Image courtesy of Expansys
As the tablet market hots up in 2011, here’s a head-to-head between two of the biggest hitters on the market; the Apple iPad 2 and the Asus Eee Pad Transformer.
Design
Apple’s iPad 2 is sleek, stylish and super-slim and light at just 8.8mm thick and 601g, so at 680g (or 1.3kg with the keyboard dock) and measuring 12.9mm thick, the Asus Eee Pad Transformer, is considerably heavier and thicker in comparison.
Software
The iPad 2 runs on iOS 4.3, which equates to faster Safari browsing and iTunes Home Sharing, allowing users to stream and transfer music, videos and documents between up to five devices on the local network. It also comes with the Personal Hotspot feature, which enables users to use their iPhone as a MiFi device and a wireless router, creating their very own WiFi hotspot. The App store is also home to over 300,000 downloadable applications to use with the iPad2.
The Eee Pad, however, runs on Google’s Android 3.0 Honeycomb (which has been specifically optimised for tablet-sized devices) and features a brand new holographic user interface design. The Android platform is best-loved for its ability to multitask, widgets, customisable home screen, clever notification system and accessibility in terms of app development. Honeycomb’s browser capabilities have also been enhanced, while the platform’s photographic capabilities are tailored to the screen size, allowing quicker access to camera options.
Battery Life
Like its predecessor, the iPad 2 comes with a respectable 10-hour battery life. We would have liked to see an improvement, of course, but it’s still a very functional device with just 10-hours’ worth of juice. With the Eee Pad coming complete with a detachable QWERTY keyboard, Asus have managed to extend the battery life by a huge eight hours, giving users an incredible 16-hours’ continuous use from one charge.
Display
The iPad 2 has, as ever, a beautiful display and interface, with this particular model sporting a 9.7-inch backlit IPS LCD 1024 x 768 pixel screen. In comparison though, the Eee Pad boasts a 10.1-inch IPS capacitive 1280 x 800 screen. This tablet also features an oil-resistant coating to make the touchscreen experience smoother, as well as reducing the grubby fingerprint smears that affect most smartphone and tablet screens.
Camera
Now with two cameras; one a 0.3MP front-facing, and the other a 720p HD-capable rear-facing, the iPad 2 enables users to use iMovie and conduct video calls with FaceTime without having to turn the tablet around to show their FaceTime buddy what’s going on around them.
Asus’ Eee Pad comes with a 1.3MP front-facing camera and 5MP rear-facing camera, the capabilities and quality of which, on paper, beats Apple’s newest tablet hands down. However, tap the ‘capture’ button and you’ll experience a two second delay before the actual capture, while unnatural colours are produced by poor saturation, and the video recording software is jerky and seems to lose frames.
Processor
The iPad 2 is equipped with a 1GHz dual-core Apple A5 chip, together with 1GB / 512 MB of RAM. Storage-wise, it’s available with 16GB, 32GB or 64GB. Eee Pad is powered by 1GHz dual-core NVIDIA Tegra 2 processor with 1GB / 512MB of RAM, available in 8GB, 16GB or 32GB – although it does come fitted with a microSD slot for those who wish to expand its storage capabilities.
Conclusion
I’m really impressed with Asus’ offer. It comes with better cameras, storage expansion capabilities, bigger display with more pixels per inch, dedicated Android 3.0 Honeycomb software and a much longer battery life. It is, however, heavier, thicker, lacks the style, panache and finesse of an Apple creation, and reportedly has pretty ropey picture and video-taking software. Android still has a little work to do on making the switch between applications completely lag-free but, as far as being a contender for the top tablet spot is concerned, it’s not a long way off – it just depends what you want to use your tablet for.
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36 Responses to “Asus Eee Pad Transformer vs. Apple’s iPad 2”
I’m thinking of an iPad2 in order to use the speech/language apps for work with speech delayed kids. But are there comparable apps/programs on the Asus?
my son is going to nursing school and will be getting his RN in May. I dont know which to get him as a gift, ipad2 or transformer. He’s wanting something he can download textbooks to and use in his field.
I have the Asus Transformer with dock and am very happy with it. Don’t know about all the tech stuff; the Asus does all that I need it to do. Prefer it over a laptop as I have my PC to do what I can’t do on the Transformer. I have watched many movies and have had no problems.
No comment about Ipad because I haven’t owned one.
