[Asus  Eee Pad Transformer Prime] jaypm:
i'm really, really enjoying this tf201+dock. the battery life is sick. the cpu is a beast that hauls on exynos 4210, and that was the hottest ARM SoC ever. it's running the best android software available for a tablet right now, which is seriously underrated. it's the best dedicated gmail and gtalk clients available, it's got one of the fastest and most compliant mobile browsers for any tablet. it's easily rootable. and holy crap did i mention it has a real keyboard.

so yeah, this will get pried out of my dead hands, or tossed whenever the real transformer comes out.. whichever comes first. i can't wait to ditch this if the real deal ever actually hits, because this one is just the cheap gobot knockoff of what a dockable android tablet should be.

how is it a knockoff? go look at the exacto thread, or the vulcan pinch poll, or any of the numerous "none of this crap works, is that normal?" threads we enjoyed for the first 6 weeks of the tf201s release. these units are stitched together like the $40 "louis vuitton" bags sold on lexington avenue with upside-down "L"s.

i'm "lucky" because my unit doesn't have the big problems, but even a "perfect" tf201 is a near-constant reminder of what this product would be if it was made by the right company. i noticed one of the reviews posted here made the point that "the ipad2 wins in having better power and volume buttons". who the hell cares about power buttons? what matters is tegra3, right? well, it turns out that the power and volume buttons on the tf201 suck. they're hard to feel for, hard to press. and then you realize there is no "wake up" key on the keyboard. (please, someone make my day and tell me a secret key combo to wake up the tablet screen.) but there isn't, so you find yourself looking for that little power nub over, and over again, until asus punishes you into knowing intimately how bad of a power button you have and f*ck you for buying it.

and i think it all really just boils down to this being asus, a company with an already long history of ripping off other taiwanese manufacturers (hello, gigabyte) and trying to differentiate by dressing it up with lipstick and trademarked BIOS features. i bet asus engineers were saddened when they learned there was no centerpiece HEATSINK to decorate on the tf201. asus does not slave over the perfection of products and release them with an id-style, "when it's done" pomp. asus hammers out products like M&Ms, spraying the public with buckshot and knowing that some will hit. there is literally zero history of any fundamental innovation coming from this company until the tf101. the first detachable/dockable android tablet with battery in dock. how did that happen? because lenovo is making theirs after, not before asus. was it an accident? mistake?

now imagine a world where transformers the toys, the tv show, the awesome 80s movie with that weird-al yankovic song, all of it never existed. and then along came GOBOTS. well, they'd be pretty cool. and you'd play with them. until the real transformers came out, and optimus prime's head transformed into another robot that punched leader-1 in the face.

typed on my gobot prime