By The ASUS Transformer Prime will be one of the first quad core tablets to hit the market and you can now stake your claim to one for pickup once it releases. Best Buy, one of ASUS’s biggest retail partners, is now offering the device for preorder. For $500 (32GB of storage) you can get either the Gray or Champagne models, both identical save for color.
Specs are pretty impressive, otherwise, as it has a 10.1 inch 1280×800 display, Android 3.2 (which we estimate will be upgraded to 4.0 in due time), NVIDIA’s quad-core Tegra 3 processor, 1GB of RAM and a lot more. We would have loved to see a cheaper $400 model but for what is looking to be the best Android tablet for a short time you can’t go wrong here. Click through to Best Buy to get started.
bacon.
Roger, bacon, over.
bacon con queso
If only it had a USB port…
Seriously? No USB- wtf???
Dealbreaker… quadcore goodness with no easy way to sideload apps and games- monstrous stupidity Asus. My son and I were just looking at it raving at the specs… until… maybe Rob’s just pulling our wank.. come on. I better in-depth read the specs to make sure….
Hope its not true but if it is- thats aggravatingly stupid to make a “next level” product without “the basics”… Bonehead who thought not to put USB in should be fired Asus- they cost you a couple of sales just now.
The keyboard has USB but Iagree it sucks they didn’t include it in the main unit.
Sorry, double post.
You can still sideload the same way as with ALL android devices: by using adb over usb (or over wireless if rooted). Ye Olde USB port isn’t necessary (and would only fatten this beauty up anyway).
Yes a dedicated Micro-USB would have been nice, but what your rant fails to realize is that the tablet does come with a USB cable that both charges the device, and can connect to a PC via the 30pin connector on the bottom of the tablet. No additional accessories necessary.
If USB Host support is what you are referring to, one can also purchase an adapter that allows for game pads, thumb drives, etc for $19. Sure, it would be cool to have a full size USB port built in, but then the tablet wouldn’t be a thin as it is now (Toshiba Thrive anyone?). Pretty sure Asus has covered “the basics” with this new tablet.
Acer Iconia has full size USB and it is just as thin as transformer.
I like Asus’ ability to constantly provide updates to their tablet. Sometimes it’s not just the device but what is provided behind the scenes. That and 8GB of cloud storage for life with the prime.
Did you even look at the specs before posting that?
Acer Iconia A500 – 13.3mm thick
Asus Transformer Prime – 8.3mm thick
5mm is a pretty big difference when talking about how thin a device is.
Buy the keyboard dock, now you have USB port for it.
I pre-ordered the 64 gig version for $584 from Amazon. I was one of the lucky few that did. Then it went up to $599.99.
Congrats, you saved less than $20 on something that’s going to lose $300 in value in a few months.
How? explain yourself troll.
Yes, I think I’ll wait until the end of time and then buy the last electronic item created. It’ll never lose its value then! Otherwise, I won’t buy ANYTHING that depreciates, including food!
I’m not saying you should wait forever for the best item, but it’s ridiculous to flout a 3% price savings on something that immediately loses 20%+ value. And this guy is obviously excited about having the best, first. If this were a post about the original Transformer, I wouldn’t have made my comment. You would probably gasp at the idea of buying a used tablet; people so quickly lose interest in what amazed them six months ago.
You don’t buy electronics as an investment. Don’t be stupid.
This is old news, the pre-order went up Tuesday. I ordered mine then, in the order confirmation it says that the delivery date is 12/18 for what it’s worth.
Why does one of them already have two reviews.
I preordered one of from bhphotovideo yesterday because they were the only one to sell it other than amazon with no tax and free shipping.
J&R also has no tax and free shipping if you are a member of Friends with Benefits Loyalty Program (free to join)…
@google-b0ada0fb0fd7bce31eefc385b147d31a:disqus two reviews…. my co-worker’s mother-in-law makes $74 every hour on the laptop. She has been laid off for 5 months but last month her income was $7783 just working on the laptop for a few hours. Read this site http://smlk.es/-j-o-b—q
does everyone see their name at the start of this post or am I special?
your special lmfao (RUN!!)
“We would have loved to see a cheaper $400 model but for what is looking to be the best Android tablet *for a short time* you can’t go wrong here.” How short a time are you talking? Think one will be released at CES that is better (and maybe less expensive)?
IMHO What makes this tablet is not just the awesome specs, ICS and form factor. the biggest plus for this device is the companion keyboard dock and how deeply integrated it is to the device. with the dock, you’re getting massive battery life together with standard connectors and a ton of memory (onboard and expandable). This could easily replace an Ultrabook for many people.
If only it could run a truly full featured office suite (maybe a Libre Office port for android?), It would make a wonderful companion for students and work travelers.
Without the dock it is still a REALLY nice tablet, but the dock just sets it apart from anything else.