ASUS Eee Pad Transformer Prime & NVIDIA Tegra 3 Review
by Anand Lal Shimpi on December 1, 2011 1:00 AM ESTThe Display: Perfect
The original Transformer had a display that performed similarly to the iPad, but was far more reflective thanks to a fairly large gap between the outer glass and the LCD panel underneath. I excused the first generation Eee Pad in the display department because it was good enough and $100 cheaper than the competing Apple solution. The Prime reaches price parity with the iPad 2, and as a result it must meet a higher standard. ASUS doesn't disappoint - the Eee Pad Transformer Prime has the best display I've seen on a tablet to date.
The resolution is a Honeycomb-standard 1280 x 800. The 16:10 panel measures 10.1-inches diagonally, giving it a very similar surface area to the iPad 2's 9.7-inch 4:3 display. The increase in resolution more than makes up for the larger screen however, ASUS delivers 145 pixels per inch compared to the iPad 2's now quite-dated ~132 PPI.
It's not all about pixel density here, the Transformer Prime has better white and black levels than anything else in its class. It also sets the new benchmark for contrast ratio at nearly 1200:1. The huge gap between the outermost glass and the IPS LCD panel has been reduced significantly, in turn reducing glare.
ASUS also has a Super IPS+ mode that drives the display to a class-leading 683 nits. The Super IPS+ mode obviously draws more power but ASUS recommends it if you're trying to use your tablet outdoors. In our review of the PlayBook we found that 600 nits was really the cutoff for usability in sunny conditions, and ASUS easily exceeds that. It's also worth pointing out that while Super IPS+ increases black levels as well, the resulting contrast ratio remains the same.
Original TF (left) vs. Super IPS+ enabled on the TF Prime (right)
iPad 2 (left) vs. Super IPS+ enabled on the TF Prime (right)
Viewing angles are absolutely awesome. Yes this is the same ASUS that let us down with the UX panels but it definitely got the panel right when it came to the Transformer Prime. Fingerprints are still going to be evident on the display but they don't seem to be as bad as on the original Transformer, and they do wipe off easily. This time around ASUS bundles a microfiber cloth to aid in keeping your Transformer looking fresh.
ASUS, Apple and the rest of the tablet world are in hot pursuit of even higher resolution panels, the problem is yields on these small 1080p and 2048x1536 panels just aren't high enough yet. The Android crowd will have to wait, although Apple is apparently pushing very hard (and trying to buy up a lot of inventory) to deliver a "retina display" equipped iPad 2+/3 by Q2 next year. I'm hearing Q3/Q4 for everyone else and it's still not a guarantee that Apple will be able to meet its aggressive targets either at this point.
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mcnabney - Thursday, December 1, 2011 - link
"Android File Transfer won't push over a file greater than 4GB"That means don't expect to stream HD content off of a home server/computer. Heck, uncompressed DVD-quality might not fit. Massive fail!!!!! Looks like a tablet is still not in my future. Maybe next time the industry tries to make a 'media consumption device' they will do something to allow it to consume media.
name99 - Thursday, December 1, 2011 - link
"Maybe next time the industry tries to make a 'media consumption device' they will do something to allow it to consume media."The bulk (BY FAR) of "the industry" is Apple. As far as I know, iPad handles larger than 4GB files (h264 or otherwise) without a problem.
(I think there is a problem with very large AAC files, but this is a problem with the AAC spec, not with the file size --- you get problems when the number of samples in the file exceeds around 2^31, which happens at around 14hrs for 44k samples/sec.
This appears on other platforms as well, so I'm guessing the container file spec has a 31 or 32 bit field somewhere in it.)
vvk - Thursday, December 1, 2011 - link
4GB is the limit for FAT - if you have exFAT or NTFS formated card should work with no problem.Death666Angel - Thursday, December 1, 2011 - link
"That means don't expect to stream HD content off of a home server/computer." Streaming should not be affected by the file system limitation, because it streams the content and doesn't save it on the device.lordmetroid - Thursday, December 1, 2011 - link
Can I install another operating system of my choice?Omid.M - Thursday, December 1, 2011 - link
Just held the galaxy tab 8.9 and I think its the perfect size.Likelihood that Asus would release a Prime in that size?
Nice review. ICS and 8.9 screen would've sold me.
@moids
joe_dude - Thursday, December 1, 2011 - link
Anand, will you do a short review when the ICS comes out in January?Thanks for the late-night comment responses, BTW. :)
Anand Lal Shimpi - Thursday, December 1, 2011 - link
Absolutely :) Expect to see Brian Klug's first thoughts on ICS before then though :)Take care,
Anand
tipoo - Friday, December 2, 2011 - link
Good to know, I don't think Honeycomb is well optimized for multicore, ICS sees some nice improvents across the board on them so the Tegra 3 should really shine more once it gets upgraded.isorashi - Thursday, December 1, 2011 - link
My sisters and I are planning on getting my mom a tablet for xmas. She's pretty clueless when it comes to computers -- she can turn one on and start skype, but she needs my dad to check fb / email for pictures of the grand-kids.The choice basically comes down to android vs ios. Transformer Prime in one case, iPad 2 in the other. Personally, I'm leaning towards the android because I have a better idea of what's going on there in case they need help. Plus I like the idea that it can easily interface with their Win7 pc to transfer pictures and what-not. That actually is a statement against the iPad -- I'm very VERY reluctant to inflict iTunes on my parents :-/