Standing screen display size | 10.1 Inches |
---|---|
Screen Resolution | 1920 x 1200 pixels |
Max Screen Resolution | 1920 x 1200 Pixels |
Processor | 1.6 GHz tegra_3_0 |
RAM | 1 GB DDR3 |
Graphics Coprocessor | NVIDIA ULP GeForce |
Chipset Brand | Nvidia |
Wireless Type | 802.11bgn |
Average Battery Life (in hours) | 9.5 Hours |
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Asus Transformer Pad Infinity TF700T-B1-GR 10.1-Inch 32GB Tablet (Amethyst Gray)
Brand | ASUS Computers |
Model Name | Transformer Pad |
Memory Storage Capacity | 32 GB |
Screen Size | 10.1 Inches |
Display Resolution Maximum | 1920 x 1200 Pixels |
About this item
- Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich
- NVIDIA Tegra 3.0 1.6 GHz
- 1 GB RAM Memory
- 802.11 BGN Wireless
- 10.1 inch Full HD Display
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This Item Asus Transformer Pad Infinity TF700T-B1-GR 10.1-Inch 32GB Tablet (Amethyst Gray) | Recommendations | dummy | dummy | |
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Price | — | $259.99$259.99 | -30% $195.00$195.00 List: $279.99 | $268.98$268.98 |
Delivery | — | — | Get it as soon as Sunday, Mar 17 | Get it as soon as Thursday, Mar 14 |
Customer Ratings | ||||
Touch Screen | 3.0 | 4.5 | 4.2 | 4.2 |
Battery life | 2.3 | 4.3 | 4.1 | 3.5 |
Screen quality | — | 4.6 | 4.3 | 4.7 |
Picture quality | — | 4.8 | 4.2 | — |
Value for money | — | 4.0 | 4.4 | — |
Sold By | — | Mobile deals | Cell Universal | Maze Tech |
model name | Transformer Pad | SM-X200 | Galaxy Tab A8 | Tab A8 |
display size | 10.1 inches | 10.5 inches | 10.5 inches | 10.5 inches |
memory capacity | 32 GB | 32 GB | 64 GB | 64 GB |
operating system | Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich | Android | Android | Android 11 |
hardware interface | microsd, bluetooth, micro hdmi | usb c, 3 5 mm audio, micro sdhc, bluetooth | usb2.0, bluetooth | usb c |
wireless tech | Bluetooth | Bluetooth | Bluetooth, Wi-Fi | Wi-Fi, Bluetooth |
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Product information
Technical Details
Brand | ASUS Computers |
---|---|
Series | Transformer Pad |
Item model number | TF700T-B1-GR |
Hardware Platform | PC |
Operating System | Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich |
Item Weight | 1.28 pounds |
Product Dimensions | 0.35 x 0.33 x 7.12 inches |
Item Dimensions LxWxH | 0.35 x 0.33 x 7.12 inches |
Color | Amethyst Gray |
Rear Webcam Resolution | 8 MP |
Processor Brand | NVIDIA |
Number of Processors | 4 |
Computer Memory Type | DDR3 SDRAM |
Flash Memory Size | 32 GB |
Audio-out Ports (#) | 1 |
Batteries | 1 Lithium Ion batteries required. (included) |
Additional Information
ASIN | B008F4NL04 |
---|---|
Customer Reviews |
3.8 out of 5 stars |
Best Sellers Rank | #457,073 in Electronics (See Top 100 in Electronics) #6,472 in Computer Tablets |
Date First Available | July 15, 2012 |
Warranty & Support
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Product Description
Product Description
10.1-Inch WUXGA (1920*1200) (LED Capacitive)/NVIDIA Tegra 3 (1.6Ghz)/1GB DDR3/32GB Flash/Android 4.0 (Ice Cream Sandwich)/802.11BGN/2MP & 8MP Camera/Bluetooth 3.0/Polymer 25W/h (9.5 Hours)/G-Sensor/E-Compass/GPS/Light Sensor/Gyroscope/Rear LED Flash/Micro HDMI Port/Micro SD Card Slot/1 Year North America WarrantyDon’t forget Office with your PC purchase. Download Office 2013 instantly with Amazon Digital Software.
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From the Manufacturer
ASUS Transformer Pad Infinity TF700T-B1-GR
Transform to Full HD
The ASUS Transformer Pad Infinity TF700T sets a new benchmark for mobile entertainment as the world's first Full HD Android tablet. Featuring a Full HD 1920 x 1200 Super IPS+ display with Corning Gorilla Glass 2, ASUS SonicMaster technology, Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich and an incredibly thin design complete with ASUS exclusive metallic spun finish, the ASUS Transformer Pad Infinity TF700T-B1 is the perfect companion for the heavy media consumer who is constantly on the move.
