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[Q] ASUS Transformer Infinity or Google Nexus 10?

I've had an Android phone for 3 years now and am finally buying my first tablet. I've been going back and forth for weeks on whether to get an ASUS Transformer Infinity TF700 or a Google Nexus 10. I've put together the a big list of pros and cons of each and just can't decide. I'd love to get objective, substantive thoughts.
ASUS Transformer Infinity TF700
Pros
Quad Core
MicroSD Slot
8MP Camera on the Back
Keyboard Dock with USB Port and Extra Battery
$50 Cheaper for 32GB
Cons
1GB RAM
1.6GHz Processors (but with 1.7GHz boost for single processor)
Currently Android 4.1 (but supposedly 4.2 is on its way)
Google Nexus 10
Pros
1.7 GHz Processors
2GB RAM
Android 4.2 and immediate updates for future Android releases
Android Beam
Wireless TV (Although not sure if my current Samsung SmartTV will support it anyway)
Amazing Screen (Although, lets be honest - some of that resolution is getting downsampled by my eyeballs anyway - cool stunt, not sure if it will really look any better than the TF700)
Cons
Dual Core
5MP Camera
No SD Card
$50 More for 32GB
I just wish there was a nexus unit out there that was quad core, 8 MP camera and had an SD slot and that amazingly cool ASUS dock with a full USB port. Help me decide which pros are more important.
Thanks,
David

There are a few important bullets you have..
Do you want the keyboard dock? If so, then get the Transformer. If you don't have a very portable laptop then I highly recommend it.
How do you use memory? Will you NEED the microSD slot? Do you use a lot? Do you want to transfer stuff easily? Then that is important.
Quad vs Dual core. This is less of a question more of a future-proofing issue. A quad-core tablet will go much farther when apps and other things become more capable and more demanding. (unless you are planning on getting the latest tablets frequently, then this is a moot point).

TKD Fusion,
Thanks for the feedback!
Eventually I think I would want the keyboard dock, but honestly, not having a tablet its a little hard to predict exactly how I'll use it. I do have an ASUS K55A laptop, which I consider to be decently portable, but I'm getting a tablet because it will obviously be a lot easier to tote around.
The only indicator of how I will use memory I have is my phone, which is a Samsung Galaxy II Epic Touch 16GB with an additional 8GB SDCard installed. I currently have all my music on it, but not much else. I have 8.6GB left in the main memory and 1.6GB left on the SDCard. I also have a SugarSync account that has 5GB on it, which I access as needed using the SugarSync App. I expect to start having it sync to my tablet so I have at least the main things I need available on the tablet offline. All that said, I'm probably not yet at the point where I NEED more than 32GB, but considering room for growth I may not be too far from it.
I am usually pretty good about making my toys last quite a while. I'm typing this on a desktop computer I bought over 8 years ago. When I buy stuff I like to invest in making sure it has the best chance of lasting as long as possible. In your opinion that might tip you toward the quad core, but slightly slower processor in the TF700?

Hi Op,
I've been having this same dilemma.
I had a thread over in the Google Nexus 10 forum, so it's probably a little bias, but there are some good arguments if you haven't seen it already.
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1997600
I still haven't made my decision to be honest. I'm still leaning towards the Infinity because of the dock and external storage capabilities whilst travelling, but the issues that have been brought to the table regarding the I/O and memory etc are making the choice difficult. It seems a lot of people complain about the device, yet nothing has been mentioned on any review websites which all praise the device. Strange.
I'm thinking of holding out until January in the hope something else new is announced at CES? Probably clutching at straws though. Also, I'm in the UK and the Infinity seems to have been discontinued here and I'm still not sure why! I can't find anything about it on Google or forums and Asus haven't got back to an email I sent a week ago. So I'm a little confused. I was hoping they might be releasing a replacement or something though, but I doubt it.
If I get it, it will have to be from Ebay and from the USA, so this again represents another risk in case the device has problems (hardware or software, of which both have been reported).
Hope I'm not repeating anything too much!
Cheers,
Mike

I wouldn't consider the 1GB RAM on the TF700 a huge con, as well as the back camera a pro. Same goes with the back camera on the N10, not a major con. The SD card however, is important, at least to me. I like to have all my music stored locally on my device as well as all my photos for back up.
Otherwise, if you're going to use the keyboard dock on the ASUS, get a new Chromebook or something.
Cheers, hope you get what you want

ratatattata said:
I wouldn't consider the 1GB RAM on the TF700 a huge con, as well as the back camera a pro. Same goes with the back camera on the N10, not a major con. The SD card however, is important, at least to me. I like to have all my music stored locally on my device as well as all my photos for back up.
Otherwise, if you're going to use the keyboard dock on the ASUS, get a new Chromebook or something.
Cheers, hope you get what you want
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The Padfone 2 is also quite cool, shame they didn't match the infinity for the screen though.

I'm debating between these two tablets as well.
I originally picked up the nexus 7, but unfortunately it wasn't nearly large enough for my needs.
My primary uses for the tablet will be to draw out design concepts. I think making my decision will be much easier once the nexus 10 is sold in stores. I'm currently leaning more towards the asus transformer infinity due to it's sleek design.

It really comes down to what you really need. I would go for a infinity for myself if I were to buy a tablet because of the micro sd card expansion and since it being a tablet, i would be storing some favorite movies, my entire song library (8GB) and thats about it. I think taking pictures with a tablet seems dumb but if I had a tablet, I would probably end up taking pictures and the infinity has a pretty good sensor, and it has a sleecker design. What would kill is the mono speaker. and i would not use it with the dock....actually, bot would be fit for me. lol dang. good thing i wont be buying a tablet until next year God willing.

Well everyone, thanks for your input. I'm writing this on my new nexus. So far I love it, but obviously I'll never know how I would have liked the Asus.

Just received my Nexus 10. I have it and the TF700 in front of me right now and the N10 is beautiful and smooth. The N10 looks much better than I expected and the back is really nice and grippy. Wasn't too sure about keeping it but it looks like the winner so far. I'll miss having my microSD card, however I wasn't using it much because of the horrendous I/O speed. Still going to do more comparisons. If anyone wants some real world info or something to compare between the two let me know.

