Asus Eee Pad Transformer Prime

AllThingsD’s review columnist Walt Mossberg has graced us with his Asus Eee Pad Transformer Prime review this evening, giving the device a pretty high score. Mossberg, a renowned reviewer, calls the Prime the best Android tablet he has tested. Mossberg compliments the Prime on its fast quad-core Tegra 3 processor and keyboard dock which can be purchased separately.

Just as Joanna Stern from The Verge said, Mossberg isn’t too happy with the software on the Prime. He calls it sluggish and not as complete as the iPad. For his final words, Mossberg says the iPad is still the best tablet out there, but if you’re interested in Android and a physical keyboard this tablet is for you. Be sure to read his full review.

I still believe the iPad 2 is the best overall tablet available. However, if you’re looking for a model using Google’s Android interface and are yearning for a well-designed, easily integrated keyboard solution, or want to play more power-hungry games, the Transformer Prime is a good choice, as long as you can tolerate its software limitations.

The Prime launches in the United States on December 15th. The 32GB model will be available for $499, and the optional keyboard dock will be available for $149. We look forward to getting our hands on this!

The Asus Eee Pad Transformer Prime, the first quad-core tablet running the new Tegra 3 chip from Nvidia, is probably arriving Thursday, December 8, just in time for Christmas. Engadget points to a pre-order page over at Newegg which specifically mentions the December 8 date.

Asus chairman Jonney Shih confirmed that the device will be upgradeable to Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich by the end of this year. Nvidia has published a nice video demonstrating Ice Cream Sandwich on a Transformer Prime. If you’re in the market for cool accessories, you may want to consider this origami like iPad-inspired smart cover case for the Transformer Prime.

According to DigiTimes, Asus is looking to ship over 350,000 Transformer Prime units this year. Sources estimate the company could cumulatively ship up to two million units of the Transformer tablet PC family in 2011.

The Tegra 3 chip inside the Prime really makes the difference: Per this benchmark, the forthcoming tablet/notebook hybrid has the power of the previous generation of Transformer and smokes competition, including the Galaxy S II, Motorola Xoom and Galaxy Nexus.

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When Asus chairman Jonney Shih sat opposite the Wall Street Journal columnist Walt Mossberg at the AsiaD conference saying his company was taking Android seriously, he wasn’t kidding. The Eee Pad Transformer Prime, the successor to his company’s Eee Pad Transformer tablet, will run Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich.

However, the device will have Android 3.2 pre-installed when it ships shortly and will be upgradeable to Ice Cream Sandwich via a software update, which will be arriving by the year’s end, DigiTimes reports:

The first batch of Transformer Prime tablets will run on Android 3.2 before migrating to Android 4.0 by the end of 2011, said Shih, who unveiled the new tablet at the All Things Digital (AsiaD) technology forum being held in Hong Kong from October 19-21.

Like its predecessor, the 10-inch Eee Pad Transformer Prime functions as a tablet which can be docked to a keyboard attachment that turns it into a full-fledged notebook replacement. It is powered by Nvidia’s latest quad-core chip dubbed Kal-El and the company recently released a nice-looking teaser announcing its imminent arrival. They used advanced material processing so the device features high-quality chassis crafted from aluminum. The keyboard dock is understood to include a touch panel and expansion slots.

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