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The NVIDIA presser here at CES is just gushing with juicy news. The latest from that camp is an announcement unveiling a seven inch tablet device running Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich. This isn’t the two MeMo devices we were treated to earlier and this is even better than those. The 7 inch Transformer Prime tablet will have NVIDIA’s quad-core Tegra 3 processor, an industry-best camera and will come in at just $250, a very attractive price point for what is sure to be a great device. We don’t have much in the way of a release window just yet but we’re just going to throw “summer” at the wall and see what happens.
This is great news. I might consider buying this. Still have not found a real use of why to have a tablet. Maybe this price will cause more competition and drive other prices down.
If you have an ICS phone, there really isn’t much reason to get a Tablet; save perhaps for the bigger screen. I’m considering getting one of these for the soul purpose of portable media. Especially if it has USB host capabilities.
is marketed well and correctly, this can be the tablet to get for everyone!
The problem is that it probably won’t have 3G/4G radios in it, which means we’ll still be stuck with the Galaxy Tab and Evo View as the only 7″ tablets out there for mobile users.
What about the Pantech Element? Though that’s only helpful if you’re on AT&T in the US and don’t mind the extra inch of screen.
Actually, I wouldn’t mind an 8″ tablet at all… but AT&T? D:
heh Pantech.. Huwei… no thanks
Tom thats where tethering your tablet to your phone comes in. at least thats what i do with my nook tablet when I am out and about and since I have boostmobile i get unlimited data for cheap. So for me a tablet in this price range even if its wifi only is perfect for my needs.
Good. There’s not way I’d pay for another data plan just to use a tablet.
But different strokes for different folks…
Amen brother
Me neither, but I hate having to tether all of the time aswell. Drains the battery of my phone even faster. That’s why I cant wait for the Padfone. Tho I really wish they change the freaking name. XD
Most of the time, I’ll be using this as a consumption device for media that I’ve already loaded… Of course, at work, I can plug my phone into the electrical cord, and at home, I have WiFi, and those are the two places where I use my current tablet the most. So for me, WiFi is just fine. I might also use it in-car, but I can plug my phone in there. And since I have pretty damn good battery life on my phone anyway (E4GT), that’s a pretty minor issue for me. But as I said, to each his own. I can see someone absolutely needing 3G on a tab, but that’s not me, and probably never will be. If I were, I’d probably prefer one of the little WiFi hotspot boxes for the flexibility anyway.
It’s not like you HAVE to pay for a data plan, but I prefer to have the ability to do so when I want.
Ideally, I’d like some sort of prepaid data, like AT&T started out doing with the iPad… I’m getting a little tired of the inflated prices carriers charge for their “retail” prices. We all know that prices is inflated to make the on-contract price look more palatable.
Asus Memo is “SUPPOSED TO HAVE” a quad band GSM and UMTS radio for HSDPA+. Unless this was removed after the spec bump.
Well I think just tethering your phone to your tablet should be good enough. Unless you like forking over your money for a data plan and a new contract. No disrespect but they look for customers like you.
Has it occurred to you that there are advantages to not being tied to your phone? Among others, I don’t wear down my phone battery so I can use my tablet. And I don’t care to cheat by using root to break my carrier’s ToS.
Root your android phone and use free wi-fi tethering. You know, if you’re on Sprint and actually have unlimited data.
…or are any of the millions of folks grandfathered in on other carriers…
amazing
As I have said in teh past The amazon kindle fire has promted others to start looking at the lowend price point for their smaller devices not evryone can afford the $500+ tablets like the transformer prime and ipads and what not and with this being a smaller screen its a bit more portable then some of the larger devices. I own the Nook Tablet and its a nice little tablet for the $250 price its going for its got slighter better hardware then the fire which means its a little more responsive and it even has a better screen from what I have herd from reading others reviews on it.
Just glad to see more people embracing this price point
note to competitors, get your head out of your asses and get learned. asus, salute.
Saw this on Engadget and as I mentioned over there, CAN SOMEONE tell me why smartphones still cost $500-$700?
This is further proof that the carriers and smartphone manufacturer are price
fixing smartphones probably due to pressure from carriers. Imagine if
smartphones didn’t cost $500-$700, but rather $150-$200 off contract,
nobody would be signing contracts.
Don’t tell me adding a chip inside to make this a phone would cost another $450. I don’t buy it.
Smartphones prices are definitely inflated and the carrier/smartphone industry is price fixing. All the high end smartphones including Galaxy Nexus, GS2, iPhone, Galaxy Note, Blackberry, etc…should cost no more than a maximum $300 off contract.
Those are some good questions. Don’t have an answer to them, but agree with your thoughts. Why do these smartphones cost so damn much in comparison to tablets? maybe because the parts have to be smaller?
With you on that one.
just like apple charging $500+ more for a laptop with similar parts… because they can, and they know people will buy it. It also allows the carriers to make some money through subsidizing. If the phone only costs $300 with no contract, there is no way T-Fumble can charge you $299 for the phone with a 2 year contract. Basically the manufacturers cut deals with the carriers and the carriers will carry their phones. Basic Backscratching 101, really.
the technology used on the build of the circuit boards are a lot higher for the smartphones than on the tablets. The primary price difference doesn’t come from the extra parts but from designing/manufacturing something that’s equally powerful on a circuit board that’s less than half the size of a tablet.
No I don’t buy that either.
The Apple iPod Touch has practically the same specs of an iPhone including retina display and strong GPU for only 199.99. Same with the original Galaxy S. Samsung released a Galaxy S MP3 player that was original to the Galaxy S phone for a fraction of the price. Same size, same specs, just can’t make calls, and yet hundreds cheaper.
http://www.samsung.com/sg/consumer/tv-audio-video/mp3-player/mp3-player/YP-G70CW/XSP/index.idx?pagetype=prd_detail&returnurl=
http://www.samsung.com/sg/consumer/tv-audio-video/mp3-player/mp3-player/YP-G1CW/XSP/index.idx?pagetype=prd_detail&returnurl=
well they are striped down in specs like no super amoled screen but i do agree phones can be cheaper
I want one due to specs and price!
I was just thinking the exact same thing lol you can’t beat tegra 3 and ICS in a 7inch prime for $250 ! This article got me excited
EXACTLY what I have been waiting for in a 7-inch tablet. And the best part, I was ready to pay around $400 for one. Asus just made all of my decisions for me. SHUT UP AND TAKE MY MONEY!
I think I just found the tablet to get as my in-car computer.
This is definitely my next tablet!!
Lets hope this doesnt have any of the issues the current transformer prime has
Asus is a damn reliable company. I wouldn’t worry about problems. When there is an issue with any of their product, they put someone on fixing it quick
This will be my next tablet. Kind of a bump in specs from my current “tablet”
I’m not proud, but I AM the owner of a Gentouch78. And yes, I’ve rooted it, put a basic CWM on it, and am running Zeam, which makes it almost usable…
Dang, suddenly holding out for the Samsung Tab 7.7 is a lot more difficult to do. Judging by the way they support my Transformer, this might be my next portable tablet to replace the OG Tab that’s showing its age.
If they’re branding it as a Transformer, does it have it’s own docking keyboard like the 10″ Transformers do?
They have not branded the 7incher anything yet people are just slapping on the transformer name themselves.