know if this tablet includes GPS?

    1. Geoff Campbell Silver badge
      Thumb Up

      GPS

      Yes, GPS and compass are built in.

      GJC

  10. Anonymous Coward
    Happy

    Happy owner

    I got one of these a couple of weeks ago. As soon as it powered up and I'd connected to my WiFi it told me there was an update available. It's been running 3.1 happily ever since. And yes, a standard USB mouse works, and no apps have crashed yet, (unless I wrote them).

  11. Poopy1
    Facepalm

    Consistency

    This is getting a bit daft now.

    Some consistency between reviews is seriously needed.

    Asus is better and cheaper than Xoom, but because you

    don't like the design, you mark it down 5%.

    Daft.

    1. Robert E A Harvey

      Been waiting for this review

      And it is very interesting. But I don't trust the scores at all now, and I would like to be able to.

      perhaps reg central could add a voting system? Buy/don't choices from commmentards?

      1. Arctic fox
        Happy

        It would be a nice idea but........

        .......there would unfortunately be a *very* high risk that such a reader-voting system to grade products would be thoroughly abused by fanbois/shills of all persuasions in an attempt to boost their "gang" or flame the company they hate the most. I regret that such a system would likely end up completely suborned by the aforementioned.

      2. Aaron Em

        "Buy/don't choices from commmentards?"

        What, you don't mistrust the existing reviews *enough*?

  12. juice

    I got to play with one for a week or so...

    As a friend in China had just bought one. Unfortunately, this meant that it had a Chinese Android build on it; while the UI was fully available in English, several of the standard "google" features (e.g. the App Market, etc) weren't available; instead, apps had to be downloaded and installed via a Chinese app store.

    General impressions were good: physically it's nice and sturdy - and when docked with the keyboard, the colour and "diamond" texturing almost make it look and feel like some sort of high-fashion handbag - there's definite D&G echoes there. Oh, and the hinge is incredibly stiff.

    Beyond that, it worked pretty much as you'd expect an Android tablet to; other than some tweaks to the desktop layout, I didn't really notice that much difference from the various other Android devices I've tinkered with. The keyboard felt nice and solid too - though I think there's still some work to be done around "mouse pointer" functionality in Android. That said, it's nice being able to type on the keyboard and then tap the screen directly to access links et al.

    Battery life seems good as well - Plants vs Zombies is still huge in China (everything from stuffed dolls to playing cards and t-shirts are sold virtually everywhere) and my friend's wife spent a good amount of time tapping away at the screen to send the zombies on their way...

  13. Paul Hanley
    Thumb Up

    Try updating the firmware!

    I've had a 16Gb Transformer from mid-May and when I received the unit there was already a firmware update waiting for me, closely followed by another one a couple of days later and then the big update to Honeycombe 3.1 at the start of June. Asus if nothing else can't be moaned at for not fixing issues. Firmware updates have fixed camera and performance issues as well sorting out issues with the keyboard that people have been experiencing - most of which seem to have been pretty much iradicated now.

    My only real disappointment with the Transformer is the lack of apps available for Honeycomb - which can't really be blamed on Asus. I have noticed over the last week or so there have been a trickle (def. not a glut) of Honeycomb compatible apps and games being released which can only be a good thing. Overal I'm pretty happy with mine (as long as the apps keep coming)

    1. Afflicted.John
      Unhappy

      Tardy Timing...

      Considering how long it has taken El Reg to get this review out, i thought it might be because they were waiting on a review with 3.1 included. Obviously not....maybe it was left in the draft folder for a month or so?

  14. Anonymous Coward
    Devil

    I am looking for Debian on this puppy

    If it runs Debian, I will buy it straight away :)

    1. SteveBalmer
      Boffin

      It does now...

      Secure boot key leaked, you can flashwhatever you want to it, Linux (non-Android variant) on the way. But why? Android is already very Linux, with a very lightweight UI, why bog it down with anything more?

      http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1116471

      1. Anonymous Coward
        Devil

        Re: It does now...

        Question: Android is already very Linux, with a very lightweight UI, why bog it down with anything more?

        Answer: Because I still write code. In more than one language. Yes I know, it is a sackable offense nowdays prohibited by corporate governance (at least where I work). All code should be written in a warmer climate. Viva la 9:1 ratio where 9 is where an MD has a vested interest and 1 is on-site.

    2. David Hicks

      Probably not yet

      Nvidia haven't released open source graphics drivers for these for Tegra2 yet, there's no free alternative as far as I know, and I'm pretty sure there's no closed source driver for generic, non-android linux either.

      Good plan, but not quite available yet.

    3. A. Lewis

      Me too

      I really can't think of a use for a tablet that I can't run my most used (open source, multi-platform) packages on, other than as a gimmick.

