Considering purchasing the Infinity 700

[bphillips79]

Hi folks. I'm a full time grad student and I purchased a Gateway netbook in August for use in class because I wanted something small and light. I knew that it was going to be a little slow, but it's much slower than I anticipated and is almost useless. I'm kicking myself because buying it ended up being $250 mistake. I had almost purchased an iPad, but ruled that out (no usb port, really Apple?). So I'm back to the drawing board. My wife and I looked at the Microsoft Surface last night, but after reading reviews I think it'd be best to stay away from that for a while. We both have android phones and I came across the Infinity 700. Initial reviews that I read seemed to really like it. But I'd like to get some user perspectives. I've been reading some on this forum and it looks like the most recent update of Jellybean addressed a lot of issues, but I'd like to hear from y'all to see what you think. So my questions are:

Did the update really address issues/problems?
Does it work reliably?
Is there a version of Office that works well? I don't mind buying an app, but I need it to be able to format docs in APA format and be able to send it to profs and keep the formatting.
Is there an app that will work with Adobe Digital Editions? I can "check out" electronic versions of my textbooks for free through the university library, but it uses Adobe Digital Editions and I don't see that in the Google Play store.

I should also mention that if I get the 700, I will also be purchasing the CORRECT (learned from others frustrations) keyboard.

Any thoughts are appreciated!

 

[trt740]

Hopefully, I can help. First off, I own a iPad, but only because when I bought my tablet there really were not any good word processor for Android. However, now I have considered switching back because Androids are cheaper, and I believe they make a better phone. I own a Galaxy 2 phone. Having said this, my apps work between my iPad and my Android phone with zero problems. Now to answer your question, the Infinity is as good as an iPad 3 or 4 and about 100.00 cheaper. It has a expansion slot that is for a SD card and has a addon keyboard that adds additional battery life and another SD card slot for additional storage on the keyboard. Plus, the Infinity has a USB port. The screen has slightly lower resolution than the iPad but it is so slight you cannot see a difference. Program wise, the Androids now have several very good word processors. Here are links to a few https://forums.androidcentral.com/e.../details?id=com.cloudon.client&token=Is1wweOX https://forums.androidcentral.com/e...fice_eng&feature=search_result&token=zYOl0CMO https://forums.androidcentral.com/e...evernote&feature=search_result&token=g4NgxJHf. Cloudon has a full licensed cloud version of Microsoft Office. It is the only true licensed version on any tablet I know of, and Kingsoft Office is free and 100 percent compatable with word. Evernote is a very good cloud based note taking app. I do not own a Infinity pad but my neighbor and best friend has the Infinity tablet and keyboard on my recommendation. It is very nice and is built very well. Do not hesitate to buy one. However, their is nothing wrong with the iPad either other than its mentioned short comings. My main issue with the iPad is the lack of expandable memory. I did picked up a new 64 gb iPad for 549.00 at Best Buy, but the Infinity can be had for 449.00 at Micro Center or on Newegg ( with no tax). This price lets you get a case and maybe even the keyboard for the price of the iPad 3 64gb. FYI, if you buy a iPad, get Notability, Pages and Cloudon they are good word processors on iPad. Also, I am a college student and can tell you both platforms are very good but for the price the Asus Infinity is the better choice. I only bought the iPad because I already had a case that fit it ,and I own so many darn apps, but I have considered returning it.

 

[Kmcferrin]

So as an owner of a TF700 and user of many computers, here's my spiel on tablets: they're great for lightweight content consumption. They're considerably less great for content creation. If you have another PC that is your "primary" device then it's nice to have a super-ultra portable device to take "on the go". For example, I bought the TF700 and keyboard (actually the TF201, but I exchanged it for a TF700) so that when I traveled I wouldn't have to carry a full laptop. It's great for browsing the web, checking email, watching movies on a plane, Skyping with the family, etc. I have used the keyboard and Microsoft Office OneNote on occasion to take notes when in training classes. The Android version of OneNote is free, and it can work with SkyDrive (also free) to keep your notebooks in sync with your main PC. I usually use RDP clients (PocketCloud works OK) or apps like Splashtop to connect back to my main PC at home if I need something that isn't available on Android, like a full installation of MS Office, Visual Studio, or if I just want to tinker in my basement lab while I'm traveling. That works fine.

