I recently purchased an Asus Transformer TF101 16GB from Amazon. If you would have asked me whether I would of owned a tablet computer a year ago I would of pulled a funny screwed up face and asked “Why would I want one?, I have a Ubuntu powered PC.”

How times have changed. Here I am typing this entire post using my very own tablet. A tablet with a detachable keyboard!

This article isn’t a review as such. More of an experience of the life cycle with the device. There are plenty of reviews on the internet and the specification of the tablet can be found on the Asus site.

I came to this purchase from a bit of an angle. That angle was the use of an iPad2. Now, for the record I don’t own an iPad2. I had a chance to use one for a fairly long period time as part of an ongoing project at work.

It’s a good a time as any to point out that I am an Android user through and through and have been using an Android handset for many years. I’ve tried the rest and stuck with the best No offense meant to the reader that may be an iOS fan. Each to their own! This article won’t be slagging or fan boy ranting in any way. I promise.

So back to the story. I really enjoyed using the iPad, I have used many Apple products and they all ooze gloss and simplicity of use. But for me, at least, they are a bit bland. Yes, the app store is brimming with quality applications and the hardware is rock steady, but there are still some things missing for me.

• Flexibility – Any Android user knows what I am talking about here. One example, in the future if I don’t like the standard ROM, root and refit with a new ROM. Much voiding of warranty of course, but an exercise in flexibility.
• Choice – You can get Android tablets in varying screen sizes and with differing levels of hardware spec depending on your budget
• Price – This is linked with choice. You can choose a low end tablet and get a “similar” Android experience. Although I would say any table running Android 2.2x and below won’t be a proper table experience. That’s just my opinion.
• A bright and alternative future – Honeycomb is just the start of the Android tablet OS. And you can almost guarantee that future iterations will add heaps to the user experience.

The last point above is the most poignant for me personally. I have been a Google user for some years and have always enjoyed the products and services they have released, albeit Wave, but we know where parts of that ended up! And that leads me nicely to Google+. I have been using this for a few months now and I love it. I won’t go  be going into review mode here, but with Google+ I can see a really interesting converged future with all the Google services.

Now I’m not saying Google+ decided for me whether I should go buy a tablet or not, but it opened my eyes a little more to where Google Android and its online offerings are taking its users. I’m not entirely sure Google know exactly where all this joined-up-ness (yes, that word just happened) is going to end up, but it seems to me that more recently the online services are “getting it on” more than ever before. It’s exciting stuff.

Ok, ok I’m going off track a little here, but it was relevant to my buying decision. When I buy something I want to know it is going to last, not just from a hardware perspective, but from a ongoing usage perspective. As I pointed out above, Google are really joining up their services and a Google tablet is a good a way as any to get the best mobile/portable experience of this.

The iPad wasn’t totally discounted from my tablet purchase. Much to the contrary. My partner and kids love the iPad. They are used to the interface, games etc. But I wanted something more than that and I think the Asus Transformer has delivered it to me in abundance.

So what sold the Asus Transformer or TF101 to me, lets break it down to the selling points;

Hardware

The Asus Transformer as a piece of hardware is a very interesting one. It comes with an almost dark antique brown wallet look and feel to it. What you say? Not white or black! Selling point number 1 out of the way. It’s not black or white. It’s something different, I like different. You can also hook this tablet up to your HDMI enabled TV if you so wish.

The fact that this tablet has a detachable keyboard is strange enough, but after using it, you wonder why it hasn’t been done before. It just works. Couple that with the fact there is a battery, 2 x USB and an SD card reader built into it you’ve got selling point number 2 right there. When this tablet and keyboard are attached they can be clam shelled together like a laptop. You will then get that dark antique brown wallet I was talking about.

The widescreen LED backlit IPS 1280×800 screen is beautiful, if a little shiny. The IPS portion of that is to allow a greater viewing angle. Asus tell us you get 170 degree viewing angle. Not too shabby. Selling point 3 wrapped up.

