Sunday, November 6, 2011

Asus Eee Pad Transformer Prime- Prime is on its Way

Tablets are quickly gaining traction into people's lives everywhere. From households to offices, tablets are being adopted at such a rapid pace that pretty soon more people will be using tablets for their primary computing than desktops and laptops. What does that mean to you? Well, if you are considering on adopting one of the pieces of technology in the near future, I would encourage you to look at the Asus eee Pad Transformer Prime, when it is released in the near future.

Why the Transformer? Well, I think there needs to be a worthy competitor to the iPad, which is far and away the best selling tablet in the world.

I need to make it clear that I believe economic competition is beneficial for consumers. When multiple companies are attempting to make profits in a certain market, innovation primarily will dictate how successful a company will be. Competitors will push each other and spend large budgets on trying to get ahead of the competition. A free market is essential to allow true competition and it is questionable whether Apple's App store is a true free market. 

Apple has an extensive set of rules that developers must adhere to in order to have their applications sold on the App store. Unfortunately, in order to use applications outside of the Apple App store, one must jailbreak their tablet. Jailbreaking is essentially freeing up your tablet to allow you to customize it and add things the way you want to. Now, can you jailbreak your tablet and not void your warranty? I don't know but I would be afraid to do so because I don't think that it would be encouraged by Apple.

Apple's operating system is iOS. It is designed to run the iPad, iPhone, and iPod Touch. The primary alternative to iOS is Android. This operating system is created by Google and there are several versions, with certain ones developed for smart phones, and others developed for tablets. Reviews of the primary tablet OS, Honeycomb are less than flattering. However, Google has announced their new Android OS called Ice Cream Sandwich. This OS is supposed to be a substantial upgrade to their OS which is designed for both tablets and smart phones. 

Android is effectively the exact opposite of iOS. Amazon does have a marketplace that developers can sell their applications for Android devices, but the rules are less restrictive and developers do not have to sell their applications though Android should they chose not to. Yes, that is correct. Android encourages a free market and allows developers and device owners to buy and sell applications outside of a regulated market. 

So why do I encourage the Asus Transformer Prime? As an Android based Tablet, it encourages the free market and will allow for increased market competition. However, it is not the primary reason. The primary reason is because it will be the most powerful tablet on the market. Yes, it will be significantly more powerful than the iPad2 by a large margin. Why? It will have twice as many processors as the iPad2. The Prime will be the first tablet on the market with NVIDIA's Kal-El quad core processor. 

Blazing speed and an open market is not the only reason I encourage this tablet however. The Asus Transformer Prime carries the Transformer moniker for a particular reason; it can double as a laptop. For an extra, currently unspecified price, the consumer can purchase an external keyboard specifically designed for the Prime. Asus ingeniously did this with the first generation version and designed it to contain an extra battery that allowed for a full charge of the tablet and keyboard to last up to 16 hours. That is long enough to handle an entire work day and home entertainment.

During my decision making process on which tablet I should purchase, I carefully contemplated which tablet would serve my work and personal needs most effectively. I wanted something that I could utilize on travel for work using the device for word processing and presentation development and delivery. Typing on an actual tablet is a somewhat arduous task as I am using to a normal keyboard with the bumps on the “J” and “f” keys so that I can position my hands properly. Additionally, I require the actually feeling of the buttons being pressed for proper sensory input to type effectively. Asus solves this problem with their keyboard attachment. When I receive my Transformer Prime, I know that I will have a fully capable machine to work at home and the office during the day, and entertain myself at night. Happy Shopping.

2 comments:

  1. Casey, Do you know when this unit will be available, price range and a recommendation for where to purchase?

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  2. All of the rumors are for an early December launch, so it will be available for Holiday shopping. Asus has said that the 32GB will sell for $499 and the 64GB will sell for $599, while the keyboards MSRP will be $150. The street price for the Keyboard will probably be lower for the Transformer Prime as it was for the original Transformer. As for a place for purchase, I would suggest using Google Shopper to find the best price and to avoid having to pay sales tax.

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