ASUS Transformer with Honeycomb OS

[KorJax]

It's technically a computer and gadget in one, but since this forum is more active I'm posting here

Anyways, I've been struck with a bad case of techno lust lately. This happens when something really cool comes out right when I have lots of money and nothing to spend it on (I tend to be pretty thrifty with my cash).

My target? ASUS Transfromer (skip to 5:40 for the bit on the keyboard dock, which turns it into a netbook).

ASUS Eee Pad Transformer vs iPad 2 - Tablet PC Featuring Tegra 2 Product Tour NCIX Tech Tips

Now at first it just looks like a tablet but what really has me interested is the fact that you can use it as a netbook too with the keyboard dock. Using the keyboard dock, you now have 2x USB 2.0 and an extra SD card slot. The keyboard also features a battery, which adds considerably charge to the device, with up to 16 hours.

The USB is really killer because it works just like you would expect a USB drive to work on a PC. You can load up files from a USB drive, you can plug in a mouse if you don't want to use the touchscreen or trackpad, and I hear you can even plug in a game controller for the Honeycomb games that support game controllers. It also includes stuff like Virtual Desktop built in so even if you hate using the OS it comes with, just boot into your PC at home with the virtual desktop.

Comes with a standard office suite too so it's not completely useless for school.

I'll probably pick one up in a week or so to satisfy my technolust as a "move in" gift to myself, for the new apartment I've moved into  ;D

Cost is $399 for just the tablet, apparently there's a keyboard combo for $499 but I can't find this sold anywhere online or in-store, and the keyboard dock by itself is $149.

So for $550 you get a pretty powerful and slick netbook with amazing battery and PC-like functionality, that also works seamlessly as one of the best tablets on the market despite being much cheaper than every other tablet offering.

[at0m]

kinda want

[KorJax]

I bought this thing. I'll post a quick review on why it is 80% tablet and 20% netbook when I get back from work later otnight!

[at0m]

I bought this thing. I'll post a quick review on why it is 80% tablet and 20% netbook when I get back from work later otnight!

Definitely want to hear this.

[k0ala]

Definitely want to hear this.

[KorJax]

Well I was going to type out a detailed review but instead I'll just copy+pasta what I posted on amazon (which I gave 4 stars):

I won't get into the minor details a lot of other reviews have indulged, as you can find a wealth of information about this product first-hand everywhere on the internet and youtube.

However, having used the EEE Transformer for several days now as a complete Android noob and someone who has only used Windows, I thought I would share my expereinces and what you can expect.

The most important thing about this product is that it IS NOT a netbook nor a suitable replacement for one. I bought a Transformer as a sleek current-generation replacement for the really aged netbook I had. Make no mistake, this is definitively a tablet above all else. Android Honeycomb was designed for dedicated tablet use, and it controls like dedicated tablet. The keyboard, honestly, feels tacked on from a software point of view (hardware wise it is very solid).

A few issues I've had is that the default browser is very basic in functionality compaired to browsers I am used to on PC, and it only supports the most basic of keyboard shortcuts (Ctrl+T), which opens new tabs. You can't control how the browser opens tabs either, every single link will open a new tab even if you don't want it to. The tabs never condense and you'll never know how many tabs you have unless you swipe them with your finger. There is also EXTREME typing lag with the browser when using the keyboard, making any kind of input into the browser much more sluggish than it would be on a normal PC.

There is also the issue that the touchpad doesn't work like a standard touchpad for PC/Mac, in that it simply emulates the touching on the tablet itself. This means accidently bumping into the highly sensative touch pad on the keyboard while you type will cause your cursor and typing to jump between address bar/text field/search bar/etc. So if you plan on typing, you must turn off the touchpad every time.

On the internet itself, it works great if you plan on just reading or lurking. I LOVE the touchscreen, even when using it as a netbook. It is so much more natural and fluid to scroll by simply sliding your finger than to deal with swiping your finger on the side of a touchpad. Navigation using your finger is a breeze to. If you want added percision, the touchpad on the keyboard provides it in the same way it would for PC/mac. That is one area that Asus really did well with, and works really well with this combo.

