Did anyone pre-order an ASUS Padfone? I’ll be in Beautiful Bitan early in May and plan to make the pilgramage to Guanghua to buy one. The Qualcom Snapdragon S4 is only dual core, but it outperforms the Nvidia Tegra quadcore! (Anandtech.com) I love the Russian doll phone within a tablet that docks to keyboard… each with a shared battery. A new class of machine, beyond Apple, but no plans to release it Stateside.
I have a wait-and-see attitude about the Asus Padfone, because the Asus Transformer Prime had some issues like the GPS. Asus had to release an external GPS dongle for the Prime.
There are a lot of new phones and tablets coming out these next few months like the Samsung Galaxy S3, and a bevy of Windows8 tablets that are all worth considering. In some cases, it might be cheaper to buy separate phone, tablet and keyboard accessory than to buy the complete Asus Padfone system.
I am also looking forward to it. My Samsung POC is almost dead now -and I still have one year of contract to go- so I will have to but a new phone soon anyways, full price. Hence, i am willing to try that one out.
25 to 17K?! Bit steep, me thinks.
taiwannews.com.tw/etn/news_c … id=1908679
And they are already talking about second generation, whne they haven’t started selling the first here… :s
Apologies for the aside, but how much is the transformer Prime in Taiwan. I’m moving to Taipei in July and don’t know whether I’m better off buying it here or waiting to get it in Taiwan if there’s a significant price difference. Thanks
If I were you, I would get the good electronics in the US like the iPad or Transformer. BTW, Asus already has Transformer TF300 coming out, which is the version after the Prime (TF201). The Prime (TF201) had a hardware problem with the GPS, and Asus offered an external dongle as the solution. A bit inconvenient, but still usable. The TF300 is also cheaper.
arun-review.blogspot.com/2012/04 … s-eee.html
I’d LOVE to buy / test the Padfone as it is very innovative and specs look good (on paper)
Not sure If I will be as happy as using my iPad3 with my iPhone 4S running as hotspot point.
Was never happy on Android despite having bought / tested around 7-10 devices in the last 3 years.
Looking forward to hear first takes on the Padphone
[quote=“ceevee369”]I’d LOVE to buy / test the Padfone as it is very innovative and specs look good (on paper)
Not sure If I will be as happy as using my iPad3 with my iPhone 4S running as hotspot point.
Was never happy on Android despite having bought / tested around 7-10 devices in the last 3 years.
Looking forward to hear first takes on the Padphone[/quote]
That is the thing. I see everyone and their mother -heck, the car park guy was happily watching a movie in his iPad last night- using Apple stuff. I think it is still horribly expensive, but the Android stuff is not that far behind price wise. The problem I see is having everything under one system: if you buy iPad then you need to have iPhone then you need a Mac. I already have a nice Asus laptop, if I can get an Android device, I can share stuff among them seamlessly -I think. If I mix stuff, I fear that, for instance, the magazine subscription that is for Android stuff will not read in iPad or something.
If I were you, I would get the good electronics in the US like the iPad or Transformer. BTW, Asus already has Transformer TF300 coming out, which is the version after the Prime (TF201). The Prime (TF201) had a hardware problem with the GPS, and Asus offered an external dongle as the solution. A bit inconvenient, but still usable. The TF300 is also cheaper.
arun-review.blogspot.com/2012/04 … s-eee.html[/quote]
I forgot that besides the Transformer Prime TF201 and the Transformer Pad TF300, Asus also has the Transformer Infinity TF700.
http://www.trustedreviews.com/opinions/asus-transformer-prime-vs-transformer-pad-infinity-vs-transformer-pad-300
I stopped by some Asus shops on Bade street near Guanghwa Electronics market, they had the Padfone, but not any display model. I might try again next weekend and maybe they will have the display models out to play with.
You are correct that Android and Apple don’t mix.
I think the term ecosystem is used to describe such situation. You either buy into the Android or Apple ecosystem.
Then there is the Windows ecosystem (before called the Windows environment) with the release of Windows8, WindowsForARMs, and Windows app store.
Amazon is also building its own ecosystem piggybacking off the Android.
Several shops in the “digital plaza” building in Guanghua now have the Padfone and tablet in stock … but the keyboard is not yet released. I was told “by the end of May”. The Padfone phone is very thin, which leads me to suspect ASUS expects you to recharge the phone from the tablet.
Thanks PapaAzucar, I think the infinity will be out of my price range thoughg. Did some research on Taiwanese websites n prices are almost identical for TF300 here (€399) as from them (€394).
So, has anyone tried this one yet?
What I find is that most of these things are about the same price range: 20K for an iPhone, 20K for an HTC One, 20K plus for the Padphone (both the tablet and the phone). Price seems not to be a deciding factor here, if you buy the single thing. System seems to be the dealbreaker. And for me, battery life is more important.
In Miramar, I had the chance to try both Asus Prime and Asus Padfone.
Both are impressive and the key board very nice.
But different usage.
