My search for that perfect tablet that meets all my needs is never ending. I have farted around with a lot of tablets over the years but I have yet to find the one that does it all. Whether simply writing an editorial, posting information on our website (Canadian Online Gamers), uploading a video, streaming content or reading an eBook, I have yet to find a tablet that does everything I want it to do and all at an affordable price. Doesn’t seem too much to ask but that majestic tablet continues to elude me. Microsoft’s Surface Pro came very close but in the end the hefty price tag was far too rich for my blood.
Over the past couple of weeks, I have given ASUS Transformer Pad TF103C a run for its money which, sorry ASUS, doesn’t hold a candle to the Surface Pro. and so my search continues. Despite this, the approximately $300 price tag is almost unbeatable. So in terms of price point the Transformer Pad crushes the Surface Pro and many other tablets for that matter. As with any cheap tech gadget some sacrifices are made and ASUS made quite a few of them as the TF103C is simply a far less powerful tablet compared to many others on the market. At the end of the day it really boils down to your needs and if an affordable tablet that is used for surfing, checking emails and firing up the odd App is something you are looking for then the ASUS Transformer Pad TF103C might be right up your alley.
Under the hood the TF103C sports a quad-core, 1.33GHz Atom Z3745 which does a nice job powering the Android tablet. So as far as tablets go the TF103C is snappy and much better than I expected as far as performance is concerned. Accessing web pages, downloading apps and watching videos occurred much faster than I expected. The performance could be due to the tablets lower resolution display as a higher resolution might have bogged things down. Regardless, playing tablet games and loading them up occurred without a hitch. This being said it wasn’t like I attempted to play any power house games you would typically play on a PC or laptop.
The TF103C only has 1GB of RAM which frankly isn’t enough. Yet when you take into consideration the price tag some things had to be sacrificed, right? Well one of those things was the memory. Having 1 GB of RAM should suit you fine in the short term but I really question how smoothly the TF103C will run in the long term after you have done some updates and downloaded a truck load of Apps. Most tablets tend to slow down after a year or two. I fear the ASUS Transformer Pad TF103C will slow down to a grinding halt.
Another feature sacrificed in the name of keeping this tablet affordable is the absence of a micro-HDMI output like many other tablets do. So when it comes to streaming to your TV you will have to resort to such things such as Chromecast and the associated Apps that work with it. Anyone who uses Chromecast knows it can be finicky at the best of times. While it remains disappointing the micro-HDMI slot is gone, there is a micro-SD storage slot and a micro-USB port. There is also a 2 megapixel rear camera and 0.3 megapixel front camera. All pretty basic stuff that won’t blow you away by any means.
The ASUS Transformer Pad TF103C has a sharp looking 10.1″screen. The quality of the images on screen was much better than I expected. Our own website, Canadian Online Gamers, looked sharp as did everything else I surfed. The 1,280 x 800 display isn’t up to par with other more expensive tablets on the market but for watching movies and streaming your favorite TV show the tablet should suffice.
The real selling point of the ASUS Transformer Pad TF103C comes in the form of the keyboard dock. I keep coming back to the price but I honestly did not expect to see such a high quality keyboard that comes with the Transformer Pad. The ASUS Transformer TF300 came with a keyboard dock but it came at a considerably higher price tag. The TF103C comes equipped with a small keyboard so I have to admit I struggled to type at a pace I have become accustomed to. Things like drafting emails, a quick preview piece for the site or the odd Facebook status update, the keyboard is perfectly fine, but if you have to pound out a 3000 word write-up you may wished you had started that report on another device. If you own one of ASUS TF300T Transformer Pad’s unfortunately the TF103C keyboard won’t work with it as the dock connector is a different size altogether. Not to mention the TF103C does not include a secondary battery cell which was a nice little perk with the previous ASUS Transformer Pads.
As far as the size is concerned the tablet is fairly light. I was able to take it with me wherever I went and at no point did I ever say to myself, “this sucker is heavy”. It has a smooth black matte finish which is easy to muck up with some greasy mitts but otherwise this tablet is not an eye sore. Battery wise you will get close to 10-hours out of the ASUS Transformer Pad TF103C which is not too shabby at all.
There is no question ASUS Transformer Pad TF103C is good value for the buck. The keyboard dock alone should make this tablet a no-brainer purchase for many, especially for those looking for tablet to place under the tree this holiday season. So if you are looking for a tablet that won’t break your budget but isn’t exactly a powerhouse you could do a lot worse.
