Asus Eee Pad Transformer TF101 Review

The Asus Eee Pad Transformer TF101 is an extremely responsive and powerful tablet. It comes with Android 3.0 (Honeycomb), which provides impressive multitasking performance. You can switch between running apps very instantly and without fuss. It won’t lag at any point although some users may notice rare quirks with the mouse cursor. Its physical keyboard is a fantastic innovation and anyone wanting to purchase the tablet should seriously consider investing on the keyboard dock. The dock adds another 6 hours of battery life and some extra functionality. At 16 hours, with the dock attached, the battery life is a major positive of the Asus Eee Pad Transformer TF101 and it far outstretches many tablets, including all iPad models.

It has an excellent screen and it resists finger smudges quite well. The inclusion of two full-size USB ports, a microSD slot and a SD card slot improve its value furthers. Recent software update also adds the ability to host various external devices.

The tablet has a 10.1” scratch-resistant display with 1280×800 pixels resolution. The Asus Waveshare UI sits on top of Android 3.0 (Honeycomb); an update to Android 3.2 was already rolled out and the tablet is upgradeable to Android 4.0 (Ice Cream Sandwich). The dual-core 1GHz Cortex A9 processor is supported by 1GB of RAM and ULP GeForce GPU.

Unfortunately, its cameras are somewhat disappointing, especially when the likes of the LG Optimus Pad and the Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1 are producing better images. When you use the USB mouse, the cursor may not as slick as you’ve hoped, as it occasionally lags behind your hand movements. The Asus Eee Pad Transformer TF101 is the first Android tablet that can claim to be a direct competitor to typical Windows-powered netbook, although you can argue that it’s still a little impractical to rely entirely on Android.