just grabbed the asus transformer + dock from best buy for $350 (premier silver early BF access).

This is my first tablet (outside of buying an Ipad 2 and returning it because of terrible google app access) so Im pretty stoked. Anyone have the transformer and have recommendations on things to change from stock?

11/21/2011 4:28:30 PM

We're waiting on the Transformer Prime (2) that comes out in a couple weeks. Unless you're trying to save money I'd return the Transformer 1 when the 2 comes out. It's quite a bit more powerful.

11/21/2011 4:31:32 PM

I may just keep it...the prime plus dock will be double the price of my purchase. granted its more powerful but i think the transformer will do what I need. but yeah ive got 45 days to return it if it isnt powerful enough for me.

11/21/2011 4:40:38 PM

aside from the battery benefits which are yet to be seen, a tegra 3 tablet is probably way more than the average person would ever need.

11/21/2011 4:45:45 PM

I'm also looking at the Transformer Prime. Here's to hoping there'll be a slickdeal bundle with the tablet and the keyboard for $499...

11/21/2011 4:49:48 PM

Quote :

"aside from the battery benefits which are yet to be seen, a tegra 3 tablet is probably way more than the average person would ever need."

Games? Overall performance? The GUI itself should be smoother. Tegra 3 can actually play higher bitrate HD movies. Tegra 2 can't even play higher bitrate HD stuff.

Plus the upgrades to the actual device. Glass screen is updated. Alumnium casing. They think it's the same camera as the iPhone 4s. 8MP with f2.4 lens. Smaller. Thinner.

[Edited on November 21, 2011 at 4:56 PM. Reason : Tegra 2 doesn't support high profile HD to be exact]

11/21/2011 4:54:16 PM

Quote :

"Smaller. Thinner."

Being thinner is great but that just means the battery life is going to be significantly worse with a quad-core cpu

11/21/2011 5:01:32 PM

Do you really think the average person needs all that? Any hardcore gamer would probably rather have a PC or stand alone gaming console. As for the camera, it's still going to be awkward to use regardless of MPs. Maybe a quick snap here or there but most will just use their phone or an actual camera. You don't need quad-core or any of the new hardware when your average person is just using it for web browsing, email, etc. They have said that they see the prices dropping to $299 a few months after release so I probably wouldn't jump on one immediately even if I were in the market.

[Edited on November 21, 2011 at 5:07 PM. Reason : ]

11/21/2011 5:03:07 PM

Quote :

"Being thinner is great but that just means the battery life is going to be significantly worse with a quad-core cpu"

They're reporting a 12 hour battery life with the Prime w/o the dock. The more efficient Tegra 3 seems to make up for that. Thinner doesn't always mean less battery life.

Quote :

"Do you really think the average person needs all that? Any hardcore gamer would probably rather have a PC or stand alone gaming console. "

No there's plenty of hardcore gamers that like to play touch games on their phones/tablets. Apples and oranges. I know I love playing various games on my phone. If I'm on the bus or at a friends and want to play a touch game a tablets great for that.

Quote :

"You don't need quad-core or any of the new hardware when your average person is just using it for web browsing, email, etc."

This logic doesn't make any sense. ICS has multi-threading support. It's going to make all those things faster. The GUI will be smoother. Browsing will be faster. Email will be faster. Multi-tasking will be faster. A program doesn't have to utilize all 5 cores (yeah there's a 5th for "maintenance" tasks) for it to benefit from more cores.

-at least I think the actual GUI is multi-threaded. Android's supported multi-core processors since 1.6. I just don't know how often the actual interface will utilize more than one.

[Edited on November 21, 2011 at 5:16 PM. Reason : d]

11/21/2011 5:10:43 PM

For $150 more (+42%) you're getting up to five times the performance, and up to 3 more hours of battery life and a tablet that should last you about twice as long as any of the Tegra2's (Transformer, GalaxyTab, Iconia, Thrive, K1). Also it'll have a far superior Super IPS+ screen and be about 10-15% lighter.

http://www.dailytech.com/NVIDIA+Launches+Tegra+3+Claims+5x+Performance+Boost/article23230.htm

Quote :

"They have said that they see the prices dropping to $299 a few months after release so I probably wouldn't jump on one immediately even if I were in the market."

wasn't specified which tablets... most likely $299 7" tablets, not 10.1" tablets, also he said a couple quarters, not a couple months, big difference.

