Nvidia are out in force here at the Gadget Show Live, demonstrating the best new tablets and superphones which utilise their Dual-Core Tegra 2 processor.
Naturally, we headed to their booth first to take a look. The first tablet we got our hands on was the Asus Eee Pad Transformer, one of a series of new Android tablets from Asus.
The Eee Pad Transformer was unfortunately without the keyboard dock that gives it its namesake, so we had to make do with the tablet on its own.
Aesthetically, Asus have done extremely well here. The Eee Pad Transformer is very slim and lightweight for a 10.1 inch tablet, yet it feels sturdy and well built without being too heavy. We especially like the dimpled effect on the rear of the casing, as you can see below.
With Android Honeycomb (3.0) on board, the Transformer is a nippy tablet worthy of its £379.99 (or £429.99 with keyboard dock) price tag. The screen is bright and very clear, and the video clips and images we tested out looked pretty crisp. The rear facing camera provides decent still images and video capture, which both look good on the 10.1-inch 1280×800 res screen.
The only flaw we could find with the Eee Pad Transformer from our brief run-in was the speed. Despite the Tegra 2 processor, the tablet seemed to be a bit slower when muiltitasking and zooming through the menu layouts when compared to the Motorola Xoom and LG Optimus Tab, though we were told the product is still not 100% finished.
It’s a shame there wasn’t the keyboard dock available at the Nvidia stand, it would have been nice to see how well the Transformer performs as a docked tablet/laptop device. Nevertheless, we like the Eee Pad Transformer, and feel it could be a contender in the growing Android tablet market.
The Asus Eee Pad Transformer is now available, though we are told by Asus that several retailers have already sold out of the device. Several retailers are quoting a release of June 1st – this is simply down to availability.
Will you be getting one? Let us know your thoughts on the Asus Eee Pad Transformer by leaving a comment below, or via Twitter.