ASUS Eee Pad Transformer TF 101
Category : Notebooks / Tablets
Published by Marc Büchel on 12.10.11
These days almost every big PC manufacturer has a tablet in its portfolio and most of them come with Android Honeycomb and a 10.1 inch display. With the Transformer TF 101 ASUS tries to stand out of the masses. That's why you can get an additional docking station for the thing which carries a second battery pack as well as a QWERTY-keyboard and some USB ports. 
The Eee Pad Transformer TF 101 is avaible in different configurations: 16 GB with WiFi and Mobile-Dock costs CHF 549.- (est. EUR 458.-), 32 GB with WiFi and Mobile-Dock comes at CHF 609.- (est. EUR 508.-), 16 GB, WiFi is available at CHF 479.- (est. EUR 399.-), 32 GB WiFi costs CHF 534.- (est. EUR 455.-) and now there are two new versions which offer an additional 3G module. With 16 GB, WiFi, 3G module and Mobile-Dock the Transformer costs CHF 649.- (est. EUR .-) and without dock it is CHF 549.- (est. EUR 458.-)
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Preview
Obviously, ASUS succeeded in designing a nice tablet. It might not be everybodies darling from a design point of view but it really is a good looking thing with good build quality. Plenty of other manufacturers are copy cats and try to do things very in an Apple-ish way but only Samsung managed to succeed. We also like that the Transformer weighs a reasonable 680 gramm with which it isn't a featherweight but it surely isn't too heavy.
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Specifications
| Model | ASUS Transformer TF101 |
| CPU hardware | Ventana |
| CPU Model | Dual-Core ARMv7 (VFPv3) |
| Clock Speed | 216 - 1'000 MHz |
| Display resolution | 1280 x 800 |
| Memory size | 32 GByte |
| Memory | 768 MByte |
| SD-Card size | 32 GByte |
| Camera | 5 Mega Pixel |
| Connectors | 1 x HDMI Connector 2 x USB 1 x Audio Jack 1 x Micro SD card reader 1 x MMC, SD, SDHC card reader |
| Audio | Speaker |
| Battery | 1 x 24.4 Wh Battery, Tab 1 x 24.4 Wh Battery, Dock |
| Dimensions | 271 x 171 x 12.98 mm (W x D x H) |
| Wight |
The specifications which are listed here represent the model we've had for review. The dual core Tegra 2 solution is quick engough for an Android Honeycomb based tablet. Even if you convert it to a netbook and do a lot of word processing with the Transformer it is fast enough.
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Case, Display, Haptics, Dock
The display comes with 10.1 inch size and 1280 x 800 pixel resolution. This means that you get 16 : 9 aspect ratio which makes it suitable to watch a video on the go. Furthermore the screen supports ten finger multitouch and thanks to the LED backlit IPS panel which is being used you get very nice contrast ratio and brightness. ASUS also makes use of so called Gorilla Glass which withstands quite a lot of torture as the video above shows.
Also the different buttons as well as the additional ports are very well built and they perfectly fit into the case.
Dock
The best thing about the Eee Pad Transformer is that you have the possibility to convert this thing from a tablet to a netbook within seconds. Using the dock you can then comfortably write even longer texts. For this purpose you get a QWERTY-keyboard and last but not least there also is second battery pack in the dock. According to the manufacturer you can get up to sixteen hours of battery life if you have the tablet in the dock.