Tried and tested for Quality
ASUS is a global technology leader who focuses on the mastery of innovation and design perfection. Today, it is the world's #1 manufacturer of motherboards and is one of world's top PC brands. With customers' need in the forefront, ASUS embodies the passion to create products that truly enhance the computing experience. Not only does design matter, ASUS products are also strictly quality tested to surpass industry standards, surviving multiple drop tests, hinge tests cycles and LCD pressure tests to name a few, ensuring that every ASUS product you buy will be one of your best investments.
Reliability Matters
ASUS PCs finish near or at the top of the industry's reliability rankings survey after survey.3
Known for their unmatched reliability, ASUS products clearly offers you peace of mind and quality you can trust. Using only premium materials, ASUS aims to break the industry mold and deliver a product that is truly incredible. In addition, ASUS also offers the industry's best-in-class warranty and free 1-year accidental damage protection so you sleep worry-free knowing ASUS' got your back.
Relax, ASUS Has You Covered
1 Year North America Warranty.
Key Features
- 10.1-inch WUXGA IPS capacitive pressure-sensing multi touch display for brilliant Full HD entertainment and intuitive navigation. 178° viewing angle (1920 x 1200) protected by Corning Gorilla Glass 2
- Powered by NVIDIA Tegra 3 4-plus-1 Quad-core processor @ 1.6Ghz with 12-core GPU for low power consumption and the highest performance
- Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich OS with Adobe Flash support and over 500,000 downloadable applications on the Android Market.2
- Front (2MP) and rear (8MP) cameras for face-to-face video chats and on-the-go video and picture capturing.
- Optional Docking station with QWERTY keyboard adds additional 4.5 hours of battery life, to instantly turn the Transformer into PC mode with up to 14 hours of battery life.1
- Ultra-slim and light (.33" thin and 1.32lbs light) with stylish swirl design
Specifications
- Operating System: Android 4.0 (Ice Cream Sandwich) Platform
- Display: 10.1-inch WUXGA IPS capacitive pressure-sensing multi touch display. 178° viewing angle (1920 x 1200) protected by Corning Gorilla Glass 2
- Chipset: NVIDIA Tegra 3 Quad-core T33@ 1.6GHz
- Wireless: 802.11 b/g/n
- Memory: 1GB DDR3
- Storage: 32GB eMMC Flash
- Camera: 2 megapixel (front); 8.0 megapixel (rear)
- Speakers: Built-in stereo speakers with ASUS SonicMaster Technology
- Card Reader: Micro SD Card Reader
- Input/ Output:
- 1 x Micro HDMI
- 2-in-1 audio jack (headphone/mic-in jack), internal mic
- Battery: 25 W/h Li-polymer battery (up to 9.5 hours)1
- Dimensions: 10.35" x 7.12" x 0.33" (W x H x D)
- Weight: 1.32lbs
- Color: Grey
What's in the Box
- ASUS Transformer Pad Infinity TF700T-B1-GR Tablet
- User Manual
- Power adaptor with USB to 40-pin connector
- Warranty Information Card
© 2012 ASUS Computer International. All Rights Reserved. ASUS is a registered trademark of ASUSTeK Computer. All specifications and terms are subject to change without notice. Please check with your supplier for exact offers on selected models. Products may not be available in all markets. Product may not be exactly as shown in photos. Actual colors may differ from their appearance due to variation of monitor restrictions and color processing. All trademarks are registered to their respective companies. ASUS shall not be liable for technical or editorial errors or omissions contained herein.
1 Actual battery performance may vary by usage conditions and other factor.
2 Android, Google, Google Play and other marks are trademarks of Google Inc. Adobe Flash update required from Android Market.
3 Learn more at http://commercial.asus.com/promos/ASUSReliability/
Customer reviews
Customer Reviews, including Product Star Ratings help customers to learn more about the product and decide whether it is the right product for them.
To calculate the overall star rating and percentage breakdown by star, we don’t use a simple average. Instead, our system considers things like how recent a review is and if the reviewer bought the item on Amazon. It also analyzed reviews to verify trustworthiness.
Learn more how customers reviews work on AmazonCustomers say
Customers like the portability and size of the tablet. They mention it's a great travel tool, with a thin and lightweight design. Customers also like the appearance and battery life. However, some customers differ on speed, quality, ease of use, and performance.
