Best Netbooks - Asus Eee Pad Transformer TF101
The Asus Eee Pad Transformer TF101 is a bright idea whose time has come that will no doubt have many followers. Watch the VIDEO of the unpacking of the Eee pad below to get a clear idea of what it looks like.Asus are well-known for their netbooks but so far have not done much in the world of tablets. The Eee Pad changes all that, by being both a netbook and a tablet.
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| Asus Eee Pad Transformer TF101 - Click image for further details from Amazon |
Tablets have always had the disadvantage of being flat and having a screen that it exposed to the elements. With the Eee Pad you get the chance to fold your tablet up, thus protecting the screen, which seems to us here at USANetbooks to be an excellent idea.
The Transformer is different from other tablets in that it has what Asus call an "optional docking station". This gives you a full QWERTY keyboard with unique Android Function keys, turning the Eee Pad Transformer tablet into a netbook.
The docking station increases the Transformer’s 9.5 hours of battery life up to 16 hours, so you can use it all day.
The Eee Pad is in fact another Honeycomb tablet, with an NVIDIA Tegra 2 SoC, 1GB of LPDDR2 memory, 16GB of NAND on-board and a WiFi radio.
If you are looking for an Android tablet then the Eee Pad Transformer is certainly worth a closer look. The actual tablet part is around $380 for 16GB WiFi which is around $100 less than the iPad - if you want the optional docking station with keyboard that will cost an extra $120 (still not cheap - but cheaper) - you may wish to wait until after Christmas to see if you can pick up a bargain.
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| Asus Eee Pad Transformer TF101 - Click image for further details from Amazon |
In addition to the lower price Asus also made a quality product that is very comfortable to hold and use.
A benefit of not being made of aluminum is I'm not as afraid to set the Eee Pad down on a table as I am the iPad. It feels more rugged, more comfrotable than the iPad. Asus has also improved the quality of the display on the netbook side, with an IPS panel that guarantees image quality and good viewing angles, offering 10.1".
The Eee Padalso has two cameras (1.2 MP that faces forward and 5 MP to the rear ) 2 small speakers, a volume rocker, headphone port, mini HDMI out and microSD slot.
The docking station docks via a 40-pin ASUS dock connector along the bottom edge. There is also a USB to AC adapter for charging the pad.
All in all an excellent tablet / netbook albeit I stil find them a bit onthe expensive side, but I am well-known for being a cheapskate.
For further details and prices from Amazon US see - ASUS Eee Pad Transformer TF101
For further details and prices from Amazon UK see - Asus EeePad Transformer TF101
