Asus Eee Pad Transformer

The Asus Eee Pad Transformer is one of the top selling 10 inch Android tablets — although that might not actually be saying much, since overall Android tablet sales still pale in comparison with Apple iPad sales. But when the tablet first launched Asus had problems keeping up with demand and had to ramp up production.

Now it looks like Asus may be preparing to launch a next-generation Eee Pad Transformer. Asus chairman Jonney Shih has confirmed that a new model is under development and according to industry sources, a new model could ship in October.

One of the current tablet’s selling points is its relatively low price. The Transformer sells for $400 and up, which makes it about $100 cheaper than competing devices from Samsung and Motorola, while offering similar features including a 10 inch, 1280 x 800 pixel display and dual core NVIDIA Tegra 2 processor.

The other selling point is an optional keyboard docking station that allows you to use the Android tablet like a notebook with a full QWERTY keyboard and a touchpad. The dock also has its own battery, nearly doubling the tablet’s battery life.

There’s not much information about the new model, so it’s not clear if it will have a next-generation NVIDIA processor or the next version of Google Android, code-named Ice Cream Sandwich, although we’ve heard rumors about both of those possibilities.

It’s also not clear whether Asus will be able to hang onto the price advantage. Affordable tablets from Toshiba, Acer, and other top tier computer makers have been hitting the streets recently. And Archos plans to launch a line of new Android tablets with 1.5 GHz processors and Google Android 3.1 software for as little as $279.

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14 replies on “Second generation Asus Eee Pad Transformer coming this fall?”

  1. Ooo, Transformer 2 this fall? Now way! Just lookt at how many troubles they had with putting out the TF101. And what about MeMo . Slider should be out months ago!
    So don t be suprised, if TF2 is lunched in 2012 with Windows 8.
    Still I hope I am very wrong!

  2. If you can’t wait for October for the Asus Transformer 2, then good news the Asus Transformer is now come down in price on Amazon!

  3. The only thing I can think of that would make a version 2 worth it is Tegra 3.  

    I wish Asus would make a second tablet that is not a Transformer though.  I like the price, I think the Transformer is too big and would like to see either a smaller 10″ or a 7″.

      1. I like that Asus created the Transformer and the Slider looks nice too, but I’m not that interested in a physical keyboard. I hope one day they make a regular plain ol’ tablet. That way they could cut the bulk to a minimum and make it smaller since they won’t have to widen it for a keyboard dock.

  4. I have a feeling we’ll be seeing android tablets with new tegra chipset and icecream for the holidays.
    I think you might see an ipad v3 then too.
    Normally apple would wait until spring – knowing the existing line would do fine for the holidays.
    But I think they might come early to try to maintain dominance in the market over improving competition.
    It always strikes me funny how apple fanboys love to go on-and-on about how android tablets are horrible and ipad rules.
    They should be applauding the competition.
    I doubt they’d be seeing multi-tasking or lots of other stuff without it.

    I’d personally be more impressed with apple if they spent some of that $76B nest egg they have accumulated to bring manufacturing jobs to the US instead of having their stuff built in china.

    1. Tegra 3 yes, as they’re already in production and products with it should be coming out before the end of the year…  But the iPad 3 is still a long way off.  Right now they’re only working on just a updated version of the iPad 2.  So some improvements but not the iPad 3 some may be waiting for…

      While it would be nice if companies like Apple invested in US manufacturing but the way the US is set up right now they would lose too much money to stay competitive.

      Even in China, Foxconn is planning to replace many of their workers with factory robots in the next 3 years to reduce costs.  While Apple is rumored to be switching from Foxconn to Pegatron for the actual iPad 3 contract.

      Google may get Icecream out soon but except for the big companies it could take months before most systems have it running.

      1. Well – whatever they like to name things is up to them.
        I am just saying they will have something new out by the holidays in the ipad line.  That’s my guess anyway.

        The way apple makes money lately, I think they could manufacture here and be more than competitive and profitable.
        As profitable?  No.  Cheap labor is cheap labor.

        I have always been a ‘no isolationism’, ‘no tariff’, ‘free international trade’ sort of guy.
        But I’m starting to reconsider that position frankly.
        It seems the only way we can gain manufacturing back in that climate is to have our people work at third-world rates and conditions.

        I’m beginning to think we should have some kind of certification process where we only allow open trade if labor is equally compensated for that specific industry/product/company (some form of that).
        Basically, erase the savings of manufacturing overseas.
        Of course this would cause immediate inflation here.
        Prices at walmart would skyrocket.

        But otherwise, US manufacturing seems utterly doomed.
        That is a grave concern.

  5. Gotta be honest, I don’t see myself getting rid of my Asus TF anytime soon.  Updated model or not.  The thing is damn near perfect.

      1. I’d like to see some more traditional sized slates (like this) but running android.
        I wonder if the poor battery life is mainly due to the larger screen, the processor, or windows.
        Probably a combo.
        Anyway – android is fine with me.  Would love the larger screen, pen input and ports.  Do need more than a couple hours battery life though.

        1. if they did do an update for the Asus EP121 I’d need the following
          removable battery battery size options 3-cell vs 6-cell, sandy bridge processor. I like the android tablet but I am a different market (graphic designer)

          1. We’re getting close to Ivy Bridge and that’ll be a much better update than Sandy Bridge.  So I don’t mind waiting a bit longer but agree it’ll still need a removable battery.

            The EP121 was also originally suppose to get a keyboard dock like the Transformer but they cancelled it at the last minute, probably because of price point for the system but Ivy Bridge should help them get it low enough to start considering such accessories again.

            While they can also make it a hybrid and have a embedded ARM system to run Android.  Companies like Cupp Computing are already starting to offer solutions like their PunkThis module that you can use to upgrade existing systems and just use a keyboard key combination or similar to switch back and forth.  Providing the best of both worlds until x86 gets closer to ARM power efficiency and would make it easier to run Android and have more apps work natively.

      2. About EP121, I could say that a dock would be a good solution to add additional components. Like more RAM, battery life, a non-integrated video card (not the big one :D) + USB3 or Sata III, maybe just maybe a possibility for HDD, like 1TB so you can dock tablet in and save non essential things there.

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