Transformer Infinity

[Mi An]

I finally made my choice, and bought a tf700 with my ipad proceeds. For some time, I've had my heart set on a Transformer Mini. I finally gave up on that when Asus was asked directly about about a 7" transformer and stated outright that they wanted nothing to do with such a device. But for my windfall, that would have left me cobbling together a keyboard, hinge and 7" tablet in a most unnatural manner. It would have been been nice enough, but this is much closer to ideal. It performs very admirably as a netbook replacement, but with at least twice the battery life, less bulk, twice the resolution (one my netbooks biggest bottlenecks was resolution, not chipset), daylight viewability (not perfect, but manageable), far less heat and no noise (my netbook whined fairly loudly), instant on, better wireless strength, and even a slightly more spacious keyboard (albeit with Asus' standard stupid right shift amputation). It is top-heavy, and some attention has to be given to the angle if using it on a downward sloping surface, like a lap, but it's more stable than I expected given how much more weight is in the screen relative to the base than is on a netbook or laptop. The hinge is dreamy compared to the alternatives I would have constructed for a makeshift netbook replacement. I wanted a large range of angles, not merely a prop or a slot.

The TF300 would have been almost as good a netbook replacement (minus the daylight view-ability, no SIPS+ as I recall), but would have made an unsatisfactory reader (for me) given its low pixel density. After a few weeks with a Nook Tablet, I decided I wanted a pixel density of 200+, minimum. I'm very pleased with how sharp text is rendered. Syd's form factor allows me to read in unparalleled comfort while laying down, and I read every night just before falling asleep , so she's not going anywhere, but that's mostly light fluffy fare, novels. I suspect it may be easier to read reference or even non-fiction that is a little less linear on a larger screen, and I certainly look forward to trying magazines and newspapers. Truth be told, I'd have preferred 7" device in terms of weight. I've had arthritis since I was a child and decades of attacks have wrecked havoc on my hands and arms, so something lighter would be more comfortable. That and the price are the big compromises from what I originally had in mind. I mostly use this as a tablet where I can rest it against something rather than hold it outright, and honestly, I leave it docked 90% of the time and let the dock do the holding.

I spent the first day trying to find out how limited the mouse would be (this is my first Android mouse experience), refusing to use the touchscreen at all. I was surprised I could do just about anything with the mouse that I could with the touchscreen. I haven't, however, figured out text selection in all contexts yet. In a word processor, it's enough to place the cursor and use shift and arrow keys to select a block of text, but I'm not sure how to select in a browser at all. It's nice that the mouse can be used in lieu of the touchscreen for navigation, but that seems to have reduced its role for text manipulation. I also miss mouseover dialogs and right click menus. But all in all, I'm pleased and still learning.

Typing was initially awful on the software side. I'm a slow typist, but words on the screen lagged 2 or 3 words behind where I was typing. Asus issued a firmware update yesterday that eliminated that lag (and apparently other performance issues). Asus gets a lot of flack on transformer forums in regards to their past support, but I'm pretty happy with them. In addition to the support mentioned above, they've loaded the transformers with useful gizmos instead of the usual bloatware. Out of the box, it comes with Polaris Office (I think I like Quickoffice better, but still), Splashtop HD (packaged inside the asus mycould app that also includes a lifetime 8gbs of asus cloud space), a perfectly useful file manager, backup utility (haven't tested it yet, but I'm hopeful it's as useful as titanium), a note taker with inking ability, and a series of useful widgets et al. The ICS dialog that pops up when you click the clock includes 3 different performance settings, power saver, balanced and performance, and access to ips+ (the "outshine the sun" solution to daylight readability), but as I understand it, there are few other actual alterations to stock android. I may not root -- something I do to get features I don't have, and Asus appears to have thought of most everything.

I haven't watched much video yet, but I did stream a stargate episode through the browser (slight audio lag -- best to stick to streaming apps rather than mobile flash when possible), and local recordings of Fringe and the Office. Interestingly, my SD compression (from an HD recording, which is sharper than the same compression from an SD recording) of Fringe appeared to have been upconverted, not simply upscaled. It looked far sharper than it should have on that resolution of a screen simply upscaled, sharper than it does on my PC with a similar 1920x1080 resolution. I was also pleased the default media player didn't object to my old xvid library -- it certainly appeared to be hardware decoded. Some older chipsets have been less kind, focusing on h264 and newer codecs, and so software decodes divx/xvid. The speaker is located on the back, points audio away from the listener, and its location about where the right hand would hold it in landscape seems to anticipate the practice of people cupping their hands to redirect sound forward. It's a mind-numbing example of function following form. We need an uninterrupted glass plane on the front for sexiness, so who cares if you can't watch a movie and hear it at the same time. It's like a theater placing their surround sound speakers in the alley and expecting people to stand in the emergency exit watching with one eye and listening with the opposite ear.

