Hands on: Asus Eee Pad Transformer – Is it Tablet or Netbook?
Asus has launched its innovative Android 3.0 (Honeycomb) Tablet,the Eee Pad Transformer. The 10.1 inch Tablet’s available with a unique docking station that adds a full QWERTY keyboard and extra ports to the device. Android3.0 Honeycomb is the tablet version of the popular smartphone software, with support for larger screen sizes.
The Transformer is powered by Nvidia’s Tegra 2 platform, a combination of a dual-core ARM Cortex-A9 processor and a GeForce GPU for hardware graphics acceleration. It felt really quick in our tests and responded well to touch input We were able to watch full-screen YouTube and HD videos without any problems.
Communication comes via802.11n wireless or Bluetooth, and a 3G model is planned. There’s also an option of a Huawei 820W 3G module. The Tablet has a microSDHC card slot, a headphone port and a mini-HDMI output, while the dock adds a full-sized SD card slot and two Type-A USB ports. These are both host ports, so they’re for attaching peripherals, rather than attaching the Transformer to your PC.
Although we didn’t have a lot of time to play with Honeycomb, we found it generally similar to Android on a smartphone,the main difference being that the notification bar is across the bottom of the screen rather than the top. The dock has a number of buttons along the top row that act as hardware shortcuts – so you can toggle between Bluetooth and Wi-Fi, for example – and media control buttons for music and movie playback. Asus has used an IPS panel, normally found on expensive professional monitors, and cover edit with tough Gorilla Glass, and it’s one of the best displays we’ve seen on any device. Viewing angles are wide and there’s an oleo phobic (oil-resistant) coating that makes touch input smoother as well as reducing the smears of oily fingerprints that plague most smartphones and Tablets. Colors are vibrant, contrast is excellent and brightness levels are adequate for outdoor viewing.
The build quality of both the Tablet and the docking station is superb. Each has a solid metal frame, with a textured plastic back panel that makes it easier to grip. There was absolutely no flex in either the Tablet or the dock, and the keyboard panel had no flex, either.We saw a pre-production sample, so some of the keys were in the wrong place or weren’t working, but we found it easy to type on, with a light, crisp action that will please touch-typists.
There’s a 5-megapixel camera mounted on the back as well as a front-facing1.2-megapixel camera for video calling, although no video- calling software was installed. Asus claims the Transformer weighs 680g on its own and 1.3kg with the dock, although it felt heavier to us. The Transformer will be available in 16GB and 32GB versions. However, the docking station won’t be sold separately, at least initially,and will be available only as a bundle with the 16GB version.We’ll bring you a full review in next month’s issue.
Asus has launched its innovative Android 3.0 (Honeycomb) Tablet,the Eee Pad Transformer. The 10.1 inch Tablet’s available with a unique docking station that adds a full QWERTY keyboard and extra ports to the device. Android3.0 Honeycomb is the tablet version of the popular smartphone software, with support for larger screen sizes.
The Transformer is powered by Nvidia’s Tegra 2 platform, a combination of a dual-core ARM Cortex-A9 processor and a GeForce GPU for hardware graphics acceleration. It felt really quick in our tests and responded well to touch input We were able to watch full-screen YouTube and HD videos without any problems.
Communication comes via802.11n wireless or Bluetooth, and a 3G model is planned. There’s also an option of a Huawei 820W 3G module. The Tablet has a microSDHC card slot, a headphone port and a mini-HDMI output, while the dock adds a full-sized SD card slot and two Type-A USB ports. These are both host ports, so they’re for attaching peripherals, rather than attaching the Transformer to your PC.
Although we didn’t have a lot of time to play with Honeycomb, we found it generally similar to Android on a smartphone,the main difference being that the notification bar is across the bottom of the screen rather than the top. The dock has a number of buttons along the top row that act as hardware shortcuts – so you can toggle between Bluetooth and Wi-Fi, for example – and media control buttons for music and movie playback. Asus has used an IPS panel, normally found on expensive professional monitors, and cover edit with tough Gorilla Glass, and it’s one of the best displays we’ve seen on any device. Viewing angles are wide and there’s an oleo phobic (oil-resistant) coating that makes touch input smoother as well as reducing the smears of oily fingerprints that plague most smartphones and Tablets. Colors are vibrant, contrast is excellent and brightness levels are adequate for outdoor viewing.
The build quality of both the Tablet and the docking station is superb. Each has a solid metal frame, with a textured plastic back panel that makes it easier to grip. There was absolutely no flex in either the Tablet or the dock, and the keyboard panel had no flex, either.We saw a pre-production sample, so some of the keys were in the wrong place or weren’t working, but we found it easy to type on, with a light, crisp action that will please touch-typists.
There’s a 5-megapixel camera mounted on the back as well as a front-facing1.2-megapixel camera for video calling, although no video- calling software was installed. Asus claims the Transformer weighs 680g on its own and 1.3kg with the dock, although it felt heavier to us. The Transformer will be available in 16GB and 32GB versions. However, the docking station won’t be sold separately, at least initially,and will be available only as a bundle with the 16GB version.We’ll bring you a full review in next month’s issue.
