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Asus EeePad Transformer Gets a Thumbs-Up
Android Central has taken a close look at the new Transformer tablet from Asus, giving it an overall positive review, with minor points deducted for a 'plasticy' feel. The Transformer joins the Motorola Xoom in the world of Honeycomb (Android 3.0), and has very similar, high-end specs (though it's Wi-Fi only) with one big difference: the Transformer is marketed with a not-included-in-the-price attachable keyboard that adds a secondary battery. Notably, given inevitable comparison to the Xoom, the SD card slot, and Flash 10.2, work out of the box. The reviewer says Asus has done a credible job of making Honeycomb work well with a keyboard, but I wonder what other OSes will eventually be hacked onto this device. 16 hours of battery life in a netbook-sized computer sure sounds good to me, but I might want that to be with standard Linux apps instead of only with Android.
"Yes, this tablet is good but it needs a keyboard."
"Ah, yes, this keyboard is fine, but it needs a real OS."
"Whoa, this OS is killing the battery, what this needs is a big ol' battery and a charger brick to charge it."
"My hand is getting tired with all the pinching and zooming. I need a good touchpad and sometimes a good mouse."
So we're just reinventing the laptop. Great. Turns out doing something productive on a tablet is borderline impossible.
Considering 95% of all tablets in the wild (meaning the iPad) have no SD Card, having a card reader in a tablet is still somewhat of a novelty. How Apple gets away with that kind of thing I'll never know.