[Eee Pad Transformer General] goodintentions:
I know this article is kinda old, but I gotta respond to some of the comments here. Let me answer some of the more ridiculous claims from the fanboys here.

(1) Why not just get a laptop if I want a keyboard? The answer is simple. My laptop doesn't last 16 hours in battery life. It feels like an anchor. And I want to be able to use just the tablet part at times.

In the past, I have tried adding extra large batteries with extra cells to add battery life to my laptop. Unfortunately, the most I could get out of them was about 6 hours, and that's a liberal estimate. The fact of the matter is the transformer can act both as a laptop and a tablet. It's a laptop-tablet hybrid.

What's more, I've recently openned up my transformer and was able to solder in a 500 GB hard drive. So now I can carry extra movies and other media files with me all the time. My entire movie collection is finding its way into my new transformer 500 GB hard drive.

It's been 4 months since I turned on and used my laptop. It's been sitting on my table collecting dust. I have not lost my productivity by just using my transformer with polaris office and repligo pdf. In fact, I am more productive with a tablet-laptop hybrid. I am an engineer and I often have to use astm and aci references. Before, I always carried these books that have thousands of pages each. Nowadays, I use the tablet to read the pdf files. Certainly saves me a lot of backache.

(2) But what if I need to use something like autocad? It's amazing how many apple fanboys ask me this question in a desperate attempt to downplay the effectiveness of the asus transformer. My answer is simple. That's what my desktop with the 24" led monitor is for. This is not to mention I can also use my transformer to read large autocad files at the job site. I've also made several presentations and written several reports using nothing but the transformer. Try doing that with the ipad or ipad 2.

My better half is a therapist. She takes notes during her sessions with the transformer. Even though she is a tech illiterate, she has incorporated the transformer into her professional career. So, clearly, the ipad/ipad 2 don't have a monopoly on productivity.

(3) But don't I just have an immitation? 2 weeks ago, I was sitting on the train using my transformer when a gentleman sat down next to me and asked me which ipad I had. I said it wasn't an ipad. And he said, and I quote, "oh, you have an immitation." Does the ipad have an hdmi port? Does the ipad or ipad 2 have a microsd port? Does the ipad or ipad 2 have a full size sdcard port? Does the ipad or ipad 2 have 2 usb ports? How about a 500 GB hard drive? How about 1 GB of RAM? How can an immitation have all these extra things that the "real" thing didn't have?

I have found that not only do apple fanboys think apple has the best products out there, but also that they are rude to others about it. Now, before you say something, let me tell you that I am not an apple hater. Remember that I soldered a 500 GB drive into my tablet. This required some de-soldering of the components, rearranging them, and re-soldering them back together with an additional part like the 500 GB drive. I have also recently added an on/off switch about 1/8th of an inch in size that allows me to turn on and off the hard drive to save battery life. I also develop programs on the side as a hobby. In other words, I'm just as geeky as some of the geeks out there (I'm a structural engineer, though). I recommend apple products to almost everyone I talk to. People around me know how much of a gadget freak I am, so they often come to me for advice. I always recommend them apple products.

In other words, I am not an apple hater. I think they make some very great products.

But in the end, the ipad/ipad 2 are just toys to me. Productivity for me went down with the apple ipad. It went up again with the transformer.

(4) But what about battery life? Doesn't the transformer have a 6 or so hour battery life? Again, it's amazing how many apple fanboys have said to me this. I think they always just forget the 1 in front of the 6. I've done extensive testings with the transformer. Looping a 720p video really does yield about 14 hours of battery life.

Yesterday, I left my house at 6 in the morning. I did not get back home until 10pm. Throughout the day, I had meetings which I used the transformer to take notes with, and frequently used my transformer to read documents. I used the transformer on and off throughout the day. By 10pm when I got back home, my battery was still at 30-some %.

So, I really don't know where apple fanboys got this 6 hour figure from.

In conclusion, I understand that the ipad and ipad 2 dominates the tablet market right now. Justin Bieber concerts regularly sold millions of tickets. Lady GaGA has got millions and millions of fans (I speak as someone who fully support gay marriage rights). It doesn't mean it's written in stone that these are good artists. I personally can't stand their music.

But we have to come back to why the ipad and ipad 2 are dominating the tablet market. I suspect very much that most people don't know how to incorporate the tablet into their professional life. They still think it's a toy. I began to think this when I saw one of my colleagues typing away on his laptop even though his ipad 2 was sitting right there beside him. I was also typing but I was typing on my transformer. People got the ipad or ipad 2 as a show-off device. But when they have to do real work, they revert back to the laptop platform. I, on the other hand, have not touched my laptop for 4 months.

Take this how you will. To me, the tablet is more than just a toy. I see it as much more than that. And the transformer, IMHO, is the most productive tablet to-date.