Software

I won’t go into too much detail here about the OS as there is much ground to be covered. But I definitely wanted a tablet that came with Honeycomb. An Android OS built for tablets. The TF101 has this, so selling point 4 complete.

The final selling point for me was what I’d use it for. In addition of course to what it does already. I mainly want to do more blogging and writing. I just can’t see how this is comfortable achievable on a tablet for any length of time. I have tried it, and I it doesn’t roll well for me. My daughter also needs something she can have fun on and also write documents and such like on. So selling point 5 has now been fulfilled thanks to the attachable keyboard.

Now a few of you that may have been looking to buy an Asus TF101 may think the keyboard is an expensive accessory. I thought the same thing, but ultimately it is one of the main selling points for me buying the TF101. That and the fact its over £100 to buy separately!

Mobile connectivity

Not really a selling point, but one worth noting. 3G or not to 3G. I have an Android with a 3G contract. My Android can tether out of the box. I didn’t see the point in starting another 3G contract. Decision made.

That and the fact the TF101G isn’t available in the UK yet.

Hardware look and feel, first thoughts

So the tablet arrived, how did its first hour or so fair? Well it faired really well after the 8 hours of required charging had been completed. Once this completed I chucked the keyboard in for an 8 hour charge-a-thon.

One immediate negative I would say for the hardware is the length of the “proprietary” power/data cable. Yes I said proprietary. The cable is way too short and why didn’t they just use a standard USB mini charging connector? I’m assuming possibly USB3 isn’t available on USB mini plugs as yet or maybe at all.

Either way, the cable is just too short! I got round this by buying a 3m USB3 cable extender. eBay is your friend for about £7 inc free delivery.

Another thing I noticed almost straight away was the lack of a notification light on the tablet. You can’t even tell when it’s charging. But, then the iPad doesn’t have a light on it either so not a big deal.

One final point on the hardware. The back camera. Its in the top middle, horizontal position! A big win as you have no chance of putting your fingers over it when holding the tablet.

Now for the feel, its slightly heavier than an iPad2, but it feels substantial and the cross hatch design on the back doesn’t make it too much like a bar of soap. Other reviewers have mentioned that its a bit creaky. I hadn’t noticed that per se. But then, my Asus went straight into its ACASE leather case from leaving the packaging!

The tablet with keyboard attached feels basically like a web book. The difference here though is that the keyboard comes complete with Android friendly hard buttons. Namely, Home, Back, Search etc.. I’m a big fan of flat square keys, so this was instantly a winner for me.

I was a bit nervous that the attach/detach would be a bit awkward. Let me assure you, it isn’t. Its a total breeze. Only issue for me is that, because the tablet is in the case the majority of the time, you have to remove it from the case to attach the keyboard. Not a big problem though.

Will report back on battery life in my next article.

Software look and feel, first thoughts

Honeycomb looks great, and not without its foibles (the subject of another post). In fact I was a little disoriented the first time I used it. But I will go into this another time.

On the whole though, the tablet OS is very smooth indeed. I haven’t yet experienced any lag whatsoever. The moment it booted I received an Asus firmware update to 3.2. Apparently this increased the boot times of the device some what. So on next reboot I timed it. 20 seconds! There were other numerous fixes and enhancements in 3.2. You can view them on XDA.

Amongst many applications I downloaded (coming in another article) I grabbed the WordPress app to write this article. One thing I learnt fairly quickly from using the keyboard attached is to turn off the mouse pointer whilst typing for any length of time. I found that with it on I kept moving the pointer around accidentally. Fortunately there are function keys to turn off the mouse easily and efficiently.

I’m still getting into the interface a few days on so will write a follow-up article in the next few days to detail my experience in some more depth.

Conclusion

So far so good I guess is the best I can say for now. Its still early days and I’m finding the whole experience very interesting. I don’t buy gadgets very often so this was a big purchase for me. I’m looking forward to using it day to day and seeing what I can get out of it.

Coming up next time…

A more detailed analysis of the tablet OS, “Honeycomb” and the applications I have been using on it.

If you have any questions or comments, please feel free to leave them below. I don’t bite and will respond to you in due course.