Just saying, quad core isnt always better than dual core. Infinity is Cortex A9 while the Nexus 10 is Cortex A15 based. This means that the Nexus 10 should be faster than the Infinity, even though Infinity is a quad core. Also, 5 mp cam to 8 mp really makes no difference, mainly because 1. Who takes photos with their tablet?... -.- Its huge. LOL and 2. Nexus 10's photos are AMAZING. (I have one)

hi guys
okay so perfomancewise the nexus 10 is better. but i aint got a notebook atm and i will have to write a lot when i am not at home. what would you recommend? price doesnt matter to me. it has to be android and i saved 700 euros so it shall be enough. or do you know other devices which will fit my needs? btw what are the diffrences between infinity tf700t and tf300t? What about the galaxa note 10.1?

trublu said:
Just received my Nexus 10. I have it and the TF700 in front of me right now and the N10 is beautiful and smooth. The N10 looks much better than I expected and the back is really nice and grippy. Wasn't too sure about keeping it but it looks like the winner so far. I'll miss having my microSD card, however I wasn't using it much because of the horrendous I/O speed. Still going to do more comparisons. If anyone wants some real world info or something to compare between the two let me know.
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How did the two work out for you? Did the N10 rule overall? I'm considering the same pair and would appreciate any further info from a user who's had access to both.

I was in the same boat and eventually went for the infinity because:
1. 1920x1200 is good enough for me
2. I need the extra space (OTG is not that convenient for a lazy person like me)
3. premium feel
4. cost less (bhphotovideo had a discount 2 weeks ago)
5. available immediately! (N10 has been unavailable in my country a few days after launch)

mrjayviper said:
I was in the same boat and eventually went for the infinity because:
1. 1920x1200 is good enough for me
2. I need the extra space (OTG is not that convenient for a lazy person like me)
3. premium feel
4. cost less (bhphotovideo had a discount 2 weeks ago)
5. available immediately! (N10 has been unavailable in my country a few days after launch)
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How long have you had it now and how would you rate it after using it?
An incidental note: After looking at your list of devices, I'm astonished you went with a non-i device. Of course you do have that one HTC (or HTC One, was it? <g>). So I reckon you had already strayed from the *i* fold.

vicksterss said:
How did the two work out for you? Did the N10 rule overall? I'm considering the same pair and would appreciate any further info from a user who's had access to both.
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overall the N10 beats the infinity. even though the back isn't metallic it feels way better than the infinity. it runs better than the infinity on cleanrom.

vicksterss said:
How long have you had it now and how would you rate it after using it?
An incidental note: After looking at your list of devices, I'm astonished you went with a non-i device. Of course you do have that one HTC (or HTC One, was it? <g>). So I reckon you had already strayed from the *i* fold.
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Infinity on stock ROM is POS!!!
To be honest, I feel an iPad offers much better performance hardware-wise and overall usage (no your device is not compatible and more apps with tablet ui).
But decided to go with android to get something different even if I feel I'm getting an inferior product and inferior tablet ecosystem. Can't play most games I had on the iPad since its unavailable or incompatible but that's fine.

I've had the infinity since last summer, my friend recently bought a Nexus 10 and I've had time to compare the two. The Nexus 10 beats the Infinity hands down, out of the box. The biggest reason for this is the infinity's i/o issues that will cause frequent force closes when browsing the web and completely slam the system when updating apps. The nexus 10 runs smoothly and is very fast, didn't have occasional pauses like the infinity.
That said, I have my infinity unlocked, running cleanrom, and am running data to SD which eliminates the i/o issue. With these modifications, my tablet is every bit as fast (faster in some areas) and reliable as the N10. The Data to SD is key though, makes the infinity feel like a totally different tablet. I'm sure the N10 will have a great dev community and perhaps will end up faster in the end, but with Data to SD these 2 tablets are neck and neck. So if you plan on rooting and romming your tablet, I believe it is a toss up based on preference of features. If you plan to remain stock, definitely go for the N10

Happy with the choice?
trublu said:
Just received my Nexus 10. I have it and the TF700 in front of me right now and the N10 is beautiful and smooth. The N10 looks much better than I expected and the back is really nice and grippy. Wasn't too sure about keeping it but it looks like the winner so far. I'll miss having my microSD card, however I wasn't using it much because of the horrendous I/O speed. Still going to do more comparisons. If anyone wants some real world info or something to compare between the two let me know.
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Just wanted to know if you are still happy with the nexus over the Asus tf700? Thanks this really helped me make a decision...

I'm also trying to decide between N10 and Asus. Good thread, think I'll probably go with the N10.

Keep tf700 or wait for tegra 4?

I bought the tf700 about 2 weeks ago from best buy using the 50$ coupon that best buy messed up on. I actually bought it for 419 w/ tax going up to 450 which also includes the dock. Is this a good price for this? Well I have 2 weeks left for a full refund and I'm still debating if I should get a refund and wait for tegra 4 tablets or just keep it. There is slight flex on the screen which makes a clicking noise when I press on it but it doesn't really bother me. At first I was looking into ultrabooks but I gave tablet a try. Besides it's hard to find i5 ultrabooks for under 500. Help me decide!!

odorfreedk said:
I bought the tf700 about 2 weeks ago from best buy using the 50$ coupon that best buy messed up on. I actually bought it for 419 w/ tax going up to 450 which also includes the dock. Is this a good price for this? Well I have 2 weeks left for a full refund and I'm still debating if I should get a refund and wait for tegra 4 tablets or just keep it. There is slight flex on the screen which makes a clicking noise when I press on it but it doesn't really bother me. At first I was looking into ultrabooks but I gave tablet a try. Besides it's hard to find i5 ultrabooks for under 500. Help me decide!!
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That is a good price IMO.
I'd say this is a factor of your budget and how much you use your tablet. I got the first Android tablet, a Motorola Xoom, on launch day. I had it for a few months and used it a lot then decided to sell it prematurely in order to wait for the next best thing which in my eyes was an HD screen. Well I ended up having to wait almost a year before I got my next tablet, a TF700. That entire year I was kicking myself for not holding on to the Xoom until I actually had another tablet in my possession.
So I guess you have to ask yourself how important to you is having a tablet? At that price I'm guessing you could probably sell it for a ~$100 loss a few months down the road. Who knows though the next generation of tablets might take longer to come out, like the delay we had on the 1080P tablets. With that in mind, if I were you, I'd keep it!