The Padfone is at the end heavier than the Prime but so convenient to have both devices in 1. Always the same system, transition very fast, etc…
The choice is difficult in fact… but I do like with real keyboard anyway.
I might prefer the Prime as I have already a sufficient smartphone (Desire HD).
But I would be very interested to know your decision and how you use it.
Don’t have the need for a tablet, but would like to see the benefit.
I want to use a tablet to read my Zinio subscribed magazines. I also want to read fanfiction written ,mostly in PDF. Furthermore, my cellphone is really giving me trouble and I swear I will fling it against a wall if it freezes on mid call one more time. So I am quite interested in the dual system. But boy, is it expensive!
ASUS just announced the Padphone 2 -that was fast. Looks quite nice.
[quote]Taiwan’s Asustek Computer Inc. launched its second-generation hybrid smartphone in Taiwan Tuesday, an emerging segment in which the company is investing heavily to expand its research manpower.
The Padfone lineup is seen as a “restart point” for Asustek’s smartphone business, and the company is dedicated to making its products more user-friendly, Sun said.
Since the original Padfone did not break into the U.S. market, Asustek has been in talks with AT&T Inc., the second-largest U.S. wireless carrier, to sell the second-generation model in the future, he said.
Asked if Asustek will use Microsoft Corp.'s new Windows 8 operating system in its third-generation Padfone, Sun said the company has not yet decided.
The Padfone 2 has a 4.7-inch high-resolution screen, is powered by Qualcomm Inc.'s 1.5 GHz quad-core processor and has Google Inc.'s Android software. It can be combined with a 10.1-inch tablet to provide the integrated functions of a phone and a pad.
The standalone 16 GB model will go on sale at NT$17,901 (US$612) in Taiwan later this week, while the bundled phone and tablet station will carry a price tag of NT$23,901.
[/quote]
I’m telling you, if I had not just arrived from a trip, I would get it. I realized how useful a bigger screen and interconnectivity can be. And teh Padphone concept is very attractive. Wonder why it doe snot sell that well in the US -marketing problems no doubt.
Chunghwa is offering a plan starting at 3K a month for Padphone 2. The catch is that they will have the actual machines for testing in most outlets maybe, maybe by next month.
I had used my friend’s padphone for a little while. It was very nice. The screen, built quality, battery life together with the pad… I can’t imagine why it isn’t all over the place.
Padphone 2 looks even better, especially now putting the phone into the pad is so much easier.
Ok, this is annoying. No one has it on display, they only have it in the warehouse, “only 10 minutes away”. So if you buy it, they show it to you. :fatchance:
It is one of those logic things. They do not have it on display because “it is expensive”. But they do have the iPhone right there for every kid to play with. 
Actually, thinking about it, must be a setup so they sell more of the other stuff, while making excuses for not marketing the Asus, one of their own. 
This makes no sense.
Lowest price I’ve got for the machine itself -16G- no contract, is 18K. With Chunghwa Telecom, it is over 2k a month contract for two years, you end up paying like more than 50K. :loco: Something here does not seem right.
I bought a Padfone 2 with the docking Station from PCHome. Sadly after 3 days using it, I will be returning it for refund 
Hardware is great. Slim, sleek, well designed and light. New docking station is easy to use and tablet-wise its great for watching movies, youtube etc.
Maybe I was unlucky and got a friday afternoon model, but whenever the phone goes into standby mode, i.e. display turns off, chances are it will hang and not respond to any button or screen presses. Only a hard reset will fix it. For some reason Asus have 2 firmware versions, TW and CHT. Seems one is for ‘Taiwan’ and other is for Chunghwa. Phone from new got OTA update and actually downloaded the latest version which was TW. However I actually use Chunghwa Telecom and only got my micro sim a day later.
Thinking maybe the TW firmware was screwing things up, I downloaded the CHT version. But this was even more screwed up and totally unusable. At least with the TW ver I had a fully functional phone and station as long as I didn’t let the screen turn off and idle.
Today I went to the Asus service centre and got them to take a look. Their tech rep confirmed the phone was faulty and told me to return it to the dealer. I was kinda hoping they had a secret fix/newer firmware but oh well.
Was I just unlucky or do I need to give Asus a few months to iron out bugs etc? I desperately need a new phone and HTC don’t have anything with 2GB RAM so the choices I had was the Padfone or Note 2. I already have a Nexus 7 so I don’t need something with a big screen. Any ideas!?
I had a play with a padphone 2 at NOVA. Very nice bit of kit, the phone iscso big and light, and feels fantastic build-quality wise. Docking station is ok but feels a bit heavy and is only the same resolution as the phone; would be more interested if it had a keyboard.
[quote=“megadata”]
Was I just unlucky or do I need to give Asus a few months to iron out bugs etc? I desperately need a new phone and HTC don’t have anything with 2GB RAM so the choices I had was the Padfone or Note 2. I already have a Nexus 7 so I don’t need something with a big screen. Any ideas!?[/quote]
Sounds like a hardware fault to me. If it were software, it’s would be a pretty big one for QA to miss, plus no review has mentioned it yet.