Asus Transformer Ownership

JimboJet

JimboJet

JimboJet

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Joined
11 Feb 2010
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Now that a few more of you may have this now, I was wondering what your post initial thoughts were.

Are there any shortcomings/problems you've experienced and of particular note I'd love to hear from people how can give a direct comparison between the transformer and the Ipad 1/2.

I think I've convinced myself to get the Asus yet since making that decision I've seen the odd comment complaining of build quality and instances of returns etc. I go abroad a lot and with a trip to the states followed by a Hong Kong trip within the next month I'm almost certainly going to buy a tablet but need peace of mind to get the right one!

Asus Pros (vs iPad 2):

Battery life
External detachable keyboard (with USB!)
Takes Memory Cards
Cheaper
Better screen
Flash enabled

Asus Cons

No 3G option available in first release, though can probably tether to my iphone, which could be a + as I have unlimited internet!
Heavier
Fewer Android 3.1 specific apps
lower resale most probably
 
I think most reviews seem to be swinging in favour of the transformer now. I have had one for just over a week and really pleased with it. I don't think it's quite as polished as the Ipad but should catch up quickly (software updates). 6speedonline website seems to crash the browser but apart from that I'm really impressed with it.

I did suffer from poor build quality, the screen was loose / hanging out on mine but I just exchanged it at the shop. The second one seems to have a little bit of flex in the case on the left hand side so I'm gonna take a look at a few shop demo ones and see if they do the same before maybe going back for number 3. They seem to be in pretty short supply so perhaps corners are being cut to rush them out.

Personally I'd probably buy one when you're abroad but open it up in the shop to check it's ok etc.

Let me know if you have any other questions. I'm also waiting for proper 720P video to work without having to reencode but I think that'll be along soonish.
 
Hello - going through the same though process of which tablet iPad2 or Transformer myself. I like the iPad but I can't help but think it is a glorified iPhone with no big advantage bar the screen size. However because I do not need the keyboard as that defeats the object of the tablet I think it would be better for me as I do not anticipate doing anything really complex.

For me advantages of the transformer -
Honeycomb OS - super much more flexible in terms having what you want on the desktop rather than just a lot of icons. Generally it just felt it was going to be more flexible for setting up how you want it and obviously no apple restrictions on what apps can do etc.
Chunky feel - it felt like you could get a good hold of it.
Price - marginally cheaper but if there is no rush then could be cheaper again soon rather than fixed in place and held up like the iPad.
Availability - big bugbear for me - now seen lots of transformers in store to buy but no one could sell me an iPad or tell me when they are coming in. My last hope is a trip to the Apple store at the weekend.
Ability to use my iPhone as a modem for mobile Internet on one device.
Flash/flash videos - lots of sites Vimeo?) do not work on my iPhone so probably will not work on the iPad2

Advantages of iPad2
Thin lightweight design - it looks so good! and being lighter would be better to hold for a long time as an ebook reader.
Long battery life - much better than the transformer tablet only (not interested in the keyboard/dock as it is a sofa surfer rather than a serious device). This gives the iPad an advantage when I am away for a few days in a tent where no charging up may be possible.
More cases and accessories to choose from - some sort of bounce proof case would probably be a good idea for me. I've not seen a lot for the transformer.
Feels faster to use - subjective really but thinks sometimes did not click for me on the transformer or took a second to open.
More apps available now - and probably ongoing to! Apple checks means that they should all work alright as well. Easy to choose, use and install. itunes is clunky but it keeps things organised!


I have decided to try and get an iPad2 but if I cannot find one soon I will probably just give up and wait a month and see where we are then!
 
JimboJet said:
I go abroad a lot and with a trip to the states followed by a Hong Kong trip within the next month I'm almost certainly going to buy a tablet but need peace of mind to get the right one!
Click to expand...

Be careful here. First of all in HK its about $4580 HKD, which is around 366 GBP (no pound key :() for 16gb model. I am not sure if there are any other models. I may have a chance to wonder around this weekend and have a look at prices.