$450.00 for tab and dock?
I'd say that's a good deal.
If the click bugs you trade that in for one that doesn't click.

Just picked up a TF700 myself and I was literally asking myself the same question. I've got a little less than 60 days to return this to BBY if another tab is announced for release soon.
I guess, there are a few things to consider.
1) Is the better performance/battery life of the new device going to be significant? If they jack up the resolution like the N10, it will probably be closer to par with the TF700.
2) Will a new tablet have any hardware issues (e.g. TF-Prime GPS & Wifi problems)? The TF700 is a mature product and it's limitations are well outlined. If you buy a TF700 now, you know exactly what you are going to get.
3) What new features will be on this Tab, and are they worth waiting for? TF700 has SDXC, mini HDMI, a dock with full USB, Full HD, etc. It's a good feature set. TF700 is a bit low on ram with only 1GB, I'd rather have 2GB. It's missing an integrated LTE modem that is said to be in T4, but TBH, I would always buy the wifi version anyway. Better battery life, I wouldn't pay for the extra data plan, and my phone is now tethering fine (thanks TrevE). N10 like resolution looks impressive on paper, but not so in person. I have good eyesight, and the difference isn't noticeable. It's an advertising point over the ipad. Google needs to stop chasing Apple and build more hardware features into their tablets that Apple didn't already do a year ago, but I digress.
4) Are there any applications you cannot run on the TF700 that a new tab would fix? I picked u the TF700 because my Touchpad (running CM9) keeps crashing skype; which I use daily. I run a somewhat recent nightly, and since the Camera fix (thanks for that Dorregaray) being able to use skype at all is awesome. However, having to reboot the tablet 6 times in a night and constantly mucking up the conversation is real pain. Since using the TF700, I haven't had one hiccup in skype. That is worth a lot to me, but a newer tab won't make it better.
Anyway, those are the things I've been mulling over. I will need to see what the new Transformer will look like before I make any kind of decision.
Edit: FWIW, I paid $468 for the tab & a 32GB micro sdxc card. I think you got the better deal.

Have they given a release date for any Tegra4 device? I thought one was shown at the last electronics show but it was still a development model and didn't mention anything about release times or price. You could be waiting awhile and in meantime if you keep the TF700 start stashing away some money monthly for the next wave of tablets. That could help on any loss you take or cover the difference to a model with more storage.
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1 - I don't think anyone can tell what the performance and battery life will be like right now. New devices and cpu's are marketed as more performance while reducing energy needs but the tech community needs products to test before accepting what is said as fact. Are Tegra4 chps supposed to run at the same power that today's Tegra3 chips do but have the better performance? That is a performance improvement while reducing the power needed if they were to make a Tegra3 to equal that performance. Someone may have a better answer regarding power saving but remember a bumped up screen size will probably draw more power anyway.
2 - Again probably hard to answer. Until the product hits the market we really won't know how it performs and what problems it may or may not have. It is a risk you take by buying the next and greatest device. Prime was the next and greatest device and we know how that turned out. We can only hope they get the message after 3 devices that they need better I/O components.
4 - As far as applications I think many people have issue with games that are released or already out and "not supported" by our device. It will take some time once a new device comes out for companies to tweak the code or whatever they do to have the games run on the device. That is done on their whim. Why some haven't not done now on the TF700 (Gameloft and EA) is a question I don't think anyone truly knows. Some guess it's screen resolution and they don't want to change the code to render the graphics properly for our device.
But really you can wait and wait and still not be satisfied because something else is a few months away. This technology is moving fast.

fsured said:
But really you can wait and wait and still not be satisfied because something else is a few months away. This technology is moving fast.
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Well, I had really wanted a "Wayne" (Tegra 4) device, and was waiting for that to launch to replace/augment the touchpad. The marketing slides showing kepler tech integrated into the SoC is actually a little bit exicting to me. However, I took advantage of a time limited offer to get the TFI at a reduced price. I use google docs for invoicing clients, and the Touchpad wasn't handling that well enough for me to do it on site. I found myself just waiting to get home to do it & emailing an invoice back. The TFI with the keyboard dock provides an excellent solution, and I had considered getting an ultra book for this purpose, but at about half the price of the ultrabook I was looking at, while fulfilling essentially the same purpose, having the same size profile, and better battery life, well it seemed like the better bargain.
That said, if I could get my hands on a next gen transformer within the next 60 days, I'd likely trade this in, in a heart beat.

My opinion the TF700T is viable for a while longer.
Glad the FHD tabs didn't shoot of into a numbers game as quick as I thought they would.
All I can say is after the "lobotomy" lol...my tablet has been a satisfying adventure.
It's smooth no jitters, games well (light gaming), plays my Xfinity downloads without a hitch, wifi connects stays connected, gps is quick,
browser is hanging in there...etc.
Just for a bit of comparison:
I've side by sided the tablet with my 2 year old HP AMD A6 notebook, and for what it is the tab has about the same amount of annoyance that a Win7 notebook has.
Not comparing Windows to Android just noting all devices big and small can of course suffer glitchiness.
Once the system settles in and with a little restraint as far as collecting\installing poorly written apps the Infinity remains a buy at least for me.
Hopefully when the newer tabs start popping perhaps some of us hold-outs will benefit from a much better selection of HD tablet applications.