AI-generated from the text of customer reviews
Customers are satisfied with the display of the tablet computer. They mention that the screen resolution was amazing, with crisp graphics and rich deep colors. The video is much sharper than their TF300, and the rear-facing takes absolutely beautiful pictures. The 10" screen is awesome, and 720p videos play without issue.
"...This is the best android table on market. Main advantage are full HD screen, ASUS's continuous support with timely updates, top notch hardware spec..." Read more
"...The screen is excellent as well. Although it has a slightly lower pixel density when compared to the new iPad's screen, I still prefer this screen...." Read more
"...Played with it for a while..display is very good...speed is very good...installed the microsd card and it got recognized with no issues...able to..." Read more
"...I converted a HD video to MP4 and it was flawless. The resolution is stunning and the ipad is the only thing that can beat this screen but my eyes..." Read more
Customers like the appearance of the tablet computer. They say the screen is gorgeous, it has style and substance, and the colors and pictures are amazing. The touchscreen is highly responsive and accurate, and it has an amazing industrial design. The GPS is very good, and matched with the display is excellent for things such as weather. Customers are also positive about the color quality, clarity and brilliance, and that the Android ecosystem allows you to change the home screen not only with widgets but even.
"...My take on this is that Android ecosystem allows you to change home screen not only with widgets but even whole interface i.e. launcher...." Read more
"...Smooth, fast and responsive.HD vids look great and I don't experience lag. I converted a HD video to MP4 and it was flawless...." Read more
"...I was afraid it would look stupid at first, but it looks Really good with the contrast of both colors...." Read more
"...Both videos and still shots look crisp and detailed, with a good color balance.Well, at least in good lighting conditions...." Read more
Customers like the battery life of the tablet computer. They say it works well indoors, the dock allows extra battery life, and the keyboard has a built-in battery. The dock also has another battery, extending the battery to 14.5 hours.
"...key difference here is that transformer series keyboard will extend the battery life and attaches to tablet and makes the tablet like laptop...." Read more
"...It stays petty lightweight but the keyboard has a built in battery that also powers the tablet for extra up time...." Read more
"...Not just because of the extended battery life, which it does so well, but also because it doubles as a screen protector when it is closed and a nice..." Read more
"...; state (not shut down, but not active or in use) it drains both batteries in under 18 hours. This is just not acceptable.2.)..." Read more
Customers like the portability of the tablet computer. They say it is the ultimate smooth, lightweight take-everywhere productivity machine, and it has a very compact Ultrabook design. The speakers are easily portable and have deep bass for such small speakers. The tablet is also surprisingly thin and light, making it easy to hold. It is a great travel tool and has Asus cloud storage and can connect a USB flash drive or connect to an external PC. It also adds a full size USB port.
"...It's also surprisingly thin and light, which makes it easy to hold the tablet in one hand and read in portrait mode. The screen is excellent as well...." Read more
"...It also has additional ports and a full size SD card slot...." Read more
"...pair that puts out Loud vol & deep Bass for such small & easily portable speakers. I take them with me whenever I'm out & about...." Read more
"...It also adds a full size USB port. When the keyboard is attached to the tablet the keyboard battery is the main power source, draining it first...." Read more
Customers are mixed about the quality of the tablet computer. Some mention that the build quality is rock-solid, and the support is top-line. However, others say that there seems to be a serious lack of quality control when it comes to ASUS products, and that the tablet is far from being the best on the market.
"...The build quality is superb; the tablet feels very solid in my hands...." Read more
"...used iphone3G, iphone4 and new ipad ...even though apple's build quality is great, i am not a fan of itunes, sync and usual apple tricks to keep..." Read more
"...Also, quality control issue of ASUS product suffer, so be sure to get this from where you can exchange as you have relatively high chance receiving..." Read more
"...This tablet arrived in perfect condition and appeared to be well constructed...." Read more
Customers are mixed about the speed of the tablet computer. Some mention it's very fast, while others say it' s slow. The screen is very nice and responsive, and Asus is excellent about releasing operating system updates. However, some customers also mention that the interface lags, has long browser load times, and the battery loses some run time.
"...It's still great - apps don't hang and it's generally very responsive - but I expect Jelly Bean to really showcase the speed of the Tegra 3...." Read more
"...had an issue with original or replaced unit, but if your unit runs surprisingly slow. It sounds like "factory reset" had helped some. So try it out...." Read more
"...Smooth, fast and responsive.HD vids look great and I don't experience lag. I converted a HD video to MP4 and it was flawless...." Read more
"...emails...facebook etc...etc...all good, for issues list: had lag when moving between pages/screens...weather widget failed to refresh all the time......" Read more
Customers are mixed about the performance of the tablet computer. Some mention that all of their apps work very well on the Infinity, and the wifi antenna works great. However, others say that it has true multi-tasking, it's not very functional, and they were only mildly disappointed in the performance. They mention that the media player functionality didn't always work, and copy, paste, undo, and redo didn' t work in the default Asus browser, and it was hard and choppy and unresponsive.