      A phone is a different matter by dint of its portability and expected connectivity. I'm happy for my phone to be task-focused. But I can't think of any situation where I'd want to use a tablet computer and not want to be able to do what I could on a laptop.

  15. David Dawson
    Thumb Up

    Got one of these

    Preordered it for the missus as her dell netbook was looking long in the tooth. She's loving the whole thing, using it to read kindle books at night and type up reports in the day. The dell has been sold to a relative for a pittance.

    3.1 is already here! Got it more than a week ago. Mouse support is flawless. I put in a a logitech m305, so the nano reciever is always in and ready.

    I think the eeepad make the tablet into a creators device as well as a consuming one, which is good. Only for certain things, certainly, reasonably simple documents at the moment. Just needs better app support though for more complex ones, graphics media etc.

    The extra element of the keyboard, mouse and touch on the screen make for an interesting way of working, all quite complimentary I think.

    Now if I could run intellij/ eclipse on there, I'd be as happy as the wife is and get one for me.

    1. Graham Dawson Silver badge
      Linux

      Give it time.

      Either eclipse will turn up on it, or some enterprising user will manage to hack debian onto it, at which point you'll be able to run it anyway.

      Incidentally mine is working out quite nicely too. Already replaced my aged laptop, as you may have guessed. The only downside is the limited codec support, which means that I can't stream my enormous 1080p movies on it (having said that, it might also be the fact that I'm trying to stream . But that's ok, I can just use it as a gigantic upnp remote for xbmc.

      ps. we meet at last!

  16. Syren Baran
    Linux

    Boot loader locked?

    Or is it possible to install a proper Linux on that thingie?

    Sure looks like a nice piece of kit.

    1. Code Monkey

      Won't be long

      The "linux on a toaster" crowd do excellent work. I doubt you'll be waiting long...

  17. BarneyC

    Awesome tablet but..... Asus suck at post sales

    I have an Eee Pad Transformer and it really is a lovely piece of kit. Didn't get the keyboard version as already use a laptop all the time and really wanted something super slim and ultra-portable; which this is.

    The only couple of niggles lay firstly with the tablet using a proprietary charge/sync connector (a bit like the iPad) rather than a standard USB. Whilst the article correctly states you can charge from USB the caveats are that you still have to use the supplied cable and the charging only happens whilst the pad is in standby.

    The cable is also woefully short meaning it will just about reach a desktop from a low down power socket and worse still there are NO replacement cables available from Asus or indeed OEM.

    The official response from Asus I received when asking about spare cables was that they don't have any and won't supply them, best to return whole unit to retailer for a swapout. Hardly a viable option for a cable.

    The other niggle lays with the lack of other accessories. The official Asus case has only just been released and as yet there is no sign of the desktop dock stand (not the keyboard dock) nor the USB adapter.

    With vast quantities of this tablet now shipping it is only time but for now if you get one guard that cable.

    1. G R Goslin

      Re- Awesome tablet but...

      Have a look at the forums on this. Someone reported a USB cable that would extend the supplied unit, and supply the required power

      1. Neill Mitchell

        Must be a USB 3 cable

        A few quid from Amazon :) Works a treat.

        http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B003QZKMU4/

        1. BarneyC

          works a treat? really?

          That extension cable, does it actually still charge at the higher rate though? Plug it in and see if the charging symbol comes up, it certainly doesn't on mine.

          Still trickle charges but not really a viable solution.

          Can't wait for third parties to start knocking out car chargers and decent cables

      2. BarneyC

        Awesome tablet but..... charging cables

        I've been following the charging cable issues over on XDA-Forums for a while and have tried USB 2 & 3 cables.

        The stock cable isn't a true USB cable so extensions force the tablet back into the "slow charge" mode which is fine overnight I guess but annoying as hell every other time.

        1. Neill Mitchell

          Amazon cable linked above works fine

          Charges at full speed.

  18. David Gosnell

    Eee Pad Slider

    Roll on the rather damned good looking Eee Pad Slider, though latest word is that the price-point speculation reported here a few months back was rather on the optimistic side. Anyway, just bought a new SSD and stick of RAM for my Aspire One, so committed for a little while longer.

  19. SteveBalmer
    Thumb Up

    Easilly a 95%

    I have one, and it's fantastic. The 3.1 update is out and seems to address the keyboard lag, and I am getting 20 hours use between charges in netbook configuration.

    The only minor niggle is that the touchpad can be tapped accidentaly when typing, fortunately there is a easy t button along the top row of the keyboard to toggle the touchpad on and off.

    This truely is an iPad2 killer, not just on price, but on performance and features too. I would never have splashed £400+ on a tablet, but when it's a notebook too, it's suddenly viable.

