Ok so I have already reviewed the Transformer Prime tablet and I hope you found that review helpful in your search for a tablet or laptop replacement. After searching for a long time I have finally found a keyboard dock to play with so I can finish my full review of the Transformer Prime.
Let's start just like we did with the review of the tablet itself - with the initial thoughts during unboxing. First of all, let me say that I picked up my dock from Best Buy tonight and when I picked it up they had actually pulled the TF-101 dock. I couldn't blame them as the boxes look very similar except for the size, so if you are picking yours up in a store make sure the back says TF-201 for the product number. With that said let's get started. The keyboard is a very nice compliment to the tablet itself. The only real difference seems to be the aluminum casing is brushed in straight lines instead of concentric circles like the tablet. Other than that it is a sharp piece of hardware and makes a great add on for a very reasonable $149.99. Probably the only downside on the design in my opinion is the quality of the keys. For some reason I just feel they could have done something to make the keys feel more polished.
Now let's talk about design. As I'm sure you know by now the keyboard comes with custom made shortcut keys specifically designed for the android tablet. A few examples include the home shortcut to go to the home page no matter what application you are in, the bluetooth toggle shortcut, auto-brightness, and a touchpad toggle shortcut. I have to say these definitely come in handy when you have the tablet docked. The touchpad is pretty well done for a device this size, but I did find myself nudging it when typing for extended periods. Because of this I did turn the touchpad off when typing this review. However, it was kind of nice to be able to right and left click different icons and links with the trackpad. Overall, I give the design an A. The one key that I wish had been included would be a key that would wake and unlock the screen. I found it a little annoying to reach up and press the wake button on the tablet instead of just hitting a key on the keyboard especially considering that I can lock the screen this way.
Let's move on to the functionality of the keyboard. The connection made between the tablet and the dock does seem to be extremely solid and I have to admit, if I didn't connect them myself I would probably think it is just a netbook. I even went so far as to hold the tablet and try to shake it loose from the keyboard dock, and it didn't budge. It didn't so much as make a squeak when I did this. There were some complaints with the initial Transformer that when docked it felt a little top heavy, as if it were going tilt over if you weren't careful. I will say that the new dock seems well balanced, but I would still stay to be careful. After all, you did just spend $650 for the tablet and keyboard dock. One of the drawbacks of the smaller keyboard is the keys do feel a little cramped at first, but you do get used to it rather quickly. I actually typed this entire review on the keyboard in my first night of using it and didn't seem to have any problems with typos or any other keyboard related issues. One thing I would like to see out of Asus and Android is separate settings for when the tablet is docked as opposed to being a standalone tablet. For instance, a couple things I would like to set separately would be my screen lock settings and whether enter would act as send.
Finally, let's talk about a few cool things that you may have missed when looking at the other reviews. One is the SD card, which I'm sure you knew about but I did want to reiterate how awesome this is for expandable flash memory. A large SD card can easily hold all your movies, music, and paperwork that you could possibly want. The other spot that comes in handy is the USB connection. If you haven't read this somewhere else, let me just say this connection could easily become your favorite if you are a gamer. Using the usb connection you can actually hook up your PS3 or Xbox controller to the keyboard dock and use it as a controller to play games that are compatible. I haven't tried this yet, but theoretically you could plug the controller into the dock and an HDMI into the tablet and play your favorite games straight from the tablet. Know any other tablets that can do that? I didn't think so.
Overall, I have to say that the keyboard dock really makes this device a top of the line device that can be as versatile as you can dream. When the tablet is by itself, it is a great machine for content consumption, but when it is docked it turns into a fantastic device to do a little serious work or even a little serious gaming.
Let's start just like we did with the review of the tablet itself - with the initial thoughts during unboxing. First of all, let me say that I picked up my dock from Best Buy tonight and when I picked it up they had actually pulled the TF-101 dock. I couldn't blame them as the boxes look very similar except for the size, so if you are picking yours up in a store make sure the back says TF-201 for the product number. With that said let's get started. The keyboard is a very nice compliment to the tablet itself. The only real difference seems to be the aluminum casing is brushed in straight lines instead of concentric circles like the tablet. Other than that it is a sharp piece of hardware and makes a great add on for a very reasonable $149.99. Probably the only downside on the design in my opinion is the quality of the keys. For some reason I just feel they could have done something to make the keys feel more polished.
Now let's talk about design. As I'm sure you know by now the keyboard comes with custom made shortcut keys specifically designed for the android tablet. A few examples include the home shortcut to go to the home page no matter what application you are in, the bluetooth toggle shortcut, auto-brightness, and a touchpad toggle shortcut. I have to say these definitely come in handy when you have the tablet docked. The touchpad is pretty well done for a device this size, but I did find myself nudging it when typing for extended periods. Because of this I did turn the touchpad off when typing this review. However, it was kind of nice to be able to right and left click different icons and links with the trackpad. Overall, I give the design an A. The one key that I wish had been included would be a key that would wake and unlock the screen. I found it a little annoying to reach up and press the wake button on the tablet instead of just hitting a key on the keyboard especially considering that I can lock the screen this way.
Let's move on to the functionality of the keyboard. The connection made between the tablet and the dock does seem to be extremely solid and I have to admit, if I didn't connect them myself I would probably think it is just a netbook. I even went so far as to hold the tablet and try to shake it loose from the keyboard dock, and it didn't budge. It didn't so much as make a squeak when I did this. There were some complaints with the initial Transformer that when docked it felt a little top heavy, as if it were going tilt over if you weren't careful. I will say that the new dock seems well balanced, but I would still stay to be careful. After all, you did just spend $650 for the tablet and keyboard dock. One of the drawbacks of the smaller keyboard is the keys do feel a little cramped at first, but you do get used to it rather quickly. I actually typed this entire review on the keyboard in my first night of using it and didn't seem to have any problems with typos or any other keyboard related issues. One thing I would like to see out of Asus and Android is separate settings for when the tablet is docked as opposed to being a standalone tablet. For instance, a couple things I would like to set separately would be my screen lock settings and whether enter would act as send.
Finally, let's talk about a few cool things that you may have missed when looking at the other reviews. One is the SD card, which I'm sure you knew about but I did want to reiterate how awesome this is for expandable flash memory. A large SD card can easily hold all your movies, music, and paperwork that you could possibly want. The other spot that comes in handy is the USB connection. If you haven't read this somewhere else, let me just say this connection could easily become your favorite if you are a gamer. Using the usb connection you can actually hook up your PS3 or Xbox controller to the keyboard dock and use it as a controller to play games that are compatible. I haven't tried this yet, but theoretically you could plug the controller into the dock and an HDMI into the tablet and play your favorite games straight from the tablet. Know any other tablets that can do that? I didn't think so.
Overall, I have to say that the keyboard dock really makes this device a top of the line device that can be as versatile as you can dream. When the tablet is by itself, it is a great machine for content consumption, but when it is docked it turns into a fantastic device to do a little serious work or even a little serious gaming.
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