With the advent of solutions from "Nvidia" in the person of "Tegra" with full support for the Android platform several years ago, a good half of the venerable manufacturers of mobile gadgets rushed to conquer the segment of tablet computers.
The recipe was very simple: we take the most optimal modification of the video accelerator - “Tegra 2”, adapt the interface and standard software for “Android” of the fourth version, and leave the rest to the designers. The last thoughts and plans, as always, heaped, so with the originality of the problems it seemed as it did not arise.
The pioneer of tablet computers can be considered the Xoom series from Motorola. The first pancake, as they say, came out lumpy, but other brands picked up the idea and, taking into account the experience of the American (now Chinese) company, quite decent devices began to turn out.
One of the prominent representatives of this segment can be called the Asus Eee Pad Transformer TF101 model. The gadget is presented in several modifications, which differ from each other in the amount of RAM and the version of the composite keyboard. The latter just allows you to turn an ordinary mobile device into a kind of netbook.
So, we present to your attention a review of the tablet computer - Asus TF101. The characteristics of the gadget, its advantages and disadvantages, as well as the appropriateness of the purchase will be discussed in our article. When compiling the article, the opinions of experts in this field and the reviews of ordinary owners of this model were taken into account.
Equipment
The device comes in a nice and stylish box made of cardboard with a dark design. The Asus TF101 transformer itself is shown on the front side, and the characteristics in the form of a brief specification are located on the back.
The interior is designed very competently, accessories "do not swear" with each other, but are neatly located around the perimeter. This allowed us not to inflate the packaging to the size of a laptop, because it can be transported in a small bag or even easier - under the arm.
Contents of delivery:
- Asus TF101 itself;
- food (charger) of composite type;
- keyboard;
- micro-USB cable for PC synchronization and recharging;
- documentation with a warranty card.
The package bundle can be called standard, some additional accessories like covers, handbags or headsets you will not see here. But judging by user reviews, it’s for the better, because such items are always bought “to your taste and color,” and an extra piece in the kit adds a lot of value to the gadget.
Appearance
The cover of the Asus Eee Pad Transformer TF101 is made of corrugated plastic and has a matte finish. It is pleasant to the touch and does not collect fingerprints like a vacuum cleaner, and it is more or less resistant to scratches.
The ends received metal inserts, which adds to the gadget not only protection, but also solidity. The frames bordering the screen are a bit thick, but they do not spoil the overall style and affect ergonomics only in the best way. Users in their reviews of other tablet computers have often complained about too thin frames, where random clicks were not uncommon when watching video content or games. There is enough space for the fingers.
The performance characteristics of the Asus TF101 are quite acceptable and the build quality can be called excellent: there are no gaps, nothing crunches, does not play and does not creak. In a word - a solid device with which you can travel without extreme sports.
Interfaces
On the right side there is a classic 3.5 mm mini-jack for a headset, a mini-HDMI video output, a slot for external memory cards and one of two speakers. On the left side are the volume rocker, the power key and another speaker.
The bottom of the Asus TF101 tablet is reserved for the docking station, and in our case, the keyboard. It can also be used both to recharge the device and to connect other peripherals. The interface itself is located exactly in the middle, and on the sides there are guide grooves for the keyboard.
The interface characteristics of the Asus TF101 allow you to easily synchronize with other mobile gadgets and specific peripherals, so the model can be called the most universal. Judging by user reviews, many service wizards use the model for their professional needs.
Screen
The 10-inch Android tablet received a pretty good IPS-matrix, which can easily cope with a resolution of 1280 by 800 pixels. As such, pixelation is not visible here, but if you look closely, you might be able to consider individual points. At least a good half of users in their reviews did not note the presence of this effect.
The matrix provides excellent color depth, good brightness and contrast, as well as maximum viewing angles. Therefore, you can safely watch any photo or video content in the company of one or two like-minded people.
It is also worth noting that the screen of the Android tablet is protected by glass from the venerable Gorilla. Although the manufacturer did not go broke for some oleophobic coating, therefore the display surface collects fingerprints like a magnet, since they are cleaned without any problems and very quickly.
Performance
The dual-core processor, working in tandem with the aforementioned Tegra of the second version from Nvidia, is responsible for performance. RAM on board by modern standards is not enough - only 1 GB, but this is enough for the interface and regular applications to work perfectly.
Speaking of the latter. Quite a few distributors and dishonest sellers add their advertising to the operating system, and, as a rule, it is not possible to remove it in the usual way. The only iron option to get rid of it is the stock firmware for Asus TF101. You can find it both on the official developer resource (Jelly Bean), and on specialized forums like w3bsit3-dns.com.
As for gaming applications, the launch of "heavy" toys can cause problems. Modern software of this kind is quite demanding; moreover, it is intentionally adapted specifically for high-performance processors to increase sales of the latter. So in many applications, you will have to reset the graphics settings to average, or even minimum values, provided that they generally start.
Keyboard
Judging by user reviews, they can’t say anything bad, and good, about a standard keyboard. Here we have a quite adequate analogue of the usual laptop working area. On it you can print texts as much as you like and play.
The keyboard is fastened, it is a docking station, it is not as simple as it seems at first glance, so you will have to adapt to this procedure. It is also worth noting that it is equipped with additional USB interfaces and a card reader.
Autonomy
With a good load, and this is the included Internet, watching high-resolution video and toys, the device will work for about six hours. In mixed mode, the battery life can be significantly extended to one or even two days, if you do not get carried away with "heavy" applications and video content.
With a docking station (fully charged), the device adds about twice as much autonomy. That is, at maximum load, you can work out almost all day. Users leave completely positive reviews about the autonomous part of the device. Conventional tablets are very far from such indicators.
Summarizing
Despite a rather mediocre set of chipsets by modern standards, the tablet is in demand among a wide range of consumers. Naturally, gamers are not included in it. The model is perfect for surfing the Web and for solving some professional tasks. So the money invested in the model, and this is a little less than 10 thousand rubles, it works out to the fullest and does not fit.