Unfortunatly, if you were hoping for full flash support, think again. It is basic at best. Only videos that are specifically optimized for mobile use, such as YouTube, will play properly or smoothly. If you try and watch something from Vimeo, or a basic video player on any website, good luck. It will either not play at all, or play very choppy. What you would think would easily be able to play HD video instead chuggs along in SD as if this were a first generation netbook for any non-youtube video or non-mobile optimized flash content. It is a good thing YouTube has the vast majority of internet video content, but still, it doesn't have the versatility a windows netbook or mac netbook has.

A lot of these issues might be due to the default browser,as far as internet experience goes. However, the problem with all the marketplace browsers, which are vastly better in functionality from what I've seen, have absolutely no keyboard support at all (it only works in textfields), and were all optimized for mobile phones. Dolphin, for example, inexplicably hides all your tabs and address bars when you scroll down the page even outside of fullscreen mode. There is no option to keep them visible at all times, which is pretty much required for comfortable netbook usage. The only effective way to navigate dolphin is to use gestures on the screen... which is entirely useless if you are using this as a netbook.

This is a problem with the entire marketplace really. A large amount of the apps are all designed for mobile phone use, with only a small selection having proper tablet support, and almost 0% supporting keyboard functionality. Sure you can run the mobile versions on the tablet. Just be prepaired for a giant interface that doesn't work well with the size of a tablet or netbook. For instance, there is currently not a single IM client that is "Honeycomb Friendly" on the marketplace except for Dolca. And Dolca is terrible, as it is extremely basic (as of June 2011) and doesn't support any kind of basic features like changing your status.

Anyways, that is all I really want to shed light on. If you are wondering why I am still rating this 4 stars despite being pretty much only a Tablet with very tacked on Netbook support (for an OS not designed for Netbook use at all), the product itself is very very sleek. For a tablet, you can't get much better than this. The keyboard dock is also incredible from a hardware standpoint, and the battery life is massive. Even though it is seriously lacking support from the OS and software, when you want to use it, it is still much better to use than the on-screen keyboard or trying to buy a "tablet mount" for your tablet (like what you have to do with the iPad or other tablets).It also works as a great screen protector when you aren't using it.

Make no mistake. This is a great product but be aware if you are buying this, you should probably be more in the market for a Tablet than a Netbook. This is definitively 80% Tablet with 20% netbook, instead of the 50/50 ratio that the ASUS marketing implies.

Again it needs to be said that from a tech standpoint the thing is pretty damn sweet. It's just from a netbook standpoint it really lacks. I'll still be able to use it sure, and I'll be able to use it better as a netbook or internet device than my old 1st Gen EEE PC. But it's 2011, and I guess I expected the browser and stuff to work smoothly with the keyboard just like firefox works intuitively and smoothly on the PC. Instead it's very hacky hacky, and the marketplace is dominated by mobilephone programs, with very few clear tablet or netbook programs.

I'm not going to return it simply because it's still pretty great. By far my favorite app is Pulse, which basically is a personal news aggrigator that just sucks up news articles from websites in a sleek UI. I've got everything from Dtoid to Gizmodo to XKCD on there. Best part is, if you are outside of an internet zone it caches text versions of each article so you can read everything outside of WiFi.

I just hate how every browser has all these little obvious issues with them, and how they just are not very usable from a netbook standpoint. There are literally no good IM apps either.

On the one hand, remote desktoping to watch movies works wonderfully, as does the network file viewer. They also have an android version of Majesty: The Fantasy Kingdom sim on there for $2, which is wonderful. It is EXACTLY like Majesty, except with touch controls and a weird cartoony sprite aesthetic.

[KorJax]

Update: cool factor increased by x3:

Figured out how to stream pretty much any media file from my main PC to the transformer using UpnPlay and Mobo Player. Damn thing has an ugly interface though, but works great. Best part is, that i has a download function so if I want to watch a movie or listen to music on the go I can easily just donwload the file from my main PC into my TF through the program wirelessly.

I also got the remote desktop propgram working, trying to figure out how to get it to work over the internet though instead of just through the wirelss LAN... my old roomie who set the network up was totally a security nazi so its pretty hard to figure out even though I have the ports I need properly forwareded.