    1. Geoff Campbell Silver badge
      Black Helicopters

      I agree

      Owning one, I was very puzzled by the 80% rating, and more so after reading the almost exclusively positive review.

      GJC

    2. Ian Yates
      Coffee/keyboard

      Thirded

      I guessed they'd give 80% before opening the review, but was still kind of shocked.

      Apart from the lack of Honeycomb-specific apps, I think it's the perfect media-consumption device for me.

      Actually, one niggle I have is that having two separate accounts running on it is tricky. While the OS lets us both be logged in for calendars and market (assuming you trust the person), other apps (facebook, twitter, etc.) just don't support it.

      Easily 90%+, in my eyes

      /bias

  20. StalkS
    Thumb Up

    Just read this on fhe train using my Transformer

    I have to say that personally the unit is great. The author of the article must have written it a while qgo as the 3.1 update was pushed out on the 2nd of June and was a massive improvement. It would be interesting to know if they would rate it any higher.

    The best thing about it is that you can use usb controllers from the ps3 and xbox to control the interface and best of all any games / emulators.ou do need the keyboard dock for that though.

  21. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    Aesthetics, pah.

    I rather like the eee pad's style. The big black frame gives you something to hold onto, without inadvertently touching the screen.

    The only down-side to my Eee Pad is the proprietary charging cable. That's a nuisance, especially when there are so far no spares to be had.

  22. Rosco

    iPad busting price?

    The 16GB eee pad transformer is £379 whereas the equivalent iPad 2 is only £20 more. Now I'm no fanboi but I'd hardly call that "iPad-busting"

    1. Neill Mitchell

      Taking this purely on hardware...

      Does the iPad2 have a 1280x800 display with 1GB of RAM, 5MP camera, microSD slot and mini HDMI out?

      No.

      Well worth a £20 saving in my book :)

      1. Rosco

        I agree

        It does seem like a better device and therefore better value. I just take issue with the implication that it's *loads* cheaper than an iPad - it isn't.

        I'm in the market for a tablet and desperately looking for a reason not to buy an iPad 2 (I dislike Apple quite a lot but I do want to get the best tablet for my money). I just want to be able to compare offerings objectively, without falsehoods and hyperbole.

        1. Neill Mitchell

          @Rosco

          Sorry, I thought you were, well you know, one of those cultists. Sorry about that.

          Your point is both valid and commendable :)

  23. Neill Mitchell

    Video capture and stills

    Honeycomb 3.1 has been out for over 10 days which fixes the HD video capture issue. The stills quality is also greatly improved. I guess El Reg either reviewed this two weeks ago or didn't check for an update.

    Not sure why this scored lower than the Acer when it has a much better IPS panel and the keyboard/battery option.

    The only thing for me that is letting down the Transformer is Android itself. You simply would not have got away with shipping such a buggy OS 5 years ago. Version 3.0.1 that it shipped with was diabolical. I had to hard reset the device 3 times losing everything. Upgrading to 3.1 seems to have cured this, but it still buggy and lacks polish. I guess we'll get there in the end.

  24. NinjasFTW
    Thumb Up

    16 Hour recharge?

    I recently bought the Transformer sans keyboard battery and it certainly didn't take 16 hours. Manual recommends 8 hours for a full charge cycle from flat. Possibly the extra 8 hours for the Keyboard battery.

    Haven't had any issues with video playback using rockplayer, although due to the nature of the Tegra 2 processor it will never support 1080p High profile it will do 1080p baseline.

    I will say that it is an amazing bit of kit, maybe not as refined as the ipad2 but i prefer honeycomb to IOS anyway so more than happy.

    1. Neill Mitchell

      A lot quicker

      Mine took about 5 hours to charge both the keyboard and tablet battery from 15% with the charger. In normal use it never gets this low of course.

      I think the review is saying it would take 16 hours if using USB charging. Or perhaps they are taking this from the manual which recommends an 8 hour first charge, which is pretty standard practice.

  25. Len Goddard
    Thumb Up

    I like it

    At £50 bundled the keyboard/dock/expansion is a real bargain. The screen is superb and even if the tablet section is a bit bigger/heavier than the iPad the better form factor (720p movies without rescaling) more than makes up for it.

    Lake of native mkv support is irritating, although I have heard rumours of firmware upgrades to fix this. So far moboplayer has coped with everything I've thrown at it without any stuttering.

    The bbc iplayer android app doesn't appear to work, at least for me. Everything is fine until I select something to playback but I never get a picture. However, iplayer works fine from the browser and since the android version of the standalone doesn't support download-and-play-later (shame on you, bbc) it is no real loss.

