Asus Eee Pad Slider SL101

28.09.2011
Tablets can be great companions for lots of things, but if you want to use one for work, you'll probably need a case that props up the screen on an angle, plus an external keyboard for efficient typing. The Asus Eee Pad Slider SL101 eliminates the need for both of those accessories, while retaining the portability that tablet buyers crave. The Slider ($479 for 16GB, $579 for 32GB; prices as of September 27, 2011) is notable for its sturdily hinged slide-out keyboard.

That innovation comes at the cost of increased thickness and weight, however. At a time when are becoming thinner, the 10.1-inch Eee Pad Slider is 0.72 inch thick in its tablet state (closed up, with a normal slate profile). That's more than double the thickness of the . Likewise, the Slider weighs 2.1 pounds, versus 1.24 pounds for the Galaxy Tab 10.1 and an average weight of 1.5 to 1.6 pounds for first-generation Honeycomb tablets. But the trade-off is worth making if you value productivity and efficiency.

In landscape mode, a small lip along the top of the Eee Pad Slider, just above the front-facing camera, provides a grab space to catch the top half of the tablet; pulling it up and out reveals the keyboard beneath. The design is very effective. I found the tilt angle of the display appropriate both for typing and for reaching up to use my fingers for navigation--a necessity because the keyboard lacks a built-in pointing device. The small keyboard reminds me of some external Bluetooth keyboards. Its Back and Enter keys are comfortably large, however, and the island-style keys were easy to type on. I also appreciated the keyboard's four Android keys for Home, Back, Menu, and Search. My small, touch-typist fingers flew over the keyboard with only one recurring difficulty: The space bar is recessed too low beneath the outside lip, and as a result my thumb continually banged into the lip, instead of striking the space bar. But I have no doubt that this setup will improve anyone's tablet productivity. The best part is that it does so without requiring the user to lug around extra attachments.

The keyboard design relies on a hinge mechanism that felt sturdy in my tests. I frequently hoisted the tablet by its screen, while the keyboard was out, and could detect no flex or other indication that I was stressing the design. And though the hinge's performance may degrade over time, Asus reports that the hinge mechanism was tested to pass a total of 30,000 "swing counts," meaning that a user would have to open and close the tablet 20 times a day for more than four years before the hinge might approach the spec limits.

I liked grabbing the tablet by the base, just behind the tilted screen, when it was open. And in that state, the gap enabled me to hold the tablet in one hand and type with the other. I could see this being an invaluable tool to users who want to type fast on-the-fly, but need extremely care-free portability, such as while on sales calls or at a trade show.