The most helpful critical review of ASUS Transformer TF300

Click on product's photo to see details

The most helpful critical review of ASUS Transformer TF300 ---The main reason I purchased this tablet was because I loved my Android smartphone (Samsung Epic Touch 4G) and wanted the same experience (without the phone) on a bigger screen. I have about a dozen apps, and most often use Gmail, Browser, WSJ, Facebook, and some kids games. My smartphone runs these great, so I was really looking forward to the bigger screen and more powerful processor.

So, whether it is fair or not, I will compare this to my smartphone, in the hopes that it might help someone else. I have been waiting to pull the trigger on a new Android tablet for some time. Based on the reviews, this seems like a great product at a good price point.

Unlike many other reviewers, I am very satisfied with both the build quality and the display. While it does feel a little "plasticky", all of the buttons and physical plugs have a solid feel. The display is great for everything that I need, although I almost always leave it on full brightness. Personally, I do not feel that the higher-end displays are worth the additional price yet. I also am very happy with the new ICS interface. Many of the new features (you can read about elsewhere) are well worth the upgrade.
Performance-wise, this thing is a dog compared to my smartphone. The included browser is frustratingly slow. Pages take 3-6 seconds to load. After they load, they do not respond to scrolling or touch input for a few more seconds. I tried the Chrome Browser and it wasn't much better. In many apps, I frequently get a totally non-responsive screen, followed by the notice "[whatever app] is not responding. Would you like to close it [Wait or OK]? I click Wait, and eventually they come back. Crashing: Both Gmail and the Browser have crashed about 6-10 times in the first week, requiring me to restart the tablet to get them working again.

APPS: (These are not the fault of the device, but still affect my experience). After setting up the device, I downloaded the same dozen or so apps that I had purchased for my smartphone. Be aware that the apps that get downloaded to this tablet are not the same as those that get loaded onto a smartphone. In theory, this is a good thing, because the apps have been specifically designed for the tablet. For example, the WSJ app is much fancier (similar to the iPad app version). However, performance and lag make it unbearable to use, compared to the version on my smartphone.

In short, the performance and lag of this tablet is so bad, I almost always pull out my smartphone to check something on the web or read the news, or perform a search. I am really not sure what to do with this tablet now. I might wait to see if there is some kind of software upgrade, or just let my kids use it for games.

For someone who loves his android smartphone, and was looking forward to better things on a big screen, ASUS Transformer TF300 is a huge disappointment. Also read last article about Best Review of ASUS Transformer TF300.