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3bs

macrumors 603
Original poster
May 20, 2011
5,434
24
Dublin, Ireland
I'm thinking about getting one of these but I'm not sure which to get or where to get a 3G version online. I found some wi-fi versions on ebay and amazon but I would prefer a 3G model. I'm in Ireland and I only know one store that sells them.

Does anyone here have one? What do you think of it? I used one for about half an hour at a store (which only had a wifi model and it said TF3300) and I fell in love with it. It running Vanilla Android is a major plus for me!
 

3bs

macrumors 603
Original poster
May 20, 2011
5,434
24
Dublin, Ireland
Do you need a 10 inch tablet? If not, the Nexus 7 is a much better choice.

I am tempted to buy one of these. Either the Transformer Pad or the N7. I know the N7 is a better choice but I don't have a tablet so this would be a great first time tablet because it also includes the keyboard.
 

annk

Administrator
Staff member
Apr 18, 2004
15,122
9,243
Somewhere over the rainbow
I had the first Asus Transformer with keyboard, I think it's called TF101. I loved it. I loved being able to use it as a tablet and as an almost laptop replacement (at least for email, web browsing, simple MS Office-type documents). I loved being able to customise it with widgets and shortcuts that suited ME. I loved the extended battery possible with the keyboard (and the tablet itself had great battery life). Skype with video was a little iffy, but I think that's been improved (it works great on my Samsung Tab 7.7).

I ended up giving it to my brother a few weeks ago, not without some misgivings. But I finally got an iPad (a colleague and I hold courses for librarians on how to use the iPad and especially ebooks on the iPad, and it got to be too much of a bother to have to borrow an iPad from work and set it up each time) with the Logitech Ultraslim keyboard, so I couldn't justify having both.

So basically I can recommend the Asus Transformer series, even though I ended up giving mine away after a couple years. :D
 

3bs

macrumors 603
Original poster
May 20, 2011
5,434
24
Dublin, Ireland
Do you need a 10 inch tablet? If not, the Nexus 7 is a much better choice.

I don't neet a tablet but I have some extra money and when I saw the TF300 I fell in love with it. Before seeing I was actually considering getting a Nexus 7 because of it's size and Vanilla Android which appealed to me but now I'm not sure I want a 7" tablet. It's half the price of the TF300 which is nice but I can see myself doing so much more with the bigger 10" screen.

I had the first Asus Transformer with keyboard, I think it's called TF101. I loved it. I loved being able to use it as a tablet and as an almost laptop replacement (at least for email, web browsing, simple MS Office-type documents). I loved being able to customise it with widgets and shortcuts that suited ME. I loved the extended battery possible with the keyboard (and the tablet itself had great battery life). Skype with video was a little iffy, but I think that's been improved (it works great on my Samsung Tab 7.7).

I ended up giving it to my brother a few weeks ago, not without some misgivings. But I finally got an iPad (a colleague and I hold courses for librarians on how to use the iPad and especially ebooks on the iPad, and it got to be too much of a bother to have to borrow an iPad from work and set it up each time) with the Logitech Ultraslim keyboard, so I couldn't justify having both.

So basically I can recommend the Asus Transformer series, even though I ended up giving mine away after a couple years. :D

Thanks for your mini-review :D
I am almost certain I'll be getting one now. I just can't seem to find a 3G version anywhere online! Any ideas where I can get one shipped to Ireland? If I have to then I guess I'll just go with the wifi version and tether to my GS3.
 

tshrimp

macrumors 6502
Mar 30, 2012
412
3,436
I don't neet a tablet but I have some extra money and when I saw the TF300 I fell in love with it. Before seeing I was actually considering getting a Nexus 7 because of it's size and Vanilla Android which appealed to me but now I'm not sure I want a 7" tablet. It's half the price of the TF300 which is nice but I can see myself doing so much more with the bigger 10" screen.



Thanks for your mini-review :D
I am almost certain I'll be getting one now. I just can't seem to find a 3G version anywhere online! Any ideas where I can get one shipped to Ireland? If I have to then I guess I'll just go with the wifi version and tether to my GS3.

