Transition from iPad2 to Asus Transformer Tablet

I think you may have been looking for this.

Thanks for telling us?

thanks. as a thought experiment, i wonder what it would sound like if you had chosen more active verbs to express yourself.

i BOUGHT an ipad 2, but i WON an asus the other day at a raffle, so i DECIDED that i would only keep one. i TRIED the asus and decided that even if i can find very few quality apps, i PREFER it because i can customize the content and it can use more types of media.

i am glad to see that you found a tablet you like! i think it is pretty widely recognized that apple is frustratingly tight about stuff like customization, and that they have a much richer variety of quality apps. personally, i am unwilling to give up the ipad until

1. the android update situation is clarified (if you buy honeycomb today, will you get ice cream sandwich tomorrow?) and
2. there are enough quality apps for it to enable me to get my work done. in particular, i am unclear about the quality of the pdf reading apps.

palpatine said:

thanks. as a thought experiment, i wonder what it would sound like if you had chosen more active verbs to express yourself.

i BOUGHT an ipad 2, but i WON an asus the other day at a raffle, so i DECIDED that i would only keep one. i TRIED the asus and decided that even if i can find very few quality apps, i PREFER it because i can customize the content and it can use more types of media.

i am glad to see that you found a tablet you like! i think it is pretty widely recognized that apple is frustratingly tight about stuff like customization, and that they have a much richer variety of quality apps. personally, i am unwilling to give up the ipad until

1. the android update situation is clarified (if you buy honeycomb today, will you get ice cream sandwich tomorrow?) and
2. there are enough quality apps for it to enable me to get my work done. in particular, i am unclear about the quality of the pdf reading apps.

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Yep, this. I tried a Galaxy Tab just for kicks and giggles. The Android Market can't hold a candle to the App Store either in terms of quality of apps or quantity (of tablet apps). The degree to which you can customize an Android device is fun at first, but then it feels more like a novelty after you've customized all that you can. I carried my Tab around for about a month or so, but then ultimately gave it up and went back to my iPad. Android felt entirely too unpolished, I was sick of dealing with apps that would crash all of the time, Flash browsing sucked (maybe this isn't an issue in current gen devices), I don't like 16:9 aspect ratio particularly for reading in portrait mode, there wasn't a media delivery platform as easy to use and as comprehensive as the iTunes store (although this may have changed now with what Amazon is offering), etc. Just too many things missing or not quite perfect about the OS as a whole.

Sounds to me like the OP realized he could get more for his iPad 2 and decided to sell the more valuable product and keep the free one. I think that's really all there is to it.

AZREOSpecialist said:

Sounds to me like the OP realized he could get more for his iPad 2 and decided to sell the more valuable product and keep the free one. I think that's really all there is to it.

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i got that impression as well. putting myself in the OP's head for a moment, maybe his thought process was unload the ipad2 to recoup his money and use the transformer. if it proves inadequate or if he misses the ipad, he can probably wait it out until the ipad3 comes out.

not that there's anything wrong if he decides to stays w/the transformer if it suits him. i've never understood why some people on the forum seem to take it almost as a personal afront when someone switches from the ipad to a different tablet. no skin off my nose what someone decides to use.

bufffilm said:

i've never understood why some people on the forum seem to take it almost as a personal afront when someone switches from the ipad to a different tablet. no skin off my nose what someone decides to use.

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May be its not the switching thats pissing people off. Its the pointless post about it on an ipad forum thats annoying other people.

Who wants to wager that come Sep 2011 planetwave will start a new thread "Transition from Asus Tansformer Tablet to iPad 3 ?

Jeeze, guys. Chill.

There's nothing wrong with him posting about a new tablet - it provides an opportunity for comparison between the old and new devices.

I'm glad you're enjoying your new toy, but FYI there are apps to let your (ex)iPad handle pretty much any media format, as well.

No harm in liking the asus more, but let's compare them on actual capabilities. You are definitely not stuck with iTunes for media playback.

