ROFL at this...
"We have no plans to kill it," said a PR exec at Asus, "but due to fact that it is selling out so quickly, it looks as though we are stopping [manufacturing] it."
Asus has not placed the Eee Pad Transformer Prime on the scrap-heap just yet, but availability has been so poor that channel folk can be forgiven for thinking it had been killed off, the vendor has admitted. Typically, non-iPad vendors have struggled to create the same level of hype around their tablets that Apple has mastered …
My prime is quite simply the best tablet I have used / seen. The games run stonkingly well on it and after the ICS update it is even better than ever. I have had it reboot twice since I have had it (2 months) and this was due to an app falling over. I Love the fact you can plug in xbox / ps3 (over BT or USB) controllers and use them (obviously if the game allows). Its a solid all round performer.
Did I say I loved it? :)
"Asus has under produced initial Transformers to create an artificial shortage and thus get lots of free advertising in from various press outlets. It also makes people think that everyone want one so they must be good, which leads the clueless drones into demanding something that they don't need, don't understand and that ties them into buying Asus products and services for ever more."
Ooops! My mistake. That BS meme only works for Apple products,
http://forums.channelregister.co.uk/forum/1/2012/03/12/ipad_shortages/
I would tend to agree except for the fact that aluminium does actually feel nicer to hold than plastic and these are hand-held devices. The aluminium is an important part of the user interface.
Still, very expensive. I'd like to see intel laptops with android in the detachable screen, so that I feel that I'm actually getting value for money. I would imagine the cost is in the screen, not the CPU.
The textured dark back of the TF101 is also an important part of the user interface. It's slip-resistant, fingerprint resistant, durable and not distractingly shiny. It's a bit of subtle class that I really like.
Clearly Asus doesn't have Apple's legendary supply chain, able to ramp production to legendary levels on short notice when they have a hit. They had better get invested in that pretty quick if they want to reap the full benefit of their brilliant engineering and design.
I'd love to buy one, but it won't happen. Can't even sniff one within a hundred miles of me. Retailers just nod knowingly when I ask for it. (Yeah, I'm a curmudgeon that wants to buy it at a retailer and take it home to play.) Worst case scenario, I keep my money and Asus can keep their manufacturing shortage.
A guy at work got one. It is a thing of beauty and absolutely flies. Unfortunately, his crracked near the hinge within a few weeks - another known fault, he was informed. By this time they had announced the sucessor. The current version does everything he wants so he has returned it for a refund gambling the price will drop when the new one is released and he can save himself £100 or so with a few weeks patience.
>Can't even sniff one within a hundred miles of me. Retailers just nod knowingly when I ask for it. (Yeah, I'm a curmudgeon that wants to buy it at a retailer and take it home to play.)<
This, a thousand times this, I need to hold one instore, see how widescreen looks and feels in actual use. PC World / Curries don't even mention its existence.
@ Misco guy, they're not advertising the fact on their website, just TF101's.
Actually Amazon do have them in stock now so this post has just become existentially pointless but now I'm waiting for the TF700T with better display and fixed wifi/GPS/reboot issues. Nice own goal there Asus.
>Unfortunately, his crracked near the hinge within a few weeks - another known fault<
Not known by me it wasn't... (holy crap nearly three million results in Google) - one of the pleasures of 'not' being an early adopter. El Reg, how about doing a follow up story about this issue?
... Absolutely love it and don't have a single complaint about it! (I certainly haven't experienced this weird GPS issue that people seem to harp on about).
Having played with lots of tablets/iPads I can say that it's an absolute wonder compared to other devicdes out there.
Did I say I loved it?
"He said the vendor was taking delivery of stocks on a weekly basis and confirmed that major resellers were hogging the stock, claiming the amount of kit Asus could provide was "nothing close to actual demand".
Nice to see that not everyone (as El Reg hacks would make you believe) wants an iPad.
Mine arrived a fortnight back (UK) but GPS doesn't seem to function at all. Heaphone socket moved on insertion, caused crack to appear in the frame underneath - very annoying.
Seems to lack enough oomph to playback x264 Blu-Ray images in 1080 but copes well enough with 720 (using MX player pro).
Wifi is functional but not as I expected (20mbit down, 5mbit up on my virgin 50mbit service - other wireless devices max the 50). Won't allow me to steam a HD flick from my NAS, needs to be moved to local SD first.
Doesn't come with micro-HDMI cable which was restrictive (easily overcome by visit to amazon) and haven't yet tried usb data transfer.
Feels great to use, tablet is incredibly light and while somewhat unresponsive for first hour (some touches on on-screen keyboard were ignored entirely) after a full 12 hour charge it functions correctly. Have not been able to source a TF201 protective case yet, a few hours in a suitcase has lead to mild flex in the tablet - no longer flush on one side when clamshelled.
One part of me loves it just because it frees me from my desktop and it has plenty of potential, but the other bit doesn't know what I should be doing to utilise that potential!