Asus Transformer Prime TF201 available in the UK

The #2 tablet after the iPad, the Asus Transformer has been updated and many reviews of it are saying that this could be the game changer for Android tablets in the same way that Android phones are now outselling iPhones.

The replacement to the Transformer is the Transformer Prime and as of 17th December, it is available to order on Amazon.co.uk, see the following link:

Asus EeePad Transformer Prime TF201 10.1 inch Tablet with Keyboard/Dock


Where does this win over the iPad 2?

1. It has a bigger screen with higher resolution (1280 x 800) 
2. It's 5% thinner
3. The tablet without the keyboard is lighter than the iPad
4. For more or less the same price  as an iPad it comes with a proper (detachable) keyboard so you can use it like a netbook, if you want.
5. Without the keyboard, you get 12 hours of battery life. The keyboard gives you another 6. That's a whole day of constant use without needing a power supply, a first for a tablet.
6. It has a quad core 1.3GHz processor, as opposed to the iPad's dual core 1GHz.
7. It has 1Gb of memory, the iPad has 512Mb.
8. It has expandable memory, you can add another 64Gb to the base configuration of 32Gb or 64Gb. NO mobile Apple products have expandable memory.
9. It can play blu-ray quality video at 1080p (ten-eighty-pi)
10. It is the first tablet to support the Tegra 3 processor, with 12 GPU cores and hardware support for games consoles. This makes it around 1/3 faster than the Samsung Galaxy Tab
11. It has a standard USB socket (no need for adaptors)
12. It has an 8MP camera with flash and autofocus on the rear and a 1.3MP camera on the front.
13. The display is brighter than anything else on the market 584cd/m², so you can use it outdoors with ease and read it in sunlight
14. It's got gorilla glass, making it very resistant to scratches etc
15. It runs Android 4.0, Ice Cream Sandwich really well.
16. It runs flash, if you want.
17. It has GPS. iPad doesn't.
18. And of course, it isn't made by Apple so you're not locked into their one size fits all ecosystem.

The main drawback of the Asus versus the iPad is the lack of built in 3G. However, consider this.
1. It has Wi-Fi so with a Mi-Fi type device you can share your data connection across multiple devices rather than paying for a contract on each of them separately.
2. It has a USB port, people have got USB modems to work on the original transformer.

This page is also available via the memorable http://www.TF201.com or http://www.TF700.com

But DONT FORGET TO REMOVE THE RUBBER STOPPERS http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TXXOpmS8Tr8 as the instructions on doing this are non existent and they are very hard to remove.

Here's a link to the PDF of the English Transformer prime user manual as ironically the Asus site javascript doesn't support the Asus browser for downloading the manual
Once again, the Amazon.co.uk product link is at
Asus EeePad Transformer Prime TF201 10.1 inch Tablet with Keyboard/Dock

Enjoy!

Craig

Disclaimer re Apple: Apple once paid me some money when I won a top prize in their national UK competition "Young Programmer of the Year". That was back in the day when you could take Apples apart and mess about with them.