Approximately 24 hours after I received my ASUS Transformer Pad TF300T 32GB tablet (as well as its companion keyboard dock), it’s already packed up and ready to be sold to someone on eBay (as Newegg wants $82.20 for restocking purposes). While the tablet itself is basically fine, the software that runs on it is not (at all). The problems that have plagued Android, ever since it was first released, are still present in Android 4.0.3, Ice Cream Sandwich. In a nutshell, it’s all about the apps and the overall user experience of the operating system. There was nothing about Android that I actually enjoyed.

Lack of tablet apps

I honestly thought that Android had more tablet-ready apps, but I was very wrong. What’s worse is that finding them is almost impossible, as the Google Play app doesn’t have a way to sort by smartphone apps, just tablet apps, or apps that are made for both types of devices. Facebook? Skype? Twitter? TV Guide? Enjoy using those apps on your tablet, as they’re basically stretched-out version of the smartphone apps (as that’s all they are).

Lack of quality apps

For the apps that I did find and what to keep installed, they were pretty mediocre in terms of layout, design, and functionality. You’d that that, for a platform that has been around for quite a long time, that the apps would actually be to a point where they’re presented in a way that makes its user think that they’re using something premium.

Performance

Even on the TF300T, a brand-new tablet with a quad-core Tegra 3 CPU/GPU, performance was rather poor in a number of different situations.

For example, Riptide GP (with maxed out graphics settings) played at about 25FPS, which was the case with Shadowgun THD, Shine Runner, GTA III, and a few more. Fruit Ninja THD, however, played at a perfectly smooth 60FPS, which it darn well better, since it’s an incredibly simple game in terms of graphics.

Another, more important, example would be when it comes to web browsing. The stock web browser often became unresponsive whilst web pages were loading. Speaking of “loading,” they were noticeably slow. And, again, for the hardware that this thing is packing, the web browsing speeds were annoyingly slow. I tried the latest beta of Google Chrome for Android, and it was even worse, with the app crashing multiple times or becoming unresponsive after a short period of time.

That’s it…

So, that’s about it. I had very high hopes when coming into Android, and it has failed me yet again. It’s been around long enough to where you’d think Google would understand the meaning of “user experience.” Without the apps that people want, and without them actually working well, your platform won’t receive good ratings, and it truly hasn’t (which has become apparent, thanks to Apple’s massive success with their line of iPads and high satisfaction ratings). Speaking of the iPad, I enjoy every minute of it. All of the apps that I have installed, I enjoy using. The apps themselves make me want to use them more and more, which wasn’t the case with Android whatsoever.

Next up: Windows 8. While I believe Microsoft has nailed the user interface and user experience, they just need to do something to get the massive amounts of developers to get on-board with it. Only then will Windows 8 be able to compete with Android and, perhaps, iOS.

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It’s on eBay

If you happen to be interested in purchasing this tablet from me, then the eBay auction for the TF300T + keyboard dock bundle can be found here.

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