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Asus eeePad Transformer Prime Review Roundup

Asus' new Android tablet isn’t due to hit store shelves for another few weeks, but the review units have already shipped. I’ve found 8 reviews so far, and the opinions have been mixed.

The Asus eeePad Transformer Prime is the most powerful Android tablet on the market. It’s the first to use the 1.3 GHz NVIDIA Tegra 3 quad-core  CPU, which it’s using to run Homeycomb. It uses a 10″ IPS+ screen similar to the one found on the current Transformer, but virtually everything else has changed. The Prime is thinner, and the rear camera have been upgraded to 8MP with an LED flash. The front camera is still 1.2MP, though. Flash storage  is also getting bumped, with the base model now sporting 32GB.

This is their second gen model, and like the first eeePad this tablet is a hybrid model sold ion 2 parts. The optional keyboard (which I highly recommend) adds battery life, more ports and slots, and turns the eeePad into a full-fledged netbook.

AnandTech

  • Assuming the WiFi and minor dock issue I encountered aren’t widespread (ASUS insists they aren’t), I am comfortable calling the Eee Pad Transformer Prime the absolute best Android tablet on the market today. The hardware looks and feels great. ASUS picked the best display possible and married it to some really good industrial design. I was impressed with the styling of the Zenbook, and the Prime continues to position ASUS as a purveyor of high quality mobile devices.

Android Central

  • The Transformer Prime ushers in a new breed of Android tablets. Familiar, yet more powerful (and thus with more potential) than anything you’ve used before. If you can part with a minimum of $650, it makes for a great Android mobile computing/gaming rig.

Android Police

  • …It’s still too early for many other details, but I’ll leave you with a tl;dr: thus far, the Transformer Prime seems to be the best tablet I’ve ever used in virtually every regard.

CNET

  • This review doesn’t offer any good excerpt becuase the reviewer kept encountering problems. A couple of the other reviews mentioned a hardware issue here and there, but this one had all of them. This would be a good read if you wanted to know all that might go wrong.

Engadget

  • The Galaxy Tab 10.1 has had a long run as the top-tier Android tablet in the 10-inch size, but that position has now properly been usurped. The original Transformer was a very good tablet and it successor steps up another notch. The Transformer Prime is thinner and lighter than the rest and, with 32GB of storage available for a dollar under $500, it’s a better deal than most of the top-tier contenders….

    For the moment the ASUS Eee Pad Transformer Prime is the best Android tablet on the market. All hail the new king.

Netbook News

  • In one word, Awesome.  We’re totally in love with the design of this tablet, so much so that we’re sure that Apple is going to go after ASUS next.  A tablet with such a high end design and attention to detail is something that I would have expected from Samsung.  ASUS has really stepped up their game.

The Verge

  • The Prime is an incredible piece of hardware. It has a marvelous display, form factor, the best camera on any tablet yet, and it’s new quad-core internal organ puts more graphics and gaming power in your hands than you’ll know what to do with (quite literally in fact, until the games start appearing). And then there’s also the added keyboard dock that adds over 10 hours of battery life and really does transform the tablet into a highly-usable laptop.But a true laptop replacement isn’t about raw power; it’s about the productivity that power enables, and Honeycomb just isn’t up to the task. The operating system hasn’t been optimized for that ridiculous processor or that beautiful display, the app selection remains pitiable at best, and it’s just not that intuitive to use.

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Comments


fjtorres December 1, 2011 um 3:57 pm

Sounds like the usual android story, actually.
Top-notch hardware held back by substandard software.


Fbone December 1, 2011 um 5:27 pm

True. So little is optimized for the specific device.


JimS December 1, 2011 um 9:48 pm

PCMag also has a review of the Transformer Prime (http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,2817,2397086,00.asp)

The reviewer liked the hardware, but finds lots of fault with Honeycomb and the Android app stores.


Dan December 2, 2011 um 9:58 am

Normally I wait for reviews from average users, before I jump on board with new hardware. This is one fantastic machine that I can’t wait for. I bought my wife the 1st generation transformer in the summer, which we took all over China. I got to say it never let us down. And Asus does a remarkable job with the updates.
I look forward to your review Nate. I’ll bet you are drooling to get your hands on one. I know I am!

Nate Hoffelder December 2, 2011 um 10:11 am

It’s a little outside my price range. I’m also quite happy with the current Transformer. It’s literally one of the best hybrids on the market.


Asus eeePad Transformer Prime Sleeve Cuaght on Film – eBookNewser December 5, 2011 um 12:31 pm

[…] Asus’ next Android tablet isn’t due to ship until next week, but a fair amount has already been said about it, both by the company and by reviewers. […]


Asus to launch new eeePad Transforrmer Prime with Hi-Res Screen – The Digital Reader January 9, 2012 um 3:24 pm

[…] who ran out and got the Transformer Prime are probably kicking themselves today; Asus just showed off a new model with a 1900×1200 […]


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