Mr. Blurrycam got some not-so-nice blurry photos of the upcoming Asus Transformer Pad 300 which will be launched globally this Sunday, April 22.
The Asus Transformer Pad 300, foregoing the Eee monicker, is the first and most affordable in the Transformer Pad line. There’s also the soon-to-be announced Transformer Pad 700 aka Infinity, which will feature a high-def display to duke out with the iPad 3.
Anyway, back to the Transformer Pad 300. Fans of the Asus Transformer Prime who don’t have the budget to spot one will certainly opt for the 300 instead. It’s clearly the same specs aside from the downgraded IPS display and the lack of LED flash. You would still get quad-core Tegra 3, Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich, 16GB storage, and an 8-megapixel rear camera.
As for the build, the Transformer 300 is just a teeny bit heavier and chunkier than the Prime but still thin and light enough for a tablet/keyboard combination. Instead of the smooth metallic finish on the Prime, the 300 sports a rubbery polycarbonate lid with a concentric texture. I kind of liked it since it looks more rugged instead of fragile and it solved the GPS/WiFi/Bluetooth issue of the Prime without the need of a firmware fix.
The keyboard is almost identical but upon closer inspection, the build is more plasticky, similar to those on the Eee PC notebooks of Asus. Tried it out for a bit and I find the keys flushed to deep to give a laptop-quality tactile response. I guess you have to sacrifice that if you want a thin form factor.
Keyboard dock aside, the tablet itself performs as good as the Prime and I’m not surprised. It may not have the same Super IPS display of the Prime but you won’t notice the difference if you’re viewing it by itself.
The Transformer Pad 300 will come in Navy Blue, Red and White colors. Mums the word on the price yet but expect it to be around 30% cheaper than the Prime putting it in the range of the iPad 3, and you’ll also get a keyboard/battery dock with this one.
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Asus Transformer Pad 300 Specs: |
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NVidia Tegra 3 T30L quad-core processor @ 1.2GHz |
GeForce 12-core, 3D stereo (built-in) |
Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich |
10.1″³ IPS display @ 1280×800 pixels |
1GB RAM |
32GB internal storage, up to 32GB microSD |
WiFi 802.11 b/g/n |
Bluetooth 3.0 |
1.2MP (front) camera and 8MP auto-focus (rear) with large F/2.2 aperture |
microHDMI port |
10 hours; 22Wh Li-polymer |
+5 hours with mobile dock; Dock: 16.5Wh Li-polymer |
SRP: Php24,995 |