Quote :

"Tegra 2 can't even play higher bitrate HD stuff"

it's not an issue of higher bitrate, the Tegra2 can handle 20Mbps, it's a matter of high-profile HD video that includes CABAC, B-Frames, and Weighted Predictions, turn those off and Tegra 2 does just fine... it just requires recoding and larger file sizes, but it can handle 1080p

Quote :

"Do you really think the average person needs all that? "

People don't need the latest iPhone or iPad, but they buy it anyways. It's called early adoption and yes people buy the newest hardware to have the fastest hardware. Best bang for buck, no.

[Edited on November 21, 2011 at 6:20 PM. Reason : .]

11/21/2011 6:08:12 PM

5 times the performance sounds nice and looks pretty on all those benchmarks but not like that will make things 5x faster in daily use. I'm still waiting to see exactly how effective this companion core is in real world use. Hopefully it'll help significantly improve the standby time for handsets.

And lol people are gullible enough that they'd buy a new ipad/iphone if it were nothing more than a label change. They just do a good job of making people think they “need" it. Think of the Galaxy Nexus. "Better” hardware is already out and quad-core handsets are around the corner but those devices aren't necessarily worth waiting for for various reasons. Sure paying $299 in a few months for a device with more potential makes better sense than paying the same for less than bleeding edge hardware now but most of that potential will just go unused.

11/21/2011 6:38:18 PM

For the general public I 100% agree with you. But this is Tech Talk.

11/21/2011 7:14:00 PM

Quote :

"For $150 more (+42%) you're getting up to five times the performance, and up to 3 more hours of battery life and a tablet that should last you about twice as long as any of the Tegra2's (Transformer, GalaxyTab, Iconia, Thrive, K1). Also it'll have a far superior Super IPS+ screen and be about 10-15% lighter."

Where are you getting the $150 more? I just paid $250 for a transformer. The cheapest prime will be $500. $350 for the transformer and dock vs. $650 for the prime and dock. $300 is more than enough for me to sit back and enjoy previous generation technology that will do everything I need (web, email, simple office stuff, games, and video). I have a laptop for anything more intense.

Of course different strokes for different folks.

11/21/2011 7:20:23 PM

where did you get that deal on the transformer? I want to get one and don't want to deal with the black friday crap, and if I can get it now (and the $99 dock), I would be extremely happy


ah, nm... I just saw how you got it- anyone have this Premier whatever thing that they would be willing to use for me?

[Edited on November 21, 2011 at 7:39 PM. Reason : w]

11/21/2011 7:38:33 PM

Quote :

"I just paid $250 for a transformer."

limit 10 per store on a Black Friday deal, that's like saying it's worth it for .01% of the population... you have to go with the normal retail price which is closer to $350 to make a fair comparison. just because a couple people get a deal for $0.01 doesn't make it an apples-to-apples comparison.

11/21/2011 11:45:55 PM

http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,2817,2396727,00.asp

11/22/2011 9:03:20 AM

http://www.computerworld.com/s/article/9222380/Asus_Eee_Pad_Transformer_Prime_The_Rolls_Royce_of_Android_tablets

Still want to try out the keyboard in person. It's getting a lot of both positive feedback despite a few shortcomings.

Quote :

"I found the dock's keyboard and built-in trackpad to be quite pleasant to use. The keyboard isn't full-sized, which can take a bit of getting used to, but its keys are large enough and spaced out enough that the adjustment isn't terribly difficult. The trackpad is fantastic: It has a metallic feel and delivers spot-on accuracy. A standard mouse pointer appears on-screen anytime you touch the trackpad; you can right- or left-click by firmly pressing on the pad's bottom or quickly right-click by simply tapping anywhere on its surface."

12/8/2011 2:12:01 PM

I really like using the dock for my TF101. It makes a great stand and really gives it the "netbook" feel, makes working with it on your lap really easy. Even if it didn't extend the battery I probably would've still gotten it

[Edited on December 8, 2011 at 2:51 PM. Reason : ]

12/8/2011 2:51:11 PM

Except the new dock is a lot lighter than the TF101 dock so you may not have that weighted stand kind of feel. I guess I'll reserve judgement til I try one in person to see how useful it can be... on paper I just think it's extremely redundant and extremely overpriced for what you're getting, but I know that's just me.

[Edited on December 8, 2011 at 3:15 PM. Reason : .]

12/8/2011 3:02:24 PM

we know. i believe you have made your position on the dock clear in more than one thread.

12/8/2011 4:20:26 PM

Yeah partially my fault. I hate top heavy hardware so i'm hoping I can get a hold of one to try.

12/8/2011 4:44:17 PM