[Q] Buy the TF701 or......wait for a newer model?

[dsnye]

I have a Nexus 7 2012 that I am going to pass that down to my youngest daughter for Xmas and I am thinking about a replacement.
Everything I've read seems to point to this as something that will handle my college school work (CS) and still be able to have some fun with it (games, media, traveling, etc).
The keyboard dock is what elevates this and the only close competitor seems to be the HP Slatebook X2 (as far as I can tell).

My question is, would you buy it NOW, or wait until spring 2015 to see if there is something new that competes with the Transformer TF701 ? Is there even talk of a replacement model??

Thanks!

 

[toanau]

I am in the same boat. I have owned three prevoius Transformer model. FYI don't the HP tablet, owned it for a week and return it. The TF701 looks attractive with the pricing now

Sent from my SM-P600 using XDA Free mobile app

 

[YayYouFixedIt]

I think it's a good tablet for a lower price yes.
I would not say do not buy it as it is good.
It may not be the best however with what may soon come out, but we'll likely be paying for that, whatever that is(nvidia, octacores, hybrids etc.)
For gaming is very good and as a development device I would say so. It needs more developers.
Although the tegra targeted games are limited and more directed toward the Shield. But it shouldnt matter. Games like Dead Trigger 2, need 4 speed MW show you that its quite capable. I would say if it meets your needs and your on a budget it might make it ideal. :good:

 

[dsnye]

I think it's a good tablet for a lower price yes.
I would not say do not buy it as it is good.
It may not be the best however with what may soon come out, but we'll likely be paying for that, whatever that is(nvidia, octacores, hybrids etc.)
For gaming is very good and as a development device I would say so. It needs more developers.
Although the tegra targeted games are limited and more directed toward the Shield. But it shouldnt matter. Games like Dead Trigger 2, need 4 speed MW show you that its quite capable. I would say if it meets your needs and your on a budget it might make it ideal. :good:

My thought about this device was that it would allow be to still have great screen resolution, still give a lot of flexibility with ports and expansion, and be much smaller/lighter than lugging my aging macbook pro 15" around to school.

What about the KitKat sd card writing issue? I've never unlocked any of my android devices and it sounds like if I get the TF701 that I'm going to have an issue being able to expand the memory. I am hoping to use this in class which means I may need to write to USB keys or sd cards.

It's either this device or a chromebook (and I don't think a chromebook will work for my school work).

 

[YayYouFixedIt]

My thought about this device was that it would allow be to still have great screen resolution, still give a lot of flexibility with ports and expansion, and be much smaller/lighter than lugging my aging macbook pro 15" around to school.

What about the KitKat sd card writing issue? I've never unlocked any of my android devices and it sounds like if I get the TF701 that I'm going to have an issue being able to expand the memory. I am hoping to use this in class which means I may need to write to USB keys or sd cards.

It's either this device or a chromebook (and I don't think a chromebook will work for my school work).

I dont see a problem with the microsd card myself.
I dont own a dock so I cant say how well those features are working. I wouldnt think theres too much of an issue.
I would not buy a chromebook myself. I never owned one and would not as it sounds like it is only limited to a web browser and as well having security and privacy issues. I could be wrong.
Could this be a total replacement for a mac or pc? Hard for me to say. Not likely.
There is no touch in the recovery yet. No linux yet afaik. But you can use linux deploy and vnc quite well to it. Not really an issue. I like the HDMI out. Get a proper game controller and its a gaming platform. We'll see what the future holds with Lollipop on the way.
Otherwise I think it has been pretty good. If you can return it and get it at a good price. Might be worth a try.

 

[Reggie777]

For what it's worth...

I have a Nexus 7 2012 that I am going to pass that down to my youngest daughter for Xmas and I am thinking about a replacement.
Everything I've read seems to point to this as something that will handle my college school work (CS) and still be able to have some fun with it (games, media, traveling, etc).
The keyboard dock is what elevates this and the only close competitor seems to be the HP Slatebook X2 (as far as I can tell).

My question is, would you buy it NOW, or wait until spring 2015 to see if there is something new that competes with the Transformer TF701 ? Is there even talk of a replacement model??

Thanks!

This is the age old dilemma we tech fans face. Do we wait for that next big "shiny" just around the corner. The difficulty is that there will always be something bigger and better just around the corner. And the thing to remember also, as was pointed out by another poster, when it does arrive, it will be at a premium price.

So, for what it's worth, I'd say, if the tablet satisfies your needs now and a little in the future, go ahead and get it now. I had a 700, and migrated to a 701. And for all the little irritating "bumps" with Asus/KK, etc, I'm very happy with my tablet. When the new thing arrives, if you have the cash, and it appeals to you, get that one. In the mean time, you'll be having fun with the 701. If you simply wait, you'll be missing out on a lot of utility/fun.

I loves me my baby. :silly:

 

[alvinma]

warning:
you unlock bootloader, you void your whole warranty(including hardware warranty).
So unless you don't want to root, go buy a nexus device.

 

[YayYouFixedIt]

warning:
you unlock bootloader, you void your whole warranty(including hardware warranty).
So unless you don't want to root, go buy a nexus device.

That is a good point.
I'm biased and I do like this tablet very much, but at this point in time I probably would think about it more.
They put a lot of power behind those Chromebooks. I'm not so sure why. Supposedly you can dual boot Linux on them. But they some have arm as well as Tegra k1 processors. Hard to say how linux would install and operate on them.

 

[alvinma]

You can always buy one and return it.......so you can have a taste of the ddifference between a nexus tablet and this one.
personally I recommend you buy a nexus 9 or nexus 10, not only because the better user experience(yes it hardly feels like butter smoth on ASUS stock 4.3), but also because of the customer support and quality ensured by Google, Samsung &htc. I went to RMA my TF701t recently and their serve cenTer is full of the smell of bureaucracy, 4 PPL at front desk doing nothing.......leaves me imagining charges after void warranty goes into those ppl's pocket.......so not gonna buy any ASUS product in the future......

 

[Danforth]

The OP mentions he may need to be able to read and write to USB keys and SD cards, for which the TF701 and dock would be much more convenient. None of the Nexus tablets has a card slot, and to read flash drives you'd need to install a third-party file browser and use a USB OTG adaptor.

I'm guessing the lack of news from Asus means that they're giving up on the high end of the tablet market, so there may be no true successor to the TF701.

I think the TF701 is still great feature-wise, but you should try to get a broad-coverage warranty if you buy it! There have been too many users with dock problems, and as others have mentioned you'll void Asus' warranty if you unlock the bootloader to install custom roms.