You may be a little bewildered by the terms bandied about in the wake of ASUS’ tablet presentation at CES. Is it one type that has a ton of features or is it a bunch of different products under the same umbrella?
It’s the latter. ASUS have showcased four Eee Pads at CES and each one delivers a unique experience to the user. Each one offers a twist on the traditional pad design and feature set and will suit different people.
These four Eee Pads are known as the Transformer, the Slate, the Memo and the Slider.
Let’s start by looking at the Transformer – a fabulous name by the way, especially if you’re a fan of the show 
– The Transformer offers twin cameras, HDMI and built-in card reader, a full sized keyboard (very handy for long trips), 1280×800 10.1” display and the Tegra dual-core processor.
It is more than just a bundle of neat features and specs, though. This chap actually (snort) transforms into a laptop when you dock it. This is brilliant for the busy businessperson who wants the functionality and size of a pad but still needs to have the quick access and power offered by a laptop and a keyboard.
The Slate, also known as the EP121 and my little dream toy (check out my last post here) has a huge display, loads of tasty extras, a Core i5 processor and runs off Windows 7. It’s a powerful beast that offers you much of the pad portability but is almost 100% PC. Delicious.
The Memo is the light and gentle Eee pad with a 7inch screen, 512MB RAM, 64GB SSD, wireless, and plenty more. This is a superb buy for anyone who wants a lightweight pad with all its brilliance but needs a longer battery life and less oomph. It’s the ultimate travel accessory and is ace for parents.
Finally, there is the Slider. This is another one of my favourites as it has a slide-out keyboard that transforms the pad into a sexy little netbook. Netbook style and design are something ASUS do very well indeed, so it is a refreshing twist on the basic pad and very well thought out.
The Slider has a 10.1inch screen, a Tegra dual-core processor, full wireless capability and much more.
The pricing for these pads has been released in dollars with the Memo sitting at the $499 mark at the lowest end, the Slider at the same price for low end but up to $799 for the shiny version, the Transformer is $699 with the dockable keyboard, and the Slate is $1099.
So, which pad takes your fancy? Who are you keen to slip into your satchel this year?
