Asus has added a new low-cost Android tablet to its Transformer Pad lineup. You can pick up an Asus Transformer Pad TF502T tablet and keyboard dock in Taiwan for about $340.
What you get for the money is a device with a 10 inch display, an NVIDIA Tegra 3 processor, Android 4.2 software, and a dock that lets you use the tablet like a notebook. But if you look closely at the keyboard you might notice something unusual: a Windows key.
That’s because the Transformer Pad TF502T appears might not always have been an Android tablet.
Asus introduced a Windows RT tablet with identical specs in late 2012, but killed off that tablet in 2013. Rather than scrap remaining inventory or try to sell it off at fire-sale prices, it looks like Asus decided to replace the Windows RT software with Android and sell the device under a new name.
While the specs aren’t exactly cutting edge, the Transformer Pad TF502T doesn’t look like a bad device for $340.
It has a 1366 x 768 pixel IPS display, 2GB o fRAM, 32GB of storage, and a microSD card slot. The tablet supports 802.11b/g/n WiFi, Bluetooth 4.0, and has a 25Whr battery. There’s also an extra battery in the keyboard, offering up to 16 hours of run time when you use both batteries together.
The tablet also features NFC, mini HDMI output, an 8MP rear camera and 2MP front-facing camera.
This isn’t the first time we’ve seen an old product given new life thanks to an operating system swap. But often it’s up to users to snap up devices like the HP TouchPad and replace the operating systems with Ubuntu or Android. This time Asus has made the change itself.
via Notebook Italia and iFans
Why do these guys keep trying to compete with iPad Air. They need to go big! 13 or more and have something. They are dead meat at 10 inch.
Lol. Realy asus. You already have THREE android TF with Tegra 3.
Quite strange they left the Window key…
Extremely tempting!! Especially if someone manages to install a linux distro, a dual boot setup would be a plus!!
Why not get the t100 and install any distro you want. It’s x86 afterall.
Last time I heard, Brad was having issues running a live distro