The button layout is a bit different this time around as well. They moved the power button to the top left as opposed to the top left side and added a tiny indicator LED. The original had it just above the volume rocker which I found to be annoying because I would many times hit the power button when http://www.zenithink-zepad.com/ I was trying to adjust the volume. I am all for the new arrangement and haven’t had any fumbled button use yet. Good call ASUS.
One thing I will say that sucks about the Prime’s design is the speaker. Notice I said speaker and not speakers? The Transformer Prime is a mono audio unit, therefore unable to deliver stereo audio. As if that isn’t bad enough, ASUS decided to place the single speaker right where your right hand goes when holding the tablet in landscape mode. Kind of a bummer. Sound quality is http://www.zenithink-zepad.com/zenithink-epad.html decent, though, and the volume is substantial enough to hear even if your hand is smack dab over the top of it. I can only imagine how much better it would be if there were two speakers and were placed near the top of the tablet in landscape mode. Then you would get a nice uninterrupted stereo experience instead of a muffled mono one.
Hardware
This is where we get to the good stuff. Full specs include a 10.1-inch LED Super IPS+ (1280 x 800) display, Tegra 3 quad-core processor, 1GB RAM, 8MP rear camera with f2.4 aperture lens ( with 1080p video recording), 1.2MP front camera, 32GB or 64GB of internal memory, microSD slot for up to an additional 32GB, micro HDMI, and SonicMaster sound technology. http://www.zenithink-zepad.com/zenithink-zt-280-c91-android-4-0-tablet-pc-cortex-a9-1ghz-10-1-inch-zenithink-c91-tablet-pc-8gb.html
Battery
The battery is rated at 12 hours, but with the keyboard dock (see below) you should get up to 18 hours. Battery rating can very depending on what performance setting the tablet is set to. The options are Power Saving mode, Balanced, and performance, and each will result in different battery life longevity. When set on Balanced mode and 50% brightness, the tablet was able to continuously loop video for just over 10 hours, rivaling that of the previous industry leader, the iPad 2. When dialed up to performance mode, you can expect to lose about an hour and a half and the opposite can be said when dialing back to Power Saving Mode. You can see the power options and battery meter in the screenshot below. http://www.zenithink-zepad.com/zenithink-c92-android-4-0-tablet-pc-10-inch-cortex-a9-1ghz-c92-tablet.html
To further stretch the devices battery life, one could opt to add the accompanying keyboard dock. ASUS claims the dock will add an additional 6 hours of battery life on top of the 12 hours as rated by the manufacturer. Surprisingly enough, the two working in conjunction did just that. The tablet/keyboard combo was able to last just over 16 hours when running the same test as mention above. This may come in hand for you heavy users who are unable to plug-in and charge midday. You can even monitor the keyboard dock’s juice with the handy battery meter seen in the image above.
Performance
The Tegra 3 quad-core processor really flies in this thing. It utilizes Nvidia’s new SoC technology (system on a chip) and sometimes I swear I can see smoke coming out of the speaker grill. No but really, it is pretty fast. The Tegra 3 runs 5 times faster than its predecessor, the Tegra 2. You won’t find many apps that can take advantage of the quad-core processor, but I was able to play ShadowGun THD (high def version) with absolutely no lag. I have played the standard version of the same game on my GalaxyTab 10.1 and often times the game hangs for a few seconds at a time. Even with regular usage, you will notice better speed on the Prime as compared to any other Android tablet. The original Transformer was very nice, but it easily got bogged down, especially with a decent amount of apps installed. Even if you can’t fully tap into the device’s power at this point, there is a quick setting that lets you dial back the processor speed (seen in the settings pop-up in the above image). The Prime is so quick in fact, it’s often used as a top comparison in many benchmarking and speed testing apps. Scrolling left and right on the home screen is a quick and snappy affair, and opening the app drawer when filled with a ton of apps is virtually instantaneous. http://www.zenithink-zepad.com/zenithink-c71-android-4-0-tablet-pc-cortex-a9-1ghz-7-inch-c71-tablet-pc-4gb-white.html
To touch base on the display a little bit for those of you who haven’t seen the Transformer Prime’s Super IPS display, this thing is bright. REAL bright. There is a mode under the quick settings panel that when applied, is basically like hitting the brights switch on your cars headlights and is capable of producing 600 nits. Although this takes a dramatic toll on your battery, it will come in hand when trying to view the tablet outdoors in bright sunlight. It really does make a difference. In an average comparison to other tablets, the Prime’s display is capable of being 50% brighter than most. Unfortunately color reproduction falls a bit flat and whites can appear somewhat yellowish at brighter settings, but darks are deep and are a pleasure for the eye to behold. Another thing worth noting about the Super IPS display is its viewing angle. ASUS claims the screen can be easily viewed from anywhere within a 178-degree radius. This can be good or bad, depending whether or not you are one who wants to share videos with friends or you’re the type who views private documents in public, this is one thing to keep in mind.
One major downfall (if you could consider it as such) is the devices lack of GPS signal. In the beginning, ASUS branded the device as a GPS unit even without any carrier radios on board. The device is (somewhat) capable of picking up GPS signal without the use of Wi-Fi but when Wi-Fi is active and locked on, GPS signal is much stronger. Many people were disappointed to find this to be the case and were expecting the Prime to act as a full-on GPS unit while driving around in their car. When the ICS update hit, people claimed that was the culprit for poor GPS signal when in fact it wasn’t really the issue at all. ASUS has since stated (and removed such marketing) that the Transformer Prime is never going to be a reliable GPS device. The way in which the device is manufactured prevents it from being so and the full metal back is to blame. Of course there is the few tablets that ASUS has gotten in return that actually had GPS antennas that were properly attached but if you were hoping to use this device to double as a GPS receiver, I strongly suggest using your phone or getting a Garmin. The only step ASUS has taken to retro this issue is to not repeat the mistake. If you will notice the design of the upcoming Transformer Prime 700 you will see that the back plate is not a solid piece of metal. There is a strip of plastic running along the top edge that covers all of the devices antennas and should provide a interference free experience. If you can wait until June you may want to wait for that device to get released instead.
Accessories
As many of you already know, ASUS has designed the Transformer series of tablets to work in conjunction with a matching keyboard dock as referred to earlier. The keyboard dock runs an additional $150, and when coupled with the tablet, could fool many into believing it was an actual laptop. The design of the dock perfectly matches the tablet and the additional ports and battery life will be well worth the extra cost to some folks. In addition to the extra 6 hours of battery life, the dock provides a full size USB 2.0 port and an SD card slot to boot. When the dock is connected to the tablet, it becomes somewhat of an extended battery of sorts, charging your tablet with any juice the dock might have. When you plug the proprietary charging cable into the dock, both the dock and the tablet charge simultaneously.
The dock for the Transformer Prime differs slightly from the dock that was built for the original Transformer in that it provides longer battery life and vast improvements have been made to the keyboards track pad. The new track pad is much more responsive than before and provides more of a laptop-esque experience. There is hardly any noticeable lag and accidental palm activations while typing is a thing of the past. While there is no way of disabling the trackpad, I found that it was small enough to be out of the way when typing. The trackpad also has two small buttons that are located at the base of the pad within one narrow strip. If you accidentally tap the middle of the button hoping for a right click, you Will get nothing. you must either tap the far-most left or right sides in order to activate the buttons. To some this may be an annoyance, but with spending a little time with the machine you can easily get the hang of it.
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