REVIEWS / TABLETS / ASUS TECHNOLOGY PVT. LTD

Asus Eee Pad Transformer TF101G Review

05 Nov, 2011, 10:07 am IST | by Roydon Cerejo | Tablets

Tablets

Slim and sexy

Slim and sexy
The dock can be charged separately as well
More USB ports to play with
All docked in
HDMI connectivity
IPS panel really makes the colours pop
Versus a netbook
Buttons are crafted well
Compact and lightweight, just like a netbook
The Transformer TF101G
Comfortable keyboard, albeit slightly cramped

PRICE IN INDIA

43,000

TECH2 RATING

7.0

AVERAGE USER RATING

5.5

How we test

CONTACT

ASUS Technology Pvt. Ltd

 reachus@asus.com

 +91 22 6766 8800 / 18002090365

 www.asus.in

Tablets make fun multimedia devices but when it comes down to real work, like typing out this review for instance, there’s no replacing the good ol’ physical keyboard. You could always buy a bluetooth keyboard as an add-on but that’s just one more thing to carry around. This has always caused a huge dilemma for first time buyers who are left with the painful choice of deciding between a tablet and a netbook. A hybrid device was needed to give us the best of both worlds. Lenovo teased us with the LePad but never actually got to putting it into production. Thankfully, Asus saw a window of opportunity and capitalized on it by creating, quite frankly, the best hybrid device seen to date. We give you the Transformer TF101G - a tablet for leisure and a netbook for work, just what the doctor ordered.

Design and Build
The Transformer comes in two parts, there’s the tablet itself and the keyboard dock which further expands its functionality. Let’s start with the tablet. Measuring just 12.9mm in thickness, it’s really slim and light too, at just 695g. The Galaxy Tab 750 still remains the slimmest and lightest 10.1-inch tablet though. The TF101G is built extremely well and it just feels like it costs a premium (which is does). Instead of a plain, boring back, Asus have gone with a nice patterned design and the colour is very eye catching as well. The tablet sports an IPS panel and a scratch-resistant glass for added protection.

All docked in

All docked in

 


Connectivity wise, we have a 3.5mm headphone jack with support for a microphone as well, mini-HDMI (Type C) connector, microSD card slot while the left side houses the SIM card slot (For the TF101G model only) and the volume rocker and power/sleep button. The fit and finish of all the ports and buttons are well done giving you a sense of quality and attention to detail.

Buttons are crafted well

Buttons are crafted well

 


The proprietary connector is at the bottom and is used for charging, data transfer or to connect to the dock. In the rear, we also have a 5MP camera without flash and a front facing 1.3MP camera for video chat. While the TF101G does accept SIM cards, it does not support telephony functions. It does however come with 16GB memory, Gyroscope and E-compass and stereo speakers with SRS. Now, let’s turn our attention to the dock.

The Dock
If you thought this was just a plain old keyboard, then you're sadly mistaken. About the same size as a 10-inch Eee PC keyboard, the dock weighs another 640g, which brings the grand total to about 1.3kg which is more or less what a typical netbook weighs. The dock is equally slim and continues the same patterned design on the base as well.

Comfortable keyboard, albeit slightly cramped

Comfortable keyboard, albeit slightly cramped

 


The four rubber feet help give it some grip when placed on a desk. The keyboard is your regular chiclet styled one but instead of the function keys, we have shortcuts for media, brightness, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth and even a button to lock the screen. You simply dock the tablet in and it locks in place, transforming it into a netbook. The multi-touch trackpad supports two finger gestures so you can move through the home screens by swiping it left or right and swipe it up or down to scroll. Pinch-to-zoom is also present in the gallery and browser.

The dock can be charged separately as well

The dock can be charged separately as well

 


The dock also lets you expand the connectivity further by offering two USB 2.0 ports and a memory card reader. There’s also a charging port to charge the tablet when docked in. The USB ports support NTFS file format so a 500GB portable drive is a non-issue. 1080p files struggle to play via portable hard drive but work just fine through an SD card or onboard memory. There’s even a 24Whr battery stuffed inside the dock which prolongs the battery life of the tablet if you’re running low. In case the tablet is completely drained out, simply plug it in and it will charge it up to 50 percent.

Versus a netbook

Versus a netbook

 


The keys are incredibly comfortable to use but like any 10.1-inch netbook, feel a tiny bit cramped. Another thing is that it doesn’t recognize some basic Windows commands like Ctrl+S for saving, which, due to force of habit, you will inevitably do at some point while typing. It’s not a complaint, just that it would have been nice if Asus would have incorporated that somehow.

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Design and Build


Tags:

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How We Test

The Tech2 Labs receives many products every single week and each of them is tested with the utmost care and highest level of objectivity. There’s a constant effort to reduce and totally eliminate subjectivity. Each product is tested according to set test processes so the same test scenario is used.

Verdict
The ratings awarded to a product are derived from a number of tests and calculations, keeping certain important factors in mind. These factors consist of features, performance, quality and value for money. In case of software and some other categories, build quality might be replaced with ease of use or ease of installation. Products are compared with other products in a similar price range or product category.


Features
The features component of the score is rated based on the kind of features present on a particular product. Features are a big part of what people look for when they’re buying a new product such as a phone or a camera.

Performance
The performance score is derived from the benchmarks and tests run on the product. In case of the subjective scores, an average of the scores given by the group of reviewers is considered.

Build Quality
The build quality of a product is important so that it doesn’t fall apart after some use. The build quality scores from the way the product is designed and the kind of materials used in the product.

Value
Value for money comes from the fact that a cheap product is able to provide most of the performance of a higher priced product. Once again, value for money is judged by comparing pricing and performance of products in a particular price range or category. 

There are many other aspects of the product that are looked at such as the bundled software and accessories. All of these scores are aggregated together to form the final score.

What do the ratings mean?

Ratings are simple - higher the score, the better the product. A brief listing of the features and what they mean are given below.

1 - 3

The product is bad in almost every aspect. We strongly advise against purchasing this product.

4 - 6

An average product that isn't the best you can buy, but isn't the worst either.

7 - 8

Product with this rating is highly recommended because it's priced sensibly, has a good set of features and performs well.

9 - 10

Exceptionally excellent product with features and performance unlike any we've seen in the past. A must-have for everyone!

What is the Average User Rating?

We at Tech2 take product reviewing very seriously and every product is tested with the utmost care and level of objectivity. The end user who buys a particular product and uses it over an extended period of time has his own take on a product and there might be nuances that he or she can shed light on. The Average User Rating is present to help readers get the complete picture of how good or bad a product is. The Average User Rating is calculated by averaging the ratings by the thousands of readers visiting Tech2.com every single day. To record your own rating of a product, simply click on the user rating bar. If you disagree with our ratings or our community's product rating, please don't hesitate from voicing your opinion in the comments section below the review.

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