Photos of a new Asus tablet started making the rounds recently, but at the time there were no details about the tablet’s specifications. Now the folks at Tabletowo in Poland have received a spec sheet which seems to suggest that the TF300T could be a cheaper version of the Eee Pad Transformer Prime.
The new tablet is the same 10 inch, 1280 x 800 pixel display and optional keyboard docking station as the original Transformer Prime.
But there are a few key differences between the two tablets:
- The TF300T has a 1.2 GHz Tegra 3 processor while the TF200T has a 1.3 GHz version
- The new model doesn’t have an LED flash for the rear camera.
- The new model has 16GB of storage while the original comes in 32GB or 64GB versions.
- Battery life tops out at 8.5 hours for the tablet or 12 hours with the keyboard docking station. The TF200T can run for up to 18 hours with the dock or 9.5 hours without.
- The TF300T is also a hair thicker than the TF200T, measuring 9.9mm thick instead of 8.3mm. It’s also heavier, at 640 grams (or about 1.4 pounds) rather than 582 grams (1.3 pounds).
Right now the Eee Pad Transformer Prime has a starting price of $499. It looks like the new TF300T model could be a cheaper alternative.
Asus also plans to launch a pricier model called the Transformer Prime TF700T later this year. That model will have a high resolution 1920 x 1200 pixel 10 inch display as well as a few other premium features — the last I’d heard it would also have an NVIDIA Tegra 3 quad-core processor, but the leaked spec sheet shows it with a 1.5 GHz Qualcomm dual-core chip.
I’d take these details with a grain of salt for now, since Asus hasn’t made any official statements about the TF300T yet. But we might know more when Mobile World Congress opens later this month.
It’s kind of baffling. Why would they develop a “new” tablet that’s just slightly worse in just about every aspect then current Transformer Prime? Perhaps this TF300T was actually an early development version of the TF200T and ASUS decided to attempt to recoup development costs by going ahead and producing it and selling it as a cheaper version of the TF200T.
That 1920 x 1200 model OTOH, looks quite awesome.
Because price matters.