Finally got an Asus EeePad Transformer

[CAT-THE-FIFTH]

TBH,once you start to considering the cost of the applications a lot of these tablest don't seem to be that cheap! No wonder Apple is making so much money ATM.

[MSIC]

TBH,once you start to considering the cost of the applications a lot of these tablest don't seem to be that cheap! No wonder Apple is making so much money ATM.

It's a good point, but then isnt that true of most things?
A TV doesnt do anything until you play content on it (DVD's, TV licence).
A car wont run without fuel and servicing.

I'm not saying that everything we do should always cost, but neither should we expect lots for free - perhaps reviews of products like tablets need to factor in the "running costs" (highly subjective I suppose though).

Edit: Actually, this has got me thinking about MMO's and subscription games... and how I resent paying a subscription for a game i've already 'bought'. But this is another topic.

[scaryjim]

TBH,once you start to considering the cost of the applications a lot of these tablest don't seem to be that cheap!

You could say exactly the same of a Windows PC as well, though. There's a lot of free programs available for Android, but sometimes if you want something really good you have to pay for it. The only big lack for me is a really good office suite - Google could have done a lot with Docs but what they actually turned out was a fairly basic text editor, which is somewhat disappointing. There's also a couple of games that I don't understand the lack of (most notably Puzzle Quest, which is available on a number of other mobile platforms and would be perfect for Android but hasn't been ported). Otherwise I'm pretty happy with the Android ecosystem.

[CAT-THE-FIFTH]

It's a good point, but then isnt that true of most things?
A TV doesnt do anything until you play content on it (DVD's, TV licence).
A car wont run without fuel and servicing.

I'm not saying that everything we do should always cost, but neither should we expect lots for free - perhaps reviews of products like tablets need to factor in the "running costs" (highly subjective I suppose though).

Edit: Actually, this has got me thinking about MMO's and subscription games... and how I resent paying a subscription for a game i've already 'bought'. But this is another topic.

You could say exactly the same of a Windows PC as well, though. There's a lot of free programs available for Android, but sometimes if you want something really good you have to pay for it. The only big lack for me is a really good office suite - Google could have done a lot with Docs but what they actually turned out was a fairly basic text editor, which is somewhat disappointing. There's also a couple of games that I don't understand the lack of (most notably Puzzle Quest, which is available on a number of other mobile platforms and would be perfect for Android but hasn't been ported). Otherwise I'm pretty happy with the Android ecosystem.

Maybe I am thinking more of Apple since more people tend to pay for apps than with Android. Because of the lower up front costs people end up buying loads of them and in the long term a decent amount of money is being spent. Apple is making loads of money out of this.

On top of this with the shorter upgrade cycles how long will it be before you cannot run your app since it is not supported by a newer version of the OS?

A lot of the tablets seem to be RAM limited too(in the long run) and I suspect tablets will be upgraded much quicker than say a similar priced laptop. The newer OS versions seem to end up using more RAM which slows down older hardware. You can see this with the iPhone 3GS and newer versions of iOS and the same will happen with the iPad.

However,also a lot of the productivity programmes will work through several versions of Windows and even OS X which means a couple of years of usage. On top of this there are plenty of free alternatives.

The average person does not spend a lot on computer software when you think about it. In fact only games seem to be the major software purchase people make but even then many buy a console instead. Other software may include an AV,although most get the free ones and perhaps a cheaper photo editor although many people get the free ones too. I suppose MS Office is a purchase many people may make but again you can use it for years.

[scaryjim]

... a lot of the productivity programmes will work through several versions of Windows and even OS X ...

As long as you bought it from the Android Market you should (I think) be able to download any Android app to a new device when you upgrade (I think - I haven't actually bought any paid apps yet so I can't be 100% on that: anyone confirm / deny?).

That said, this is all getting somewhat off-topic from Bunji's original thread

[Behemoth]

I have a serious question

Will it support a USB DVD drive if I so desired to connect one ? Was having this discussion with Lucio on MSN last night as he suggested one of these to me when I mentioned I was considering replacing my current 17 inch laptop for something much smaller.

[scaryjim]

To do what with? Watch DVDs? Not sure tbh. My cheapy tablet supports a few different peripherals. I've got a USB to sata bridge so I could give that a go. I suspect it won't have suitable drivers to act as a dvd player though...

[Bunjiweb]

How does it feel? The hardware itself is excellent, honeycomb just got updated to 3.1 before any other tablet including the Xoom. Honeycomb is still a work in progress and some aspects of it reflect that, such as the occasional force close on some 3rd party apps but overall the experience of the Transformer is a very good one and if Asus continue to support it as well as they have it will get even better.

As for DVD host support I'd be surprised if it works, I'm not aware of android natively supporting DVD drives. What would this feature be needed for though?

I've bought android apps on phone which I've then installed from the my apps section of android market and vice-versa, works flawlessly and was the main reason I decided to buy a Tegra 2 based phone to compliment it.

Few little niggles to mention - Firstly when browsing some sites the text input can be a little slow such as the quick reply form on this forum, though apparently it is a issue which Google are aware of. Interestingly it is quicker when using Dolphin HD (a third party browser) and the stock honeycomb keyboard I think is better than Asus' if you don't need the text prediction. Secondly when using text boxes the text selection cursor is a little bit fiddly, the implimentation could have been better, and if it had the same system as the motorola atrix which gives you a magnified bubble of what text you are trying to select it would be much simpler.

Since the 3.1 update the is a new movie editing app and kindle is now preloaded which I thought a bit odd as Asus has its own book reader app. Multitasking menu is vastly improved and is now scrollable.

Think that's all for now.

Ben

[[GSV]Trig]

Knowing that the quad cores are on the way would you still get a Transformer, I really am tempted but given how quickly the tablet market is moving I'm a bit reluctant...

[yao847zi]

How is the performance of HD video playback on it?

[DannyM]

How is the performance of HD video playback on it?

I sent my Transformer back for this exact reason, it's dreadful.

The Tegra chip is meant to handle it, but the drivers supplied by nvidia just don't cut it, and not nvidia have stopped support for the Tegra chipset, focusing more on the Tegra 2 chipset.

Even with low profile HD content, it still didn't play smoothly enough for my liking, although it was more than watchable, youtube HD fails quite hard too.

If you want it for everything else other then watching HD videos I'd recommend nothing else!

[yao847zi]

wow, it is really pity

[Gramatokrz]

They have them in Cape Girardeau, Mo because I have one...!