Speaking seriously, what makes the Transformer better?

[jon_stewart]

Though compared with what will be available in a few months, the difference in performance isn't significant. As noted in another thread, the Iconia (to me anyway) doesn't actually feel any faster. Still a nice tablet though.

 

[farwest]

I wouldn't choose either of them. Why? They're cheaply made. The ips display on the TF shows the worst light bleed then any other display I know. And the acer is just plain Kmart. That's just my opinion. As you can see I don't filter myself.

Yes, and your opinion is worth what we paid for it - nothing. Talking about bleed with the beautiful IPS vs the dull and drab Xoom screen is laughable - I'd love to have had light bleed - would have brightened the Xoom up...

I looked at the Acer - nice tablet/form factor - vastly better than the Xoom (of which I once had 2). Liked the look and feel and the full size USB. But more expensive than the TF and less functional w/out the kb dock, so a clear second choice when you compare. Think the Acer is too little too late with the TF and now the new Gal Tab being released, so I'd make sure it goes back before the return period expires...

 

[Fumetsu]

I wouldn't choose either of them. Why? They're cheaply made. The ips display on the TF shows the worst light bleed then any other display I know. And the acer is just plain Kmart. That's just my opinion. As you can see I don't filter myself.

I have to respectfully disagree with this. The building quality of the Acer is very good, the utility of the onboard USB port is very useful, and the quirks/bugs I've noticed are mostly Honeycomb issues rather than Acer issues. The Iconia is the fastest selling Android tablet on the market, the only thing we're missing is more developer support than the Xoom or Transformer and i hope with its popularity that this will come around. All-in-all it is a solid offering at a good price. I get very good battery life on par with the Xoom.

It is certainly not "K-Mart" and I've used both the Iconia and the Xoom extensively (I own the Iconia and my brother owns a Xoom). It deserves more credit than its getting and i wouldn't hesitate to recommend it to anyone looking for an Android tablet.

 

[jon_stewart]

RE: 'Fastest selling android tablet': May well be true, but don't forget though, Fumetsu, we've had chronic shortages of TF's. Here in the UK Amazon have pushed back release to June since they had so many preorders. A small smattering hit the shelves, but very momentarily!

 

[StevenX]

RE: 'Fastest selling android tablet': May well be true, but don't forget though, Fumetsu, we've had chronic shortages of TF's. Here in the UK Amazon have pushed back release to June since they had so many preorders. A small smattering hit the shelves, but very momentarily!

Umm, the Transformer has been in stock at Currys online (which was a launch partner I believe) for the last couple of weeks solid, and is still available right now - I just added one to a basket to check.

 

[jon_stewart]

Not bundled with the dock, which seems to be the choice most people are making. For many people, this is the innovative design that differentiates from the rest.
J
Edit: ill have to stand corrected on that since they have some in since yesterday. However, I believe my point still is valid.

 

[ragebunny]

I disagree. With the price of the three tablet selling at the price, I would still pick the Xoom last. The screen is the worst of the three. While the thin bezel of the Xoom looks great on paper, terible for holding the tablet in real world. Also some features are still not available on the xoom, when it's available on the two out of the box.

Haha i think thats the part that made my mind up.

Umm, the Transformer has been in stock at Currys online (which was a launch partner I believe) for the last couple of weeks solid, and is still available right now - I just added one to a basket to check.

Yep, StevenX is right. I got mine from PC World/Currys, they don't seem to have any in store (Other than display) but they will order them in, or you can order online. I think its exclusive to to them for a while.

 

[wynand32]

I'm seeing the CPU and RAM of the Acer being pretty much identical to the Xoom and TF. Anybody have a link showing that the CPU and RAM are faster?

 

[asaulo1#AC]

Definitely having the option of the keyboard truly makes the TF stand out. For light browsing and such, using it in tablet mode works well but when it comes time to type up a few pages worth of content, having a keyboard is a must have.

 

[Fumetsu]

RE: 'Fastest selling android tablet': May well be true, but don't forget though, Fumetsu, we've had chronic shortages of TF's. Here in the UK Amazon have pushed back release to June since they had so many preorders. A small smattering hit the shelves, but very momentarily!

Oh I agree, the TF is a great device. It was actually my first choice but out of stock everywhere so I picked up the Acer instead. I was going to return it for the Asus but changed my mind and stuck with the Iconia. Don't regret it at all. They both have their pros and cons but are both solid devices. I mostly took offense at the "kmart" comment like it was some Chinese knockoff or something. It really is a great choice and doesn't get as much credit as it deserves.

Bear in mind Acer has an Android phone, a tab, and soon a Chromebook. I think we'll get good support from them and they seem to have double downed on Google.

I have contacts with Acer mgt and I'm going to work them to see if I can get them to help the development community out. Don't know if it will work, but it's worth a try.

In my opinion, I think the TF and Iconia are on equal footing. Transforming the Iconia to a netbook is just an accessory away. Acer has promised quick support/upgrades but that remains to be seen. I think that sales will encourage them, though. At the end of the day we, the community, all have a vested interest in seeing Honeycomb succeed and flourish.

Cheers!

 

[Fumetsu]

I'm seeing the CPU and RAM of the Acer being pretty much identical to the Xoom and TF. Anybody have a link showing that the CPU and RAM are faster?

No link off hand, but I know that the Acer uses Ddr3 ram as opposed to ddr2 in the TF and Xoom. Otherwise they have the same specs. More dev support on the TF and Xoom, though.

 

[milominderbinde]

Check out the Tablet Comparison to see them side-by-side.

Here is a summary of the differences:

• Price: The Iconia costs $50 more but no one seems to know why.

• Display: Asus has ISP LED.

• Size: Nearly identicle.

• Weight: Iconia is heavier

• Rear Camera: Both are 5MP

Really the biggest difference other than price and display is that the Transformer can be a netbook. I have a contact who is a Best Buy manager. He said that they are being told to slow down their Iconia orders once they have the Transformers in stock with the keyboard docks. When the Iconia hit it shut down Xoom sales. They expect the Asus to do the same thing to the Acer.

They are also being told to position the Asus tablet only for "content consumption" and the keyboard dock for "content creation". Your typing spedd cuts about in half on a tablet virtual keyboard.

 

[jon_stewart]

Your typing spedd cuts about in half on a tablet virtual keyboard.

As does accuracy?

 

[Primetimeplaya]

Check out the Tablet Comparison to see them side-by-side.

Here is a summary of the differences:

• Price: The Iconia costs $50 more but no one seems to know why.

• Display: Asus has ISP LED.

• Size: Nearly identicle.

• Weight: Iconia is heavier

• Rear Camera: Both are 5MP

Really the biggest difference other than price and display is that the Transformer can be a netbook. I have a contact who is a Best Buy manager. He said that they are being told to slow down their Iconia orders once they have the Transformers in stock with the keyboard docks. When the Iconia hit it shut down Xoom sales. They expect the Asus to do the same thing to the Acer.

They are also being told to position the Asus tablet only for "content consumption" and the keyboard dock for "content creation". Your typing spedd cuts about in half on a tablet virtual keyboard.

Problem is that it may be July by the time they have The Transformer and docks in stock. By that time, the retail sales lead of the Iconia will be so great that there won't be any catching up. Don't forget, other Tabs are coming so they are definitely going to eat into the Transformer's sales. Asus will make a lot of money but nowhere near what they would have made with a proper U.S. launch.