Since the ASUS Transformer Prime quad core tablet has just been announced officially, it’s time for the usual comparison with the iPad 2. The Transformer Prime is based on the Nvidia Tegra 3 chipset, that competes with the 1GHz dual core Apple A5 processor on the iPad.
As far as RAM goes, the ASUS model has the upper hand with 1GB versus the iPad 2’s 512MB. On the display side, both models come with LED backlit IPS screens, but the diagonal of the Transformer Prime is slightly bigger. I can’t really say how well the quad core CPU fares against the iPad 2’s dual core processor, so I’ll have to see a bunch of benchmarks, but I guess that Tegra 3 is superior to dual core power.
The software duel really has no point in mentioning, since Honeycomb is clearly surpassed by iOS 5 and Android 4.0 doesn’t change much, either. The resolution is on the Prime’s side with 1280 x 800 pixels against the newest iPad’s 1024 x 768 pixels. The ASUS also wins the camera duel, with an 8 megapixel autofocus sensor, capable of 1080p video capture, versus the iPad’s very poor camera.
And finally, one of the things that matter the most is the battery life, that’s 12 hours for the Prime and 10 hours for the iPad 2. The new Transformer can even reach 18 hours with the keyboard dock. What’s really nifty is that there’s a very good reason to compare the two: they have the same price: $500.
