ASUS DELIVERS a complete package with the Transformer Pad Infinity
TF700 Android tablet. It maintains the slim, stylish, multipurpose tradition
of its predecessor, the Transformer Prime, but adds an improved Nvidia Tegra 3
processor and a 1920-by- 1200-pixel display. Except in battery life, it's the
best performing Android tablet we've seen to date.
The 32GB version of the Infinity also offers double the memory of the third
generation 16GB Apple iPad, at the same price, $499. The 64GB version of the
Infinity costs $599, or $100 less than the 64GB iPad.
At 10.4 by 7.1 by 0.3 inches and 1.31
pounds, the Infinity is one of the lightest and slimmest Android tablets.
Apple's iPad measures 9.5 by 7.3 by 0.4 inches, and weighs 1.44 pounds. I found
the Infinity more comfortable to hold than the iPad.
High-Res Display
The high-resolution, 10.1 inch display
dramatically improves the overall tablet
experience. Text is clearer, images are sharper, and everything on the screen
pops. The Infinity’s pixel density of 224 pixels per inch matches that of the
Iconia Tab A700. The iPad’s 2048- by-1536-pixel resolution delivers 264 pixels
per inch, but the difference in screen quality between the iPad and the
two Android tablets was not overwhelmingly obvious.
Test images looked great, too sharper
and clearer with better color reproduction than on 1280-by-800 pixel
tablets. Admittedly, the Infinity's images did look overly vivid likely
because of the brighter display. But the Infinity clearly topped the Prime in
contrast and clarity.
The glass panel is made of Corning
Gorilla Glass 2, but lacks optical bonding, which can minimize glare and improve
image clarity.
The Infinity comes loaded with Android
4.03 Ice Cream Sandwich, 1GB of DDR3 memory operating at 1600MHz (an
improvement over the type of memory used on the
Prime), and a quad-core 1.6GHz Nvidia Tegra 3 T33 processor.
Top Performance
Among Android tablets, the Infinity
roared past almost all comers in our tests. It outperformed other Tegra 3-based
models running at a slower clock speed to grab the crown as top performer.
The high-resolution display saps
battery life faster; in our tests, the Infinity's battery lasted 7 hours, 58
minutes, versus the Prime's 8 hours, 22 minutes and the iPad's 10 hours, 46
minutes. But it was superfast at recharging, requiring just 2 hours, 32
minutes.
Like the Prime, the Infinity
has a rear 8-megapixel camera, but it
has a slightly wider aperture for low-light shooting. I preferred the
Infinity's images; its color and clarity were better than the Prime's. Also,
the front-facing camera now has 2 megapixels, for high-definition video chat.
The Infinity supports
Bluetooth 3.0. Ports include a Micro-HDMI output, a MicroSD card reader, and a proprietary
connector to use with the charger/USB transfer cable or the optional
keyboard dock. Like other models in Asus's Transformer series, the Infinity
morphs into a clamshell-style netbook when you snap the tablet into its $150
Mobile Dock.
I encountered
some odd behavior when transferring media to the Infinity from my Windows 7 PC,
such as error messages; and several apps, including the browser and the camera,
closed unexpectedly.
Still, the Asus Transformer Pad
Infinity TF700 takes over from its predecessor as the top Android tablet
available
0 comments:
Post a Comment