Toastysoul said:
Just picked up a TF700 myself and I was literally asking myself the same question. I've got a little less than 60 days to return this to BBY if another tab is announced for release soon.
I guess, there are a few things to consider.
1) Is the better performance/battery life of the new device going to be significant? If they jack up the resolution like the N10, it will probably be closer to par with the TF700.
2) Will a new tablet have any hardware issues (e.g. TF-Prime GPS & Wifi problems)? The TF700 is a mature product and it's limitations are well outlined. If you buy a TF700 now, you know exactly what you are going to get.
3) What new features will be on this Tab, and are they worth waiting for? TF700 has SDXC, mini HDMI, a dock with full USB, Full HD, etc. It's a good feature set. TF700 is a bit low on ram with only 1GB, I'd rather have 2GB. It's missing an integrated LTE modem that is said to be in T4, but TBH, I would always buy the wifi version anyway. Better battery life, I wouldn't pay for the extra data plan, and my phone is now tethering fine (thanks TrevE). N10 like resolution looks impressive on paper, but not so in person. I have good eyesight, and the difference isn't noticeable. It's an advertising point over the ipad. Google needs to stop chasing Apple and build more hardware features into their tablets that Apple didn't already do a year ago, but I digress.
4) Are there any applications you cannot run on the TF700 that a new tab would fix? I picked u the TF700 because my Touchpad (running CM9) keeps crashing skype; which I use daily. I run a somewhat recent nightly, and since the Camera fix (thanks for that Dorregaray) being able to use skype at all is awesome. However, having to reboot the tablet 6 times in a night and constantly mucking up the conversation is real pain. Since using the TF700, I haven't had one hiccup in skype. That is worth a lot to me, but a newer tab won't make it better.
Anyway, those are the things I've been mulling over. I will need to see what the new Transformer will look like before I make any kind of decision.
Edit: FWIW, I paid $468 for the tab & a 32GB micro sdxc card. I think you got the better deal.
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How did you get the 60 day refund period? On my best buy receipt it states 30 days hassle free returns. Also it's a little weird that my tf700 freezes and randomly reboots. It doesn't do it frequently but once in awhile it does that.....very weird. This is actually my second tablet because the first one had slight flex but the current one actually makes a small clicking noise too. Honestly it doens't really bother me but ASus def needs to work on their quality control

Personally, waiting for the next tablet from ASUS (I assume you want a Transformer tablet) will be a very painful experience. Our tf700 was announced at CES 2012 (in January 2012), but only became available for sale at least 4 months later (depend on your location). Given the fact that ASUS has not announced any successor to our Infinity yet, I am inclined to believe if there is a Tegra 4 tablet from ASUS, it will only be available to us on the second half of the year. I have been waiting for the Transformer Book for many months but it is still not available. To me, waiting for something that is not even announced yet is a waste of time and effort.

I would strongly reccomend this tab to anyone who needs something with similar functionality to a netbook or ultrabook but I am looking forward to see what will come next. I would love to see something with a little more power hit the same nitch and with about the same price point... I'm actually waiting on the razer edge tablet to see what it turns into. anyways, I plan on hanging on to my TF700 even if I do get an ultrabook or the edge.
Sent from my ASUS Transformer Pad TF700T using Tapatalk HD

odorfreedk said:
How did you get the 60 day refund period? On my best buy receipt it states 30 days hassle free returns. Also it's a little weird that my tf700 freezes and randomly reboots. It doesn't do it frequently but once in awhile it does that.....very weird. This is actually my second tablet because the first one had slight flex but the current one actually makes a small clicking noise too. Honestly it doens't really bother me but ASus def needs to work on their quality control
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Premier Silver. Drop enough cash at best buy and you get side benefits, like a doubled return period. Most of the the other benefits are less useful. I don't bother with the complimentary Geek Squad services, for example. Even if I wanted or needed their services (I don't), I still wouldn't use it. Mostly, that's just an opportunity for them to come into your home and look for things they can sell you.

Honestly. ...maybe a extra gig of ram would make this tablet perfect for me. The resolution is ideal for me and the speed is great (running CleanRom) and it does what I hope to get from it. And I use my note 2 for the extra stuff (multi window, nfc sharing etc). And to top that, the mobile giants still have not made 100% use of the quad core as it is and until then, asus infinity is a keeper.
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I317 using xda app-developers app

http://www.tomshardware.com/news/Tegra-4-Wayne-Project-Shield-Nvidia-Grid-Fiscal-2013,21082.html
Tegra 4 isn't shipping until QTR 3 2013. Given that time frame, I'm reasonably happy with my purchase. If the SoC isn't even shipping until then, you won't see devices until QTR 4, and that's nearly a year away. No doubt there will be better performers from Qualcomm sooner than that, but even so, I'm happy with the device I have for now.

searched but haven't even found rumors on a successor - had the TFPrime before and since it got nicked I am waiting for sth new to play with.
Have started considering the Samsung Tab Plus (whenever announced) given the higher res. Still seems that the TF700 has enough muscles and the add keyboard (+battery) is clearly a plus...
Anyhow - have there been any news on the TF700 successor that I missed
Its becomming a bit rusty given the time its already in the market :laugh:

nellycruzz said:
Honestly. ...maybe a extra gig of ram would make this tablet perfect for me. The resolution is ideal for me and the speed is great (running CleanRom) and it does what I hope to get from it. And I use my note 2 for the extra stuff (multi window, nfc sharing etc). And to top that, the mobile giants still have not made 100% use of the quad core as it is and until then, asus infinity is a keeper.
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I317 using xda app-developers app
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I have to agree about the extra gig of ram. But in response to the OP's question, yes that is a very good price. You could always dualboot it with rabbits' linux so as to gain some of the functionality that you would get with an ultrabook. The infinity will not become redundant for a while yet in my opinion so I say go for it.

For tablet with awesome dock integration the tf700 cant be beat. You also got a great deal on both. As far at Tegra 4 devices in particular Asus ones, no one knows yet when they will actually release one so you will have to play the waiting game. Vizio is the only one I know of that is coming out with one but not sold in the U.S. and doesn't have a keyboard dock option.
As someone mentioned the tf700 is a good laptop or netbook replacement. So if you're not going to play high graphic games on it like gameloft games then its a good tablet. But I do recommend you unlock and install custom rom on it as it lags quite a bit in stock form.
Sent from my ASUS Transformer Pad TF700T using Tapatalk 2