"...It's still great - apps don't hang and it's generally very responsive - but I expect Jelly Bean to really showcase the speed of the Tegra 3...." Read more
"...concern coming back to infinity were relatively frequent application not responding error (ANR) and random application crash/close especially on..." Read more
"...speed is very good...installed the microsd card and it got recognized with no issues...able to read/write stuff into sd card...." Read more
"...Works good as long as you have a good 3G/4G phone connections...." Read more
Customers are mixed about the ease of use of the tablet computer. Some mention that the interface is good, ASUS is very good about pushing updates, and the cameras work great and are easy to figure out settings. However, others say that the commands are cumbersome and hard to find, and it gets frustrating to try to use it. The loading of applications and terrible browsing experience are also frustration.
"...iOS has simple interface that nobody should have any difficulty with. This can be pros for many, but personally, I enjoy more customization...." Read more
"...Update 08/25/12:13- Scrolling is hard and choppy and unresponsive. I can't believe it is a processor issue with such a powerful 4+1 processor...." Read more
"...Right out of the box it was a joy to behold and the software/hardware experience was excellent...." Read more
"...Its a nice escape from the usual and it opens up your arsenal to both Apple Apps and Android App worlds.Hope this helped!..." Read more
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9/27/2012
So I came back from Galaxy Note 10.1 because I just could not tolerate non-Full HD screen any more after using Infinity. I tried to convince myself it would be ok, but it wasn't. The biggest concern coming back to infinity were relatively frequent application not responding error (ANR) and random application crash/close especially on browser, and relatively but significantly slower speed of browser page loading compared to iPad 2 or Galaxy Note 10.1. However, with a little tweaks I am now very satisfied with infinity as those concerns are now significantly improved to almost completely fixed.
- See Stability section for added Tips
- Conclusion updated
8/31/2012
- Wifi related battery issue is not unit based, but through out the all unit (according to the quick survey at XDA) See battery life section
- See new section on Quality Control Issue: In short, make sure to purchase infinity from a place where you can exchange/return.
- Compare to upcoming Windows 8 Tablets
8/19/2012
Had to down grade score to 4 after using Galaxy Note 10.1. Please see
- Stability/smoothness
- Conclusion
8/15/2012
- Performance Boost Tip (see speed section)
- Multitasking updated
=====================
Compared to recently announced upcoming Windows 8 tablets
======================
Recently, multiple windows 8 tablets have been officially announced with their detailed specifications and prices. For some of you considering this vs. windows 8 tablet, based on the specifications, I concluded following:
"No windows 8 tablet is completely superior to Transformer Infinity or Galaxy Note 10.1"
Major players are followings:
Samsung ativ series: The only one that has Full HD screen is Smart Pro version, which costs >$1000, and DVD play battery time is 5 hours. Infinity by tablet alone has documented video play time of 9.5 hours, which becomes mere 5 hours with web browsing and 3-4 hours with playing games. So what could the 5 hours really be. Such short battery life is not acceptable for me. Other ativ series do not have full HD, and priced higher.
Asus vivo series: None of them actually has full HD screen.
The benefit of Windows 8 only comes if you purchase Pro version as RT version will only run windows metro specific applications, which will likely to grow in number but won't be for a while to before catching up with Android (my guess). But Pro version tablets are much higher price, and heavier.
So they are not necessary inferior, but for those of you like me was looking forward to see one "this is it!" system, that is not ready. Windows 8 tablets have their own drawbacks/design decision mainly weight, battery life, price, and lack of full HD screen.
====================
ORIGINAL REVIEW
=====================
It is not my personal opinion, but if you search around the web for major review sites, pretty much it is unanimous that this tablet is the king of 10 inch Android Tablet at this moment (8/2012). As with no system is perfect; otherwise, nobody would ever make newer model again, this indeed has some room for improvement. Since I currently or previously own(ed) ipad2, Samsung galaxy 10.1 (both wifi only 4G LTE), and Xoom, I have decided to put a little comparison from my experience to indicate what aspect of this system I am truly impressed with but also what aspect can be further improved in the future models.
