Opinions please : ASUS Eee Pad Transformer TF101

[kilobits]

Hey Hey

I have been offered a 2nd hand ASUS Eee Pad Transformer TF101, 16GB.

It is in good condition and battery is still hundreds... tho' I have not seen it yet, but will play with it this weekend and then I can make a reasonable offer for it.

Now... any one out there in mybb land have any 1st hand experience with one of these ? Pros and cons ?

I have a 7" tablet and the screen is a bit small and it struggles with the kids multimedia stuff.. also they struggle a bit with the small screen... hence the attractiveness of the 10.1 TF101.

What is a fair price to offer for it ?? Input please !!

All opinions and feedback very much welcomed and appreciated.

 

[CoolBug]

I'm still really loving my TF101

I just got a new camera and I can just plug it into my TF and upload pix. A Mac Book Pro didn't even pick up my camera but maybe there's a problem with that mac.

It does of course help if you have wifi.

I got it because I have a huge 17" laptop that isn't very mobile.

Not many tabs out there that has USB slots.

 

[kilobits]

The USB sounds really useful indeed.

Performance wise ?? Does it chug along merrily or huff, sputter, FC and reboot when dealing with games media ??

Also... speaking of wifi... is its connection OK or spotty ?

One last question... Honeycomb seems to be its Android flavour, have you managed an ICS update yet ?

I'm still really loving my TF101

I just got a new camera and I can just plug it into my TF and upload pix. A Mac Book Pro didn't even pick up my camera but maybe there's a problem with that mac.

It does of course help if you have wifi.

I got it because I have a huge 17" laptop that isn't very mobile.

Not many tabs out there that has USB slots.

 

[CoolBug]

Well when I upgraded to ICS, it was like a whole new tablet, way way smoother and it will only get better with JB.

If you get it with the stock ASUS rom you will be able to upgrade to ICS as soon as you connect to a network.

The wifi seems perfectly stable.

Force closes I hardly get but I guess that depends on the user, OS version and the apps they use, I get maybe 1 every 2 months probably less. I must be running a pretty stable rom.

There are even ways for you to use a USB 3G dongle for internet.

As for problems, I really can't think of any, I know when it first came out the one speaker was louder than the other but that's been fixed by an update.

If I was in your position, I would save up and wait for the pad300 basically quad core with 3G

http://eee.asus.com/eeepad/transformer-300/specification/

 

[kilobits]

Thanks Coolbug

I was just told anecdotal stories friends who knew people who owned the Asus tablet who were plagued by FC errors...

This is a 2nd hand one I will be looking at, so any idea of price ? What did yours cost new ?

That pad300 looks very nice !!! but probably a long time to go to get here and will cost a packet.

 

[hawker]

I've got a TF201 and I love it!

I know it's not the same, but these ASUS tablets seem pretty solid to me and I've had mine since April.

 

[CoolBug]

Well it's already here and for less than 5k

http://www.wootware.co.za/asus-tf30...-wifi-quad-core-10-1-led-ips-tablet-blue.html

I'm sure you'll soon be able to get one closer to 4k which is not a hell of a lot more than a second hand TF101, I do think the wait to save up for a Pad 300 will be well worth it.

But if you do only want to spend around 2k then the TF101 is still great.

Like I said about the FCs I think that's largely dependent on what ROM you use, my current ROM seems pretty stable and I have no doubt that there are a couple custom ROMs that are more stable than the stock ASUS ROM.

Also it depends what launcher and what apps they use so it is very anecdotal.

Oh yes, my only gripe with the TF101 is that it does not play a plethora of different video formats out the box but there are apps that help, it also struggles with some HD if it's not encoded in a specific way, I seriously doubt this will be a problem with quad core though.

 

[DominionZA]

I would say R2,500 to R3,000 without dock is reasonable.

I had the 32GB model with dock and sold it for R3,000 end 2011 IN anticipation of the Prime. Prime was buggy on release so bought another TF101 - preowned - for R2,500 (16GB without a dock).
Yes, I shafted myself with the same

If you have R3k to burn, consider the Nexus 7 16GB for around R3,200. Yes, it is 7", but processing power is awesome.
I use the N7 as my primary tab now. My wife has jacked the Galaxy Tab 10.1, one daughter the TF101, other daughter the HTC Flyer, and iPad3 has a drawer for a home.

