Asus Eee Pad Slider Review

Design

There are some aesthetic flourishes that Asus have dropped into the Slider to help it rise above pure function. The first is the classy two-tone back panel with a middle chrome-like strip to separate the colours. They could have gone with a single tooled backing but the design gives it a stylish appeal. The same goes for the mirror finish on the square bracket that holds the screen in place while in keyboard mode. Finally, the slightly convexed sides of the Slider provide another subtle design touch.

If I wanted to be picky, the volume controls could have been placed a little differently; the toggle is situated on the lower left hand side when holding as a tablet, and so not instantly selectable with the index finger. In fact, it’s positioned a little too snugly to the power button — I accidentally turned the power off a couple of times when in keyboard mode when feeling for the controls.

The engineers assigned to this project were always going to be fighting an uphill battle integrate a keyboard and speakers without making the whole thing looking like a high-tech sandwich. And for the most part, I think they’ve succeeded.

The most important part of a Slider’s day is… the slide. The design works on a bit of index finger strength to lift the top panel above the front webcam, and then ease your other thumb up to reveal the keyboard underneath. And then, as the bottom of the screen passes the second row of keys, the stored kinetic energy of the spring mechanism takes over and smoothly finishes the movement to lock the screen in its final position. It’s a very well designed slide. And the screen isn’t literally “locked inch; the bracket holds it there until you use a bit of gentle force to bring it down again.

The actual tilt of the screen in keyboard mode may end up being a bone of contention for some, as the tilt angle is fixed. The inability to adjust may frustrate some who may be sitting in different environments cafés, home office desks, lounge chairs. The inflexibility means you have to adjust your sitting position to suit the display. At a normal desk height, the screen angle was perfect. Sitting on a stool with the Slider on a low table, however, I would have preferred the ability to tilt the screen even further. This may be one area where the Transformer might be better suited to some.

Keyboard

This is really the pivotal feature that will either attract users for its innovation and usability or be derided for being nothing more than a tablet parading as a netbook. Here are the impressions I received when I first demonstrated the slide-out keyboard “Ooooh…. Aaaah. inch Seriously, nearly every man, woman, and child thought it was a “cool inch feature. But is it useful?

From a physical key perspective, when compared to a netbook, each of the keys are longer horizontally rather than vertically. This does compress the range your fingers usually have from the numeric keys down to the space bar. And there is one slightly annoying factor — the return lip on the edge of the keyboard is close to the bottom row of keys, closer than any keyboard before it.

This makes for a strangesensationwhenever hitting the space bar with the left thumb — you have to make it a good hit or the lip stops the full press-down. This does hamper speed to a certain degree because you’re always second guessing the effect of the keying. That said, it is still a generous keyboard, nearly as wide as my 11.6 inch netbook from Q to P, and the island design keeps miskeying to a minimum.

Layout-wise, Asus have taken some Android touch functions and made them into keyboard shortcuts which are accessed with an Fn key. The home, back, search, and menu functions have all been given their own place on this keyboard, replacing the Windows, left Alt, and right Alt keys. These buttons make sense. Once I remembered where they were and what they did, I found myself using them if the keyboard was open.

One thing I did keep doing with the keyboard was habitually reach for the trackpad an instinct hardwired into my hands after many years of using a notebook. The keyboard real estate stops right at the space bar no palm rest, and no touch pad or mouse keys. It was a little strange to start with, and I had to train myself until I had somewhat rid myself of the habit. Of course, once I returned to my normal notebook I had to readjust once again.

This could well be where the Transformer has trounced the competition – it’s drawn us all in with its netbook-like form factor, including keyboard and trackpad, then closed the deal by making the keyboard disappear when you don’t need it. But I actually think the trackpad is a kind of crutch anyway, due to the fact that you need to remember to press the cursor key once only, just like a screen gesture switching between a cursor pad on my Windows notebook and my Android tablet would drive me slowly insane, or at least my fingers will eventually shut down in epileptic fits.

Not having the front-most space on the keyboard does two things. It makes it more of a desktop keyboard, where there is no trackpad, and once you treat it like that, it becomes more comfortable to use. The touchscreen is also at the perfect distance from the keyboard to use touch gestures in combination with the keyboard.

Then it struck me… a desktop keyboard, with a touchscreen display, with integrated speakers. That’s it! This is the ultimate portable all-in-one unit! It takes all the benefits of an all-in-one and shrinks it down to the point where you could be using it on a plane in economy class, in comfort.

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