========= Why I chose Android Ecosystem ==========
iOS vs. Android may be the one biggest question potential tablet buyer must answer first. The most popular tablet by far is indeed Apple's Ipad series. They are great. Very smooth and stable. For me coming from Android system, then to iOS, then back to Android system, followings were what I looked before coming back to Android ecosystem:
------------------ Android Ecosystem Pros ------------------------
1. Storage expansion
- I have relatively large collection of videos that I like to carry around. I would rather swap back and forth microSD than the transfer files from computer every time. So this was one big factor for me.
2. True Mutitask
In iOS, multitasking is very limited and in my opinion there is no TRUE multitasking there. For instance, if I start download a file over the internet, and leave the application and do something else such as reading ebook, the file downloading quickly goes into frozen state i.e. not really downloading in background. On the other hand, Android will let you download things in background and you can do other things in the mean time.
(8/15)Recently, I was a bit intrigued by the introduction of Samsung Galaxy Note 10.1, which offers split window capability (not for every applications but browser, polaris office, note taking application, video covers for me). With this news, one of forum poster actually referred me to multiple applications that are already out there on market that essentially does similar and perhaps better to certain degree. For instance, if you like to browse a web but do something else e.g. read ebook, use office of your choice, or perhaps even browse two different sites. The application is called "Oversckreen." This is type of things that I believe true multitasking and flexibility of the android shines.
3. Data Transfer
- Transferring data using proprietary application (iTune) with USB connection became quickly very restrictive for me. We could bypass this by using cloud storage but that required uploading file first then download. On the contrary, in Android you can plug in the system via USB and transfer data by drag and drop using folder system on either Windows or Mac OS. Alternatively, you can use application such as AirDroid to transfer file over the WIFI with desktop like interface through browser.
4. Centralized File System
- In android, it uses similar tree file system as desktops. So I can create my own folder organization, and any application can use the folder structure. This is handy for me. For example, I have many PDF and EPUB books. For me these are nothing but ebooks. So I like to organize them in the same folder(s). However, some application does better job opening PDF than the other, but for EPUB I use different application. But this won't affect storage for me as files are still single copy one location where I placed. Whereas in iOS, each application gets own copy. So for some reason I want to open PDF in one application but then reopen on the other application, I have to create two copies in the system.
5. User interface
iOS has simple interface that nobody should have any difficulty with. This can be pros for many, but personally, I enjoy more customization. I like to see fancy widget like home screen quickly showing weather, news etc. People also frequently hear calling Android ecosystem is more "flexible." My take on this is that Android ecosystem allows you to change home screen not only with widgets but even whole interface i.e. launcher. So certainly not as simple as iOS, I prefer such on Android system. It just simply more fun for me.
6. FLASH support
This will be going away entirely from mobile platform. However, it will take time. No new device be supported at this point, but existing devices including transformer infinity is still supported. When Jellybean update comes, though there is no official support, no doubt we will still see easy way to load FLASH on android device. In fact, Nexus device user with Jellybean update confirmed they can still use Flash on their devices. So some day everything will be HTML5, but until then I like Flash compatibility.
------------------ Android Ecosystem Cons ------------------------
So above are in strength of the android system (obviously in my personal opinion). The downside is
1. Stability/Smoothness
Android had came quite far since the initial tablet optimized android OS Honeycomb introduction. The current version (Ice cream sandwich) is far more stable and smooth than the Honeycomb. However, applications still do crush on Infinity. Some are not too infrequent. Initially I wrote "one main reason may be due to so many hardware out there, developers have no control/way to test on every single device. In my experience, it is most of time finding the right application." Well, I guess I was blind. Recently I purchased Galaxy Note 10.1. After 20+ hours of use, I have yet to encounter single crush or ANR (application not responding). I basically do the exactly same with Galaxy Note and Infinity. Infinity give me at least one crush or ANR every hour or two.
2. Applications
Overall, iOS has more applications optimized for tablet. Many games are initially released on iOS then later ported to Android. If gaming on tablet is primarily interest, iOS is undoubtedly the way to go. However, some applications are better on Android. For instance, application called "Anki", which is probably the best cross platform flashcard application, you can get it for FREE on android with WIFI sync of stats and cards. Whereas, iOS you have to pay $20+ to purchase the application. Android has easy 15 minutes trial and refund policy, so I don't have to waste money to find out whether an application is what I truly wanted.
========= Transformer Infinity ==========
Once you made your mind with Android ecosystem, here are what's special about transformer infinity.
------------------ Pros ------------------------
1. Speed
I am not certain why some complains of smoothness/speed. But swiping home screen, launching applications on this device is extremely smooth and fast for me. One big sales point of the newest android OS Jellybean will be "Buttery smooth" interface; however, I am not sure if I will see any difference from what I already have here because it is already buttery smooth. Benchmarks are simply numbers, but check them out on google. You will see infinity indeed has the top notch benchmark scores across the board among all the existing android tablet. For instance, I use application called Mantano reader for my ebook. They have recently added page curl effect for epub book reading like iBook. It is so smooth on Infinity that I see no difference from iBook. But this may not be true for some older systems with lower specifications.