The price is good, considering you got the dock with it.
Toastysoul said:
Just picked up a TF700 myself and I was literally asking myself the same question. I've got a little less than 60 days to return this to BBY if another tab is announced for release soon.
I guess, there are a few things to consider.
1) Is the better performance/battery life of the new device going to be significant? If they jack up the resolution like the N10, it will probably be closer to par with the TF700.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Unless the device has a battery-powered dock, I'd suspect battery life is going to be on par at best -- expect it to be worse. This may not apply if the new device carries one of those funky new battery design which last for a week and are charged in 10 minutes, but those will only get on the market in about two years, they reckon.
2) Will a new tablet have any hardware issues (e.g. TF-Prime GPS & Wifi problems)? The TF700 is a mature product and it's limitations are well outlined. If you buy a TF700 now, you know exactly what you are going to get.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Obviously true, and very significant remark. Any device will have its issues, and given the fact that the TF201 suffered from some of these as well, I'd not expect the next Transformer to be faultless either. :S
3) What new features will be on this Tab, and are they worth waiting for? TF700 has SDXC, mini HDMI, a dock with full USB, Full HD, etc. It's a good feature set. TF700 is a bit low on ram with only 1GB, I'd rather have 2GB. It's missing an integrated LTE modem that is said to be in T4, but TBH, I would always buy the wifi version anyway. Better battery life, I wouldn't pay for the extra data plan, and my phone is now tethering fine (thanks TrevE). N10 like resolution looks impressive on paper, but not so in person. I have good eyesight, and the difference isn't noticeable. It's an advertising point over the ipad. Google needs to stop chasing Apple and build more hardware features into their tablets that Apple didn't already do a year ago, but I digress.
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Click to collapse
And the N10 has both QA and availability issues, for example.
Following your digression for a bit: Apple had already lost the innovation game in the tablet and smartphone worlds a few years ago. All they have done is increase screen size, and (sometimes) resolution.
4) Are there any applications you cannot run on the TF700 that a new tab would fix? I picked u the TF700 because my Touchpad (running CM9) keeps crashing skype; which I use daily. I run a somewhat recent nightly, and since the Camera fix (thanks for that Dorregaray) being able to use skype at all is awesome. However, having to reboot the tablet 6 times in a night and constantly mucking up the conversation is real pain. Since using the TF700, I haven't had one hiccup in skype. That is worth a lot to me, but a newer tab won't make it better.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
If anything, the older device will probably support more apps altogether -- if you have experienced the transitions from Froyo to Gingerbread to Ice Cream Sandwich to Jelly Bean, you have noticed that we lost a lot of apps along the way that were pretty good in themselves, but just weren't given the TLC to update them to function on the new version. Backward compatibility is less of an issue when the programmer takes it into account when developing his/her app, but too often an app is just hacked together and subsequently, essentially, abandoned.[/QUOTE]

What is your next upgrade?

With the new crop of top end tablets coming out are you guys/gals going to upgrade?
I love the Asus keyboard dock and relatively quick updates but the I/o lag kills me on the TF700. Installing an app and trying to browse the web brings it to a crawl. I'd rather not have to root and install a new ROM to use this thing.
I had the original Samsung Tab 10.1 and while it's stuck on 4.0 it performs better than the TF700.
I'm going for the Note 2014 edition over the TF701 this time around. The big bezels are looking really dated. One speaker is also a real downer. The fact that Samsung stuff can play Tapped Out is another plus for me. The Note 2014 also charges with a standard micro USB. The Asus charge cable not working with regular USB high amp chargers was really annoying as well.

yohojones said:
With the new crop of top end tablets coming out are you guys/gals going to upgrade?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
No. The TF700 does everything I need from a tablet.
yohojones said:
I love the Asus keyboard dock and relatively quick updates but the I/o lag kills me on the TF700. Installing an app and trying to browse the web brings it to a crawl. I'd rather not have to root and install a new ROM to use this thing.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I did, and it was the main reason why I'm keeping the TF700.

I'm not going to upgrade my tab. After the warranty was off, i unlocked it and installed CROMI-X and this was like upgrading from a old 2012 tab to a new 2014 tab. And you know what ? It's free (no money to spend to upgrade) apart of your willing to give donation to the community of developpers.
Sent from my ASUS Transformer Pad TF700T using xda app-developers app

I am just not impressed with the state of 10.1" tablets. Asus supported the TF700 very well for a relatively long time, but it looks like their Memopads and Intel tablets are being treated like shovelware. I can't bring myself to trust them until that changes. Ditto for Samsung. I would probably take the plunge for a new Nexus 10 revision, but the rumor mill is indicating that it might not happen.
I really don't want to support Asus, but given the current state of affairs I might end up picking up a T100. It kills me to buy what is essentially a netbook, but the prospect of direct OS updates combined with x86 app support is starting to sound attractive.
Show me a GPE transformer with a next-gen SoC (K1 or Snapdragon 8xx) and I'll be back on board with Android in a heartbeat. I wouldn't trade my Nexus 4 for anything but a Nexus 5. I would have told you the same thing about my TF700 for a very long time, but the market has changed.
Oh, and iPads. I don't do the walled garden thing.

Ghorin said:
I'm not going to upgrade my tab. After the warranty was off, i unlocked it and installed CROMI-X and this was like upgrading from a old 2012 tab to a new 2014 tab. And you know what ? It's free (no money to spend to upgrade) apart of your willing to give donation to the community of developpers.
Sent from my ASUS Transformer Pad TF700T using xda app-developers app
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Did the same and now I use it all the time. Performance and stability are great and a 10" tablet with a keyboard dock is exactly what I want.

With the price of the t100 now, i think it will be my next device even though its constructions looks cheap like a low end acer laptop, the x86 bay trail soc is very interesting and has full dx11 / opengl support as opposed to the limited open gles support of arm/ tegra socs , im done with tegra untiil we get the tegra k1 with Linux drivers

I'm in the same boat. I have rooted and installed CROMI-X but my transformer is still slow as all get out (if I'm in an app and hit the home button I can usually count to 3 or 4 slowly before i actually get to the home screen; I had to turn off auto app updates because once it started updating apps my tablet was completely unusable until it finished... like 10 minutes later...)
My biggest requirement is HD resolution. The dock I can take or leave. I looked at the MeMo Pad FHD, the price is right, but I'm worried another ASUS tab I'll be in the same boat. I'm also afraid to drop $500+ on one of the new samsung tabs because for that $$$ I better be ecstatic with the results and I'm worried I won't be.
If anyone has upgraded from an infinity and can offer their experiences with the replacement unit let me know!