This is actually a pretty biased review. For a start, looks are purely down to personal tastes and I actually think the iPad is pretty bland looking (as is the Galaxy tab. Asus went for a completely different look with the bronze and I prefer it a lot more. The part you write “considerably heavier and thicker in comparison”, come on seriously? I will agree it’s a bit thicker (a whole 4mm) but considerably heavier is taking the p**s. You barely notice the difference in weight.
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.
Wow, Peter Rohn.
That was well said. Can you please get in touch. Want to know a little more before i take the plunge.
Thanks.
Looking forward.
I think this review was very good. Points out exactly how the specs don’t mean anything. 5.0px camera but the camera is really slow.
I was an Android fan but after using it for a while I was totally turned off. The camera sucks, YouTube constantly crashed, Scrolling was laggy always felt like I was using a much lower end computer with a bad video card. There are some pretty cool apps for Android like being able to actually use a network share.
Text to Speech or speech to Text and voice navigation sucks, it never works well. I can tell you that my Android was flaky for voice commands.
I can’t count how many times Android would crash or my alarm would not go off because it just got ignored. By the end what did me in, was that WIFI would not work anymore and the thing became useless.
As for the iPad it is crazy that these Fanboys don’t point out that the iPad did not have copy and paste until iOS version 3. The lack of Flash support at times annoying for watching videos online. But, every site pretty well has their own app now. I can watch Coronation Street on my iPad they have an app for that
Then there is stuff like Bold iPad text there is no formatting what so ever anywhere.
The lack of ports on the iPad which is untrue use the adapter. But, do I really need a port available all the time ? Then is it really all that portable ?
If you have a need to use the docking station you should probably have a laptop more practical.
I’m an Iphone 4 owner(past P900, i8000, wildfire; except Blackberry). I’v tried Ipad2 for 2 weeks now, tried Asus Transformer 2days ago.
Maybe its just my own like, i find that smoothness of iOS is impressive, scrolling form page to page on homescreen, the bounce back effect etc. Its very natural, predictable, responsive and comfortable to navigate with the finger.In turn, it is easy on the eyes as well, it will not cause me motion sickness(cos I am that type of person that cannot play 1ST person 3D game, I’ll get ill). I tried both machine side to side using google search and I already notice 1 sinificant difference, when the search results turn out and as I was scrolling down the lines of sentences on the Transformer, the sentances was jerky and barely readable, you have to guess how far you have scrolled and stop to check. While on the Ipad2, it is as if you are just pushing a peice of paper with words on it up or down, no sweat at all even if you are just tracking that 1 particular word on that paper.
If the Transformer UI has the smoothness of iOS( I know there is apps that you can tweak these UI animations but you’ll have many sleepless night trying to perfect it, trust me, been through that), it will be perfect considering the spec and price it is offering. Wireless N is faster on the TRansformer. Some youtube cannot open in TRansformer which IPad can, don’t know why, youtube just shut down.
I really feel like getting the Transformer, because of the USB and SD Slot. But afraid I’ll regret, afraid its still premature. Ipad 2 is only better than my Iphone with bigger screen( resolution better on Iphone with retina), speedier, longer battery, good as a color book for my kid. But it is heavey( get a case that help with holding and not afraid of drops) and you have to decide whether you want to bring it along today.
HURRY UP Ipad 3 with SD slot n USB, HURRY UP Transformer 2.
Biased.
All Apple fanboys can whine all you want, Android tablets offer more than an ipad, we have text to speech navigation, expanded storage, widgets, customization, HDMI out the box, USB port (so i can watch a video a friend is trying to show me, or those new pics on the fly), better camera, better screen resolution, NO iTunes (everyone hates iTunes, even Mac fanboys) dependancy, more powerful hardware backed by industry’s leading brands (ASUS + NVIDIA), dual core processor, a more affordable price, adobe flash, thousands of apps optimized for honeycomb tablets available at the android market (both free and paid ones) and, in the case of the asus tablet: a detachable Keyboard with touchpad dock, which transforms it into a powerful dualcore android netbook with extended 8 hours of battery and polaris office, so i can actually look and EDIT MS Office documents comfortably, SRS and 5.1 surround sound, 1080p video playback, scratch resistant glass screen, and i could go on and on.
Can you beat that with your iPad?