[Tips] This is only true if you are running in balanced or performance mode. Battery save mode indeed sees a lag/stuttering.
(8/15) I had not had an issue with original or replaced unit, but if your unit runs surprisingly slow. It sounds like "factory reset" had helped some. So try it out. But true performance boost was immediately noticed, and perhaps stability improvement as well after reading an article at XDA forum. If you are interested, try search "tweaks to sweeten your life with the Infinity." If not, this at least proves that ASUS can eventually with software update make this tablet even much faster.
2. HD Screen
This is main advantage of this device over the other android tablet. Basically, you are paying for this feature. The upcoming Galaxy Note 10.1 has equivalent CPU benchmark and better GPU benchmark; however, it lacks HD screen. There is currently not much (if any) HD optimized application on android market but you don't really need them to see its effect on daily use. When you surf web, read ebooks, the texts are crystal clear. If HD screen is what you want, you only have two choice in Android market right now. Acer A500 and this machine. Every site that I saw basically puts Infinity over the A500 despite $50 more.
3. ASUS reputation
ASUS does have its own problem. However, when comes to software update they are among the best. They have introduced Ice cream sandwitch before anybody else except google device e.g. xoom or nexus. People complained about poor I/O perfomance, they have already released firmware less than a month since the device release to fix this. There is no doubt aside from Xoom and Nexus 7, transformer series will be the first to see Jellybean update.
*In comparison, Samsung makes great tablet but they customize the OS quite bit and resulting in extremely slow update. They have just recently updated to ice cream sandwich on their original Galaxy Tablet series, which is like 6 months behind that of ASUS.
4. Keyboard Dock
You can use keyboard on any Android tablet whether bluetooth or USB. The key difference here is that transformer series keyboard will extend the battery life and attaches to tablet and makes the tablet like laptop. Since I have not purchased one yet, I cannot say much about this.
[Rumor] Many rumors are floating around that transformer prime keyboard dock is indeed the same as that of transformer infinity except now priced higher. One most objective argument I have seen regarding to this is on the XDA forum. One user disassembled both and basically saw everything being the exactly the same. ASUS representative says otherwise, but no convincing proof has been provided so far.
5. Future Proof
Tablet market is perhaps the most rapidly evolving field. If you wait 3-4 months, there will be better specification system on the market. However, Infinity being the top of notch at this point and similar but superior to the Nexus 7, we can safely say that this device will have relatively good future proof for a while before its gets obsolete. No doubt we will get newer OS even after Jellybean.
Upcoming Galaxy Note 10.1 will have 2GB of memory, which is great and I wish we had it on Infinity; however, it being the only system with that, and many will be at 1GB we will not see any application that requires 2GB memory for awhile. Though larger memory will certainly help multitasking.
------------------ Cons ------------------------
1. Battery Life
Personally, this is one major downside of the system. The system has higher pixels to push compared to transformer prime, yet has the identical battery. In comparison, New iPad doubled its battery from iPad 2 to sustain its battery life. ASUS claims 9.5 hours of battery with tablet alone. In balanced mode with WIFI on but watching local video or reading ebook under 30% or so monitor setting, I get ~10%/hr battery loss. So it is possible to get the number. However, if you surf the web the battery life quickly goes down. With WiFi surfing and online streaming, the battery drain becomes ~20%/hr i.e. only lasts 5-6 hours. This seems a bit low. Couple tricks to save battery life exist including changing to Power Saving mode, which would add 1-2 hours extra, but system becomes overall laggy. Adding dock will bring up the battery life to top of its kind; however, I still prefer seeing 9-10 hours battery with constant web surf without dock.
Note: These numbers are screen on time. I can easily get over a day if including the screen off time.
I initially thought it was fault on my device as some claims phenomenal battery life, so I did got exchange but still the same. Those claiming over 10hours battery life is undoubtedly talking about "off charger but not on-screen" time. Those who claims on-screen time of >6 hours have minimal WIFI use (not it is on or off but actively browsing or not). I have sent an email to ASUS rep about this to see if they can potentially fix it as other tablet usually won't have this much difference in battery use just by using browser.
[TIPS] For those of you getting too much drain from WIFI while screen is off, go to setting > WIFI > advanced and select WIFI on while sleep to "never". This way when your system is off, you won't see drain in battery.