mattbooty said:
I'm in the same boat. I have rooted and installed CROMI-X but my transformer is still slow as all get out (if I'm in an app and hit the home button I can usually count to 3 or 4 slowly before i actually get to the home screen; I had to turn off auto app updates because once it started updating apps my tablet was completely unusable until it finished... like 10 minutes later...)
My biggest requirement is HD resolution. The dock I can take or leave. I looked at the MeMo Pad FHD, the price is right, but I'm worried another ASUS tab I'll be in the same boat. I'm also afraid to drop $500+ on one of the new samsung tabs because for that $$$ I better be ecstatic with the results and I'm worried I won't be.
If anyone has upgraded from an infinity and can offer their experiences with the replacement unit let me know!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Something is wrong with your setup - hitting the home button should be pretty much instantaneous. What you are experiencing is not normal.

sbdags said:
Something is wrong with your setup - hitting the home button should be pretty much instantaneous. What you are experiencing is not normal.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I agree hehe. It's a clean install of latest cromi at this point. I was using data2sd which seemed somewhat better, but still not great, but then it started locking up all the time and the sd card became corrupted so I went back to a standard install, full wipe. Maybe it's faulty hardware but I'm sort of tired of messing with it and ready to get something that just works.

mattbooty said:
I'm in the same boat. I have rooted and installed CROMI-X but my transformer is still slow as all get out (if I'm in an app and hit the home button I can usually count to 3 or 4 slowly before i actually get to the home screen; I had to turn off auto app updates because once it started updating apps my tablet was completely unusable until it finished... like 10 minutes later...)
My biggest requirement is HD resolution. The dock I can take or leave. I looked at the MeMo Pad FHD, the price is right, but I'm worried another ASUS tab I'll be in the same boat. I'm also afraid to drop $500+ on one of the new samsung tabs because for that $$$ I better be ecstatic with the results and I'm worried I won't be.
If anyone has upgraded from an infinity and can offer their experiences with the replacement unit let me know!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I bought an acer w700 with a 3rd gen i5 processor, 4 gig of RAM, and costs about $500++. comes with a free keyboard case from acer, and so far, it runs great.

On paper, I am looking at the Xperia Z2 tablet: Snapdragon 801, 3GB RAM, microSD card, Android 4.4, waterproof, dustproof, full HD screen with excellent color gamut, thinnest and lightest 10-inch tablet and finally, front-facing stereo speakers. Sony's skin is quite minimal as well, so performance out of the box should be really good. I must say this tablet ticks every single requirement that I have (minus the keyboard dock). Who knows, this year might be the year of Sony.

Surface ...
I had the TF100 for nearly 3 years and was very happy with running custom android releases. With Kit Kat it ran really well.
Upgraded to a used TF700 and immediately loaded a 4.4.2 nightly. The TF700 has a better screeen, but the TF100 feels equally "fast." The dock of the TF700 is inferior to the TF100 dock (lighter, keys have less travel, or positive action. The whole thing just feels like a cheaped out version of the TF100. The GPS does work better than the TF100.
Anyway, the company I work for is moving to several RT apps, and providing Surface tablets. Further, I may pick up a refurb'd pro. Speed wise it is just a whole nother animal, yet at $399 refurb, it is at the same price point as a TF700.

With an android phone, and having android tablets for the last few years, I am pretty sure I want to stick with android. I have a windows 8 laptop and for a lot of the things I do I haven't been happy with the app selection. Which is a shame because most of the windows 8 laptops i've looked at are powerhouses and very smooth experiences.

Never going to support that company again. It is the worst piece of hardware I ever owned.
The design is neat but that is all. Build quality sucks, light sensor does not work, gorilla glass has scratches, back has scratches, the power plug bend the jack.
And the interior is even worse. I mean I could even live with all the outside flaws but as said that I/O lag is killing.
The tab feels like an old 133MHZ computer. I bought a tablet to just switch it on and use it.
But switching on the ASUS results in a dead tablet for 30 minutes because of updates and what not. Browsing is near to impossible.
I only kept it because of the nice screen (brightness) and as I need it for my exam to read on it.
Although for just a reading device it was much overpriced.
Why am I ranting about all this? I won't buy any other tablet if those things aren't fixed with that.
So any device that comes close to the design of the TF700 especially regarding to weight and screen brightness/readability (in sunlight)
and does not have those bugs is my next one.
I really hope for another Nexus 10" tablet not build by ASUS. My NexusOne was great and I'm in love with my Nexus4.

Opinion needed - Purchasing the K1 May 2016

Hi.
I hope this post does not make people mad. I just need a current perspective. Most searches on this are older.
I am thinking about buying this tablet but I am unsure. I hope this does not draw haters. I am just trying to reason it out and be a better informed buyer.
My reasons
1. Tablet seems to be out of stock. A lot.
-Does this mean truly it is being discontinued? Is there a new version on the horizon?​-Is it just so good they can't keep them on the shelves?​2. Should I go with the Zen 8 with 4GB of ram or other comparible? I mean for few dollars more...
3. Is the Shield K1 only good because of the Game pad mapper support for touch only games?
4. Would the Ipega controller(or similar) with touch game pad mapping be just as good?
I want a good gaming tablet and a good media tablet.
Thanks.

There's no definitive answer on the Shield X1 yet. I wouldn't bother playing that waiting game if you need a tablet now. I don't know how Nvidia handles their Shield line of products as this is my first Nvidia portable, but if it's anything like they do with their GeForce video cards, then you'd be seeing an announcement about a successor a month in advance of its release.
Supply isn't keeping up with demand right now. I was on vacation when I decided to pull the trigger on the Shield K1 because my Nook HD+ felt sluggish. I bought the Shield K1 a week before they started going out of stock everywhere last month, and even though I didn't need it immediately since I wasn't on vacation anymore, my phone died this week so I've been using the new tablet while I wait for a warranty replacement phone to be delivered. Fortuitous timing.
The biggest problem I see with the ZenPad S 8.0 Z580CA is that there doesn't seem to be a way to unlock the bootloader currently, so even though you can root it, there isn't any active development for it, and it's still stuck on Lollipop. Also, everyone seems to say it has pretty bad battery life.
As for performance, the Shield K1 will smoke the ZenPad in pretty much everything graphics-related because of the Kepler GPU. The Shield is still the best Android gaming tablet, and while its raw CPU and memory performance isn't at the top due to the SoC's age, it's still more than good enough to not be an overall system bottleneck.
I've only had two issues with the K1 so far. One is that I can't get the camera to save to external SD. This is the writing-to-exFAT issue that's apparently related to Marshmallow permissions, but I've had my LG G4 on Marshmallow since February and never had any such external SD write issues, so I don't know if it's an Nvidia-specific thing. The other issue is the hypersensitive touchscreen, which can be recalibrated in the software. I also still need to install a tempered glass screen protector, which might change the touch sensitivity as well.
I can't answer your game controller questions as I haven't started playing any games on mine yet.

