ASUS Eee Pad Slider Review
by Anand Lal Shimpi on October 4, 2011 6:48 PM EST- Posted in
- Tablets
- Eee Pad
- Tegra 2
- Asus
- Honeycomb
- Mobile
- Android 3.2
- Eee Pad Slider
- NVIDIA
Battery Life
The Slider's battery life just isn't as good as the Transformer. There's the obvious lack of a second battery holding the Slider back, but even compared to the Transformer sans dock I found the Slider wouldn't last as long on a single charge. The situation worsens when you slide out the keyboard. The Slider has to actively poll the keyboard for input, which in turn reduces battery life.
In our video playback test the Slider and Transformer were basically equal, however in our general use test (web browsing + email + music playback) the Slider only lasted 8.2 hours compared to the Transformer's 9.3. Obviously there are many variables that could be at work here. The big news is the impact simply having the keyboard open has on battery life. The Slider still lasts longer than most high-powered notebooks, but in the ARM-based tablet world it's below average.
Software & Performance
The Slider is running Android 3.2 putting its performance on-par with the Transformer. Back when Android 3.2 first came out we noticed a dramatic increase in GLBenchmark 2.0 performance scores, likely due to a GPU driver optimization. The move to GLBenchmark 2.1 appears to have reset that performance back to Android 3.1 levels, perhaps indicating the use of an app detect driver optimization in Android 3.2. The rest of the performance figures are pretty standard for a Honeycomb tablet. The 1GHz Tegra 2 performs no differently in the Slider than it does in the Transformer.
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secretmanofagent - Tuesday, October 4, 2011 - link
"The keys are hardly full sized, I measured x mm compared to mm on Apple's chiclet keyboard."Should there be numbers there?
Anand Lal Shimpi - Tuesday, October 4, 2011 - link
Yes there should, fixed :)Take care,
Anand
Death666Angel - Tuesday, October 4, 2011 - link
"I measured 14 x 11mm compared to 16mm2 on Apple's chiclet keyboard."Do you spot the mistake? In this scenario, the Apple keyboard has keys which are 4mm x 4mm = 16mm², whereas the Asus has 14mm x 11mm = 154mm². You probably meant to write (16mm)² or somesuch. :D
Anand Lal Shimpi - Tuesday, October 4, 2011 - link
err you're very right, fixed again :)Take care,
Anand
Zink - Tuesday, October 4, 2011 - link
So in depth. Are you using a teleprompter?tsnorquist - Thursday, October 6, 2011 - link
Of course not, he's not the president =)mythun.chandra - Tuesday, October 4, 2011 - link
Good job on the video/review! :)Hope to see more of them moving forward.
Death666Angel - Tuesday, October 4, 2011 - link
"the tablet form factor combined with a responsive touch UI simply means you can do these things in a more relaxed position."All you people seem to have quite uncomfortable desks! :D The only place that is more relaxing and comfortable in my house than my desk and desk chair is in bed, snuggling with my wife. ^^
quiksilvr - Tuesday, October 4, 2011 - link
The Transformer with Dock is 2.9 lbs. This slider is 2.1 lbs. Yes it is cheaper than Transformer + dock but I have seen combo sales all the time, and considering the holiday season coming up, I wouldn't be surprised to see Transformer + Dock selling for $399 with a case for good measure.To me, thickness isn't really an issue with something like a tablet. It's 10 millimeters thicker (barely 0.4 inches), but you get:
1) An extra USB port
2) A full SD card slot
3) A trackpad, giving a much more PC feel
4) Pretty much the equivalent of "lugging" a light netbook around
5) Ridiculously high battery life (that in itself is worth the extra $70. 15 hours vs 7 hours is a no brainer)
So in short, I would recommend the Transformer + dock when there is a sale. Newegg had a combo sale for those two for $399 (not anymore) so that gives me high hopes for this holiday season for other retailers to mimic it.
TrackSmart - Tuesday, October 4, 2011 - link
I'm glad the Transformer serves you well, but I've already got a laptop that weighs just 3 lbs.The idea of a 2.9 lb (or even 2.1 lb) tablet with keyboard is not appealing. It's basically laptop weight, but not as useful for real work due to the limitations of Android/IOS productivity software.
My ideal tablet would be less than 1 lb and have a much smaller form factor. Imagine how small the 7" galaxy tab would be if it had hardly any bezel. It would be about 4" x 6" and about 12 ounces. The size would be perfect for rapid thumb typing. And I could fit it into a coat pocket. Perfection.