The device itself looks swanky. Conspicuous even. It's shiny, thin with a concentric brushed metal exterior. The upscale color options pretty much say it all: champagne or amethyst gray (a darkish gray the emits a purple hue when the light hits it, sportingly dubbed gurple by Asus fans). I'd have preferred something slightly lower profile TBH. All the more for a device marketed as a multimedia device in a multimedia category, I'd rather they have made it work well (front facing speakers) and then made it look pretty, form following function. But video wasn't really what I got this for, it's just something that gives me an outlet to complain. What a great device. It does what I really want and makes one stupid error I don't mind much but can work out general frustration whining about.

If you've wisely skipped the tome above to read the last paragraph, let me say you haven't missed much. In short I am very pleased with Asus and the Infinity, and feel very fortunate to have a tightly tailored package instead of a frankentransminiformer of my own making. If anyone has questions, I'm happy to try and answer them. I haven't chosen a name yet, but in keeping with a tradition of gem related names, I'm contemplating "Myst" in reference to the color, Amethyst Gray.

[jigwashere]

I can't believe I read all that.

Congratulations, Mi An!

[Hook]

What, no pictures?

Congratulations, indeed.

[Mi An]

I can't believe I read all that.

Iron Man jig, that's how I've always known ya ;v)

I was thinking of getting some pictures of it up against my AAO netbook. Engadget, with their always outstanding scholarship in tow, opined that the keyboard didn't compare to the obvious analog, a laptop, comparing it, I suspect, to one of those monsters with a 101 keyboard in tow (And room to spare). It's possible the new crew missed the 100 million+ netbooks sold.

[RickAgresta]

Congrats, indeed! sounds *very*nice* Pics would be nice, or I can search the intarwebs for shots of it in use by our overlords <G>

[Mi An]

Heh. I do love watching cats play with technology. Mostly with other people's tech though ;v)

Thanks to all for the congrats. =) I put in a thousand words above, so that's worth one picture right? I'll grab some more for ya though.

[Mi An]

I didn't really get a picture that showed off the Super IPS+ brightness very well, in part because, as you can see in a couple of shots, it isn't so much a screen that could double as a mirror, but is more like a mirror that can double as a screen. And that's really the second biggest problem with outdoor viewing, though looking at it at the right angle helps in person. The biggest problem, especially in the summer, is that the metal exterior of the device does exactly what you'd expect it to in 100+ degree heat. Shade helps reduce reflections and overheat a little, and Super IPS+ really is impressive, however inefficient it is to try and outshine the sun. I look forward to the fall and am looking for a cheap, light camping chair I can easily lug deep into a local park.

My AAO is an 8.9" model. I had always thought it had the same keyboard as a 10" AAO, and simply had a bigger bezel. Maybe not. In one shot, you can see the Infinity basically has an extra column of available key space. Of course, it also has an ample bezel. I've been watching for an Android device that has a better keyboard than the Touch Pro2, and it seems I've finally found it as seen in picture 2.

Edit: here's some more shots from someone else: http://forum.xda-developers.com/show...7&postcount=42

[scjjtt]

Mi An, congratulations on your new tf700. &#160;It sounds like it has a lot of potential to be a laptop replacement. &#160;The docking keyboard is definitely is a sure plus to the design in my opinion.

One question I have is - what are the major differences - the tf700 vs the tf300?

-- Sent from my TouchPad using Communities

[Hook]

I'm very curious about the comment about daylight view-ability. That mirror-like quality of the screen in the photos make me think it would actually be hard to view in daylight.

[Mi An]

@Hook, it's not idyllic by any means, but I had no trouble reading a book or typing away for an extended period in only slight shade from a tree on a bright day once I'd angled it and adjusted my eyes a little. White backgrounds were necessary, black amplified the reflective nature of the screen as you'd expect it to.

One question I have is - what are the major differences - the tf700 vs the tf300?

The TF300 has a fairly standard android tab resolution of 1280 by something. It has a plastic casing, is a little bit thicker and heavier, it does not have super IPS+ (which means it can't dialed up nearly as bright), and it has a slower clocked version of t3 (though it's generally accepted that that's a wash -- it needs less clock to run fewer pixels). The infinity has a metal casing, is thinner, lighter, 1920x1200, a little faster tegra 3 and SIPS+, and DDR3 memory that's clocked very high as well. The tf300 also comes in more (and less snooty) colors, can't recall how many.