[Exclusive] First Impressions of the Asus Transformer Prime

[dgstorm]

One of our very own members (and moderators) of TransformerForums, leeshor, did an excellent brief first impressions writeup on the Asus Transformer Prime. His writeup does a great job of sharing the differences between the OG Asus Eee Pad Transformer and the new Transformer Prime. Here's what he had to say,

First impression TF101 vs. TFP201

Some may be aware of this but there is one particular new bit of info I hadn't seen or heard about.

ASUS packed a lot into a thin package. The buttons on the TF were on a flat edge, and relatively easy to use. The buttons on the TFP are on a bevel and slightly more difficult to access as they are smaller, (as is the HDMI port) and much more flush with the case edge angled toward the rear, . Not having the access on a flat surface is a little less convenient but it seems to have been necessary to get the thickness down to where they wanted it. They changed a lot but didn't cut anything out. They added a reset button, also on the left. As I use the power button a lot I can say that I don't care for this one nearly as much.

The buttons/ports pretty much have all their positions changed, except the volume, but it's smaller. HDMI moved to the left edge, power moved to the top left corner, (more difficult to use due to the size, at least for me), MicroSD moved to the left edge. speaker/earbud/microphone jack is now on the right edge.

The tablet is very noticeably thinner and lighter in my hands. Display is fantastic in Super IPS mode. speakers actually sound like stereo even with only one speaker and sound better. No bleed I can see, no creaking, connected to my router faster than the TF101. BUT I don't pick up the surrounding access points on the 201 like I do on the 101. I see 6 on the 101 but only 2 on the 201 so the range does seem to be an issue but it still works 3 floors up and out to my driveway. (router is in the basement rear right. driveway one floor up front left through concrete).

I haven't actually taken a ruler to it but it seems a few cm narrower that the 101

Here is something some people will appreciate, the charging cable is 3' longer. That's the one I didn't know.

Maybe more later.

[edit] One thing I forgot to mention, the shadow that appears on the right side of the screen when you pull up the menu is more pronounced, it's not a flaw, it's an enhancement.

Later in his post, he also added, "It really is a different (better in nearly every way) tablet. Without the logo I would never guess both were Transformers."

Thanks for doing such a great job sharing your thoughts with us, leeshor!

Source: TransformerForums - First impression TF101 vs. TFP201