I'm waiting for the quad core Asus tablet that is coming out in October, which hopefully will be running Ice Cream (Honeycomb is way too buggy for me).

bufffilm said:

not that there's anything wrong if he decides to stays w/the transformer if it suits him. i've never understood why some people on the forum seem to take it almost as a personal afront when someone switches from the ipad to a different tablet. no skin off my nose what someone decides to use.

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InfinitySquared said:

Jeeze, guys. Chill.

There's nothing wrong with him posting about a new tablet - it provides an opportunity for comparison between the old and new devices.

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exactly, why do people get butt hurt when others switch from one product to another its not like apple is giving you money to use their products.

Glad you're enjoying the transformer I was on an android os and liked it and I do agree with you as well as others on here that the app market for android isn't anywhere close to that of apples app store.

OP you have a bright future in guerilla advertising. Perhaps Asus is hiring?

As was mentioned, Android is quite unattractive due to the fact that updates are reliant on the manufacturer. I'm curious why manufacturers couldn't just install bare OS versions so users can update first day to new Android versions... or is this not even possible?

I'd be lying if I said I wouldn't make improvements to the iPad. Please please make a "pro" version with an active digitizer!!

Why the hate? Its good to try competitor products. If I needed a tablet I would buy an iPad anyway but I don't need/want a tablet. The android market is full of crap there's no way around it.

I don't know if its a marketing stunt by the op part, but I might someday abandon mac os x since lately is getting crappy. If I do I will make a thread to compare the after of an life.

What matters is if the op likes is new tablet, good for him.

planetwave2000 said:

Hi folks, it was tough decision for me to give up my iPad2 (16GB) to Asus Transformer (32GB). I won the Asus Transformer from a raffle (I paid $5 for the raffle ticket). I wasn’t intending of using it but to sell the Asus Transformer since I already got the iPad2. I didn’t even know that Asus made their own tablet (maybe because I was busy & enjoying using the iPad2).

I started reading and watching reviews about the Asus Transformer and seen nothing but good stuff about it. Out of curiosity, I opened it, started using it & I was blown away. I’ve never used an Android OS before. The customization is almost endless with this device. I really enjoy using the Asus as much as I enjoy/ed using my iPad2.

But unfortunately, I had to sell my iPad2. I like the fact that you can customize the Asus in any way you want. No wonder why some of the iPad users jailbreak their device. Also, the Asus reads most of all video, music & photo formats (not stuck with iTunes). Plus, Adobe Flash. One thing I don’t like about the Android is the Market Place compare to the Apple’s App Store. It’s not much of a choice for the Apps (good Apps). It’s a new experience for me and I will continue to explore using the Asus Transformer / Android OS. It’s just my choice. I have been using Apple products for years, since Apple OS Panther.

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So, what happens when you're done customizing and complete boredom sets in because there aren't enough Android Apps to keep you entertained?
I personally don't blame you for selling the iPad 2 because of it's resale value but many of us including myself have been wowed by the Android operating system at first only to be disappointed with the lack of support and the crappy, crappy apps.

I think I would have kept both just to have both worlds available. I personally can't stand using Android in most situations, but it wouldn't be bad to get a free tablet no matter what the OS. I would probably mess with it for awhile and then give/sell it to someone. I tried my parents' Galaxy Tab for only about 15 minutes before wanting to throw it against the wall (bugs, lag, crashes, etc.) so I would preferably try to sell it BEFORE I do that.

Also, I have seen this story before--most people seem to end up returning and going back to iPad.

MrWillie said:

Who wants to wager that come Sep 2011 planetwave will start a new thread "Transition from Asus Tansformer Tablet to iPad 3 ?

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You'll have to wait until March/April 2012 for that thread.

annk said:

I've been using my Transformer for a week now and must say I'm very impressed with its versatility. So far I've found apps for my needs in the Android Market, but I can understand how Apple's app store can be a positive deciding factor for some users. If you can't find apps you want, it doesn't really matter how slick the device is.