For me, the SHIELD tablet is currently the best one in the market. Only problem I have had is that since the Marshmallow update, the sound over HDMI is broken (doesn't work) though the image is working perfectly fine.

1. Tablet seems to be out of stock. A lot.
-Does this mean truly it is being discontinued? Is there a new version on the horizon?
Probably no , nvidia reps are saying it is just a production rate not meeting higher demand.
-Is it just so good they can't keep them on the shelves?
Yes the price reduction gave this shield an epic boost compared to other tablets at the moment.
2. Should I go with the Zen 8 with 4GB of ram or other comparible? I mean for few dollars more...
Thats a good tab but i've seen a few hick ups in performance during a review video on youtube. besides tegra k1 is far more superior that intel soc. (you also have to consider the fact that intel soc are x86/64 architecture so there are few comparability issues in apps and games)
3. Is the Shield K1 only good because of the Game pad mapper support for touch only games?
No it is good because you are getting high end performance tablet for 200$ , it plays every game you throw at it with ease, you have all the things you need as gamer in built (console mode , twitch , 1080 screen , direct wifi controller)
4. Would the Ipega controller(or similar) with touch game pad mapping be just as good?
i dont have it so i cannot answer that.
Upcoming shield k1 successor will likely not be in same price range as the k1. It is expected to be somewhere between 300 to 400$. Shield k1 was relaunched around nov 2015 , so i highly doubt that it is at its end of cycle. In one of geforce forums a nvidia representative said they are viewing shiled k1 as a relaunch tablet and its EOL support in no way near . so you are covered to get android N for this device.
Its the best bang for buck at the moment and still keeps up with soc from this year.

Thank you all. I went ahead and ordered a K1. With 2 day shipping put it out to the middle of next week. So i did 1 day. Lol. Should be Tuesday now. Stock is still low but at least they have them. I hope it comes sooner.
Sent from my LG-H810 using Tapatalk

You made a right choice. For gaming there truly isn't anything else comparable out there. Media wise I'm not so sure, just on the basis of the subpar screen.

New one
http://www.androidcentral.com/nvidia-shield-tablet-refresh-may-have-been-outed-fcc
Sent from my Nexus 9 using Tapatalk

Just my luck. Never fails. Just like my shield TV. Now you can get it with 2 game pads.
Anyone need something new to come out sooner. Let me know. I can just buy the old one and after i click order the announcement of the new device will soon follow. oh well. I am still looking forward to the k1.
Sent from my LG-H810 using Tapatalk

Haha lol , im sorry but i think you can return the shield if its unopened besides i think the new tablet will probably be 100$ more. Performance might increase only 10-20% , battery size might be little less as it is said to be lil thinner.
so i think you are not losing much comparing price to performance ratio.

Nah.
I am sure it will be a keeper for a while. Thx
Sent from my LG-H810 using Tapatalk

Just bought one . Hard to get it, always out of stock, 192.44€

What's our next device?

So, I've got a US LTE 32GB that connects only at HSPA speeds in most places, and I'm about over the tablet.
What device is out there that:
-Is approximately 8" form factor
-Has LTE that works in the US
-Includes a microSD port and some way to do HDMI out so I can hook it up to a standard TV
-Isn't completely bootloader locked / must have root and XDA Dev support

Frankenscript said:
So, I've got a US LTE 32GB that connects only at HSPA speeds in most places, and I'm about over the tablet.
What device is out there that:
-Is approximately 8" form factor
-Has LTE that works in the US
-Includes a microSD port and some way to do HDMI out so I can hook it up to a standard TV
-Isn't completely bootloader locked / must have root and XDA Dev support
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Huawei MediaPad M3 8.4"

Thanks. Looks like only international version / no warranty available on Amazon. Seems like a concern to me. Any other devices more available in the US , with warranty?
Sent from my LG-D851 using Tapatalk

Lol, I just got into the market for a tablet myself.. I spent almost a day researching the perfect tablet.
Here's what I found.
Top Android tablets.
1) Pixel C, tegra X1 cpu. No sdcard slot. 10inch screen. $600 for 32gb. Performs slightly better than K1 tablets in most benchmarks, but 100% better in others.
2) Nvidia shield K1, tegra K1 cpu, sdcard slot, front facing speakers, hdmi out, 8inch screen. Great display. $200, discontinued and can't find anywhere other than ebay for well over $200...
3) Nexus 9, tegra K1 cpu, no sd card slot, front facing speakers. cheap build quality, screen has light bleed, scores 20%worse than shield tablet in benchmarks. 8.9 inch display. $290 for 32gb black WiFi, will be gone soon. Or $500 for 32gb lte
That's it.. all the rest of the Android tablets are subpar. The Galaxy tab S3 is the only other honorable mention. Doesn't perform as well as K1 cpus but looks like a solid tablet... But $500?? Get outta here...
I wasn't looking to spend over $300 on a tablet... I intend to use it for gaming and web browsing and watching movies. Clearly the shield tablet is the best bang for the buck by farrrr... So I kept checking eBay over the last 2 days and found a pristine one for $200 from a reputable seller ...
TL: DR - the Nvidia shield tablet is still the number one Android tablet on the market, at least for my needs. The pixel c is seemingly great, but​ too big and heavy, has no expandable storage, and far over priced.
Why don't you just drop data on the tablet and turn your phone into a hotspot?? I hotspot for my PC from my pixel XL all the time when my net goes out.. im able to competitively game in twitch games with only an extra 25ping...
All the other tablets lose something to gain something. THE PERFECT tablet would be the cancelled shield tablet 2 with the x1 cpu.. looks like their deal with Nintendo caused them to back out of the tablet game for a bit. I don't expect to see it for another year maybe two. If ever.