3bs. I have both a 7" tablet and 10" tablet. I will say 90% of the time I use my 10". I thought the potability of 7" would outweigh the screen deficit, but I was wrong. The 10" tablet might not fit in the pocket, but easy to carry to and from my favorite wifi hotspot. BTW....I think the ASUS also uses an IPS display which look fantastic. Good luck on your choice.
 

3bs

macrumors 603
Original poster
May 20, 2011
5,434
24
Dublin, Ireland
3bs. I have both a 7" tablet and 10" tablet. I will say 90% of the time I use my 10". I thought the potability of 7" would outweigh the screen deficit, but I was wrong. The 10" tablet might not fit in the pocket, but easy to carry to and from my favorite wifi hotspot. BTW....I think the ASUS also uses an IPS display which look fantastic. Good luck on your choice.

Thanks for your sharing your experience. I've basically already made up my decision! I'll be going with either the TF300 or the TF700. I just can't seem to find a 3G version of either of them in stores or online. Any help with that would be greatly appreciated.
 

iphonefan74

macrumors regular
Sep 15, 2012
135
0
So you want to pay $500 for the tablet and another $150 for the keyboard? You can get an actual laptop with much better specs for less money. I carry my Nexus 7 when I want a tablet and if I need something larger I grab my MBA.
 

3bs

macrumors 603
Original poster
May 20, 2011
5,434
24
Dublin, Ireland
So you want to pay $500 for the tablet and another $150 for the keyboard? You can get an actual laptop with much better specs for less money. I carry my Nexus 7 when I want a tablet and if I need something larger I grab my MBA.

Like I said, I initially thought of getting the Nexus 7 but then saw the Transformer Pad and was really impressed. You do have a point and I actually have an 11" MBA so the logical decision would be to get the N7 but I still feel like I want the Transformer. (I have the money to spend on either one I want so that's not an issue currently)
 

3bs

macrumors 603
Original poster
May 20, 2011
5,434
24
Dublin, Ireland
I think for the most part that was fixed in jellybean. The nexus 7 doesn't suffer this issue as they switched the the manufacturer of the flash controller

That's a bit of a relief then thank you.

I'm still leaning more towards the Transformer. Yes it's almost as big as my MBA but I won't have the keyboard on it all the time. When I do have the keyboard on it I'll probably be using it as a replacement for my MBA.
 

3bs

macrumors 603
Original poster
May 20, 2011
5,434
24
Dublin, Ireland
I just got back from the store and I ended up getting a Nexus 7. It just made a lot more sense. I'm a bit disappointed with it being only 16gb with no memory card slot but oh well.
 

blackhand1001

macrumors 68030
Jan 6, 2009
2,599
33
I just got back from the store and I ended up getting a Nexus 7. It just made a lot more sense. I'm a bit disappointed with it being only 16gb with no memory card slot but oh well.

Good choice. Install dolphin or boat browser. I am not a fan of chrome for android. The standard jellybean browser is much better but google for some dumb reason didn't put it on the nexus 7. You can still get it with root or a custom rom.
 

blackhand1001

macrumors 68030
Jan 6, 2009
2,599
33
SO weird, I didn't have a hard time opening mine but it seems like a lot of people do. I mean it was a little tightly packaged but it only took me a few seconds to open.
 

3bs

macrumors 603
Original poster
May 20, 2011
5,434
24
Dublin, Ireland
SO weird, I didn't have a hard time opening mine but it seems like a lot of people do. I mean it was a little tightly packaged but it only took me a few seconds to open.

Taking it out of the sleeve kinda thing was that hardest part. It just wouldn't slide out and me and 2 of my friends tried until we got it out.
 

3bs

macrumors 603
Original poster
May 20, 2011
5,434
24
Dublin, Ireland
After a few hours on my new Nexus 7, my GS3 feels tiny :p

Already rooted and flashed Paranoid Android so I can get the real tablet experience.
 
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