2. USB File Transfer Speed
When compared to my iPad 2, file transfer speed across the USB is slower on transformer infinity despite using the latest firmware .26. The time I transfer files are not so frequent and I can even download files in background and do something else, but it is certainly nice to have maximum speed when hooked on to USB as those are times I want to transfer big file as quickly as possible.
3. Sound
It talks about Sonic System but sound on this machine is definitely weakness. Sometimes I have difficulty hearing via speaker. Fortunately, I use mostly with headphone but if someone wants to watch a movie on this device using a built in speaker and expecting high quality, you may be a bit disappointed on this regards.
[Tips] You can potentially boost the sound beyond the manufacture's setting. But this shouldn't be necessary.
4. Quality Control (added 8/31)
Based on my daily checking of forums on transformer infinity, I can confidently conclude that quality control on the transformer infinity have some major flaw. Some may try to defend saying that they got a perfect unit, which is great for them. Others may say every company has defective unit, which is true statement. However, if you look at forum such as XDA, you see so many people complains of issues. In contrast, if you check forum for Galaxy Note 10.1, you basically see 1/10th of hardware related complain. This overall make ASUS a huge loss in my opinion. Because we don't know if the system instability, slow speed etc. is actually from the system or simply faulty unit. Some may not even consider latter and instead just return. Because of relatively high prevalence of QC issue, I highly recommend buying infinity from a place where you can exchange/return.
------------------ Mixed ------------------------
1. Build Quality
Overall the unit looks phenomenal. Compared to my previous plastic made Galaxy 10.1 which port hinge cracked without any major physical damage and Samsung refused to replace... Solid metallic feeling, beautiful concentric design of ZEN. It definitely feels like high quality tablet. My original nor replacement unit had single dead pixel, so that's a good thing. However, if you become nit picky, you finds a few (minor) but noticeable issues including:
- Light bleed: Only noticeable during boot up so should not affect actual use but they are there. Supposedly pretty common based on some forum.
- Clicking sound: My initial tablet did have this and many others experience this according to XDA forum. Most likely due to slightly loose attachment around the screen. Again, this does not affect daily use but this one was certainly noticeable to me. Replaced unit did not have this but got more light bleed.
- Soft button: Original unit had some asymmetric softness to the volume up button, and replaced unit has that on the power button.
2. Stability
This may not be due to hardware but rather applications but applications do crash at least several times during my charge cycle. Particularly, noticeable is on the browser. It does not matter if stock, chrome, or other popular third party browsers. They still give me random close. Mainly with flash site though. I hope this will improve with Jellybean but it emphasizes "smoothness" not "stability" so who knows.
(8/19) After using Galaxy Note 10.1, I am not sure if it is due to software or hardware. Because Galaxy note 10.1 also uses Ice cream sandwich but after 20+ hours of use, I have experience 0 crush or freeze. Even on the file I could not open (pdf on mantano reader), I can readily open with Galaxy Note 10.1. It is possible that Samsung did extensive customization/kernel design and ASUS did not so it is software related, but in any event when compared to the most stable systems i.e. iPad or Galaxy Note 10.1 (yes. so far that system is stable as iPad or could be even more.. who knows as I haven't experience single crush on this I don't know how good/bad it is), infinity definitely lacks stability. Though I don't think it is any worse than my old Samsung Galaxy 10.1 or Xoom.
(9/27) I am not certain whether it was related due to defective hardware for my original units, firmware update improvement, or turning off the bloatware. But at this point, I have encountered only handful application random crash, and probably same or less number of ANR after two weeks. This is essentially compatible to my experience on Galaxy Note 10.1, and iPad 2. So from my side, only one special thing I did here, which is "turning off bloatware." ASUS includes many application that runs on background. These can be turned off without you rooting or unlocking the device. So I highly recommend doing this. For the exact list of which application can be turned off, see XDA forum.
3. Power Save Mode
It is nice to have an option to extend battery a little as it is indeed the biggest weakness of this unit. However, noticeable lag by switching to it seems a bit of issue. I understand becoming laggy on demanding applications such as games but just swiping home screen, launching application should still be smooth. I wonder if Jellybean will fix this.
========= Conclusion ==========
Overall, I now give 5/5. This is the best android table on market. Main advantage are full HD screen, ASUS's continuous support with timely updates, top notch hardware spec at the moment makes this is future proof device. However, battery life is sub-optimal for today's tablet standard when used tablet alone with WIFI on, and built in speaker is weakness. Also, quality control issue of ASUS product suffer, so be sure to get this from where you can exchange as you have relatively high chance receiving defective product.
