Asus Eee Pad Transformer review

An Android 3.0 Honeycomb tablet with a detachable keyboard - a perfect match for business users or a chunky compromise that doesn't suit anyone? David Ludlow flexes his fingers and finds out in our review.

IT Pro Verdict

In terms of Android tablets, this is the best that you can currently buy and the keyboard dock gives it the edge if you want a device that you can really work on. That said, the iPad 2 is still that bit slicker and smoother to use. It also has a much wider selection of apps and also has a dock option, making it the better tablet.The iPad 2 also has better battery life – the Transformer can only match it when connected with the keyboard dock which also doubles its weight and adds bulk too. Nevertheless, if your tablet computing needs aren't met by the iPad and its more tightly controlled operating system, the Asus Eee Pad Transformer is the tablet to buy.

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Google has completely overhauled the browser, adding proper desktop-style tabs, a home button (this is hidden under bookmarks for some reason) and bookmark synchronisation with Chrome. With Flash support, you can browse pretty much every website. However, while we were testing we had the browser crash a couple of times, so work still needs to be done on stability.

All owners of an Asus Eee Pad Transformer automatically get one year's worth of unlimited WebStorage.

Asus has also installed some of its own apps on the tablet. All owners of an Asus Eee Pad Transformer automatically get one year's worth of unlimited WebStorage after which it costs 29 per year. This lets you synchronise data across all of your computers and the free storage space isn't limited to just your PC. On the Transfomer you access your files using the MyCloud app's My Content section. It's simple to use and lets you download files from your cloud storage or upload ones from your tablet. It works well enough, but aside from the year's free storage there's little reason to choose this in the long-term over other online storage services such as Dropbox, which also works with Macs unlike WebStorage.

MyCloud also lets you remote control your PC, provided you've installed the server software on it. Unfortunately, this software only works over a LAN at the moment, although an update for internet use is due to be released in the future. At the moment, then, another VNC remote control app or LogMeIn would be a better choice.

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