ASUS Eee Pad Transformer Review
by Anand Lal Shimpi on April 21, 2011 4:00 AM ESTMore than Meets the Eye
Alongside the original iPad, Apple sold a keyboard dock for users who wanted to do a lot of typing on their new tablet. The keyboard dock turned the iPad into a mini iMac running iOS. What the iPad keyboard dock lacked however was a pointing device—all navigation still had to be done via the touch screen. As Apple has correctly pointed out in the past, the notebook usage model doesn't work very well if you have to keep reaching across your keyboard to touch the screen.
ASUS expands on the idea of a keyboard dock with the Eee Pad Transformer dock. The $149 add-on adds not only a keyboard, but a trackpad and integrated 24.4Wh battery (the same size as the unit in the Eee Pad itself). You are getting a lot for your money, but given how cheap the Eee Pad is, a $149 accessory will always be a tough sell.
The dock is made of two pieces—a half metal/half plastic base and an all metal hinge that houses the dock connector. Simply slide the Eee Pad into the hinge, lining up the dock connector and its two latches, and press into place to dock the unit. If you do it correctly you'll hear a nice click as both latches grab on to the Eee Pad. There's a silver eject slider switch for removing the Eee Pad from the dock.
When you dock the Eee Pad two things happen. The dock immediately starts charging the tablet as soon as its battery life drops below 100%. Only after the dock's battery has been exhausted will the tablet's internal battery begin discharging. Note that even on tablet power alone, the dock's keyboard and trackpad will continue to work.
Android isn't aware that there's a second battery at work here, and sometimes this dock-charging-the-tablet process trips up the battery status indicator in Honeycomb as you can see from the screengrab below:
Confusing the battery status indicator aside, the dock works as expected as a giant external battery. You do get some indication of battery discharge on the dock itself through a blinking LED, however what it really needs is either a software reporting mechanism or a string of LEDs to accurately communicate how much power you have left on the dock.
Charging works the same way. Plug the dock in and it'll charge itself then the tablet. There's enough current drawn to charge both the dock and tablet in tandem so you'll actually feed both, although the dock will charge quicker.
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spambonk - Thursday, April 21, 2011 - link
Hey, Anand - did you test for light bleed?Some people have reported light bleed at the edges in a dark room.
ol1bit - Thursday, April 21, 2011 - link
These are great for flights over seas! 15 hours of battery life, you can watch movies, listen to music, browse the web (over the states), type emails, edit documents.All without a power cord, and it's small.
I love it and the price is killer!
I still want one like the Atrix, so I can carry one less device, ho and for this device, it can't be on AT&T. :-)
\
lcjgol - Thursday, April 21, 2011 - link
Anand, you mentioned that the dock has a USB port. For the retail version review, could you stick a regular mouse in there and tell us how it works (or doesn't).-thanks
After reading this review, I'm 80% sure I'm getting this for my wife's Bday in May (the remaining 20% of my decision will be based on the final retail review).
My family may be Asus' target audience. My wife is a very light computer user at home and also slightly interested in an eReader and/or tablet. Up till now, she hasn't shown enough interests to warrant a single device, but this Asus tablet can do all of the above relatively well. I know an E-ink device would be better for reading, but she doesn't want another gadget around the house if it will only be used lightly. She also needs a keyboard sometimes, and that has been why we haven't bought a tablet yet. This dock solution is the best I've seen. Add to that the fact that I've been thinking about getting some kind of (relatively decent) touchscreen device for my young son to doodle with, and Asus may have my money yet again.
Great review of a great device.
mino - Thursday, April 21, 2011 - link
"ASUS was at the forefront of the netbook revolution thanks to its close partnerships with Intel and Microsoft."What the **** has ASUS team's ability to innovate to do with Intel or Microsoft ?!?
(Both of which actually tried to stifle the EeePC project.)
Anand, you have just proved to me you really lost it. Can as well rename yourself to Anand, The Spinner.
Old rule says "money rules". Having it only proven once again somehow fails to make me less sad.
Old reader turned hater.
bplewis24 - Friday, April 22, 2011 - link
Okay, hater, please explain to us how Asus would have innovated the netbook market without Intel and Microsoft products. I'll be waiting.Do you see his point now? He's not taking anything away from Asus.
Brandon
BugblatterIII - Thursday, April 21, 2011 - link
That's too heavy to carry around with the dock attached, but while I often need the keyboard I rarely need the extra battery life.Is the dock battery removable? If so does the dock still work, and how much weight does that save?
Thanks.
Abot13 - Monday, April 25, 2011 - link
When you remove the battery from the keyboard (if possible) would that mean that it topples over. iaw wont the "screen" be to heavy in contrast with the keyboard?BugblatterIII - Wednesday, April 27, 2011 - link
Possible; I saw another review say that the EeePad is top heavy even with the battery in the keyboard.ProDigit - Thursday, April 21, 2011 - link
Too bad it's missing a mic/line in, and lan port, and 3 USB ports is a necessity for most!Has a low battery capacity, though high battery life,
BruceOTB - Friday, April 22, 2011 - link
Lack of 3G is a deal breaker for me.