lucid888 said:
Lol, I just got into the market for a tablet myself.. I spent almost a day researching the perfect tablet.
Here's what I found.
Top Android tablets.
1) Pixel C, tegra X1 cpu. No sdcard slot. 10inch screen. $600 for 32gb. Performs slightly better than K1 tablets in most benchmarks, but 100% better in others.
2) Nvidia shield K1, tegra K1 cpu, sdcard slot, front facing speakers, hdmi out, 8inch screen. Great display. $200, discontinued and can't find anywhere other than ebay for well over $200...
3) Nexus 9, tegra K1 cpu, no sd card slot, front facing speakers. cheap build quality, screen has light bleed, scores 20%worse than shield tablet in benchmarks. 8.9 inch display. $290 for 32gb black WiFi, will be gone soon. Or $500 for 32gb lte
That's it.. all the rest of the Android tablets are subpar. The Galaxy tab S3 is the only other honorable mention. Doesn't perform as well as K1 cpus but looks like a solid tablet... But $500?? Get outta here...
I wasn't looking to spend over $300 on a tablet... I intend to use it for gaming and web browsing and watching movies. Clearly the shield tablet is the best bang for the buck by farrrr... So I kept checking eBay over the last 2 days and found a pristine one for $200 from a reputable seller ...
TL: DR - the Nvidia shield tablet is still the number one Android tablet on the market, at least for my needs. The pixel c is seemingly great, but​ too big and heavy, has no expandable storage, and far over priced.
Why don't you just drop data on the tablet and turn your phone into a hotspot?? I hotspot for my PC from my pixel XL all the time when my net goes out.. im able to competitively game in twitch games with only an extra 25ping...
All the other tablets lose something to gain something. THE PERFECT tablet would be the cancelled shield tablet 2 with the x1 cpu.. looks like their deal with Nintendo caused them to back out of the tablet game for a bit. I don't expect to see it for another year maybe two. If ever.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks @lucid888 for a great post.
Using my phone as a hotspot is doable if necessary, but it becomes a frying pan quickly, and the battery dies fast. I've considered dropping the idea of an LTE tablet and instead getting a mifi/jetpack whatever dedicated hotspot too, and turning it on whenever I want to run the tablet away from normal wifi zones, but that's complicated and it's another thing to lug around. Sigh.
I just loved my tablet with built in LTE that I could take anywhere and it just worked well. Now it works slowly. Another sigh.
I've no idea why LTE-enabled Android tablets are so few and far between. I know lots of "iOS" people that have iPad minis, and they all have the cellular version. Then again, they probably couldn't figure out HOW to tether it to a phone or mobile hotspot, so they need the built in connectivity.
I'm tempted to pop for one of those MediaPads on a lark... but it could be an expensive lark due to lack of US warranty.
For now I'll just sit tight. Sooner or later the right device will show up. If you (or anybody reading this) finds anything new, please post about it here!

I'm seeing the mediapads on Amazon with a US warranty for $300, WiFi only though. I did look at the mediapad m3, but it's gpu the Mali 8800 m4 is underwhelming and performs ~40-50% worse than the K1 gpu. It has bottom firing speakers, apparently they are great though. Also has the miu os to deal with, which for me is a huge turn off.
From what I can see, the only tablet that can beat the shield is a non existent 8" X1 powered tablet, priced around $300 from either Nvidia, Google or htc. Thanks to Nintendo I don't think we'll see one too soon. Maybe a Snapdragon 835 tablet would do the trick too... But the $500 Galaxy tab S3 is only using the 820..
Also take a look at the mediapad m3 development section on XDA, there is literally nothing.

lucid888 said:
Lol, I just got into the market for a tablet myself.. I spent almost a day researching the perfect tablet.
Here's what I found.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I came to a lot of the same conclusions.
- Pixel C: way too expensive.
- Nexus 9: while I have loved a lot of HTC devices, this one is nothing special.
- Samsung Galaxy Tab S3: Also way too expensive. 9.7" form factor is also bigger than I want, as it seems Sammy has abandoned the 8"-ish form factor in their high end "S" series tablets. I might be able to overlook that. But I'm still sore about how Samsung handled the Tab Pro 8.4. Zero major updates (just a few patches) so it was stuck on the Kitkat it was released with (if not for the dev community which kept it kept for a bit). And many folks (myself included) suffered battery charging issues, which the company never acknowledged.
- Huawei MediaPad M3: Good price, cice hardware, but crap software. And zero developer support means you can't do anything about that.
All in all, I've decided my Shield K1 is sufficient for my needs; especially considering the lack of a worthy replacement. I'd like something a little snappier (especially since I upgraded my phone to the OnePlus 3T with Snapdragon 821). But I'm content to wait and see if anything better comes around.
I'd be perfectly happy to upgrade to the next version Shield, be it X1 or whatever it would be. But I am skeptical there will be a "next" version.

The only thing I feel lacking on the K1 shield is the memory capacity, and maybe it's battery life. The 2gb doesn't seem to be enough for Albion online which I was hoping I'd be able to play on it.. apparently it used to work but now crashes while loading or two seconds after loading. Hoping it gets fixed, but they do say in their minimum the game will eventually require 3gb min ;(...
I really love everything about the shield from it's size, it's front facing speakers, it's HDMI output, it's graphical capability, sd slot. I don't want to lose any of those features... I may be able to live without the front facing speakers but I really like how versitile the device is being able to plug it into the TV and play movies and emulators with zero input lag. There isn't another device I'm aware of that can do that. A next gen shield is my only hope for a succesor to this device. But again it's not happening any time soon thanks to Nintendo, and lmao my phone literally just auto suggested Nintendo without me even typing N.
Hopefully their non-compete with Nintendo doesn't last long, and by then they can hopefully produce at least an X1 tablet around the ~250 price range.

Lack of LTE for K1 is a deal breaker for me, and my original shield doesn't do more than HSPA+ due to modem issues not yet fixed...
Sent from my LG-D851 using Tapatalk