ASUSTeK Computer Inc, a multinational Taiwan-based computer hardware and electronics company, is renowned worldwide for its products including tablet PCs, laptops, desktops, motherboards, mobile phones, video cards, servers and monitors. While talking about the tablets, undoubtedly the Transformer range of the Asus is a strongest line-up in this arena. However, as the Asus has released a bit identical stuff in this series, it is a little confusing for people to clearly recognize all the Transformers. Are you confused between the products of Asus Transformer series? Read on… a full catalog regarding the specs, pricing and availability of TF101, TF201, TF300 & TF700.
Asus EeePad Transformer TF101
This is original Asus Transformer tablet featuring a 10.1” capacitive touch screen and a slim lightweight design, which was released last year. However, it is still immensely popular and its SRP has not fall down since its release as it is priced at approximately £430. This ultra thin (measuring only 12.98mm) and lightweight (weighing only 680g) tablet is designed in a very unique & stylish pattern. It was released with the Android 3.0 Honeycomb OS but now it is upgraded to latest Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich which makes it a very current tablet still. The speedy 1 GHz dual-core NVIDIA Tegra 2 processor makes the device excellent for HD video playback & multitasking. A brilliant IPS panel made from super tough and scratch resistant glass, and an ultra-wide 178° viewing angle, all together produces a crisper and more precise color range.
The optional Eee station dock is even available for converting the Transformer into a full-fledged notebook by means of a touchpad and a full QWERTY keyboard. This Eee station dock also expands battery life up to 16 hours and offers USB and microSD expansion ports. The tablet comes packed with a mini-HDMI port too. It is featured with a built-in SRS Sound technology, which offers a dynamic 3D stereo audio experience with max bass response. As it comes preloaded with Polaris Office, it provides a professional mobile office Solution.
- Processor: 1 GHz dual-core NVIDIA Tegra 2 Mobile Processor
- Operating System: Android 3.0 Honeycomb; currently upgraded to 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich
- Memory
- Internal Memory: 16GB eMMC Flash & 1GB DDR2
- External Memory: Memory expansion up to 32 GB via microSD card slot
- Display: 10.1” WSVGA IPS capacitive multi touch display with scratch-resistant and durable glass, and 178° viewing angle
- Display resolution: 1280 x 800 pixels
- Camera
- Rear Camera: 5.0 MP Autofocus
- Front Camera: 1.2 MP
- Connectivity: Wi-Fi 802.11 b/g/n, Bluetooth v2.1 + EDR, two USB ports
- Battery: 24.4Wh Li-Po Standard battery
- Battery life: 9.5 hours (up to 16 hours with docking station)
- Dimensions: 271 x 176.8 x 12.98 mm
- Weight: 680g
- Availability: Available
Asus EeePad Transformer Prime TF201
Asus EeePad Transformer Prime TF201 is a successor of the Asus Eee Pad Transformer and it is a most unique tablet as it is the first Quad Core powered tablet of the world. Transformer Prime has packed the most powerful NVIDIA Tegra 3 Quad-core processor for the first time, which supports 3D games, brilliant 1080p HD video playback and excellent multitasking with super smooth performance. The operating system is Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich, which comes with Adobe Flash support and more than 500,000 downloadable apps on the Android Market. The metallic spun finish of a lightweight (only 586g light) and ultra-slim (only 8.3mm thin) Transformer Prime tablet makes it further unique. Its 10.1 inch Super IPS+10 finger multi-touch supported LED Backlight WXGA display is protected by scratch resistant Corning Gorilla Glass. An 8MP rear camera with auto-focus, LED flash, large aperture design and back-illuminated CMOS sensor, is great for clear capturing of every moment.