Out of box, this item may be slightly inferior in a few area compared to Galaxy Note 10.1. In particular, browser speed and overall smoothness and speed on ICS. These however, can be improved by simple fixes. 1. Turn of bloatware (no root/unlock needed). 2. If you still think browser is slow, then supposedly, you can install an application called browser2ram. However, for this you supposedly need to root the system. But with these modifications, you can make infinity true king of the android tablet at the moment.
After charging and discharging the battery several times, I found the typical charge duration to be close to advertised, around 9 hours without the dock and close to 14 with.
***UPDATE 2: JELLY BEAN***
Installed Jelly Bean on this tablet yesterday (10/1/12), and I am quite pleased with the performance improvement. Everything seems smoother, and I haven't had any hangs that I occasionally experienced previously. After doing some research as to why there were hangs in the first place, I came across a chart of internal memory/storage I/O speed comparisons across many android devices. I was surprised to see that all the Asus transformers were at the very bottom of these speed tests. This would also explain the slower app launch time compared to my Galaxy Nexus phone, even after the Jelly Bean update. It pretty disappointing that Asus would cheap out on this aspect of the system, and it does seem like this is the root cause for all of the pauses and hangs in the system. A user over at XDA Developers created a modded kernel that mounts /data/ and /cache/ on an external SD card, and when using a high quality SD card (class 10), it seems to get rid of all of the problems completely. I am curious to see how this mod applied to the Jelly Bean kernel would perform. If I am successfully able to do this, I will post the results.
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I've been wanting to purchase a tablet for a while now, but I held off on the iPads because I personally don't like iOS all that much. After playing around with a friend's original version Transformer, I did some research and decided to wait for this tablet to come out. It was definitely worth the wait.
When used with a keyboard dock, the tablet essentially replaces my laptop. I still use my desktop for any intensive applications, but this tablet is able to provide all of the mobile productivity that I need. I can easily SSH and connect to my Linux server for any programming that I need to do. Functionality wise, it's everything that I needed.
***PROS***
The build quality is superb; the tablet feels very solid in my hands. It's also surprisingly thin and light, which makes it easy to hold the tablet in one hand and read in portrait mode. The screen is excellent as well. Although it has a slightly lower pixel density when compared to the new iPad's screen, I still prefer this screen. My friend owns the latest generation iPad, so I did a side-by-side comparison to see which screen was better. The brightness on this tablet beats that of the iPad screen by quite a bit, and the 16:10 aspect ratio makes it much better for watching HD movies than the iPad's 4:3 ratio. Overall, there's plenty of real estate which many of the tablet-optimized apps make use of. Android also seems to do a pretty good job of scaling the non-tablet apps as well, so there's not shortage of apps for the device.
The performance in general is pretty snappy as well. I've been using Android 4.1 Jelly Bean on my Nexus phone for nearly two weeks now, and I remember that there was a noticeable difference when I switched over from ICS. I think the same can be said about ICS running on this tablet. There are a few places where it may seem to stutter or drop frames, but it's uncommon and doesn't seem to detract from the experience. ASUS did announce that they have plans to release Jelly Bean to their Transformer lineup in a few months, so I'm sure that the smoothness will improve dramatically with the update.
Several reviewers have noted that since the speakers are located on the backside of the tablet, it may output a muffled sound when the tablet is placed on its back. Honestly, this isn't a deal for me. When laid on a flat surface like my desk, the sound is still rather clear. If I put the tablet on my bed, however, I start to notice some muffling. It's really not too bad, and I don't see where else they could have put the speakers without more people complaining.
***CONS***
Update: Jelly Bean now installed on the Transformer Infinity. Performance is great, but I/O speed still a slight bottleneck.
The only real downside to me is that the performance isn't what it would be with Jelly Bean installed. It's still great - apps don't hang and it's generally very responsive - but I expect Jelly Bean to really showcase the speed of the Tegra 3. After playing around with a Nexus 7 which also uses a Tegra 3, I can see how amazingly fast the OS runs. Considering that this tablet uses a Tegra 3 with a higher clock speed, the device will be at least as fluid, most likely better. Asus has already announced that they plan to roll out Jelly Bean to this tablet within a couple of months, so it should be seeing an update pretty soon.
As others have said, it seems that there is no 5GHz wireless support, which is a shame. The proprietary charger that this tablet requires is also a bit of a downer for me. I would have much preferred a micro-USB charger so that I don't need to use two different charges for my devices.
Lastly, the decision to keep the amount of RAM at 1GB is a bit disappointing. I feel that doubling it to 2GB would have helped future-proof the device for a couple more years to come, but I'm pretty sure that this tablet will manage fine for the next few years.