Wow.. that sounds like a pot-and-kettle remark right there “beat that, biased, fanboy”.. really? do you think you sell your case for a solid machine there by throwing a tantrum like a 5 year old?
I have looked at the specs of these, and honestly have been waiting for some good iPad competitors since this whole “tablets are a new idea, again” phase came along.
text to speech navigation? app.
expanded storage? adapter (you carry around an addition battery and keyboard)
widgets? App, or iOS 5.
customization? Apps, and iOS updates.
HDMI out? Adapter.
USB out? that adapter thing I’ve mentioned now? SAME DAMN ONE.
I can keep going on here. And I’m not even a huge fan of either. But I can at least READ THE TECHNICAL REVIEWS, and post with an unbiased take on a piece of technology that is obviously about as much a End User Experience and UI goal oriented project, than who crams the most expensive parts into a shell. You’re yelling things like prince and add ons and apps, and all I hear is “I have this too apple fanboys”..
We get it. You don’t like apple. Don’t buy their product. But if you think soapboxing so you can rant about comparative features that aren’t exactly revolutionary (that weren’t even so on the iPad), you’re not doing anyone any favors.
Can you beat that with your iPad? who knows. But I’m still left wondering exactly what the Eee Pad is bringing to the table that is exactly unique. what is DOES do is offer competition – something to someone who is looking for something very much LIKE the iPad, at a similar price, but not making them have to invest in the apple hardware or related programs if they don’t already use it. I heard that same rants when the BlackBerry tablet (which I was very hopeful for) came out, from the same sorts of people.
The problem is the OP is describing stuff for EEEPad that’s out of the box, and you’re saying the iPad can do that too, IF you buy a bunch of additional crap. It’s like a reverse of the “Hi I’m a Mac, Hi I’m a PC” ads of old(where Apple claimed to be better out of the box).
So tell me, how much do these apps and adapters cost?
Adapters do NOT make a worthy machine. They come at an additional cost and are bulky. (Incidentally the keyboard “adapter” for the Transformer, while expensive, is conveniently designed for the machine and is not bulky.) There’s a difference.
Here’s my take on the Asus tablet. If you want all these features, get yourself a laptop. The whole idea about a tablet is taking and using it as opposed to your laptop. And, it’s all about the apps. Not whether you can have extra storage or use flash. If flash was so important, the iPad wouldn’t sell the way it’s selling. Don’t get me wrong, an ad card and flash would be nice, but I just use my laptop for that. I just want to kick back and do some quick surfing and use the apps available for me to use. If the tablet world is going to start adding all these extra features, they’ll all be glorified touchscreen laptops. Back to square one. Full circle?
I actually have put my laptop aside for the transformer. I only use my laptop for heavy duty work. And I have my own IT support business. I can do Remote Desktop, Login to web apps, Email, Word Processing. I’ve worked with the iPad and I tell everyone to try one thing: send a pic, pdf and other documents all in one email with their email client. See if you can do that with your iPad.
If you use the following for business, then the Blackberry Playbook would rule in turns of business productivity. PIC, PDF, DOCS to client can be done with a playbook. The APPSTORE is still the king of apps and tablet users like me are only concerned for APPS. The volumes speak for itself, I believe Apple is outselling Android Tablets 23:1 and counting? Can’t go wrong with that right?
Well, Justin Bieber can sell out an arena in 10 minutes… It doesn’t mean I am going.
I think you get a lot more bang for the buck with the Transformer (or even the Acer Iconia, which is the same price). I will say that the Android OS is a bit slower that its iOS rival. However, you can customize the hell out of the Android, where in the iOS, you get to choose from the 24 (or 25?) iCons on the home screen.
And I try not to be biased, as I do own a Droid2 and an iPod Touch.
guys guys guys….!!! don’t fight the only answer for that is all tablets are not the same u will buy 1 it depends on your needs don’t you see it i noticed that every tablet is not perfect, apple ipad lack of features because its lightier and thinner, same as the galaxy 10.1 lightier and 3% thinner than ipad 2 but has no hdmi and sd card slot for xpansions same as the ipad 2 and eepad transformer fat heavier but has the features that some person is looking for it is it? and its only 399$ unlike the remaing 2 tablets galaxy and ipad 2 for 499$ 100$ difference is it?
but if you want a more portable tab u choose—samsung galaxy tab 10.1inch
but if you want a faster and lagless tab u choose—ipad 2 9.7inch
but if you want a cheap has the most features that some are looking for u choose—asus eepad transformer 10.1inch
visit me at http://www.youtube.com/user/psfanboy1609?feature=mhee
aaron pinoy,
I like you sincere comment. It depends what the user want. However, I heard that Samsung is launching Galaxy Tab 8.9 and the features might be better than 10.1
DON’T ASK ME TO LIKE YOU ON FACEBOOK!
