So you want an ASUS Eee Pad Transformer Prime? The UK-based retailer Clove has just announced its pricing for the combination tablet-laptop, landing it in a bit of a weird place in the market.

The price including VAT is £550.80 for just the tablet half. We say that’s weird because it it’s way more expensive than the iPad – it’s obvious rival.

While the ASUS Eee Pad Transformer Prime does boast a raft of decent specs, including a Tegra 3 quad-core processor and 64GB of storage, we can’t help but think that it’s still priced too high.

When coupled with the sold-separately keyboard dock, however, the ASUS Eee Pad Transformer Prime becomes a pretty solid Android 4.0-powered laptop. While it doesn’t have the Intel Sandy Bridge processor necessary to be called an Ultrabook, it’s thin and portable enough to be considered similar to ASUS’ Zenbook.

Why Ultrabooks prove that the industry is insane

If you look at in this light, the ASUS Eee Pad Transformer Prime is pretty cheap, but therein lies the problem with such a device: what exactly is it? As it is, £550 is either an expensive tablet or a cheap Ultrabook-style laptop.

We suppose the proof is in the sales figures. Are you tempted? If so, would you mostly use it as a laptop or as a tablet?

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  • VM

    They do also have the 32GB version with the Keyboard dock for the same price. As it has a microSD slot extra storage is no problem.

  • sqwath

    flip you greedy Asus! i really wan’t but I simply cannot afford. galaxy 10.1 it is then

  • GG

    Er what? The 64gb Transformer Prime costs £550, yes, but the 64gb iPad 2 costs about £560+. The Prime is already cheaper than the iPad 2, and once you take into consideration the superior hardware its value for money becomes even better than the iPad. This article needs to be re-written.

    • http://www.facebook.com/people/Gabriel-Paredes/1404665881 Gabriel Paredes

      no you ding-head,ipad wins due better user experience, better apps and great operative system, no to mention no malware

      • GG

        Did I say anything about software? ;)
        Regardless, my point still stands. The article is wrong in saying that the Prime is more expensive than the iPad, because it isn’t. I also said that it’s better value considering the hardware, I didn’t say that it’s better overall. Open your eyes and ears a little rather than living under the belief that anything Apple is the be all and end all and ignoring the existence of anything else that might come close. I don’t have a problem with Apple products, their business model is phenomenal, and their products are for the most part, pretty flawless. What I do have a problem with are people like you who throw it in everyone’s face and automatically denounce any products which might have any sort of competitive advantage over an Apple product.
        Good day to you sir

        -Ding-head.

        • Matthew Partridge

          Well said GG. 

      • http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100000314962648 James Kelly

        I owned an iPhone 3Gs for two years, which I LOVED. This year, I got a Galaxy S II, and the OS is infinitely better. Theres so much freedom and flexibility, and the Android keys are so conveniant. Yes, iOS is more refined and simple, but that’s unsurprising considering how closed and limiting it is. As for apps, Android Market has caught up, and is getting bigger and better very fast, and actually offers a more diverse selection of apps than Apple. Also, i’ve had no problems with malware or lag. That has been more or less solved on Android, and is forever improving as Android continues to evolve. The Transformer Prime is more powerful, more advanced, more functional, more flexible, and simply better. Ding-head  :P

      • Anonymous

        Gabriel – lay off the personal insults or we’ll ban you.

      • Anonymous

        Gabriel – lay off the personal insults or we’ll ban you.

  • Guest

    Wow, poor show from Asus. It pains me to say it but at that price this will just be another tablet that fails to gain any sort of foothold in the market. It is a real shame because the specs really are fantastic.

    Look at the pricing of an iPhone compared to an Android Smartphone and now look at the price of this against an iPad? When will manufacturers learn that the only way they will ever emulate Android’s Smartphone success in tablets is to adopt the same pricing model.  

    • http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100000314962648 James Kelly

      The price, which is actually pretty fair considering the Prime’s superior capabilities, doesn’t take away the fact this is the best tablet so far.

      • Guest

        I wasn’t disputing the capabilities of the Prime, it is better than the iPad without a shadow of a doubt. The problem is the price, people simply will not be willing to take a gamble on it when they can have a tried and tested product which has every apple fan boy in the world screaming how good it is.

        This has been the problem with every high end Android tablet to date that has tried to compete in iPad territory. The only way Android is going to replicate it’s smartphone success is to get it’s products into the hands of a lot of people so that it can prove itself, exactly as it has done in Smartphones. And the only way it’ll do this, is to get a product like the Prime out in the market at a price that people simply cannot say no to.

        I know, and anyone technologically minded knows the Prime is a better tablet on paper, but how many of your average consumers are willing to gamble £500+ in the hope it’s good, when they can buy an iPad 2 which is raved about everywhere?

        Until the manufacturers realise this, the iPad will remain the top dog in the tablet world. Price it to break even, gain a large scale adoption of what is a fantastic product and let word of mouth do its job. 

  • David

    Not interested if Samsung have one with four times the screen resolution coming out in a few months.

  • Diarmaidbrowne

    This journalist has obviously not bothered to do even the slightest bit of research on this product for this story. The information is completely incorrect. If they’d bothered to even go to the Clove website at all, they would see that they do not even sell a 64gb version without keyboard, they only sell a 32gb version WITH keyboard. If Mr Bunker had bothered to research a little bit more about the transformer prime, he would know that Asus announced that initially they will ONLY be selling the 32gb version WITH keyboard in the UK. And that the pricing will be £499. Clove is obviously trying to cash in by being the first retailer to take pre-orders of the tablet, but they are charging 10% above what the market rate will be when it’s released. So, having all the above information, we see that it is not priced expensively. In fact, quite the contrary. For £20 more than a 32gb ipad, the user gets a thinner, QUAD core tablet with user expandable memory (both micro sd on the tablet and full size sd on the keyboard), a keyboard which includes a battery to boost life to 16 hours, usb port, HDMI out, 8 megapixel camera, support for gamepads, higher resolution screen…etc etc etc. Need I say any more?

  • Diarmaidbrowne

    Ok just realised Clove say they do sell the 64gb version now, despite Asus saying it’s not being released yet in the UK. Makes this whole preorder pricing from clove sound a bit fishy to me!

  • http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100000314962648 James Kelly

    Very tempting. I would choose this over the iPad 2 any day. It’s more powerful with more functionality, has a higher resolution display, a better OS, has a thinner and higher quality design, etc, etc …

  • http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100000314962648 James Kelly

    Very tempting. I would choose this over the iPad 2 any day. It’s more powerful with more functionality, has a higher resolution display, a better OS, has a thinner and higher quality design, etc, etc …

  • http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100000314962648 James Kelly

    Very tempting. I would choose this over the iPad 2 any day. It’s more powerful with more functionality, has a higher resolution display, a better OS, has a thinner and higher quality design, etc, etc …

  • Barulhonao

    Not tempted at this price, I will wait for the Ipad 3 in Mar/Apr.  Far too much and one can get a bluetooth keyboard for less than £40 and add to any Android/Apple so count me out!

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