Prime TF201 shares the form-factor of original Transformer and comes with the optional docking station that features Full QWERTY keyboard, touchpad, one Secure Digital (SD) card reader, one USB 2.0 port and an additional battery, which expands overall battery life up to 18 hours. The tablet comes packed with a 3.5mm headphone jack, a micro SD card slot and a micro-HDMI port too. Transformer Prime comes packed with motion blur effects, advanced water effects, camera splash effects, realistic textures and material display, and all kinds of new 3D effects, to offer superb 3D graphics performance that is not seen on the original Transformer. Asus Transformer Prime is available in two color options: Amethyst Gray and Champagne Gold. Currently, the Asus Transformer Prime is available for a price around £499 with a Keyboard Dock.
- Processor: 1.3-GHz Quad Core Cortex A9 NVIDIA Tegra 3 processor
- Operating System: Android Ice Cream Sandwich v4.0
- Memory
- Internal Memory: 1GB RAM with 32GB & 64GB storage
- External Memory: micro SD card slot
- Display: 10.1 inch LED Backlight WXGA Screen with Super IPS+10 finger multi-touch support, Ultra-wide 178⁰ viewing angle and Corning Gorilla Glass Protection
- Display Resolution: 1280×800 pixels
- Camera
- Rear Camera: 8MP with LED flash, auto-focus, back-illuminated CMOS sensor, 3264×2448 pixels
- Front Camera: 1.2MP
- Connectivity: Wi-Fi 802.11 b/g/n, Bluetooth with A2DP, USB 2.0
- Battery
- Pad: 25Wh Li-Po Standard battery
- Dock: 22Wh Li-Po Standard battery
- Battery life: 12 hours (up to 18 hours with docking station)
- Dimensions
- Pad: 263 × 180.8 × 8.3mm
- Dock: 263 x 180.8 x 8~10.4mm
- Pad with dock: 263 x 180.8 x 17~19.4mm
- Weight
- Pad: 586g
- Dock: 537g
- Pad with dock: 1123g
- Availability: Available
Asus EeePad Transformer TF300
With EeePad Transformer TF300, Asus has tried to make most affordable tablet without being cheap in terms of features and specifications. It is a latest edition of Asus in its Transformer range, which will be priced at almost £60 below than the Transformer Prime. It will be featured with plastic casing instead of the aluminum casing of Transformer Prime. It is still a pretty computing device powered by 1.2GHz quad-core NVIDIA Tegra 3 processor, but it is slight thicker (9.9mm thickness) & bulkier (635 g weight) than Prime. The display of Transformer TF300 is almost similar to that great display of Transformer Prime as it sports a LED Backlight WXGA Screen with Super IPS+10 finger multi-touch support, Ultra-wide 178⁰ viewing angle and 1280×800 pixels resolution.
One major upgrading is that it will be available in 3 variants: Wi-Fi version, 3G version and 4G LTE version. As well, it will come with an optional docking station and additional ports same as the Asus Transformer Prime. However, the camera of this tablet does not support a flash and the battery life will be slight less than the Transformer Prime. It will be available in white, blue, red and brown colors, which really makes it prominent from the group of Android tablets. No doubt it is a slight thicker & bulkier Transformer tablet, but it is an ideal one for those who want to acquire at a cheaper price. Though the exact price of Transformer TF300 is not declared yet, it is expected to come in the market at around £440.
