Author: Eugene

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Transformer Prime microSD

To facilitate getting stuff to my Transformer Prime, I picked up a 32GB microSD card.

It’s great that the Prime has a microSD card slot, but there’s a rather significant flaw with it that people have found and discussed on on various forums. Because the sides of the Prime tapers off toward the back, rather than being flat, a chunk of the SD card sticks out. The card holder uses the traditional push spring retention mechanism (push to lock it in, push to pop it out). It’s actually pretty easy to accidentally pop the SD card out.

MicroSD card sticking out slightly from the side of the ASUS Transformer Prime tablet

I think if Asus had recessed the SD card holder a couple more millimeters in so that the card is flush with the back part of the slot instead of the top part of the slot, problems with accidental ejection would be eliminated.

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Transformer Prime as a reader

The main reason for getting the Transformer Prime was so that I could read my ever growing collection of PDF journal articles and ebooks some place other than the in front of my computer. Places like my rocking chair on my back porch or the comfort of my couch or bed. You know, the comfy places.

First off, glassy screen -> reflections. This shouldn’t come as a surprise to anyone. Particularly glaring reflections can, for the most part, be dealt with by angling the screen without affecting readability too much. If this is something that’s going to drive you crazy, you’ll want to consider something else. Hasn’t bothered me too much so far.

The brightness of the Prime means that the tablet should be readable in pretty much any lighting condition, from dark room the bright daylight. The brightness boost provided by IPS+ mode makes the screen on the Prime easily readable even in bright sunlight, although you’ll pay for it in battery life. I haven’t used it much for reading in sunlight too much, but it works.

The weight isn’t much more than a hefty book, but heavier than your typical paperback. Holding it for extended periods of reading isn’t too great a strain and so far I haven’t found it terribly uncomfortable. I find for reading, holding the Prime in portrait orientation is most comfortable.

Perhaps the biggest problem I’m having with the Prime as a reader is that it’s too easy to bounce around and do other things like surf the web, check mail when a new message notification pops up or check Facebook, or play a game. If you have a brain with somewhat ADD tendencies like mine, this can be a bit of a problem, especially if you’re reading something that isn’t quite engrossing enough to override those tendencies. With dedicated e-book readers like the Kindle or Nook, all you can do is, well, read so there isn’t the temptation to bounce around to or get distracted by other things. If your brain isn’t like that, then probably won’t be an issue.

All in all, I’m liking the Prime for reading. I think it will rank up there as one of the better purchases I’ve made.

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Southeast Linuxfest 2012

You should go. It’s always a good time.

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Sub-55 10k?

Yeah, I think I could do one pretty easily.

I’ve actually never done any runs that came close to the 10k distance, even way back during my running heyday. Even back then most of my routes were in the 5-7 km range. I’ve always considered myself a middle distance runner (1500m to 5km) and never tested myself at the longer distances.

Went out for a long run this morning, 9.4 km in just under 57 minutes. I started off only planning on doing my 7 km route, but when I got to the end I was still feeling pretty good so I decided to add on the 2.5 km out and back to the main road. Managed to maintain a pretty stead pace around 6 minutes/km, but it didn’t feel like I was going that fast.

It will probably be a few more months before I start running this far on a regular basis. With summer coming, possibly not until cooler weather returns in the fall.

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Transformer Prime X-ray

Transformer Prime X-ray
Transformer Prime X-ray

You knew this was coming. Orientation of the x-ray is as if you were holding it landscape looking at the screen. Click the image to embiggenate.

Easily visible is the battery in the center (which actually appears to be two batteries) and several main boards. The pair of oval things on the right are the speakers. At the top the cameras and flash LED are visible. The board between the batteries I’m guessing is the charging circuitry for the batteries. On the left side are the microSD slot, HDMI port and the volume buttons. Above the left battery, the big square thing is probably the Tegra 3 chip.

Compare the x-ray to the tear down pictures over at AnandTech.