Having tried out (but not owned) iPads 1 and 2 and now this device, it seems to me that both have their good and bad points. Just depends what you're after.

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Well said.

I also recently acquired an Asus Transformer (Tf). Like the OP, I came from the i-world (iPad, iPhone, iMac, MBA), but I did have to pay for my Tf.

My impression of the Tf is generally very good. I posted my comparison between the Tf and iPad earlier, and don't want to repeat it here.

I do, however, want to share my experience in transitioning from the i-world to g-environment (g for Google). As you know, Google is behind the Android platform, and so Android is integrated with g-everything (Gmail, G-contact, G-documents ...).

1. Let's begin with Mail. The stock mail app in Tf works quite good with imap or pop email. I have no problem setting up imap accounts from .mac/.me and from my university. The only glitch is, the Tf mail app does use the same 'trash' box and 'sent' box as Apple's Mail.app. I did have to move messages around once in a while to keep them all in one box. Not a big deal, as it doesn't interfere with day to day operation.

2. Contact. Mac Address box has a nice built-in feature to sync with G-contacts (it's under preference->account). It works quite flawlessly. I didn't encounter any problems. The sync automatically works regularly, no maintenance required.

3. iCal. This one is a bit of a trouble. There is no active real-time sync solution, at least no free one. The solution recommended is to add the g-cal CalDAV to iCal, so iCal can see all g-cal events. However, from this point on, you need to add events to g-cal, if you want it to be accessible in all Android, Mac and iOS devices. More info here: http://www.google.com/support/calendar/bin/answer.py?answer=99358

For me, I prefer to stick with iCal only, and I went with the alternative solution. This is, using the web-version of iCal. I downloaded Dolphin HD browser on my Tf (kind of like iCab for iOS), and use it in Desktop mode. It will allow you to access the web-version of iOS. You do need to sign-in first using the dock keyboard. After that, you can access without the dock (via remembered password).

4. VNC/RDP - I use PocketCloud ($15), and it can access both Windows (RDP) and Mac (VNC) machines. The built-up cursor has good precision, and it has all the usual right click, shift-click, click-and-drag functions. It works almost flawlessly, until Lion upgrade. The developer indicated they are working on a solution.

5. Skype - Skype app does not support video on the Tf! I have to stick with my iPhone for now if I want video conference.

6. Tethering through iPhone works (iOS built-in wifi personal hotspot). MyWi also works, sort of, as it tends to disconnects itself.

7. iTunes - for movies, I can simply take my iPad movies, and load them on the micro-SD (on Tf itself), or (on the dock) full size SD or even USB thumb drive or hard drive. This is where the Tf really shines compared to iPad when you are on the road a lot and need lots of movies.

For music, I didn't bother. Who wants a big-ass tablet as an mp3 player? I did miss the backup feature of iTunes. For Android, there is no stock feature to backup the entire system. I had to exchange Tf for a couple of time, and I did have to re-setup a lot of things. Very annoying.

8. PDF annotation - the $2 ezPDF reader app works well for reading and marking journal papers (just as good as iAnnotate in iOS).

9. Flash works very well, it did not kill the battery life. Dolphin browser also let you do "flash on demand"; i.e., flash is not loaded (shows a blank box) until you click an arrow to load it.

In general, I had no problem viewing or downloading (if allowed by the website) any flash videos I came across. Android has a stock file browser which lets you transfer files to SD cards or USB drives.

10. File system. I already mentioned there is one. To add to that, I can download .zip file and use the unrar.app (free) to unzip it directly on the Tf, and file it to any directory I want.

silverblack said:

I can download .zip file and use the unrar.app (free) to unzip it directly on the Tf

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I've seen others mention it as a feature of Android too. People really don't know there are a bunch of apps that can unzip files directly on an iPad?

silverblack said:

I also recently acquired an Asus Transformer (Tf). Like the OP, I came from the i-world (iPad, iPhone, iMac, MBA), but I did have to pay for my Tf...

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great post