ASUS, since the release of the Transformer Prime Tablet, every time I hear their name a little voice inside me starts jumping up and down saying “I want it, I want it…” well, with the pre-orders open for the impending April 22 release of their latest iteration of their transforming 10.1″ tablets on Amazon.com, the ASUS Transformer Pad 300, that voice is now kicking and screaming as well. But enough about my inner child let us talk Tab.
The New ASUS Transformer Pad 300, is the less expensive, more colorful sibling of the Prime, and it is sure to turn a few heads. Featuring the same NVIDIA® Tegra® 3 Quad-Core chipset, clocked at 1.2Ghz per core, as found in the Prime, it has all of the computing power you need skinned in a Blue, Red or White texturized rubber case, and is guaranteed to make even the most critical of gamers or media buffs happy with its 12-Core, 3D stereo GeForce® GPU, 1GB of Ram, and High Quality Speakers. That’s right speaker’s’ and while from the visuals I don’t believe the tiny noise makers to be Stereo, but rather seated next to each other on one side, I’m sure it will provide better, or at least, louder sound than most of the other tablets on the market right now.
Connectivity, both wired and wireless, is also where ASUS plays a strong hand as the tablet has WiFi 802.11bgn, Bluetooth v3.0, a Micro-D HDMI 1.4a port, 2-in-1 audio/mic jack, built in microphone, and everybody’s favorite, a microSD slot. But that’s not all, while not available on the model currently up for pre-order, the TP300 series is will also give you internet options on the go with 3G HSPA+, featuring maximum data speeds of 21/5.76Mbps, and 4G LTE running at download/upload speeds of 100/50Mbps.
The 10 point Multi-touch Screen isn’t lacking either with a 10.1″ WXGA (1200×800) LED backlit IPS display with an amazing 178° viewing angle, so you can share nice while watching your favorite movie on the go or snuggled with someone special on the couch. The ASUS TP300 is also equipped with an ambient light sensor, and speaking of sharing, the rear facing 8MP wide aperture F/2.2 lensed camera or 1.2MP camera on the front will make capturing and posting that special moment a breeze.
The TP300 weighs in at 1.4 pounds and only .39″ thick, so holding the device shouldn’t be too strenuous, and as for storage space the current model available on Amazon comes with 32GB of onboard storage, whereas the specs for the model listed on ASUS’ own website indicate 16GB on which to place your favorite games and apps. And let us not forget the reason we love the ASUS tab products, because they come with serious personality disorders, because with the optional color matching docks, it’s not sure if it is a Tablet or a Laptop.
That leaves us with, what I’m sure to be your final questions, is it running ICS, how long can it go without charging, and how much is it going to set me back? Those are probably the best answers of all; yes, it will be operating on the latest reiteration of Android, 4.0. You can stay wireless for 10 hours with its lithium polymer battery, an additional 5 hours if you get the optional dock, and its current Pre-Order Price is sitting at $489.99, but I’m sure 16GB version should be around $100 dollars less since that has been the practice for practically every other major electronic company’s products, ever.
You can pre-order the new ASUS Transformer Pad 300 from Amazon Here, or learn more here on ASUS’ homepage.