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Asus Eee Pad Transformer Keyboard Dock Review

Saturday, 17 September 2022

Asus Eee Pad Transformer Keyboard Dock Review

Written by Matthew //

August 24, 2022 //

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The styling of the keyboard dock takes a cue from the tablet itself. It still maintains the strong plastic build with a brown accent. The optional Keyboard dock turns the Asus Eee Pad Transformer into a completely different device. Adding a physical keyboard to a Honeycomb tablet gives you the versatility of a netbook and a smartphone. The Android Market is only a click away and the included Polaris application will satisfy those looking to do some word processing. Personally, I prefer Quick Office HD ($29.99).

The keyboard has chick-let style keys that do take a few practice sessions to get used to. I found that keys had to be pressed completely down for it to rest. I would say that my hands are average and I had no issues hitting the keys or palm discomfort. To give you an idea of how productive this dock really is, I decided to complete the rest of the review using the Polaris Word processing application and the WordPress app from the Android Market.

Included inside the dock, is an additional battery; which will give you that extra battery juice needed to get the job done. Asus claims an additional 16 hours on the packaging. The best part is that it doesn’t block any ports on the Transformer. In fact, it adds some additional functionality via the two USB 2.0 ports and the SD card slot. I found the 2 USB ports to be my favorite part of the Transformer. I was able to plug my Android smartphone (Samsung Nexus S) directly into the keyboard dock via a USB cable. Not only did it charge my phone, but it was also able to read it as USB Memory Device. I was able to browse all contents and even move data from the phone to the tablet.

Bottom Line:

The keyboard dock is definitely worth it. Don’t get me wrong, the Tablet is great by itself. However, adding a physical tablet to a tablet transforms it into a different category. Not only do you get the functionality of a Laptop but you have access to the same Android Market that your phone has. $149 may seem like a lot and for the combined price of $549 you could get a pretty decent laptop. You have to ask yourself: “Can you take the screen off a $500 laptop and still use it?” The versatility justifies the price tag, especially when other tablets like the Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1 and Motorola Xoom are selling at the $499 price point.