A blooming good vibe with ASUS
By Jo Phillips
Two days out of London? Yes please!
Get to play with new gadget? Yes please!
Well…
I escaped the city rush and ventured off to the heart of Cornwall, to The Eden Project for the annual Eden Sessions. This is an event run over the summer hosting various different artists from up and coming artists like Ben Howard and Harry Collier to established names like Spandau Ballet to Elton John.
The sessions are in partnership with ASUS in celebration of the new transformer tablet called the ASUS T100 Chi; This was the gadget I got to play with for the weekend.
At Cent Magazine, we’re used to working with ASUS products (previously using the original ASUS tablet) so we were all very intrigued to see what the new tablet had to offer. Utilising the highly anticipated Eden Sessions, this was the perfect opportunity for us to try out the tablet.
Before the trip, the team and I had a little explore on the tablet and found it simple and easy to navigate as well as truly intuitive. Prior to heading to the station, I downloaded all the necessities such as Instagram, Twitter and Facebook and on the four and a bit hour long train journey (passing through the Great British countryside), I connected to the wifi easily and enjoyed viewing and posting on all my social media feeds. (There’s something about using a tablet for social media that feels more interactive and inclusive.)
Alongside all the social media apps, I downloaded tv apps to watch a film to pass the time. I still had some spare time I managed to answer a few emails and started to write a post due for the site. The tablet works really well as a Duo project using just the tablet for things like social media and then the keyboard for more thought-out tasks like writing articles etc. The two-in-one aspect of the T100 Chi is really useful for different projects and tasks.Even with the miserable weather, there was an infectious buzz in the air at The Eden Project. The session we attended included the line up of Harry Collier, The Staves and Paolo Nutini. The view at the top of the Eden Project is simply breath-taking, just the sheer scale of the biomes was worthy of a photo. The high resolution display makes our photos really come alive with a pixel density of 235ppi. How could I not take a moment to snap an image with my tablet to record the scene?
A small gang of us dined together in The Med Terrace within the Mediterranean Biome. After dinner, it was about time for the show so joining the event Wifi I got on with enjoying The Staves’ performance. There has been a lot of buzz around them with comparisons to Haim crossed with Stealing Sheep. They consist of three sisters from Watford, who all looked gorgeous. The three part harmonies were unbelievably flawless and I was instantly converted to a fan. It was great to see an upcoming act like this performing next to Paolo who has been established a few years now. There was a small interval whilst the crowd waited for the main act of the evening, Paulo Nutini.
During the show, it was easy to slip just the tablet out of my bag and tweet and Instagram away standing in the crowd.
Paolo Nutini has been around since for quite a while releasing his first sample of music in 2005. I didn’t realise it had been that long but he has been a consistent presence in the charts producing quality and thought out music all this time. This was clear from his eclectic setlist all displaying his natural talent and effortless voice. His captivation over the audience was incredible therefore creating a wonderful atmosphere.
Once the concert was over it was time for bed so I went in search for what the Eden Project call their “Snooze Box'”. What I found, was everything I imagined the Eden Project would provide; meaning everything was environmentally friendly and designed so minimally and clean. The term Snooze Box says it all in the sense it was a box. I was amazed at what they did with the space and the amount they fitted in. At this point, I also noticed how good the battery life was as now I was into 10 hours using the T100 Chi and it was still usable. (I realised going forward the team at .Cent will use the ASUS T100 Chi such a lot at fashion art events because it has such good battery life which is a complete asset to it’s potential use.) I also tried out playing music using Spotify which I’d previously downloaded. The sound quality was so rich and clear.After a seamless sleep, I headed back to the station, sad to leave under 24 hours of being at the Eden Project! On my journey back, I spent time making notes from the weekend on the mobile dock keyboard, catching up with social media and telling everyone how amazing the experience all was! The Mobile Dock part to the tablet came in very handy when typing and making notes on the event and atmosphere, whereas the tablet I tend to use for social media and small emails.
The Tablet itself was also so easy to carry around as its so light, slim and portable; effortless to slip into a bag when travelling and on-the-go. I also had a play around using the Active Stylus pen which was fun. I knew the rest of the artwork team will be excited to explore the illustration aspect of using a tablet and pen to produce our digital illustrations. As an illustrator myself, it was my first time engaging with this type of technology and it was so straight forward and easy to pick up.
The lovely ASUS team were also on-hand for help and they met me prior to the performance and after to interview me asking me how I have found the new T100 Chi and how it fits into my lifestyle at Cent Magazine and how the whole experience had been.
