Asus Eee Pad Transformer TF101 Mobile Docking

**UPDATED 8/1/2011** Rough Start BUT Now a Great Accessory! As the title states, this is an update to my initial review of the Asus TF Keyboard Dock. You can continue reading below (and the additional comments) for the full back-story, but to summarize: Asus's initial release of this dock had a hardware "defect" (in my opinion) that allowed the battery in the dock to fully discharge. Once discharged, the battery would no longer accept a charge. They have since corrected this using the more recent builds (I've heard serial numbers starting with B06 and higher) - PLUS they've also added a firmware fix that allows the user the ability to choose between longer battery life on the dock or having it constantly charge the TF tablet (while sleeping). With both fixes I am no longer experiencing any issues with my dock and have once again been able to really use and enjoy my Transformer tablet and dock. Having the ability to go so quickly and easily from a tablet to a 'netbook' really makes the Transformer stand out from the crowd. I've tried a few of the hybrids out there (i.e. Dell Duo) and nothing comes close to the Transformer Tablet and Keyboard Dock combo! My only nit is that I wish they had some sort of low level LED light under the keyboard to help better see the keys in the dark, but that's just something *I* would like and doesn't take away from my 5-star rating. It was nice to see Asus actually responding to this issue, getting fixes out there, and support the early adopters that received the first round of hardware. **ORIGINAL REVIEW 5/19/11** "DEAD after 7 days and 2 charges.." As the title states, my keyboard dock "died" after it's first week and only 2 charges. It will no longer accept a charge and the LED just continues to blink orange. Ironically, I am still able to charge the Transformer itself through the dock, but it appears that the battery in the dock itself has gone belly up. To add insult to injury, Asus is EXPECTING customers to pay shipping costs to do an RMA on a brand new product. No thanks! It looks like I'll have to wait for them to come back in stock on Amazon or elsewhere and then just do a return of this one. I really don't like giving out 1 star reviews, but given my own experience with this dock and Asus support - plus anecdotal evidence from others with the same experience in the XDA forums, I think folks should be made aware of the potential build quality. It is unfortunate because the keyboard and trackpad themselves on this dock are WONDERFUL!! The keys feel great for typing and the trackpad is very response (w/o being over-responsive where you wind up with false 'clicks' all the time). Plus the whole concept of being able to snap your tablet in and out of the keyboard dock is brilliant. If it were not for the quality issues - i.e. the battery (or charging system) dying within the week - and the horrible support from Asus, this would be FIVE STAR item. However, at this point it's simply a crap shoot on whether you'll get a decent item or not. *** UPDATE: JUNE 19, 2011 *** Well, my second dock is now dead also.. I returned the first one to Amazon (was w/i my 30 days) and waiting to order a new one. Finally caught them in stock and had a new dock shipped on 5/31. I plugged it in to charge when it arrived and over the course of the 8 hours, the LED when from a stead red/orange to green. I docked my TF and everything was fine. Under normal usage everything would worked fine - the battery would drain and then charge - no problems at all. HOWEVER - There appears to be BIG problem with these docks and I feel this is what is causing (or contributing to) my docks dying. These things have a constant drain on them when the Transformer tablet is attached - even if you power the tablet OFF. [...] I believe what is happening in my case is that the dock battery drains to a point where it will no longer accept a charge. In both cases, I had the tablet docked to the keyboard - powered OFF - and did not use it for a week or so. When I went to power it on, the tablet/dock had just enough juice to tell me that the battery was very low (I believe around 1%) and that it needed to be charged - and then it shut down. OK, fine, no problem. I plugged it in to charge and left it. The tablet charged up to 100% with no issues, however 72 hours later and again I have a keyboard dock with a constant blinking orange LED that will not charge. Again, I tried charging it with the tablet attached and without - no change. The adapter doesn't even heat up when trying to charge which again tells me that something in the battery on the dock is not accepting the charge. I'll go ahead and contact Asus per the comment they left on this review, but frankly this appears to be a design issue - where the tablet cannot be stored connected to the keyboard for an extended period of time without use. Unfortunately, I'm sticking with 1 star for this review until this problem is corrected because in my opinion this is a serious issue. Storing your Transformer, powered OFF, closed like a laptop should *not* break the keyboard dock.

