Comment by mahyarm | Hacker News Reader

Comment by mahyarm | Hacker News Reader

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There is a certain class of developer where something like the ASUS transformer is perfect.

They can:

  - Play all sorts of media
  - Download things with utorrent
  - Browse the web with webkit
  - Access terminals, 
  - Use SSH, 
  - Write their PHP websites with a highlighting text editor 
  - Edit images

Getting all of that in a package that is:

  - Under 2 pounds
  - Has 10 hour battery life
  - Is $300 if you shop around, almost disposable.
  - Backed up on the cloud

Add a mSATA SSD and more RAM and it would work with even more developers, photographers and other professionals. Student who just needs to write papers and use facebook? Especially them too.

To me the Asus Transformer is more of a netbook than a tablet as it is being marketed as. It's about the same size as an Acer Aspire One which I owned a few years ago, battery life sucked though. To me a tablet is a device without a keyboard, a device with a keyboard is merely a netbook or depending on screen size a laptop. I could definitely see myself coding on a Transformer, but I have this thing where staring at a small screen gives me the feeling of tunnel vision and I feel as though I can't concentrate and it distracts me. There's nothing better than coding in Sublime Text full screen on a 27" monitor.

Side note: the Asus Transformer is a beast, you don't get any better for that kind of price. I'm going to buy one for the commute to and from work on the train.

I expect that tablets will one day get the knack of supporting multiple resolutions and multiple monitors, and serve just as a secondary input device when on your desk.

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