Asus Transformer
For Christmas I bought myself an Asus laptop. It was cheap, dependable, exactly what I needed for writing. It was about fourteen inches, so it was big enough to get a good bit on the screen, was quick with 4 GB of ram, and had tons of space.
I just traded it in though, so that’s not what I’m writing about.
It wasn’t that it was a bad laptop, it just wasn’t what I had in mind. For years, I’ve either written on our desktop PC or my netbook. The netbook has finally worn itself out and I really wanted something that was just as portable but quicker. The Asus I bought was right at $300 and I really thought it would meet that. The moment I opened it up though, I knew it was a problem. First, the keyboard sounded hollow. I know, stupid complaint, but that speaks a good bit to quality in my experience. The pointer was clunky and unresponsive and then there’s Windows 8, which is just a pain in the ass. Overall, I was just unsatisfied even though it met all my needs.
Monday, I saw that the computer I had looked at and really wanted (but felt was too expensive) was a hundred bucks cheaper than it had been in December. So I sold my laptop on Amazon (because luckily people are always looking for a deal) and went to Office Depot to get the one I’m on right now, the Asus Transformer. This was a pretty popular model this year but I’m pretty sure I’ve bought the cheapest no frills version out there. Instead of 4 GB of ram, it has 2. It only has a 32 GB harddrive and the screen is ten inches. Overall, it’s specs are pitiful compared to the other laptop, or really any laptop. Oh, and it was $20 more.
I love it.
First of all, the thing about the transformer is that it’s a tablet. You press a button and it instantly breaks away form the keyboard. Voila, tablet! That means it has a touchscreen and for the first time ever, I don’t feel the need for a mouse while using a mobile computer. I can do quick stuff with by either touching the screen or using the touchpad.
The size is the only real limitation. The screen is tiny compared to anything else, but if you’ve used a small netbook then you’re used to it already. Same thing for the keyboard (though it is a bit cramped compared to the Acer netbook I had prior). The harddrive would be a problem if I wanted to use it for anything else besides writing, luckily that’s all I do with it.
It’s been especially fun to use it for outlining. I walk around the house, talking to myself while I write. Scrivener has given me a great way to do that, but now I can just carry around the table, jotting down notes and moving cards as I go along.
As a last note, the operating system is Windows 8, but this is really what it was meant for. All the stupid gestures, app interface, everything I hated on the PC, makes a lot more sense in the framework of a tablet and even works well with the keyboard attached. And this is real Windows 8 too, not a starter, tablet, or netbook version. Anything you can do with 2 GB of ram and 32 GB of harddrive space, you can do with this.
Which means I’m having a blast.
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