So I ordered the Asus Transformer 16 GB tablet and decided right away that I would want the USB functionality included on the Keyboard Docking Station. But it is a lot more than just that... Pros: Wow, typing on a real keyboard is just so much more precise and easier than using a virual keyboard. Granted, you do not get any word suggestions or spell check, but hey, I don't mind. I know we all make mistakes while typing. Keep in mind that this keyboard is sized to fit the size of the tablet, so it is smaller than the average keyboard, more like a netbook sized keyboard. But it is easier to use than any onscreen virtual keypad, and I've used the Asus Transformer's on screen keyboard, the Ipad2 virtual keyboard, and my android phone's virtual keyboard with Swype. This docking keyboard is by far the easiest and quickest way to type. Some people may argue this and say it is just as easy. That is their opinion, and this is mine. The keys are the chicklet or island style and are easy to use without messing up. Maybe if your fingers are of the larger size it might feel more cramped, but I love this. While the keyboard is in use, you can still use the touchscreen. Makes it really easy to move the cursor around. The track pad for controlling the cursor is very good. Multi gestures work great. Still getting used to some of them. Hotkeys are perfectly designed and useful. Asus did a great job thinking ahead on this thing. Keyboard seems to have upgrade capabilities through firmware. Not only does it have one full sized USB port, but it has two of them. I had no problems popping in an 8 GB thumb drive, copying files to and from, then safely ejecting it, then pulling it out. So easy to use. I haven't used the MMC.SD.SDHC slot since I mainly use the Micro SD on the tablet, or USB thumb drives. Snapping the Tablet into the docking station is a snap, and removing it is easy as well. Although I could imagine some poeple pushing too hard and breaking a mechanism that connects the device if not aligned properly, but you should be careful regardless. Once docked the tablet-turned-netbook looks so sharp. It is a well thought out design. The extra battery life for the entire device together is very nice to have as well. When docked, I noticed that the tablet itself stops using power and it drains from the keyboard battery until about 3%, then it goes to the tablet's battery for power. There are apps to view the tablet and the keyboard's power so you can see the status of each of them. You can charge the keyboard by itself, or while docked with the tablet. When docked, it charges both from what I can tell. Not sure which one first. Also note that there is a charging light on only the docking station, not on the tablet. I noticed 4 different lights to indicate the status of the charge. Blinking orange quickly is low battery less than 3% charging. Slow blinking orange is charging is less than 10%. Solid orange is charged less than 95%, then green is charged between 95% and 100%. Please note my cons below for more info on charging. I feel that the keyboard is fairly light, but in all honestly it does add a little weight to the overall docked product but who the heck cares. It isn't like it weighs 10 pounds or more. It is less than 3 lbs when docked. It has extra battery life and that is what is important to me, not trying to find the lightest tablet in the world. This feels pretty sturdy to me, so I don't mind the slightly added weight. CONS: First, I have to put this in just to be fair, it does add extra weight to the overall docked product. If you are tying to find something that practically floats when you let go of it, then look elsewhere. This does not come with a power charger. You have to use the one that was included with the tablet, or buy an extra one. Don't expect to find an extra charger. When typing, you may experience a slight delay after pressing the key before it shows on the screen. Not a huge delay, but some may notice it. The power charger that comes with the tablet can be problematic when trying to charge. I found that what worked for me, after finding it through a google search, was to put the adapter, without the usb cord, in a baggie and place into the freezer until cold, then plug it in. Sounds strange, but it seriously worked for me. The next time I charged it, there was no problem that required me to freeze the charger. Please read about this problem by searching the internet. If this scares you at all, you may want to consider another product. For me, so far, this is an excellent combination. I highly recommend the docking station keyboard.

当初購入予定では無かったのですが、平行輸入で半額以下だったので思わず購入。ＵＳ仕様でアンダーバーなどキーと一致しない文字があるが、入力ソフトがらみで慣れれば特に問題なく使用できます。バッテリー内蔵で音量などのホットキーも有り、買ってよかったと思います。

ＴＦ１０１自体が、パソコンのほうが、利用内容に対して良かったかも知れない

一部アプリやFacebookに書き込むときに、勝手に誤変換したり、カーソルが勝手に飛んで行ったりする。 これは並行輸入品だけの問題なのかは分からない。 キーボードの記号が一部ずれているのは、他の方のレビュー通り。 そのうち慣れるでしょう。 見た目は良いし、バッテリーは長く持ってくれる。 誤変換とカーソルが飛ぶ問題がなければ合格なんだけどね。

いいです。いいです。いいです。いいです。いいです。いいです。