I am using the keyboard from my TF201 with the TF700 and haven't had any issues, but if you're buying from scratch I'd get the TF700 keyboard just to be safe. The only reason I use the TF201 keyboard is because I originally bought a TF201 from Best buy, then got the TF201 keyboard on sale at Amazon, then ended up taking advantage of the return policy at Best Buy to upgrade to a TF700 due to wifi issues. Obviously they wouldn't swap the keyboard, and I wasn't interested in paying another $150 when the old one worked.

All that being said, as usable as a TF700 + TF201 keyboard + USB travel mouse + Skydrive + LTE tethering + RDP to a real PC is, there are times when I wish I had an actual PC handy. For starters, jumping through all the hoops to get everything up and going takes a few minutes, when I'd sometimes rather just turn the darn thing on. Working for prolonged periods on a 10.1" screen (even at 1920x1200) has me longing for a 13 or 15-inch display. The keyboard (at least on the TF201, the TF700 may be better) is adequate, but I'm not going to write a report or any serious documentation, or do any coding on it. I guess you could say I'm in the market for "something else".

The Surface initially had a lot of appeal to me, but the initial reviews were so-so. I think that a lot of people were expecting more of a full Windows laptop experience. Then the Surface Pro is coming out in January, and it offers more of a full Windows laptop experience with its Ultrabook internals and full x86/x64 operating system, but people think that it's too expensive. In my mind though, if I'm looking at paying $1000 for a Surface Pro, why not just go all the way and get an ultrabook with a 13.3" screen and a real keyboard?

At this point I think I'm going to wait until after Xmas to see how many Best Buy gift cards I end up with (apparently I'm super-hard to buy for), and then going to probably get a Zenbook. I'll still keep the TF700 for use around the house. In your case though, it sounds like the biggest determining factor will be the software support for your Adobe textbooks thing.

 

[bphillips79]

Thanks for both of your input. I did end up purchasing the T700 (with the 700 keyboard). So far I've been very pleased. I have a kick butt PC desktop that I built so I really just needed something mobile for taking notes and reading my digital textbooks.

 

[idaute]

Just in case you also want to download flash player to your infinity, here is a previous post that I made:
Go to:
Archived Flash Player versions (put your cursor over the blue words and you will be able to see the actual url in case you are going to use another computer and need to type in the actual url).
Scroll down the page until you reach Android section, specifically "Flash Player for Android 4.0 archives"
choose Flash Player 11.1 for Android 4.0 (11.1.115.32). This is the latest version I know of, but if there is one with a number higher than 32 in the last two digits, select it to download. It will download on your Infinity.
You now have to sideload it to the Infinity. This is done by
1. Going to settings, security, and click to allow the installation of apps from unknown sources.
2. Open File Manager and search for the Adobe Flash Player .apk file you just downloaded. It was downloaded to my external flash when I did this. Click on Adobe Flash Player .apk when you find it. This will install the flash player on your Infinity.
3. Go back to settings, security, and click to disallow the installation of apps from unknown sources. You do not want your Infinity to continue to allow apps from unknown sources.
4. Your Infinity now has flash player installed and you will be able to use the browser to go to pages that require flash player.
Hope this helps.

 

[Bank Lady]

You seem so helpful!! I have the Asus Transformer TF700T only a few weeks. I am not a tech person. Where do I find the complete user manual that is to be on this devise. I want to learn it's features. Also does anyone know if I can get "Quicktime" on my TF700T? I take alot of pictures on my Canon SX30IS and the video will play but no sound. Canon suggest Quicktime. Help!

 

[idaute]

Here is one place to get the manual: http://dlcdnet.asus.com/pub/ASUS/EeePAD/TF700T/e7048_Ttransformer_TF700_emanual.pdf
The manual is useful, but there are a lot of questions that you will come back to the forum to get a better answers.

 

[Bank Lady]

Here is one place to get the manual: http://dlcdnet.asus.com/pub/ASUS/EeePAD/TF700T/e7048_Ttransformer_TF700_emanual.pdf
The manual is useful, but there are a lot of questions that you will come back to the forum to get a better answers.

I tried the site you suggested I got "no file Found"???

 

[idaute]

I just clicked on the blue url that was copied in your post. It took me to the manual. I had incorrectly copied the url twice and had to correct it twice. If you tried during the period that occurred between my first post and my second corrected post, the url did indeed say "no file Found." Go back and retry it again, I think it will work for you now.