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Duels: Battle of the Five Star Products >

Asus EeePad Transformer vs Acer TimeLineX 3830T

Romain Thuret
Translator: Jack Sims
Updated: September 2, 2011

On the left, the Asus EeePad Transformer touchscreen tablet and its keyboard dock, running on Android Honeycomb. On the menu, a dual core Nvidia Tegra 2 processor at 1 GHz, a 10.1-inch IPS panel, 32 GB of storage and 1 GB of RAM.
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| 		On the right, the Acer TimelineX 3830T ultra-portable laptop, a product with a 13.3-inch screen with a glossy TN panel, an Intel Core i3-2310M (2.1 GHz) processor and 500 GB storage with 4 GB of RAM and  a 10-hour battery life (announced).

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IPS | TN
1 280 x 800 pixels | 1 366 x 768 pixels
17 ms | 23.5 ms
mini HDMI + proprietary port + USB 2.0 + micro SD + SD/SDHC
 | USB 3.0 + HDMI + VGA + SD/SDHC + USB 2.0
178° / 178° | 178° / 178°


THE BACKGROUND

With an original concept  that is, for the moment,  unique, the EeePad Transformer is a tablet with a keyboard dock. This dock is far more than a simple accessory. An additional battery and connectivity, keyboard shortcuts in accord with Android and perfect integration with the original design make it an indispensable companion.
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When Acer launches itself in the ultra segment, it's generally to offer an accessible product which can nevertheless stand up to higher end competition without too many blushes.
The TimelineX 3830T also has a very good finish and comes with USB 3.0.

For once, our duel is not between two star products in the same category but concerns a question that often comes to mind: can a tablet compete with a laptop? We have chosen the hybrid EeePad Transformer with its keyboard-battery and set it up against a pretty good ultra that nevertheless won't cost you too much more than the tablet. The Acer TimelineX 3830T is a much more pertinent choice than a netbook, which would be too limited in performance terms.

 

DESIGN AND HARDWARE: A DRAW


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With its hinge in the centre and not along the whole length, the Asus tablet with keyboard has something of a Louis Vuitton bag about it, in two separate bits, one placed beside the other. The Acer 3830T is also actually quite a stylish machine and has a pretty seductive line for this price positioning. 

Homogenous, considered design: very slim and light, the tablet / dock ensemble fit together in a coherent design. The keyboard has the Vuitton look of the EeePad Transformer, giving the two together the feel of a high end, fashion netbook.

All the main connectors included: Asus haven't forgotten any of the vital connectors on the Transformer+keyboard-dock ensemble.

Full keyboard(s): whether straight on the touchscreen or using the dock, typing on the Transformer is never a problem and none of the keys are missing. Navigation in the OS (Android 3.1) has been translated onto the keyboard.

The design drawbacks on the Transformer are minor, but might annoy you slightly: we're thinking of the stiff hinge and the fact that the pads on the bottom stop the machine from sliding around a little too much.		 |
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 		A surprising finish: releasing an ultra at this price and managing such a nice finish, bringing together quality plastics with aluminium is a real achievement. Congratulations go to Acer! No space is lost and nowhere does it feel hollow. A nice object, dense and compact.

USB 3.0 port: the TimelineX 3830T can provide even faster file transfers via USB.

VGA out: strangely enough, the HDMI in isn't necessarily the first connector you look for on a mobile device. The good old VGA out can still save you!

The 3830T nevertheless has a fault that tablets with ARM architecture never have. It heats up, sometimes as high as 50° in some areas, when you push it hard. Note also, the touchpad is a little too slim.

SCREEN: ASUS WINS

Faster: Our readings for ghosting came out at 17ms for the  Transformer and 23.5ms for the Acer ultra, so the Asus has the better display speed.

Better contast and colours: the tablet's contrast isn't much different to that of the  Timeline 3830T, with an average of 814: 1 against 715: 1.
The average deltaE, which gives the colour accuracy score, is better on the Tranfsormer, or 5.4 against 8.7 (nice primary colours from the Asus and good grey). Its very wide viewing angles hammer home its advantage here. 

Note also that there's a higher colour temperature on the tablet, with such consistency that the colour difference is almost undetectable to the naked eye, in contrast to the Acer laptop.

As the Timeline 3830T has, like the Transformer, a glossy screen, reflectivity will be a problem.

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ALL ROUND CAPACITY: ACER JUST ABOUT WINS





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Large storage capacity: with a 500 GB hard drive, the 3830T can claim a big advantage over the Asus tablet and its  32 GB (or 64 GB with a  microSD).

Heavy processing and encoding: while many applications in the PC / Mac world now have their Android and/or iOS equivalents, Android tablets can't adapt to varying content, unlike PCs. Multimedia playback, then, is more extensive on the Acer, as is image retouching. Encoding is  also available and web navigation surpasses the Tegra 2 when it comes to rapidity.

Flexibility of Windows 7: with the capacities of the Core i3 and the total integration of W7, the 3830T has very few limits, except perhaps in the speed of execution of the processing of some applications.

The TimelineX 3830T can't beat the Transformer however, when it comes to enjoyment of videos and games. The ultra is indeed weak on games in general, whereas the EeePad has access to Market and the TegraZone.

BATTERY LIFE AND MOBILITY: ASUS WINS

A monster called Tranformer: equipped with its keyboard, the Asus tablet has twice the battery life. Already superior to the Acer laptop in tablet mode - 7H30 against 5H and a few minutes on the 3830T - the battery life of the EeePad increases to 15 hours in mixed use with the keyboard connected!


Almost featherweight: while the TimelineX 3830T has several advantages when it comes to mobility, the EeePad does even better. With or without its keyboard (1.3kg or 680 grammes), the Transformer is more easily transported and the fact that it doesn't have mechanical memory (Flash Nand) means you can knock it around without concern.

You can also supply it with light applications, rapidly accessible through Android Market, and the battery can be recharged on the keyboard. You can also download photos onto the keyboard.

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VERDICT: ASUS, for a hybrid tablet-based allrounder

This exercise demonstrates the excellent value for money you get with the Asus EeePad Transformer, when purchased with its keyboard. Rarely can an accessory have earned such merit, to the point of turning its product into a star item.

Pure mobility: with or without the keyboard, the tablet is light, compact, rapid on start-up and with a huge battery life. You won't need to worry on this score, even on a long-haul flight.

Video games: no Games for Windows but a "Game for Android" and optimisation for the "Tegra 2" club which turns Honeycomb tablets into 3D gaming machines means that it almost rivals the Apple iPad in its own category.

A pleasure to watch: the Transformer's screen counts among the most balanced on the tablet market and this puts it in front of many laptops. The letters "IPS" tell the whole story.		 |
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 		At the end of the day the Acer Aspire TimelineX 3830T makes up for its drawbacks by offering something that mobile OS' can't: the flexibility of the operating system and the compatibility of the product across all types of usage.

For example, managing a blog from a tablet becomes an exercise in gymnastics, with certain procedures being rather random in terms of their execution (dialogue box for photo upload in contents windows for example).
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