    I had some initial hookup problems connecting to my WinXP box but they were all at the XP end. Eventually manually installing the Asus USB drivers and reinstalling Asys pc suite while the pad was connected cured those.

    The non-availability of replacement USB cables is worrying, but hopefully that will resolve itself soon. The length issue is easily cured by using a usb extension cable at the non-proprietory end.

    For me, the only real niggle was that I couldn't buy the 32Gb version bundled with the keyboard.

    And for those that ask, the thing has already been rooted so I suspect native linux will come soon although we may have to wait a while for tegra2 support on non-android OS.

  26. P Zero
    Facepalm

    FFS

    Manufacturers, stop half-arsing tablets. You want sales of these lovely tablets, give me 3G. It's not that big a deal!

    1. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      Tether

      Do you really need 3G on tablet? At home you'll have wifi and on the move you'll probably have a 3G phone you can tether to via bluetooth. The last thing I want is to be paying for yet another internet connection.

    2. Neill Mitchell

      It will put the price up

      3G requires network operators deal. As soon as you start dealing with those sharks the price gets hiked as the Xoom and HTC demonstrate.

      I just tether mine to my phone (which I always have with me) and it works a treat. Or you could buy a dongle or get a BT Openzone account.

      Mobile internet is an expensive farce in the UK with no sign of improvement in the short term.

    3. Geoff Campbell Silver badge
      Boffin

      3G

      Coming Real Soon Now, I hear. But I decided to stop stressing about it, and tether everything to my phone via the excellent and simple WiFi tethering in Android, keeping all the data bills together.

      GJC

  27. Michael Kean
    Happy

    What happened to the 7 inch market?

    As an owner of a Galaxy Tab 7" I find it hard to see the attraction in a 10" unit. 7" ones are easily pocketable, but 10" is too big to carry with you all the time. Who's still making 7" tabs tho? Everyone who sees the GT 7" tends to agree, and it's annoying having to tell them 'you can't have one' in a Cartman-like voice.

    Re. photography, it might look daft, but it is handy having such a large and bright viewfinder. The ability to zoom in immediately after the shot is quite handy too to verify that you got all the detail in the pic.

    1. Neill Mitchell

      For a pure tablet I agree...

      But with the keyboard the Asus is a netbook replacement. 7" would be too small. The necessary reduction in keyboard size would make it a pain to use. Smaller batteries as well. I bought my Asus primarily for it's huge runtime.

      I guess you could have a 7" tablet and then some fancy folding bluetooth keyboard, but it would not as slick or usable as the Asus.

      I do wonder why there are not many pure 7" tablets. Surely it can't be simply down to following Apple like mindless sheep. At least Asus have done some real innovation here.

      The HTC looks nice, but the Flyer won't be flying off the shelves at that utterly ridiculous price.

    2. Ogi43

      re: Photography

      Hi, how are you doing the photos > tablet? I really want a tablet where I can take a photo, wirelessly send it to a tablet so I can view it. Can this device do that? If so, with what hardware/software???? Cheers, Carl.!

  28. Santonia
    Thumb Up

    Happy owner

    I've had a Transformer since they came out a month or two ago. I concur with everything everyone has said about quality of screen, coming from the Vega it is night and day.

    I've never had any problems with Honeycomb and have never really understood all this 'beta' OS bashing, it's always worked a charm for me and is simply no contest between an HC tab and a cheapo Android 2.1-2 knock-off. Yes, the price is a bummer, Apple really did unfortunately set the benchmark, with few manufacturers willing to give up some margin simply to undercut by the iPad by any real amount. The mid-market is starting to arrive however and I imagine prices will drift towards 300 quid as time goes by and Christmas arrives.

    The final observation - stop bashing HC for having few optimised apps. Its not like the iPad world where iphone apps are either zoomed in horribly, or run in a small box. Android 3 handles apps made for smaller screensizes perfectly well, to the extent that an Apple fanboi colleague was genuinely impressed. Not having HC apps is not a problem for me in the slightest, whereas for an iPad it most certainly would be.

    And finally, for people who inherently dislike the iTunes way, comparisons with the iPad are futile as they are simply not a consideration. Compare the Transformer to its immediate competitors and you'll quickly arrive at the same conclusion I did - its simply the best product in the market today.

  29. senecan

    So is this "tablet" computing at it's best or is Xoom 5% better?

    Personally I opted for this and cancelled my Xoom pre-order back in early April, as it was the first actually available Honeycomb tablet in UK. Since then I've also played with the Xoom and the key differential is the screen - the Asus leaves Xoom for dead. Asus is also significantly cheaper as well as lighter whereas Xoom has longer battery life (without dock) and more built-in storage.

