Final thoughts and rating
Let's move away from the Android proposition for just a moment, as it's worth commenting first on ASUS's arsenal of awesome hardware. The manufacturer was once best known for its graphics cards and motherboards (and perhaps still is), but the company's growing selection of portable computing devices is now really beginning to take shape. Whether you're in the market for an Ultrabook, a laptop, a netbook, or a tablet, ASUS has some of the very best options available.
The quality of the company's hardware has improved dramatically, and, honestly, we're already excited at the prospect of machines such as the Transformer Prime and the Zenbook UX31 running Windows 8.
Choosing between the different form factors isn't getting any easier (and I still see tablets as multimedia consumption devices first and foremost), but if you've opted to take the tablet route, or you're just wanting to dabble with the form factor, they really don't come much better than the Transformer Prime.
It is the thinnest and lightest tablet we've ever seen, yet it houses a gorgeous Super IPS+ display, a quad-core processor, arguably the best tablet camera, and, when combined with the bundled dock, dual batteries that'll outlast a flight from London to Singapore.
ASUS's hardware has set the standard, but all the pieces of the Transformer Prime puzzle are yet to fall into place. The current Honeycomb operating system is long overdue a revamp (Ice Cream Sandwich can't come soon enough), and a lack of tablet-optimised apps leaves us with a machine that's struggling to reach its full potential.
And then there's also the issue of price. Apple's iPad 2 is simpler to use, tied to a vast library of apps, quicker in most benchmarks and available from £399. The Transformer Prime costs £100 more, and though it's intriguing enough to be worthy of consideration, you can't ignore the fact that fully-fledged laptops are available at around the same price.
Bottom line: Apple's iPad 2 remains the tablet to beat, but if Android is your platform of choice, the Transformer Prime is second to none.
The Good
Stunning Super IPS+ display
Outstanding battery life
Great-looking design and solid build quality
Physical keyboard makes light work of text entry
SD card slot for storage expansion
Class-leading camera
The Bad
App library pales in comparison to iOS
Costs as much as a fully-featured laptop
Only one configuration for UK consumers
HEXUS Rating
ASUS Eee Pad Transformer Prime
HEXUS Awards
ASUS Eee Pad Transformer Prime
HEXUS Where2Buy
The ASUS Eee Pad Transformer Prime is available to pre-order from ebuyer.com and pcworld.co.uk.
HEXUS Right2Reply
At HEXUS, we invite the companies whose products we test to comment on our articles. If any company representatives for the products reviewed choose to respond, we'll publish their commentary here verbatim.
