Just bought a Tablet, im nervous. Options

[Stackups immy]

So even though i really dont leave the house anymore the geek in me wants tech...so i decided to get a tablet...i went with the Asus Transformer Prime...mostly because its made of awesome.

So having never owned a tablet or even a cell phone, im a little nervous...are things like those screen protectors really necessary? i always had a hard time helping friends put them on.

Also, besides Shadowgun are there any games i should look into getting? Any recommendations when it comes to bluetooth game controllers?

hehe its sad how excited i am over this thing. =]

[awa64]

So having never owned a tablet or even a cell phone, im a little nervous...are things like those screen protectors really necessary? i always had a hard time helping friends put them on.

Not so much, lately, and they're more useful for phones than they are for tablets anyway. They were vital back when the top surface of the screen was made out of plastic, but now that they're using glass (and specifically damage-resistant glass like gorilla glass) you're already safe from most damage that a screen protector would've been able to help with.

On the other hand, a case for the whole thing could be helpful. They make some pretty nice ones that look like leatherbound notebooks.

[Waspinator]

Did you get the keyboard dock? I'm typing this message on the first, non-Prime Transformer which has become my laptop of choice. What you have is basically the same thing but better, so I'm kind of jealous.

For controllers, if you've got a USB port (if it's like the original Transformer its on the keyboard dock) a wired 360 controller plugged in works well. A Wii controller can also be connected with the right software via bluetooth.

For games, first off get these free emulators. I have them and I love them. You're on your own for finding roms though, not sure the mods would like me posting that.
https://slideme.org/user/yongzh

Other fun stuff:
Sonic CD
Sonic 4 Episode 1
Grand Theft Auto III
Age of Zombies
Words with Friends
Hanging with Friends
Minicraft
Plants vs Zombies
Peggle
Fruit Ninja
Cut the Rope
Burn the Rope
Glow Hockey
Death Worm
World of Goo
Osmos

OnLive is an interesting but potentially laggy service. You can use it to stream and play console games to a tablet. Try out a free demo to see if you like it.

Getjar and the Amazon app store's free app-of-the-day have been very valuable in building up my collection of games.

This post has been edited by Waspinator: Feb 23 2012, 04:05 AM

[DeltaSeeker]

As far as cases, I recommend Caseen: http://www.caseen.com/Asus-Transformer-Prime_c_28.html

Bought one for my original Transformer, keeps it well protected when it's not on my keyboard dock, and looks nice doing it (IMG:style_emoticons/default/icon-hotrod.gif)

[Copper Bezel]

Did you get the keyboard dock? I'm typing this message on the first, non-Prime Transformer which has become my laptop of choice. What you have is basically the same thing but better, so I'm kind of jealous.

Yeah, I got a chance to play with a docked Transformer at Best Buy, and it's a really nice keyboard - I mean, it felt just like typing on my Eee, or any other Asus island-style keyboard. I haven't seen the dock for the Prime, but I imagine it's up to the same standards. (The trackpad didn't feel quite as nice, oddly, but I don't know what to expect with Android and pointer control.)

[The Doctor Who]

I have no experience with that, specific tablet, but I have owned two 'droid tablets and enjoyed them immensely.

Sonic CD is a blast. I also enjoy playing with Minecraft (although it's still in it's early stages for portables and I had to cheat to get it on there), Gem Miner is a fun game, along with World of Goo, Vanessa, PewPew, Chuzzle, Angry Birds (duh), Tetris and Worms. I also have a nice version of solitaire. If you're into the dark arts of emulation, GENPlusDroid is a good Genesis emulator and John NES is great for NES games. Ooh, and I can't forget Alchemy and Roller. A lot of these are free, or have limited free versions to try out. Mostly the paid versions of any given app just remove adds.

As far as general apps go, I read with Kindle, Kobo and Aldiko. Merriam-Webster has a good dictionary app, and Comic Rack is great for CBR comics. Splastop Remote is great for interacting with your computer from anywhere in your house (and supposedly over the internet) and I mess about with Sketch Free and Sketch Book Mobile. I can recommend Go Launcher Ex as a nice alternate launcher, if you don't like the default.