    As another poster pointed out, how can you appear to be advocating this over the Xoom while scoring it 5% less? "The Transformer is the best exponent yet for Android 3.0 Honeycomb" - apparently not, that would be the Xoom woudn't it?

  30. Atonnis

    Hmm...

    It's a very nice piece of hardware and just the sort of thing I'd like...it's just a shame that the pre-installed OS is incompatible with the software I have.

    If I can't install my stuff on it, it's pretty much worthless. I already have applications and web browsers that can access my email from anywhere AND they don't feed everything I do to Google.

  31. dotdavid
    Thumb Up

    Great device

    Bought one of these for the missus so she could read an annotate PDFs she has for her study rather than have paper lying around everywhere. We didn't buy the docking station part as we wouldn't use it.

    It's excellent. Screen, battery life, build quality, honeycomb OS and weight are all great. It got the 3.1 update OTA a couple of days after we got it so I haven't noticed any bugs yet.

    The tablet-optimised apps on the market are limited, but you have all the non-optimised ones that work pretty well. As others said it's mainly a lack of the best use of space.

    I'm not completely sold on the whole tablet concept for myself (it seems to work for my OH's use case) but this is a nice bit of kit and a much more reasonable price than the competition for a quality Android tablet.

  32. b166er
    WTF?

    Wi-Fi only?

    How so?

    1. Boothy

      3G version coming in a few months time

      For me Wifi only is fine, I normally only use it round the house, so 3G isn't required.

      And even if I take it away from home, I can just hit the wifi-hotspot app built into Android on my phone (part of 2.3, I have a Desire S). And so can still access Internet anyway.

  33. VulcanV5

    Asus Transformer owner's review

    My wife has had the TF for 2 weeks now. Her verdict: outstanding. Here are the reasons:

    1) Contrary to what is said in this El Reg review, the tablet isn't heavy. The reviewer would have been best advised to at least check Apple's weight specs for iPad 1 or iPad 2 before penning his comment.

    2) In the US, the TF has been sold as a tablet with (I think) an additional $150 charge for the keyboard dock. Here in the UK, the tablet+keyboard are bundled together for an extra £50. Seeing as how the keyboard incorporates a second battery, this deal is as good as it gets -- laptop batteries ain't cheap. For which reason then, talk on here of third-party suppliers coming out with keyboards kinda misses the point: it's the BATTERY which is the component cost here. Not the bloody keyboard.

    3) In clamshell guise, the Asus kills off the very genre Asus launched: goodbye netbook. Suddenly it's possible to have an ultra-portable which can be rotated from portrait to landscape view. Try finger-pinch zooming on a netbook. . .

    4) iPad killer. We compared Apple's offering with this Asus and ultimately gave up bothering. Apart from all the restrictions Emperor Jobs imposes, the iPad simply doesn't match up. This in our opinion explains why Apple seems to have reacted so ferociously to a US ad last month which showed two images side by side, the left one of an iPad with a keyboard stuck to it with black duct tape, the right image showing the Asus TF. Above the left image were the words: LIKE THIS. Above the right image: ONLY BETTER.

    The reviwer's comment about Apple looking over its shoulder and sniggering doesn't, therefore, accord to the facts: Apple's reported reaction to a single, simple Asus Transformer ad would seem to indicate that, contrary to the El Reg review, Emperor Jobs and his minions are taking the Asus TF very, very seriously.

    5) Keyboard. The Asus TF comes with Polaris free of charge, a point the reviewer might have made clear in his report. Polaris allows my wife to work on her Microsoft Office stuff without a hitch. Although the on-screen keyboard is fine -- and if you don't like it, it's possible to get others -- the Asus docking keyboard is excellent. It makes all the difference when it comes to editing docs or typing emails. And no; we haven't noticed 'lag' on our TF.

    6) Case. Asus's official case was sold (briefly) in the UK by Amazon UK. If you look at the reviews, they condemn it on price alone, so I've no idea how good it is. But if it truly was costing £48 GBP, then Asus wants its head looking at, as does anyone daft enough to fork out that kind of money. My wife has purchased 2 cases for her TF, because she wanted a tailored case for the tablet alone, and a secure case for the TF when in its clamshell form. The tailored case in red pseudo-leather came post free from a Chinese company which is putting them out via a Hong Kong eBay seller. Contrary to cliched wisdom about Chinese scammers and eBay etc, the seller is excellent and the tailored case a perfect fit for the TF tablet. It cost my wife £15 GBP. As for a case for the TF in clamshell guise, Wenger's robust, beautifully padded 10.2 case fits like a glove. Amazon UK has it for £14 post free. There may be other variants out there, but for anyone to say that they can't find a case, or cases, for the TF is plain wrong: try looking, huh? My wife has paid a total of £29 GBP including post & packing for two quality cases: we think it's great value for money.