 

[kilobits]

Ah, thanks for that link... did not know that.

Tablets still seem to be the netbook replacements to me... distraction for the kids and casual web-stuff, messaging, skype etc on the couch, so in no real rush to spend much on them.

I suspect the FCs were all Honeycomb issues, from what I could gather in some quick googling this morning, ICS is stable and smooth on it. Honeycomb was hated by the users on these. Yikes.

So around 2K a fair price then without keyboard dock? I guess anything close to R3.5k for it with the dock would not be worthwhile then, rather get the tf300 for the extra moola.

Thanks for the feedback.

Edit: @Mike... 7" is proving to be a tad on the small side here...

 

[CoolBug]

He said he has a 7" tab and wants something bigger

Also, I saw that you can buy a new one for around 3.5k for the tab only so second hand should be anywhere from 2 - 3k depending on condition I'd guess

 

[DominionZA]

He said he has a 7" tab and wants something bigger

I can read. Giving options.
I never liked 7" myself until I got a Nexus. It is now my primary tablet over 3 other 10" tablets in the house.

Surely up to the OP to decide if the info is useful or not?

 

[CoolBug]

I can read. Giving options.
I never liked 7" myself until I got a Nexus. It is now my primary tablet over 3 other 10" tablets in the house.

Surely up to the OP to decide if the info is useful or not?

I agree with you, I think 7" is more practical and comfortable, I'd also love to get an N7.

 

[DominionZA]

I agree with you, I think 7" is more practical and comfortable, I'd also love to get an N7.

Lol. I was expecting a harsh response. You took the wind out of my sails

 

[kilobits]

I can read. Giving options.
I never liked 7" myself until I got a Nexus. It is now my primary tablet over 3 other 10" tablets in the house.

Surely up to the OP to decide if the info is useful or not?

No No... please, give opinions... keep them coming !!

Mike, what is the resolution of the 7" Nexus ? My current 7" is 1024 x 600 and although most apps etc are fine with this, interwebs are all scroll, scroll, tab, pinch zoom, scroll ad nauseum. Also, reading is little bit of a squint and strain after a while. The kids also find it difficult to click properly on little links on Youtube and some games frustrate them on the 7", yet on an iPad, they kids are happy as clams.

Perhaps maybe it is a pixel density rather than resolution issue... ?

10.1 seems very appealing.

 

[DominionZA]

No No... please, give opinions... keep them coming !!

Mike, what is the resolution of the 7" Nexus ? My current 7" is 1024 x 600 and although most apps etc are fine with this, interwebs are all scroll, scroll, tab, pinch zoom, scroll ad nauseum. Also, reading is little bit of a squint and strain after a while. The kids also find it difficult to click properly on little links on Youtube and some games frustrate them on the 7", yet on an iPad, they kids are happy as clams.

Perhaps maybe it is a pixel density rather than resolution issue... ?

10.1 seems very appealing.

800 x 1280 dude. In landscape mode I rarely have to zoom. Portrait, yes.

I had the Galaxy Tab P1000 quite a while ago. Did not like it at all and swore I would not get another 7" again. It was a horrible tab. Yet, here I am swyping away on a Nexus 7. Lol.

The main thing that annoyed me with the TF101 was the Tegra 2. Not that it was bad, but no access to Tegra 3 only games. I hate not being current with tech.
The N7 has Tegra 3 and with the low price I felt it was worth a gamble to try. All I can say is I am glad I did it.

 

[CoolBug]

Lol. I was expecting a harsh response. You took the wind out of my sails

Generally I'm quite reasonable and rational, generally.

 

[kilobits]

Hey hey

Used the Asus this morning. Very nice... very responsive and the build quality sterling.

He wants around R3400 for it without the dock.

I passed... that is two thirds the cost of the latest one, just not attractive at that price.

Pity... nice to hold and screen is beautiful! Very very nice tablet the tf101, the newest model must be awesome.

 

[Park@82]

I am pretty frustrated with stock ICS lately, some apps just crashes at random i.e stock browser. Probably need to factory reset it again.

/wonder if I should go custom with revolver or revolution or to hold out until OTA JB. /*Sigh its gonna be a pain in the butt to redownload all my game data files...

 

[Glue]

Crazy price, can give you the new tf300 tab alone for R3500.

 

[Park@82]

Crazy price, can give you the new tf300 tab alone for R3500.

Probably not locally.