I did not find this revie helpfull at all. It was biased and not enough facts are given . I love apples ipad but asus has realy put up a fight. It has a wonderfull display and it has 1gb of ram not 512 get your facts right!!! If you want a real comparasion go to techno buffalo
“lacks the style, panache and finesse of an Apple creation”
Derrrrr the iPad2 looks like those cheap digital photo frames you give to someone you don’t like. Really, some peoples ideas of taste are so generic.
Which one to go for ipad2 or asus transformer or samsung galaxy tab 10.1….
Coming from an apple fanboy, this article is UBER BIAS. I like Apple a lot, but I think that this is the android tablet for me. It’s amazing what this tablet can do, and the author doesn’t give a crap about the great features included with the transformer.
Poorly written article.
This is just simple comparison on iPad and ASUS Eee Pad… Apple iPad is sleek design tablet pc but lacks important features such as Flash support, no USB ports…
Agreed.
Yeah i agree, made the transformer sound way less awesome than it really is.
“lacks the style, panache and finesse of an Apple creation”……..
That says it all appleboy
Whats the point of the comparison?
Well, obviously, IPAD’s design is just better. I wouldn’t buy it, I don’t really like apple products, these just smell somewhat “blondy” and I prefer android far better, but just face it – Apple is good at making stylish things
You left out alot of features the Asus tablet has that the ipad doesn’t. The article came off very bias and can’t be taken seriously because of it. The truth is the Asus tablet is much more flexible without the need for a special app for every function. The ipad also lacks standard features like speech to text and navigation software that’s standard in Android. The Asus tablet is so good it’s selling out in minutes whenever it becomes available. The transformer should definately be considered.if you’re in the market for a new tablet.
One word: FLASH!
“yes, but what if i want to watch such and such a tv show(here in uk their site is only available in flash – and the such and such i am talking about is the soap opera ‘coronation street’ – the UK’s most watched tv program), on their catch-up site, with my device propped up on the end of the bath? with an iPad, I couldnt?”
“I’m never gonna want to watch that rubbish, jeez. . .!!”
” but thats not the point; what IF YOU WANT TO?” Steve jobs is not going to let you, is he??? hmm?”
“Well, hmm, your right, but they may do an app soon”
“but they havent RIGHT NOW, have they???”
“no . . . ”
Point made. Asus eee transformer is absolutley brilliant. best purchase I have made since my first computer in 1994. Job done.
Exactly why I bought the transformer. Sick and tired of 70% of websites not being able to display properly.
The iPad 2 has better battery life, as it will go for about 10 hours on a single charge, while the Transformer terminates after about 6 hours of continuous activity.
“The iPad 2 has better battery life, as it will go for about 10 hours on a single charge, while the Transformer terminates after about 6 hours of continuous activity.”
That’s not the case at all. Without the dock, the Transformer goes for 9 hours looping 720p video. With the dock, 16. Apple only claims 8 hours battery life on the iPad 2. Knowing them, they probably skewed on the conservative side, so 9 is believable, 10 is a stretch if you’re actually using it.
I have gotten to 9 hours with full use of wireless use and video watching. Where did you get that time from. Im getting the dock soon. Which has already been well reviewed. 16 hours of battery life.
Also, Eee Pad comes with 1GB of RAM, not 512 MB. Your review is plain biased to show iPad2 in better light. This is pathetic, come on!!
How come you don’t talk about the fact that Eee Pad outputs HDMI, mini USB etc, whereas with iPad2 you will have to fork out $29 each to have any capability of doing the things that Eee Pad does out of the box.
Jeez, try to be fair and balanced, if you are reviewing a product, unless you are reviewing to show how your iPad2 is better than God!
“The iPad2 boasts a beautiful display and interface…. Eee Pad has a capacitive touch screen”
Come on, don’t show your bias. Eee Pad display is equally if not better than iPad2 when watching movies…
Gosh!