I’ve been keeping my eye on the soon to be released EEE Transformer from Asus. It looks like it could be the best of both worlds for me- a simple tablet for when I’m just hanging around or a netbook-ish computer I could do a little work on.
Unfortunately, my main hangup is one of its big selling points- Android. It’ll be outfitted with the Android Honeycomb release, so I don’t know how well it will fit into my style of computing. Pricewise, the tablet itself looks to be at a good target of $400, but the added cost of the docking station ($150 according to the link) pushes the price out there a bit.
I also wonder about these docking stations- how likely is it to be forward compatible with future versions of the tablet? I’d think that a Bluetooth version would be a better long term buy, but then perhaps the device is meant to be “disposable,” with only a 2 or 3 year expected service life. If that’s the case, then I think the price point may need to come down farther.
I doubt I’ll be an early adopter, but I’ll be interested to see if the device gets hacked by Debian or Ubuntu somewhere along the way. Having a package based OS on a tablet could be damn near irresistible.
4 replies on “Intrigued by Transformer”
Too gimmicky, there is no way this platform is future-friendly, if you go this route, it will be obsolete within a few months. That is why it is priced the way it is, anything in this price range is, sadly, considered disposable. The manufacturer/developer figure you will be upset that it is obsolete, but not upset enough to not pony up another $400 for the next best product in 6 months to a year. The good old Apple mentality…
Yes- that’s my major hangup and that’s what I was talking about when I made the comment about someone hacking it and putting a normal Linux distro on it. Hardware wise, it’s going to be pretty zippy I suspect. Software wise, it’s gimmicky and disposable- which for the average user means it’s a disposable product.
But if it gets hacked, then it’s potentially a useful product for awhile. That said, my current EEE is completely usable, if unacceptably slow. That’s why I’m looking around for an upgrade. I’m still leaning towards the EEE 1015PN, but I’m trying to give it time. I don’t have to have it today.
I figured as much, but no matter how long you wait, if you give it another month, there will be another option. So, basically, you have to figure out what is good enough, and then pull the trigger. If it is on the market, it has already been hacked, that is just the way those guys work. So, if you find one that seems to be powerful enough and have a relatively universal compatibility interface, like USB or Bluetooth, then roll with it. Again, time is only going to create more options, and that is a blessing AND a curse of technology.
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