subject: Asus Eee Pad Transformer Tablet Turns Into Laptop In Hands-on Video [print this page] The Asus Eee Pad Transformer is a tablet in disguise. Slap it on to its optional keyboard dock and hey presto -- you've got yourself a laptop or, more accurately perhaps, a netbook.
The Transformer runs on Android 3.0 Honeycomb, with a dual-core Nvidia Tegra 2 processor and GeForce GPU powering proceedings. It sports a 10.1-inch capacitive touchscreen and will be available with either 16 or 32GB of built-in storage.
Charge cradle or ball and chain?
With just about every handheld platform ever, there has been a third-party power extending option available. There's a significant market here and major players like Nintendo and Sony know this. Sometimes, as was the case with the PSP, it released its own first-party solution: that is, an optional bigger battery. As we're going to see with the 3DS, a charge cradle is included with the handheld. While it's not going to give your spiffy new handheld more juice, it will make it easier to top the sucker up between portable sessions or play at your desk.
There's always money to be made from this approach; so too from planned obsolescence or the creation of technology that's always just a little under-featured. You need only look at the approaches taken by companies like Apple, Sony (with the PSP) and Nintendo (again, with the DS) to see the immediate financial benefit of annual refinements and updates.
If your arms are tired after a hard day down the mine, the Transformer's keyboard dock will come in handy. When docked, you can just put the tablet on a flat surface, place the screen at an angle, and concentrate on bashing out that angry email to your gas company.
We were impressed by the flexibility of this system, which lets you prioritise portability or usability as you see fit. It offers other benefits too -- the Transformer's 8-hour battery life is doubled when it's attached to the dock.
Hit play on the video above to see the Transformer in action, and check out our preview for more details. If you can't get enough Android tablet action, you might also like to peruse our previews of the Motorola Xoom, the Asus Eee Pad Slider, the Asus Eee Pad MeMo and the Asus Eee Slate EP121.
