Asus Pad Is A Split Personality Tablet: First Look

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When the docking keyboard is added it is crunch time for the iPad on price. The 16GB Transformer (slate plus keyboard) is £429. The iPad 2 would need a cover (£35) and a keyboard (£56) which adds up to £490 for the 16GB model – without the convenience of the neat clamshell portability of the Transformer. However, the iPad does offer various colour options for the cover and white or black for the slate.

While Asus may win hands-down on price, there is no 64GB option for the Transformer but the micro SD socket could take a 32GB card to make this up to 64GB. According to Amazon, this will be reliant on a future software upgrade.

There is another option offered by Asus up in the cloud. Each purchase carries with it the promise of unlimited cloud storage for a year. Asus has not yet specified how it will charge for storage at the end of the free period – so sticking anything up to the cloud is a gamble. Maybe the needed software upgrade for onboard memory will appear before then.

Flash support is also an issue with the iPad for website compatibility but, as an Android machine, the Transformer has native support. The cameras on the iPad 2 are, frankly, pathetic by modern standards and neither camera compares with the iPhone. Even Apple seems embarrassed because they prefer to talk mumbo-jumbo rather than raw megapixel figures. According to iFixit, the cameras are less than a megapixel which even makes the front-facing Asus camera look good. The rear-facing camera has over five times the resolution.

Battery life is a closely drawn match with Apple quoting “up to 10 hours” and Asus stating 9.5 – add in the dock and the Eee Pad edges past to 16 hours.

So far, its all in favour of the Asus machine. But what about weight and size? The slate of the Transformer is 680g and it measures 271x177x13mm. The slimmer iPad 2 is 241x186x9mm and 601g. Marginally better on size by 4mm, where thickness seems to be an issue in the marketing world. However, 79g is quite a weight difference but it is just equivalent to a small tin of tuna but that could be an issue if using the slate for a long time.

When the keyboard dock is added the weight of the Eee Pad doubles to 1.36Kg which is almost the same as the Eee PC 101MT multitouch tablet PC – but slightly heavier than the average netbook.

In The Shade Of The Apple Family Tree

The Eee Pad Transformer’s design is excellent and provides a tablet for all purposes, especially when combined with the keyboard dock. Its specifications largely match or outpace the iPad and, from any angle, it wins through on price and onboard features. The much sought-after iPad-killing Android tablet format may look like the Asus Eee PC Pad Transformer.

Where the Asus may fail is in the company’s inability to capture hearts and minds. Apple iPad owners love their devices, are loyal to the brand, and Apple’s charismatic CEO and co-founder Steve Jobs has a mesmeric affect on his audience. Asus tends to be low-key and looks bashful, almost embarrassed, in comparison. Despite the encouraging press coverage, the Transformer has leaked into the market rather than riding on a wave of publicity like the iPad 2.

Asus has to learn from Apple’s masterclasses if it is to become a household name. The company is renowned for its seemingly penny-pinching product launches but it is not alone in this. Motorola, Samsung and RIM all have Andoid tablets worth shouting about but, outside the trade press, their products are virtually unknown.

The iPad could afford to skip the razzmatazz launches and its sales would continue to boom because it is a household name. Most consumers can name an Apple branded product and the iPad would probably be foremost in their minds. No-one remembers the last Asus product unless they bought one.