ASUS Eee Pad Transformer TF101 Tablet Review

Final Thoughts and Conclusions

After using the ASUS Transformer for a short period of time it was clear that ASUS is a major player in the tablet market and while the Transformer TF101 might have come out after the Motorola Xoom and Apple iPad 2, but it is able to compete with them. This shouldn’t come as a shock to many of our readers as ASUS is a very well run company with experience with building everything from optical drives to notebooks. The ASUS Eee Pad Transformer TF101 reminds us of some of the ASUS Eee PCs that we have seen in years past and we wouldn’t be shocked to find out some of the same engineers and designers are behind this device. ASUS told us that they are shipping roughly 500,000 of these tablets a month and is clearly one of the best selling Android tablets to ever be released.

The Android 3.2 operating system is fairly polished and we didn’t have any crashes or bad experiences with Honeycomb during our use with the Transformer. The docking station did make the tablet OS easier to use since we are very familiar with using a keyboard and touchpad. The dock clearly provides more functionality and a better overall tablet experience. The ASUS Transformer is very competitive without the dock, so even if you wanted just the tablet you’d be fine with the Transformer.

The only real gripe that we had with the ASUS Transformer that we had was the size of it. In the picture above you have the Motorola Xoom sitting on top of the Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1 that is above the ASUS Transformer TF101. The ASUS Transformer is nearly an inch longer and half an inch wider than the Motorola Xoom. This isn’t too noticeable by itself, but when you have a bunch of tablets in front of you, it is very noticeable.

	iPad 2 (3G)	Xoom	Iconia A500	Transformer	Galaxy Tab 10.1
Length	9.5″	9.8″	10.2″	10.7″	10.1″
Width	7.31″	6.6″	7″	7″	6.8″
Height	0.34″	0.5″	0.5″	0.5″	0.34″
Screen Size	9.7″	10.1″	10.1″	10.1″	10.1″
Aspect Ratio	4:3	16:10	16:10	16:10	16:10
Weight	1.33 lb	1.5 lb	1.65 lb	1.5 lb	1.3 lb

The base price of the ASUS Transformer is $399 and for that you get a solid tablet with an aesthetically pleasing design and crystal clear IPS display. For an extra $150 you can get the keyboard/battery dock that will transform this tablet into a whole new device that takes the user experience to the next level. Rumor has it that the next generation of tablets are going to be released before the holiday shopping season, so expect the price on this tablet and the dock to come down in the weeks and months to come. If these get down to around $299 like they did at Target this week then we’d expect them to sell rather quickly.

We can’t wait to see what ASUS has done with the Transformer 2, because the Transformer TF101 is pretty darn good for the companies first attempt at a tablet.

Legit Bottom Line: The ASUS Eee Pad Transformer is one of the best Android 10.1-inch tablets on the market today and is priced to move!