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Test setup
To test and afterwards compare the performance of Android based tablets we use AnTuTu Benchmark and Vellamo. AnTuTu is more of theoretical nature whereas Vellamo is more relevant for every day usage. Overall we think that this is a good mixture. In order to measure battery life we use Battery Spy and Flashlight. Battery Spy constantly monitors capacity and records the time the device was on. With Flashlight we make the screen light at full brightness with white color.Benchmarkprogramme
- AnTuTu Benchmark
- Total
- CPU Integer
- CPU Floating-Point
- 2D
- 3D
- Database I/O
- SD card write
- SD card read
- Vellamo
- Total
- Sun Spider
- V8 Benchmark
- Networking Loader
- Battery Spy / Flashlight
- Screenlight
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AnTuTu Benchmark - CPU and Graphics
| Total | Punkte |
| Samsung Galaxy SII | 5'778 |
| Toshiba AT100 | 4'526 |
| ASUS Eee Pad Transformer | 4'325 |
| Samsung Galaxy S | 2'890 |
| CPU Integer | Punkte |
| Samsung Galaxy SII | 1'387 |
| ASUS Eee Pad Transformer | 945 |
| Toshiba AT100 | 776 |
| Samsung Galaxy S | 607 |
| CPU Floating-Point | Punkte |
| Samsung Galaxy SII | 1'269 |
| Toshiba AT100 | 1'036 |
| ASUS Eee Pad Transformer | 974 |
| Samsung Galaxy S | 152 |
| 2D | Punkte |
| Samsung Galaxy SII | 297 |
| ASUS Eee Pad Transformer | 296 |
| Toshiba AT100 | 293 |
| Samsung Galaxy S | 352 |
| 3D | Punkte |
| Samsung Galaxy SII | 1'235 |
| Samsung Galaxy S | 1'114 |
| ASUS Eee Pad Transformer | 837 |
| Toshiba AT100 | 797 |
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AnTuTu Benchmark Database and Memory Subsystem
| Database I/O: | Punkte |
| Samsung Galaxy SII | 470 |
| ASUS Eee Pad Transformer | 275 |
| Toshiba AT100 | 170 |
| Samsung Galaxy S | 190 |
| SD card write | MByte/s |
| Toshiba AT100 | 15.4 |
| ASUS Eee Pad Transformer | 15.2 |
| Samsung Galaxy SII | 7.4 |
| Samsung Galaxy S | 4.1 |
| SD card read | MByte/s |
| Samsung Galaxy SII | 22.2 |
| ASUS Eee Pad Transformer | 19.2 |
| Toshiba AT100 | 16.2 |
| Samsung Galaxy S | 10.6 |
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Vellamo Web browsing
| Total | Punkte |
| Toshiba AT100 | 980 |
| Samsung Galaxy SII | 920 |
| ASUS Eee Pad Transformer | 916 |
| Samsung Galaxy S | 611 |
| Sun Spider 0.9.1 | Punkte |
| ASUS Eee Pad Transformer | 127.55 |
| Toshiba AT100 | 124.85 |
| Samsung Galaxy SII | 94.09 |
| Samsung Galaxy S | 24.37 |
| V8 Benchmark | Punkte |
| Toshiba AT100 | 104.25 |
| ASUS Eee Pad Transformer | 104.79 |
| Samsung Galaxy SII | 81.45 |
| Samsung Galaxy S | 38.15 |
| Networking Loader | Punkte |
| Toshiba AT100 | 115.67 |
| Samsung Galaxy SII | 113.05 |
| Samsung Galaxy S | 78.72 |
| ASUS Eee Pad Transformer | 65.19 |
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Battery Eater / Power Consumption
| Battery Life | |
| ASUS Eee Pad Transformer with Dock | 11 h 52 min |
| ASUS Eee Pad Transformer | 6 h 47 min |
| Toshiba AT100 | 4 h 45 min |
Letting the display shine white at full brightness allows almost seven hours of battery life. Placing the tablet in its dock makes keeps the tablet away from a power plug for almost twelve hours.
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Conclusion
| General | + | - | |
| With the Eee Pad Transformer ASUS succeeded in something that only a hand full of companies have been able to within the past year: creating a tablet that stand out of the crowd with useful additional features and a unique look. In this context the dock really is a very useful addition to this already good tablet. Equally useful is the second battery pack which is in the dock which is capable of almost doubling battery life. | - Battery - Dock - Second battery pack in dock |
||
| Gehäuse, Display, Haptik | + | - | |
| Top
quality and comfortable that's the two attributes we think are most
suitable for this device. Furthermore we also liked the unique look of
the design which is another reason why this very tablet stands out of
the crowd. Also part of the category "comfortable" is the display which
is based on an IPS panel with LED backlight and therefore offers very
good contrast ratio and brightness. Only the shape of the case could be a bit more ergonomic. The circumstance that it is curved on the edges makes it a little bit tricky to hold the device in hands. |
- Build
quality - Design - Display (IPS Panel) |
||
| Performance, Battery Life | + | - | |
| NVIDIAs Tegra 2 SoC offers plenty of performance for an Android Honeycomb based Tablet. The dual core CPU allows a smooth user experience an there even is plenty of grunt for mobile gaming. The battery lasts for almost seven hours when the tablet is being heavily used. Putting the Transformer into the dock makes give the thing some extra juice and the battery then lasts for almost twelve hours. | - Smooth browsing and working experience - Mobile gaming - Battery life |
||
| Recommendation | + | - | |
| If you should be looking for a tablet PC that is unique and doesn't need to copy the iPad 2, then the ASUS Eee Pad Transformer can be highly recommended. Furthermore this device offers very long battery life and with the additional dock you can even write texts comfortably. | |||
| Rating | |||
| The Eee Pad Transformer from ASUS gets very good five out of five stars. | |||
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