    (7) Android apps. The reviewer is correct, and very helpful, in pointing out that many Froyo (2.0) smartphone apps upscale very well to the Asus's screen size. But Honeycomb apps are coming thick and fast, not every month, or every week, but damn near every day. No point in listing 'em here: 10 minutes on Google is enough to dispel the myth about how everything's still, er, 'nascent'. It isn't. And the maturity of some apps is staggering: Google Maps, for instance, with Navigator's latest ability to do off-line caching of routes, means the likes of TomTom et al have even more cause to worry about how long the stand-alone satnav can endure.

    8) Asus. We went with Asus because we've had experience of it before and so have many millions of others (like, er, look at the motherboard in your computer?) It gives every appearance of knowing exactly what it's doing in terms of firmware updates and as for Google, the rapid upgrade of Honeycomb (3.0 to 3.1) makes Apple's software division look narcoleptic.

    9) Availability. The Transformer took off so fast in the US that first shipments sold out. This wasn't on the back of an extensive advertising campaign but on word-of-mouth or Internet recommends from existing users. In the UK, the first shipment also sold out. Asus shipped again to the UK on June 5th/June 6th so stocks, though going down fairly fast, are still held by Comet, Laskys, eBuyer and others. Amazon UK, however, appears to have some customers ordering in late April to mid-May and reporting that they still haven't received anything. Amazon has now updated its position to say the TF is expected to become available between mid-July and the end of August (huh???)

    It's not clear why Amazon UK seems to be so wrong-footed, but already, dark mutterings are arising re the news of Amazon's own reported intention to move into the tablet market itself, with a badge-engineered Samsung. However, it's also reported that Google and Amazon aren't getting on, so a question mark arises over the Android OS -- which means, a question mark over the whole project. (Note to Amazon Legal Department: I am not suggesting that the inexplicable unavailability of the Asus Transformer at Amazon UK is in any way connected with reports of Amazon's own intention to launch an Amazon Tablet in late summer. It's all pure coincidence, of course.)

    10) User support. One of the fastest growing forums on the 'Net nowadays is that dedicated to the Asus Transformerr, over 2,000 users already in just a couple of months. So it's not as though anyone purchasing a Transformer is out on her / his own: help, news, and info for the Asus Transformer / Honeycomb is plentiful and increasing daily.

    (11) Conclusion. We are not and never have been Apple Fan Boys. We don't have any Apple equipment at all. But that doesn't mean we're as vigorous in our agnosticism as the Apple faithful are in their religion. Our son had an iPad 1 and now, an iPad 2. He's delighted with his purchase. Fair enough. We bought the Asus Transformer because it has more features, is better value for money, and because it's ours to do with as we wish: none of that ludicrous iTunes-for-everything business.

    The TF+keyboard/battery combo is, as noted, a no-brainer: my wife has had a total of 13 hours continuous run-time with the TF, using apps, playing music, watching movies, etc (the TF's 16GB internal storage is hardly a problem: she paid £17 for a Class 4 Kingston 16GB SDHC card, and popped that in. The Asus positively flies along regardless of the drive being used.)

    It's still very early days for us, and I'm always hesitant about buying anything off the back of a magazine or online review, simply because the reviewers never have 'em long enough to really know what they're on about. Ditto with this post: we simply haven't had the TF long enough to fully explore everything it can do, nor can we make any judgment about its reliability. And it's true, Android apps still are miles behind Apple's, and Honeycomb still isn't -- as far as we can make out -- as good as Apple's OIS.

    But, but, but. . . it's reminiscent of way-back-when, and the arrival of IBM/compatibles in a Mac-dominated world when, almost overnight, or so it seemed, the PC with its operating system and apps from third-party software developers gathered an unstoppable momentum. (And kudos to Google here: Android 3.0 was a dog's breakfast, but 3.1 is vastly better. And 3.2 isn't that far down the line.)

    Our conclusion then, based on experience as actual owners / users, is that although Apple may have killed the US ads for the Asus Transformer, the simple truth of that ad remains intact:

    The Asus Transformer is indeed like the Apple iPad.

    Only better.

    1. Danny 14
      Thumb Up

      eep

      Cool story bro!

    2. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      Interesting review, but....

      " . it's reminiscent of way-back-when, and the arrival of IBM/compatibles in a Mac-dominated world when, almost overnight, or so it seemed, the PC with its operating system and apps from...etc"

      IBM PC: 1981

      IBM PC Compatibles: during 1982.

      Apple Mac: 1984

      The Mac was a minority interest from the start. Never did get any traction in the business market except for some specialist areas.

