The Asus Transformer Pad 300 is the littlest sibling in Asus’ Transformer tablet series, along with big brothers the Transformer Prime and Transformer Infinity.  I had long been looking for some sort of portable computing device — my previous netbook had gotten sluggish and unreliable, but I didn’t want to cough up the cash to get a more expensive ultrabook/laptop as I have a PC that more than satisfies my processing needs.  When Asus released the Transformer Prime, I thought “this might be the thing I need” but the $700 plus price tag was just a little too steep for me.  Then the Transformer Pad was announced and when I saw a special offer to pick one up for $476 I knew I had to get one.

Hardware, Design and Features

The Transformer Pad is essentially a Transformer Prime with a lesser quality build and only minor spec differences.  Like the Prime, the Pad houses a Tegra 3 quad core-processor with an additional core in reserve to provide maximum processing power as well as efficiency.  The Pad is only available in a 32GB model and has 1GB of RAM.  For those who require more storage options, the Pad includes numerous expandable memory options including a micro SD, standard SD and USB slot.  If that’s not enough, Asus also provide Transformer owners with 8GB of cloud storage.  This should keep even the most media hoarding users satisfied and is great value for money when you consider the same price will get you an iPad with 16GB only.  I like to store a lot of videos and music on my tablet, so the extra storage options are definitely one of the major plus points of the Transformer Pad for me.

It’s in the build quality of the Transformer Pad where Asus have cut costs.  While the Transformer Prime is well known for it’s sleek metal body, the Pad comes with plastic back panel, still with the lovely concentric circle pattern though, and is available in blue, red or white.  While it may not be as classy as the Prime, it still feels like a solid, well made tablet.  The Pad looks and great and the plastic backing panel doesn’t bother me at, especially when I consider the price of the tablet and the features it comes with.  A Prime owner actually liked the plastic back as it meant he didn’t have to hold a cold metal tablet!  The power and volume buttons as well as input ports are all well placed, though the tablet is obviously designed to be used in landscape mode.  It becomes a little awkward using the tablet in portrait mode as it means your headphone jack becomes either on the top or bottom with the volume keys on the opposite end.

As with all Transformers, the Pad is available with an optional keyboard dock, which allows the tablet to be used like a laptop (hence the name ‘transformer’).  Like smaller keyboards that you find on netbooks or small laptops, the keys on the Pad dock are tightly packed together, but they feel good underneath my fingers and after a little getting used to it’s pretty comfortable to type on with no noticeable input lag.  In fact, I’m typing this review on my dock right now!  The keyboard also contains a row of handy quick function keys, such as toggle Wifi or bluetooth on/off, settings, music navigation and volume buttons.  The trackpad works a treat and is very responsive, with a right-click button that can be programed to perform different functions.  It accepts multi-touch input and two-fingered scrolling works well which allows for easy navigation amongst the home screens and when browsing the internet or working within apps.  The only downside with using the keyboard dock with the tablet is it becomes a little bit top heavy.  Resting on a flat surface, is fine but if you’re trying to balance the docked tablet on your lap, you might notice it wanting to tip backwards because of the weight of the tablet.

The Transformer Pad comes as a Wifi only model with b/g/n compatibility and Bluetooth 3.0.  No 3G or 4G capability might be a deciding factor for some people when deciding on the right tablet to purchase.  I’ve found that I’m mostly in a Wifi hotspot when I’m using my tablet and when I’m not, tethering the 3G connection from my phone to tablet via personal hotspot or USB has worked really well.
Display and Camera

The Transformer Pad comes with a 10.1″ 1280 x 800 resolution IPS screen which is a downgrade from the Prime’s IPS+ screen.  All that means though, is that the Pad has less screen brightness, which only really becomes an issue when using the tablet outdoors in sunlight.  I personally haven’t taken my tablet out to use in the sun, so I can’t honestly say what the impact of not having an IPS+ panel is.  Whether you’re using a tablet, phone or computer in the sun, the visibility is always going to be a bit crap so I wouldn’t consider this downgrade to be a deal breaker.  The screen resolution of the Transformer Pad obviously can’t be compared to the iPad’s retina display, which is pinpoint sharp.  However, colours appear reasonably accurate and the screen provides some great viewing angles.  If for some reason, you enjoying watching movies 90 degrees to your screen, you can!