The key to this is experimentation. Not every tablet is compatible with every app and you really need to find the ones that work best on yours. In addition, since you're using a 'droid tablet, there's a lot that you can do to improve things with a little research and preparation. I don't know what the Transformer tablets are like, but I know some of the backwater 'droids require some coaxing and modifying to get the best results from them.

[Stackups immy]

first, thanks for the info guys =]

and WOW! this thing is AMAZING!...The speed of it blows my mind...the screen is gorgeous and not super insanely sensitive, the touch sensitivity is perfect...and i have no problems with there being only the one speaker, took a few mins to get used to and after that its fine...could use a little bass, but thats just a minor quibble.

i grabbed the micro HDMI cable (mostly because one of my best friends works at radio shack and i get to use her discount hehe) and hooked it up to my TV, and the 1080p output is clean and crisp...and Shadowgun and Angry Birds look awesome on a 42in screen.

Streaming videos from both Netflix and from my PC works beautifully...and i havent had any of the Wi-Fi issues id heard alot of people talking about, so thats good.

I decided to forgo my usual naming conventions...and went with an Autobot name for her instead of a Decepticon one (my netbook is blue and named Soundwave. my Net-top is white and named Megatron, my black seagate external harddrive is Ravage)...since ts curvy, and kinda badass, i have officially dubbed her Chromia.

I cannot help but be so blown away by the dang thing...i feel like im living in Star Trek: TNG...Everyone should have on of these. =]

This post has been edited by Stackups immy: Feb 26 2012, 06:13 AM

[D Buster Prime]

I'm posting from a Prime with a keyboard dock. It's not a complete laptop replacement, but for wireless web browsing on a lightweight device with a combined battery that feels like it runs forever, I can't complain.

Remote desktop software and Slingbox also help fill in the gaps of not being a full desktop device.

I don't have a screen protector though. I just close the dock over the screen whenever I'm not using it.

[Stackups immy]

Haha...story of my life...early Sunday morning i was watching vids on my desktop comp (an Acer Revo Nettop), when i heard the fan die and he dang thing loxcked up...and considering the nettops run on netbook parts, its really hard to replace parts...it is 2.5 years old...but now i gotta figure out some way to save another $400 - $500 to get a new nettop...atleast the new models have bluray drives and the awesome trackpad / virtual keyboard peripheral...sigh

Im even more thankful now for the tablet...without it id be going insane with no net access heh

The keyboard dock is coming in the mail this week...im glad to hear that just folding 'em up is good enough to protect the screen.

Also, anyone know if the tablet itself supports microSDs bigger than 32gb...same for the dock, is it possible to use SDcards bigger thab 32gb?

[Kalidor]

If you replace the fan it will probably work.

[Stackups immy]

yeah...the thing is, i cant quite figure out how to open the Revos case...theres one screw and after i took it out...nothing moved or anything...its really weird.

[BB Shockwave]

I'm always considering to buy one of these drawing tablets - though knowing my luck they would not be compatible with the hundred-years-old version of Photoshop I am using. But they cost too much to just buy and try them, and I have never seen one on display in a store where I could check whether I'd really be able to draw with them.

[Copper Bezel]

Yeah. Since I'm on Linux, I'm always worried about driver issues with them - pressure sensitivity tends to be particularly problematic, even when using an older tablet on a Windows system. The only time I've played with one, I borrowed it from someone for whom the pressure sensitivity had stopped working on his Windows system after an update, and found that the same problem existed on my Linux system. = P But I can say that if you're worried about it being too "abstract", moving the pointer that way, I found that it "clicked" rather quickly for me, and it felt a lot more like drawing on paper than with a mouse. I had to zoom in more than I was entirely comfortable with to have any kind of accuracy, but that might of course have been simply because I was using a small drawing tablet and a small display res.

If you're getting a current Wacom or something mainstream like that and using it on Windows, I can't imagine any driver issues being a hangup, and your Photoshop version shouldn't really matter so long as it has support for brush dynamics through pressure sensitivity at all. I think you'll find it intuitive enough, and to do art like yours, you need pressure sensitivity, so it's better than the option of using a tablet PC, a stylus, and a specialized app for sketching (like Autodesk's Sketchbook Mobile) to make a file that you're going to be taking over to Photoshop anyway.