    3. David Dawson
      Thumb Up

      Nice review

      I agree, although my experience of the OS is the opposite, I think that iOS is slipping behind now in features.

      I'm very curious though, would you have links for where you got your cases? The wife would be chuffed to get something like that.

      +1

    4. Arctic fox
      Happy

      Might actually be genuine ordering misjudgement on the part of Amazon

      IE:

      http://www.amazon.co.uk/Asus-Transformer-Android-docking-keyboard/dp/B004TB0EXY/ref=pd_sim_sbs_computers_6

      The bundle is still available via Amazon from one of their partners for immediate delivery ("only three in stock - order soon"). It does appear as if the Transformer *bundle* has absolutely sold gangbusters. Although the launch announcements attracted a lot of attention and there were many good reviews, I don't think one can necessarily predict that a product will take off the way this one has. It is possible that even Amazon can get caught with its pants down when deciding how many to order from a producer! That it appears to have pissed off Cupertino in the US is perhaps another indicator of how well the product is doing - if the fruit company are nervous, it must be scoring *well* above average!

      1. David Paul Morgan

        ordered mine Sat 18th.

        ... & it's now (20th) in the llanelli depot. As i work in Bridgend, i might get it today. (Via amazon)

        1. Arctic fox
          Happy

          Re. "ordered mine Sat 18th. "

          Enjoy!

          :)

          AF.

  34. Richard 45
    Thumb Up

    Old review?

    Android 3.1 coming imminently? Try 10 days go. I'vd had this TF101 with the dock for several weeks, and I'm absolutely delighted with it. It works beautifully as a Netbook and unlatches for the tablet. I can now use it to show my father various TV programmes he's missed at his nursing home. With VPlayer, it'll play virtually anything, including the iPayer WMV files I download and unlock.

    I'm an RSA-qualified touch typist, and find the keyboard very easy to type at peed on, with no lag. Polaris Office (bundled with it) is very useful. Zinio Reader is now out for Honeycomb, which means I could buy and download magazines, and they gave 15 or so away free of charge to celebrate its Android launch. The TF101 also is bundled with the PressReader app so I can buy newspapers - again, that comes with 7 credits giving you 7 newspapers fee of charge.

    I can even connect NTFS drives to this thing via USB, and write to them as wel as read from them. Try doing that on an iPad! My only gripe is the flimsy charger and ridiculousy short lead. Asus, seriously, get that sorted. That deducts 5% from my overall score of 100%.

    1. VulcanV5

      USB 3 2-metre extension

      Richard: Hope this helps. Asus owners are reporting that this USB 3.0 gets around the short lead problem --

      http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B003QZKMU4/ref=cm_cd_asin_lnk

      It's said to be something to do with the way Asus utilises all USB 3.0 pins for controlling the charging.

      At £3.45 including free shipping, this seems a good option for Transformer owners: we've just ordered one ourselves.

  35. Mikel
    Thumb Up

    No regrets

    I'm typing this on mine. My biggest complaint is that if I set it where the kids can reach it, I've lost it for the rest of the day.

  36. Vector
    Facepalm

    Stop using the Xoom as a benchmark...

    I'm getting so tired of the media reporting how the Android tablet market is not living up to the hype because the Xoom is not selling well. The Xoom was a fail before it was even released. A more expensive piece of kit running on a nascent tablet version of the Android platform that still needs the bugs shaken out and more app support was doomed from the start (I know. More apps every day. I'm talking about when it was released).

    Most of the other US and japanese manufacturers seem to be just as clueless.

    Acer and Asus have the products to watch in this space.

  37. Random Noise

    Waiting..

    I'm waiting for a Transformer which I've pre-ordered on Amazon.

    While reading the comments about sticking *insert your favourite flavour of* linux on the Transformer I came across these guys:

    https://www.alwaysinnovating.com/home/

    They seem to have a couple of pretty cool Transformer like devices. The specs aren't as good, but hot switching between OSes? That's pretty awesome. I'm genuinely in two minds now...

    1. Ian Yates
      Thumb Up

      Pre-ordered?

      Assuming you're in the UK: You know it's out, right? And has been for some time.

      I'm not a fan of Curry's, but I couldn't find the Transformer (with keyboard) cheaper (and available) anywhere so went with them. Paid for the next day delivery and it arrived exactly when they said it would.

      Haven't regretted it for a minute.

      1. Random Noise

        yup, preordered

        I couldn't find anywhere in uk with stock- to be honest I haven't rechecked Currys since I just ordered from Amazon with the promise of getting one when they're back in stock.

        I know you can get the tablets in quite a few places but I wanted the tablet + keyboard combo.

        Might have to cancel order & try from Currys instead.

