Preview: Asus Eee Pad Transformer TF101

Long long ago, back in January (how did we survive that long?), I saw the Asus Eee Pad Transformer (herein called “TF101”) at CES 2011. I did not know what this device had in store.

Meh? At first, the TF101 did not turn any heads, as about 70% of all devices at this year’s CES were tablets. From Samsung, to Motorola, to Blackberry, we were flooded with too many tablets to shake a stick at. Little did we know that we were ignoring a true diamond in the rough.

“Transforming” the way we think about tablets As you can see from the pictures, the most striking feature of the TF101 tablet is that it has a keyboard dock, which can be attached and detached at will. Not only does the dock act as a keyboard, but it contains a battery providing up to “8 additional hours” of life, on top of the purported 8 hours the tablet itself already has, bringing you a device that can survive for 16 hours. The way that the tablet connects is equally impressive, since, when connected, you can treat the amalgam device as a netbook: foldable, connection-ready, portable, etc. This duality of netbook and tablet makes the TF101 an attractive machine.

Capable? The Honeycomb-equipped TF101 comes equipped with the Tegra 2, Nvidia’s latest “mobile super chip” architecture designed for multi-tasking with ease, powerful graphics, and low power utilization. The mainboard features a 1GHz dual-core ARM Cortex A9, a successor to the A8, found on the iPhone 4, Nexus One, and Motorola Droids (1, 2, X). Power and connectivity certainly won’t be an issue for the TF101.

(taken from the official press release:)

Product Specifications:

- Display 10.1" IPS Panel with LED Backlighting, 1280x800 resolution, 10 finger multi-touch support, scratch resistant Corning Gorilla Glass

- Operating system Android 3.0 (Honeycomb)

- Platform NVIDIA® Tegra™ 2

- Memory 1 GB

- Storage 16GB /32GB + Unlimited ASUS WebStorage (*)

- Wireless 802.11 b/g/n, Bluetooth 2.1 + EDR

- Camera 1.2MP (front), 5MP Auto focus (rear)

- Interface 2-in-1 Audio Jack (Head Phone / Mic-in); 1x mini HDMI 1.3a port 1x Micro SD Card Reader; 1x Internal Microphone; 1x Stereo Speaker

- Interface on optional mobile dock 2x USB 2.0; 1x SD Card Reader - Sensor G-Sensor, Light Sensor, Gyroscope, E-compass, GPS

- 3G Module Optional in Certain Locales

- Flash support Yes(***)

- Multi-tasking Yes

- Applications ASUS Launcher, MyLibrary, MyNet, MyCloud, File manager, PC sync(*)

- Battery 9.5 hours; 24.4Wh Li-polymer Battery(**) 16 hours with dock(**)

- Size/ Weight 10.6*6.9*0.51” / 1.49lbs (w/ battery)

*Configurations and Applications offered for the Eee Pad Transformer may vary based upon SKU, Country, and Locale. Functionality, release dates and specifications are subject to change.

**9.5 and 16 hour battery life estimates based on specific media playback and usage patterns.

***Adobe® Flash® 10.2 support requires an upgrade available online after product launch.

Affordable? Without hesitation: yes. While the device has yet to be released here in the US, Best Buy has revealed it on their website, with a provocative price of $399. Whether this includes the keyboard dock is uncertain, but even so, one can’t beat that kind of price (for perspective, the Motorola Xoom is currently priced at $600).

With way too much to be excited for, the Asus Eee Pad Transformer has shaped up to be a great addition to the tablet family. It provides all the things we’ve come to expect, and more. It’s old school enough, but also unique enough to warrant all of the leering of passersby. Expect to be wowed when the TF101 is release this coming April.