This post has been edited by Copper Bezel: Feb 28 2012, 09:58 AM

[Waspinator]

Onlive Desktop just got released for Android. Say hello to Windows 7 on your tablet via remote desktop.

https://market.android.com/details?id=com.onlive.desktop

[Stackups immy]

This thing continues to be so awesome and mind-blowingly cool.

The Keyboard dock came in the mail yesterday, so cool! The added functionality of the USB port is definitely a welcome addition...i added a 4-port USB hub with a mouse, and 2 8gb flash drives i had gotten as gifts last year, and it had no problem accessing them and now its making itself a nice home on my desk while charging or not being carried around.

Onlive Desktop sounds like a really cool thingie...i might need that.

Also, thanks Doctor Who for mentioning Comic Rack...that was one program that was TOTALLY worth its meager price tag! I am beyond amazed at how crisp, clear, easy to read, and downright beautiful Comics look on here. Thanks to the screens Super IPS+ display, i was able to sit outside the other day in the bright sun and still pretty much be able to read without any problems.

And after looking into it, The Asus Eee Pad MeMo ME370T, looks to be a pretty badass addition to the 7inch market...and the $249 price tag aint too shabby either...i may start saving up for it just because the tech geek in me is drooling and repeatedly saying "preeeetttyyyy hehehehehe"...and thats one voice in my head i listen to...as opposed to the others who i know not to listen to heh.

[Waspinator]

Lag makes OnLive's game service kind of iffy since many games require precise aiming, but the Windows Desktop is pretty cool. Sadly, you have to pay a monthly fee if you want most of the good stuff. But it does offer the ability to run the full Windows versions of Microsoft Office and Internet Explorer on a tablet, which is nice.

And yeah, the USB ports are almost as nice as the keyboard itself. The option of mice and USB flash drives is very nice. I got the smaller storage space option on my Transformer and never regretted it. The memory card slots and USB ports give me more potential storage space than I need.

What annoys me is that many cool games going forward (like Sonic 4 Episode 2) are going to need the Tegra 3 chip and my non-Prime Transformer has the Tegra 2. At this point, I should probably just wait for the inevitable Tegra 4 before upgrading though.

This post has been edited by Waspinator: Mar 1 2012, 04:39 AM

[Copper Bezel]

And after looking into it, The Asus Eee Pad MeMo ME370T, looks to be a pretty badass addition to the 7inch market...and the $249 price tag aint too shabby either...i may start saving up for it just because the tech geek in me is drooling and repeatedly saying "preeeetttyyyy hehehehehe"...and thats one voice in my head i listen to...as opposed to the others who i know not to listen to heh.

The price is right, particularly in light of the first MeMo. I wish it hadn't lost the distinctive style of the first MeMo, though. It doesn't look any different from anything from Samsung or Apple or anyone else. Functionality is fine, but Asus has been good at making kit that can't be mistaken for anyone else's, and the new MeMo doesn't have that.

[The Doctor Who]

Also, thanks Doctor Who for mentioning Comic Rack...that was one program that was TOTALLY worth its meager price tag! I am beyond amazed at how crisp, clear, easy to read, and downright beautiful Comics look on here. Thanks to the screens Super IPS+ display, i was able to sit outside the other day in the bright sun and still pretty much be able to read without any problems.

You're very welcome!

I found it when I was wanting to re-read the old Tintin comics and found it to be an excellent program. Very flexable, very user-friendly. And, like you say, very inexpensive.

That's got to be one of the things I'm enjoying the most about the app markets. Because it's an open market, there are so many enjoyable games and tools for little to nothing and most have a free limited/trial version to go along with it.

[Waspinator]

A sneaky tip: don't pay for the ad-free versions of the Angry Birds games. Get the free ad-based versions and turn off your wifi while playing. You'll save battery power and the ads don't show up if your internet connection is down.

[Zyking]

The Asus Transformer Prime seems pretty awesome, from what I have seen on YouTube.

Interesting sidenote though, isn't this the tablet that Hasbro is considering suing Asus over? I seem to remember reading some small article about it.