Web browsing and word processing is pretty much all I do.
You may be completely disconnected with how a great many people use computers (ie Facebook, email, browser). Nothing laughable at all. In fact most people buy far far more powerful PCs than they ever utilize with their limited needed functionality.
Doesnt mean anything. Do you know what the vast majority of people actually use their computers for? Heres a hint, not much. Thats why a tablet PC will suffice as a primary computing device for so many people. Most people only use them for light stuff to begin with.
I suppose I should have expected these responses. That's what I get for responding to an ambiguous statement with an even more ambiguous (and easy to construe as blanket) statement. Sorry for that. Let me detail where I'm coming from.
First off I am aware that for many people, their needs are actually pretty simple. It's mostly email, facebook, some browsing and some media consumption. I can respect that. Hell, I have some friends that have mostly relegated their computer usage to when at work and doing stuff like bills. The vast majority of their personal computing is done on their phone.
However the poster I was responding to stated 'main
computing device. It's a bit ambiguous, but I take the connotation of 'computing' to mean things a bit more intensive. Yes it's semantics, but given the context of also mentioning more horsepower and the availability of a keyboard dock ... it appeared to me her wants were likely a bit more than the above sort of use-case. Obviously I made an assumption there ... and I'm not trying to excuse my lack of detail in the response ... just trying to explain where I was coming from when I initially replied.
So assuming the use-case is intended to be a bit more I do have general reservations with current tablet offerings. But given that this a thread is about the Transformer though, let me concentrate on where I think it has problems:
The Keyboard - It can be a nice addition in some situations, but I think the usefulness at its price is questionable. I can appreciate ASUS had constraints in order to engineer a solution that would work in its 'laptop' form-factor. There are obviously size limitations. However that doesn't change the fact it creates some real-world usability issues. By utilizing this form-factor they were relegated to a chicklet (island) style with limited travel. Some people are used to or can get used to it, but obviously it's not ideal for people that need to do a lot of typing. It's pretty easy to miss-hit or over-hit. And while the amount of travel is due to its sizing, Asus certainly could have produced something with better tactile response to help out things.
A bigger issue though is the general cramped layout it forces. Even though the touchpad is small (which presents its own problems), if I have a nickel for every time I unintentionally moved the cursor and started accidentally typing ... wherever ... I'd be retired. They really should turn off the mouse pad when typing like many netbooks and laptops offer. Maybe it wouldn't be so bad if you could adjust the sensitivity - but to my knowledge you can't. Instead I'm constantly turning off the touchpad, especially when posting online (a pretty common use-case for a tablet).
This brings up a more general complaint. While I applaud their attempts to make the OS act more like a laptop/netbook when the keyboard is docked, it's a bit half-baked. Why didn't they implement some sort of general cut/copy/paste hotkeys for when text is selected? Speaking of hotkeys, what they do offer is generally flaky. Sometimes they work, sometimes not. Actually most of the keyboard functionality can be seen in this light. Out of nowhere the top row function keys just stop working. It's this lack of refinement and features that make using the dock frustrating for anything more than casual use (and even then it can be annoying). Is it better than using the touch keyboard? Yes, at least when it's functioning properly. Does that really make it a good solution though? I'd say generally no. A better keyboard and functionality like in many netbooks or true laptops is the way to go if you think you'll be typing more than a little. If it worked better and was cheaper, I'd recommend it automatically, but it's kind of hard to given its realities. The extra battery and USB support does make it nice, but wouldn't it be preferable if the tablet itself simply had better battery life and USB?
Android Itself - Well, I knew what I was getting into. I didn't really buy this to replace anything ... more for convenience and tinkering ... but it's hard to not be concerned by how little things have really improved over time. Obviously I haven't had a chance to use Ice Cream Sandwich, and hopefully it rectifies some of the problems, but it's concerning that over a few Honeycomb iterations many of the well-known general problems still exist. Further, many issues with Android proper have remained over a much longer duration, making it hard to assume things will magically resolve any time soon.
There's the general UI itself. Whether you like it is subjective (I don't hate it, but it's not great either), but the fact it's generally laggy is simply something you have to live with. Given the amount of horsepower the Transformer (let alone the Prime) has, it's pretty disconcerting. I could accept this if things were actually polished though. But they aren't -
far from it. The OS and many apps are flaky - in some cases, absurdly so.
The fact the browser is such a crash-happy mess after several iterations is ridiculous. I can almost accept it when rendering a gif-happy, memory hog of a page. The problem is that while that will almost assuredly cause issues, the thing regularly crashes for no obvious reason at all. I mostly use mine for gaf ... and it crashes ... a fucking lot ... on regular pages ... in a forum. Even then, I could almost get past that and my previous complaints about the keyboard's physical and functionality issues if typing in the browser wasn't
such a laggy mess. The delay is so frustrating, I'm not sure what's better when typing online - the physical keyboard or the touch keyboard. Either way, it's so bad that I now much prefer using my WP7 phone for portable forum usage. A fucking phone - with a 4" screen. I don't know if Android 2.x phones are as bad. If they are, I feel bad for its users.
Of course then we move on to the marketplace. While some things have improved, it's still a fucking mess. Lot's of incompatible apps depending on your hardware, and a pretty terrible overall tablet-specific set of app offerings. Thank god they've finally offered an easier way to find tablet-specific apps - I don't want to even state how annoying things were before - but it's still a mess.
With all of this in mind, I simply find it near impossible to recommend an Android tablet over an iPad - even if I do love the concept of Transformer's form-factor. It tries ... but it just ain't there. Unfortunately for Asus, much of it is Google's fault even if they did bring in some problems of their own. Hopefully ICS and future updates rectify many of the OS-level performance issues. But even if they do, how long will people wait for a good catalog of tablet specific apps? Particularly more serious, larger-scale apps? What about production apps? The problem is these tablets aren't selling all that well. Stuff like Nook and Fire is what's selling on the Android front - but their size and typical use-case isn't going to draw those sorts of apps. They're more about consumption - basically glorified phone apps.
Summary - Sorry if this has turned into a serious tl;dr post. But since I was annoyingly brief and ambiguous in my initial post (and many responded in kind) ... I figure I should attempt to detail where I'm coming from.
If I had to do it again, I likely wouldn't have bought my Transformer and dock (especially at launch pricing). It simply isn't ready for primetime. Instead I should have waited to compare next year's Windows 8 netbooks/ultrabooks/tablets versus iPad 3. Actually I'll probably wait until the following year to see how the gen 2 Windows 8 offerings stack up (and maybe iPad 4). At that point they'll be a number of offerings with SoC's utilizing a smaller fabrication process (better battery life) as well as more pricing competition.
I'm not going to say Android is useless as a tablet OS. But given it's current state and trend, as well as dev support, I think it was a lot of weaknesses. Where I think it will work best is for smaller media consumption devices. 7"-8" tablets that specialize in specific use-cases. Stuff like Nook and Kindle Fire (once they get all the kinks out). For more serious duties though, I haven't seen anything to make me assume it will compete all that well versus iPad and W8 in the long run. It's behind - arguably far behind - and doesn't appear to be really gaining in many areas. If anything it seems to be losing ground for general tablet usage.
