Asus ships quad-core Transformer Pad 300 tablet for $379

22.04.2012
Asustek on Sunday started shipping its Transformer Pad 300 tablet in the U.S., with the company pitching the tablet as a gaming device and laptop replacement.

The tablet has a 10.1-inch screen, Google's Android 4.0 operating system and a quad-core Tegra 3 processor from Nvidia running at a clock speed of 1.2GHz.

The tablet is priced started at US$379.99 for 32GB of storage and 1GB of RAM. Though most features are similar to those available in its predecessor, the Eee Pad Transformer Prime, the starting price is lower. Some of the new features GPS capabilities and the new OS pre-installed.

The company did not immediately comment on worldwide availability.

The tablet is the first that does not have Asus' famous "Eee" moniker, which debuted in 2007 with the pioneering Eee PC 700 netbook. Asus is upgrading its tablets at a furious pace, and the new tablet comes just six months after it shipped the Transformer Prime, which was the industry's first quad-core tablet.

Asus also joins a bevy of companies pricing Android 4.0 tablets under US$400. Samsung's Galaxy Tab 2 10.1-inch tablet will ship on May 13 and starts at $399.99. The aggressive pricing strategy of Android tablets may be an attempt to take market share from Apple, which is expected to this year, according to Gartner. Apple's iPad is priced starting at $499.