Believe it or not, there are tablets on the market that don’t have anything to do with Apple, and one of those tablets is the Asus Eee Pad Transformer Prime. This tablet is thinner than most other tablets in its class and it comes with plenty of features in addition to a very impressive Nvidia processor. If you’re in the market for a new tablet, here’s what Asus has to offer with the Eee Pad Transformer Prime.

Eee Pad Transformer Prime Design and Specs

When it comes to tablets, design is a very important detail. The Eee Pad Transformer Prime actually weighs less than the iPad and it is thinner too. Even though the Transformer Prime is smaller and thinner, this tablet still fits in a 8-megapixel camera (LED flash), 1080p video and even comes with Micro-HDMI and microSD support. When tested, this tablet’s camera really captures images well, showcasing both image precision and detail, which can be attributed to the 2.4 aperture (a far cry from earlier Asus models that were showcasing cameras with 2.2 apertures).

The Eee Pad Transformer Prime is a big deal for Asus, since the company is attempting to compete with the iPad by putting out a thinner tablet with a comparable camera. Wrapping the Eee Pad Transformer Prime in Gorilla Glass was a good choice on Asus’ part, since this glass only adds to the overall design of the Transformer Prime. On the outside of the tablet you’ll see spun aluminum and polymer –two things that add up to a very shiny and very attractive tablet.

On the Inside of the Prime

The Eee Transformer Prime is the first table to feature Nvidia’s Tegra 3 Quad Core Processor. As a nice change of pace from all the other tablets on the market, the Transformer Prime is also well-equipped radio wise. The Prime comes with WiFi, Bluetooth 3.0, and A-GSPS – not a bad lineup by any means. You might be thinking that a tablet with this much going on won’t have a strong battery life. However, this is not the case with the Prime. Asus has placed a 22Wh battery inside of the Transformer Prime and that translates to more than 10 hours of usage. If you place the Transformer Prime in its dock, you can extend that battery life to more than 16 hours of usage.

Pricing, Availability, and Worth

The Asus Transformer Prime is price very competitively at $499. This is a more than fair price to pay for the best tablet that Asus has put out, and one of the few tablets that can compete with the iPad. The Tegra 3 Quad Core processors that Asus has added to the Prime will handle almost anything you want to do with it, and this processor alone makes the tablet worth the $499 price tag. It’s also important to point out that this tablet simply looks good. With a shiny exterior and brand that was done right, the Transformer Prime is not an embarrassment to carry around.