I wouldn't reccomend it for general usage due to the lag (if you get the HD version for $5 I hear it is much smoother plus runs in widescreen resolutions), but works great for movie playback. Streams the audio to you as well. Crysis 2 ran pretty well on it as well though the lag plus lack of mouselook support made it unplayable lo. I hear Civ 5 or other similar mouse only games work really well on it though.

[at0m]

Resurrecting this even though it should be in the gadget subforum, since this thing isn't a computer.

I know Luin & HeK have one, I know Ain has one. Anyone else have one, and what do you guys think of them? I'm debating getting one and need more input.

[edit]Since people suck:

11:08:36      @at0m2remote | i really would appreciate people weighing in
11:08:45      @at0m2remote | despite that being a review thread for the 101 and not the 201
11:09:00        +Dtrain323i | Well, I don't have a tablet so I have no imput
11:09:00          @ainmosni | well, I'm very happy with mine
11:09:07        +Luinbariel | I fucking love my tablet.
11:09:12          @ainmosni | but I also have it for dev purposes
11:09:17        +Dtrain323i | I love fucking my tablet
11:09:18        +Luinbariel | I have it for fun purposes
11:09:21        +Dtrain323i | wait wat
11:09:29          @ainmosni | but yeah I'm enjoying it besides that as well
11:09:32      @at0m2remote | what do you use it for / what do you like the most about it / what do you dislike about it etc etc
11:10:08          @ainmosni | games, movies, reading, social media, news, comics
11:10:08        +Luinbariel | I use it for fiddling around, playing games, looking at recipes while in the kitchen, to use while travelling, that kind of thing. I like just about everything about it, just wish I'd gotten the keyboard as well. Otherwise no complaints.
11:10:10          @ainmosni | for now
11:11:35      @at0m2remote | the keyboard extends battery life?
11:11:40        +Luinbariel | I don't know
11:11:56          @ainmosni | yes
11:12:07          @ainmosni | it has an extra battery

[/edit]     

[HeK]

#1 - It's Asus.
#2 - It's affordable
#3 - Why don't you have one yet?

Good processor, great screen, above average battery life.
You can add the keyboard to get double the battery, touchpad, SD card reader (ontop of the onboard micro sd) and a USB port.

Problems: GPS isn't too good (Asus is not giving out a free external GPS module, but it cannot be used in conjunction with the keyboard). The charging/accessory port is proprietary, the 'USB' charging cable is short and also a proprietary 6-pin cable. It plugs into a PC just fine for data, but uses the extra two pins for charging with only the Asus charger.

[at0m]

Fair enough.

Only question remaining then is, go for the (affordable) 32GB one, or the (difficult to find) 64GB one?

[HeK]

Fair enough.

Only question remaining then is, go for the (affordable) 32GB one, or the (difficult to find) 64GB one?

It has a micro SD slot. How much is your storage worth to you?

[at0m]

Honestly I'm so used to manufacturers taking those OUT of things that I didn't expect that the 'upgraded' version of the Transformer would have one. But yes, $100-150 more to get it built in vs $20-40 to get a microSD card to put in the slot, point taken and trigger pulled. I'll let you know how I like it, after I get around to writing my Razer Blade review (fingers crossed going to do that this weekend while waiting for things to dry while building my hotend.

[at0m]

Necro to turn this into a sale thread.

There's nothing wrong with this tablet, I just don't use it. Nearly everything most people use a tablet for, I use my phone for, and what I don't use my phone for I have a Kindle and a Razer Blade.

I've got a grey TF201, matchnig keyboard dock, GPS module, two leatherette cases (one that fits just the tablet, one that fits the tablet + separateable thinger for the keyboard dock), two chargers, and two extra-long charging cables (6ft versus the stock 3ft). I'll even toss in a standard SD card that's been living in the keyboard dock since I bought it, although I can't recall if it's 64GB or 32GB. I paid $750 for all of this stuff, someone make me an offer, but I was hoping to get at least $450 shipped anywhere in the US. Elsewhere, we'll talk.

Also, the post title is WAY out of date, this beastie has Jelly Bean running on it.