A front facing 1.2MP camera provides any Skype-ing or Google hangout needs and an 8MP rear camera lets you take photos as well as record video in 1080p.  However, there’s no flash attached to the back of the tablet so any low lighting shots will remain reasonably dark.  The stock camera app is very simple, clean and easy to use.  It even allows you to take panoramic photos which is a nice feature.  Personally, I haven’t played around with the camera features too much or fully tested its performance.  While it’s nice to have the ability to take photos with a tablet, let’s face it; we all have a little giggle at the goof who is going around snapping shots with their 10″ tablet.

Software

The Transformer Pad comes loaded with Android’s delicious Ice Cream Sandwich 4.0.  First off, being a Samsung Galaxy user, let me say just how refreshing it is to see that Asus have barely touched the stock Android skin.  Besides a modified notification panel, which offers some quick setting toggle buttons, Asus have barely touched the ICS design, leaving the interface looking beautifully slick and clean.  ICS works wonderfully on the Transformer Pad and navigating between home screens and different apps is smooth and fast with no lag and minimal response times.  However, on occasion I have noticed that the system will sometimes pause when quickly switching between multiple apps and I have had to wait for it to catch up.  I think this is more of an Asus problem than an Android problem, and it happens so rarely that it hasn’t troubled me too much, but it is there.

If you’re a big fan of Google services like Gmail, Reader, Drive, Google Talk, Google Plus and YouTube, you’ll be pleased to know that all the apps for these services have been optimised for tablets and look absolutely wonderful when in use.  In keeping in line with the ICS standard, the designs of these apps are clean and navigating through them is just really easy and user friendly.  I find myself wanting to use them more than I already do just because they look so good.  Unfortunately, the number of tablet-optimised apps available on Android isn’t as large as I would like, but hopefully with the ever growing Android tablet market (Nexus 7 anyone?) this will change soon.  Of the other apps though, you will find that most have also now been optimised with ICS styled menus which add to the consistency in appearance and layout that Google wanted when they released Android 4.0.  It might not seem like much to some, but it’s very pleasing to the eye and makes for a very enjoyable user experience.

Asus have included some of their own apps on the Transformer Pad.  Whilst I don’t actually use most of them, I was impressed with the File Manager that came with it.  The layout is simple and connecting and disconnecting external drives is really straight forward.  Bring along your portable hard drive and you can have hours of entertainment!  Supernote is also an Asus app to take try out, which is pretty handy as it allows you to record quick written notes with the keyboard or drawn notes with your finger on the touch screen.  There are also some nice Asus weather, date and mail widgets that can be used to spruce up your home screens.

Lastly, Asus have announced that Android 4.1, Jellybean, will be made available for the Transformer Pad, Prime and Infinity in the upcoming months.  I’m pretty excited about this and can’t wait to see the difference that Project Butter makes with it’s silky smooth performance and response times.  One of the benefits of getting a tablet made by the makers of the Nexus 7!

Battery

The Transformer Pad comes equipped with a 22Wh battery in the tablet and a 16.5Wh battery in the dock.  According to Asus, that equates to 10 hours of use with just the tablet alone and an additional 5 hours of battery from the dock.  A whopping 15 hours of use on one charge is definitely very impressive and will satisfy any user’s needs, such as keeping yourself entertained on any long plane flights.  While I haven’t stress tested the battery myself, I’ve had the tablet for just over 2 weeks now and I’ve only charged the battery 2-3 times since the initial full charge and this is with some gaming use, reading ebooks and browsing the internet and RSS feeds.  This is one tablet where I never need to worry about ever being too far away from a charger.

Conclusion

The Transformer Pad is a great Android tablet for anyone who is looking to enter the tablet world and a definite consideration for any Android fan.  For the hardware, performance, and battery life that you get, it’s very hard to overlook the Transformer Pad, especially when you consider it’s price.  The keyboard dock also gives it that extra advantage and uniqueness over other tablets.  If you’re interested in investing in a tablet with a higher quality finish or better specs, the Transformer Prime and Infinity are perhaps the way to go.  For the rest of us though, the Transformer Pad is a great choice and will keep us entertained for many long hours.

ASUS TF300T on Amazon

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