Asus is probably the first manufacturer to out a quad-core tablet and
also the first one to set the tone on netbook-cum-tablet form factor.
Check out our full review of the Asus Transformer Prime TF201 after the jump.
The Transformer Prime is a
second-generation tablet from Asus and the company has made sure its got
all the bells and whistles with it. Its got a thinner body but on a
same solid, metal chassis coupled with a very powerful engine under the
hood.
I reviewed the first Asus Transformer
and was already impressed by it back in September 2011 (although it
still has the thickness and weight of a typical netbook when attached to
the docked). The Transformer Prime took it up one more notch by shaving
off a few more millimeters on the side. I suggest reading that review
first before this one to get a better perspective of the dockable tablet
experience.
The tablet alone is very thin, probably the thinnest we’ve used and
reviewed. At 8.3mm, the Transformer Prime bested even the iPad 2 and the
Galaxy Tab 10.1 in the thin-ness category.
The power button is at the top left corner, the volume rocker is
found on the left side along with the micro-HDMI port and the microSD
card slot. The 3.5mm audio port is on the right side.
The keyboard dock now has lesser ports from the previous tablet, with
only a single standard USB port and SD card slot on the right side
while the charging port in on the left.
The tablet snaps right into the dock pretty neatly using the 40-pin
USB connector port along with two additional latches on both ends. To
un-dock, there’s a slider lock on the dock to release the latches.
There’s a metallic cradle along the docking port to set the tablet firmly and place and not break the latches from the strain.
Unlike the first Asus Transformer, the Transformer Prime is mostly
made of aluminum giving it a good solid build that matches the iPad 2.