General advice is NEVER buy anything at Tsim Sha Tsui, its pure scam, police will do nothing, google it. Never buy anything without a price tag. If you look foreign, you will get a bad price. I can give you an address of a couple computer markets where locals shop, prices there are better. But I found you have to be careful, as warranty is usually HK only (check). And generally I found prices for most things I want to be better in UK.

Looking at the river store, its only about 20-30 quid more then in HK, but at least I would actually trust buying from there, sure you can bargain, but as a foreigner (unless you look and speak Cantonese) you will not bargain down to much. There is no return policy in HK stores either. Ie you will not get a refund at all.
 
Im swaying into getting the 16gb with keyboard dock, I have an ipad 1 which is good but flash is my big bug bearer and I can get it for £349 from an online catalog company with my girlfreinds vouchers and 12 monts interest free
 
rsatd said:
General advice is NEVER buy anything at Tsim Sha Tsui, its pure scam, police will do nothing, google it. Never buy anything without a price tag.

There is no return policy in HK stores either. Ie you will not get a refund at all.
Click to expand...

I was there once and listened as a tourist came in asking to exchange (not refund) something mispurchased a couple of days before. The guy in the shop just kept saying no refunds. The tourist was unimpressed to say the least.
 
Small shops will not exhange anything unless they feel like it. Larger chains like local equivalent of purple shirts (Fortress) give you 7 days, but only if theres a fault with the product. And then I am fairly sure its not a refund but a like for like replacement. I really strongly advice against buying any hardware in HK... Thankfully I am back in UK in a week's time so all is good :D
 
For info, the Ipad 2 32gb 3g (AT&T, don't get the Verizon one if you wish to use the 3g ability back here in the UK) version is freely available in the US for $729 which is around £455 (using 1.6 as the exchange rate) - I have to add a proviso here and admit to not knowing whether that included local sales tax or not, perhaps someone here could verify. I was looking in Chicago.

Dubai was around the same price with good availability and in the Dubai mall there were two places with stock of the Asus. The Asus is still in short supply in the US through the major stores, especially if you want one with the keyboard dock.

The Asus 16gb tablet only retails at $399 from the main US chains which offers cracking value at £250 using the above 1.6 rate. If only I could have found stock when I was there! I did however find a Samsung 10.1" to look at on display and seemed much more akin to the Ipad 2 than the Asus in terms of responsiveness and quality.

Will be going to HK at the end of the month and am planning on visiting 298 Hennesy road to check out what goes on there. I believe it isn't the cheapest place but offers a significant discount to the likes of Fortress.
 
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JimboJet said:
Will be going to HK at the end of the month and am planning on visiting 298 Hennesy road to check out what goes on there. I believe it isn't the cheapest place but offers a significant discount to the likes of Fortress.
Click to expand...

Yep thats the cheapest place I been to (there are a couple others, but I never been there), avoid weekends as there is hardly anyone there. You can try Wanchai computer centre as well, but its more popular so less likely to find better deals. Check out prices on all floors as higher floors (only 3 there), usually have lower prices as they are... er higher...

When you are back in UK, might want to do factory reset/update and try to update to a system version. I bought Defy here and it upgraded recently to 2.2 firmware is retail.en.ch18... Now camera crashes when I try to go to settings and generally feels... crap. I am planning to do a factory reset and update in UK.
 
Hi all

How would the below memory config be
16gb micro sd class 10 and a 32gb SDHC for the keyboard doc

And can anyone recomend a good brand
 
delpy8 said:
Hi all
How would the below memory config be
16gb micro sd class 10 and a 32gb SDHC for the keyboard doc

And can anyone recomend a good brand
Click to expand...
Class 10 micro sd? is there such a beast?

From what I've read the transformer is SDXC compatible so you could make that a 64GB/128GB SDXC.
 
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