- Processor: 1.2GHz Quad-Core NVIDIA Tegra 3 T30L with GeForce 12-core GPU and built-in 3D stereo
- Operating System: Android Ice Cream Sandwich v4.0
- Memory
- Internal Memory: 1GB RAM, 8GB SSD & 8GB free ASUS WebStorage
- External Memory: micro SD card slot
- Display: 10.1 inch LED Backlight WXGA Screen with Super IPS+10 finger multi-touch support & Ultra-wide 178⁰ viewing angle
- Display Resolution: 1280×800 pixels
- Camera
- Rear Camera: 8MP with auto-focus and HD (1080p) video recording
- Front Camera: 1.2MP
- Connectivity: Wi-Fi 802.11 b/g/n, Bluetooth with 3.0, USB 2.0
- Networking: Wi-Fi/3G/4G LTE
- Battery
- Pad: 22Wh Li-Po battery
- Dock: 16.5Wh Li-Po Standard battery
- Battery life: 10 hours (up to 15 hours with docking station)
- Dimensions
- Pad: 263 x 180.8 x 9.9mm
- Dock: 263 x 180.8 x 9.9mm
- Pad with dock: 263 x 180.8 x 19.8mm
- Weight
- Pad: 635g
- Dock: 546g
- Pad with dock: 1181 g
- Availability: Not released yet, expected in Q2 2012
Asus EeePad Transformer TF700 Infinity
Asus Transformer TF700 Infinity is a high-end successor of the original Asus Transformer Prime tablet. This latest tablet is equipped with Super IPS+ capacitive multi-touch display same as the Prime, but this time it sports Corning Gorilla Glass 2 and the resolution is better than full HD at 1920 x 1280. The operating system will be Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich. Additionally, it will come in three variants: Wi-Fi version, 3G version and 4G version. It is not declared still that what processor will be equipped in TF700T, but speculation suggests that the Wi-Fi version tablet will be packed with dual core 1.6 GHz quad-core NVIDIA Tegra 3 T33 processor which is faster than 1.3GHz of Transformer Prime. That is not all, it is also speculated that the 3G/4G versions will be powered by dual-core Qualcomm MSM 8960 Snapdragon S4 processor.
While the Prime was available only in 32GB and 64GB variants, the Infinity will also be available in lower-end option and the variants will include all 16GB/32GB/64GB. As well, it is featured with an 8GB of free lifetime ASUS WebStorage. One other upgrading of Infinity over the Prime is its 2MP front facing camera. The Prime TF201 has some problems related to wireless signals, which affects the GPS and Wi-Fi performance. The Infinity TF700 is designed with a plastic strip on its backside to overcome this problem and to improve wireless signals. Otherwise, the specs, look, feel and size remain similar to the Prime. It features the same keyboard dock with an SD card slot and a single USB port. The pad itself sports the microHDMI, microSD card slot, and proprietary charging port. There is no word on the pricing yet, but it is speculated that it will hit the market at price of about £600.
- Processor: 1.6GHz quad-core NVIDIA Tegra 3 T33 processor
- Operating System: Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich
- Memory
- Internal Memory: 1GB DDR3 RAM, 16/32/64GB SSD, 8GB free ASUS WebStorage
- External Memory: microSD card slot
- Display: 10.1 inch Super IPS+ capacitive multi-touch display with Corning Gorilla Glass 2
- Display Resolution: 1920 x 1280 pixels
- Camera
- Rear Camera: 8 MP with LED flash, autofocus and HD (1080p) video recording
- Front Camera: 2 MP
- Connectivity: Wi-Fi 802.11b/g/n, Bluetooth 4.0
- Networking: Wi-Fi/3G/4G
- Battery
- Pad: 25Wh
- Dock: 22Wh
- Battery life: up to 10 hours (up to 16 hours with docking station)
- Dimensions
- Pad: 263 x 180.8 x 8.5mm
- Dock: 263 x 180.8 x 10.4mm
- Pad with dock: 263 x 180.8 x 18.9mm
- Weight
- Pad: 585g
- Dock: 537g
- Pad with dock: 1122 g
- Availability: Not released yet, expected in Q2 2012
Had made the decision to switch to Asus prime 101 and then we heard of some of its problems, so we decided to wait until the 201 comes out and keep our fingers crossed as we were not getting much information.. Now the 300t will be coming out this weekend and then the 700T shortly thereafter. Guessing at some of its features and components, I think the 700T is what I want and as soon as I see its specs and price, I will cancel by order for the 201 and oder tge 700T, assumming you have fixed the embarassing WiFi and GPS glitches on the 101/201. Thanks for listening and hopefully some one will respond.
John E. Adrian, johnblue@cox.net
DVD/CD driver makes it better.
YOU still own a DVD ?
Probably want a floppy drive to go with that too, eh?
Get real, this isn’t 2008 anymore !!!