  38. TakeTheSkyRoad
    Devil

    Acer Iconica Tab - w500

    After much indecision on my part I went for the W500 in the end for a number of reasons.

    Firstly I need it for work so Windows 7 was a bonus. I can run citrix as I do from my desktop and also should be able to run a bigger screen via the HDMI out though I've only had it 3 days and I havem't tested this yet (no adaptor).

    Also the two full size USB ports are also going to come in handy and where windows wins here is drivers, pretty much any USB device will just work right up to DVD drives and printers. For this reason I haven't gone for the keyboard dock and might not bother, a normal USB keyboard will just work as does a normal mouse. Though it has bluetooth so might go wireless yet.

    Worth considering if you don't want to be an early adoptor with Android 3.x

    I won't go into the down sides in running windows on a tablet since other people will do that but the most annoying is standard windows just isn't touch friendly. This doesn't out weigh the benefits though :)

  39. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    Optimus Prime says....

    "Transform and roll out!"

    Wait, wrong sort of transformer.

    I'm waiting for the Slider, but will probably waver if I see one of these in the shops with its dock. PCworld have them sans dock atm.

  40. Long Fei
    Thumb Up

    Yes!

    I'm so going to get this as a replacement for my old laptop.

    I can't justify a pad device, I simply wouldn't use it enough. However this is perfect. It's a laptop most of the time, and a pad for the few times that I'd use a pad.

    And great battery life!

  41. Boothy
    Alert

    Mouse was supported in 3.0 as well!

    Puzzled by this comment around USB mouse usage? : 'attaching a mouse (soon to be supported)'.

    I bought one of these, including the keyboard about a month ago, a couple of weeks before the 3.1 update came out, so was still on 3.0 of course. (I assume this article was uploaded on the 15th, not written on 15th, as 3.1 has been out a while now!).

    Anyway, to the point, USB mice worked in 3.0, it doesn't need 3.1 to function. 3.1 has added additional enhancements to the mouse support, such as 'mouse over' functions when hovering over links on web pages, but a mouse did work in 3.0.

    When I first booted up, after taking it out of it's box on delivery. I just picked up a random USB mouse that was sat near by, plugged it in, and the pointer immediately appeared on screen (no driver install or other Windows type nonsense) and it just worked like you would expect a desktop pointer to work.

  42. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    what game is that?

    what game is that on the third page of the article?

  43. Anonymous Coward
    FAIL

    This thing is (sometimes) shipping with Android 2.2!

    So, I suggested this machine to my ageing parents, who haven't had a PC for 20 years and've never previously dared venture onto the interwebs.

    They bought it from Comet a couple of weeks ago, and I've been helping them over the phone with an increasing number of confusing "teething troubles" as time's gone on:

    - Crashing all the time, and not waking up from standby

    - A whole bunch of "strange programs" on the menu with unknown functions, which soon crashed

    - Polaris Office Suite nowhere to be seen.

    Just before they were ready to return it in despair and never again venture into the digital age, I had them check the software version: 2.2!! It's been shipped with some old Asus test build, along with a bunch of buggy test apps.

    Clearly from other comments, some people are receiving this with Honeycomb; a quick google search brings up a few other instances of 2.2, though, so just how widespread is Asus' f* up? And how many other less tech-savvy owners are currently sitting at home unknowingly fighting with this problem and concluding that google tablets are a load of crap.

    Epic fail, Asus.

    1. Neill Mitchell

      @AC

      Perhaps Curry's got desperate and sold a demo model, but sounds highly suspect to me. Prototype models are usually more closely guarded by manufacturers than the Crown Jewels.

      Absolutely no one else has reported anything like this on any of the Transformer forums I've been to.

  44. Santonia
    Happy

    what game is that?

    Looks like dungeon defenders to me

  45. David Paul Morgan

    i came, i saw,

    ... i bought one.

    Held the Slate part - lighter than i thought.

    It's on its way from Amazon!

  46. SwitchedOn

    A DOS Holdout....

    Does anyone know if you can run WORDSTAR on the machine???

    Basically I'm an unashamed DOS man -- because I am still using WordStar Professional Release 4 (don't groan -- I have an "investment" of 27 YEARS of WordStar files!).

    So I would dearly like to know for sure if the Transformer can possibly run this DOS programme, and an assortment of DOS utilities I use every day. Call me old fashioned, but WordStar was once the most popular word processing programme in the world....

    If the Transformer has not totally transformed the electronic environment, and I CAN run WordStar -- I'll get one. Soon. If not, wild horses couldn't drag me close enough to a shop to buy one.....

    1. Neill Mitchell

      Yup

      aDosBox should see you right :)

      http://androiddosbox.appspot.com

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