Asus PadFone in U.S. Via Negri Electronics; $860 Smartphone & Tablet-dock Bundle

[dgstorm]

The Asus PadFone found its way into the United States. You can now order the PadFone with Tablet-Dock Bundle for $860 bucks at Negri Electronics. Although the price seems to be a bit steep when taken as a whole, if you view the devices separately, it's fairly cost-effective, since you are getting a very good unlocked and no-contract smartphone that converts into a powerful 10-inch Asus tablet. The only real negative is that this price does not include the optional keyboard dock, nor the bluetooth stylus. Those will have to be purchased separately.

Just as a refresher, the specs on the phone (other than the mediocre battery, which becomes phenomenal or can be recharged when docked with the tablet) are pretty robust. Here's a recap of specs for the super-hybrid:

• Android 4.0/Ice Cream Sandwich
• 1.5GHz Snapdragon S4 CPU
• 4.3-inch AMOLED display
• 16GB of expandable storage
• HSPA+ connectivity
• 1,520mAh battery
• 10-inch PadFone Station (tablet dock) - with 9x increase in battery life

What do you guys think of this amazing concept? In the U.S. you will be limited to using it on AT&T or TMo, but being contract free certainly seems appealing. Also, who knows how far Asus (or other manufacturers) might take this idea in the future. Qualcomm is working on chips with multi-band radios that will work with LTE and all the different carriers in the United States. Maybe we could see a future PadFone 2 that would work on Verizon...

Source: TransformerForums via Negri Electronics

 

[johnomaz]

I think it may be a little too late. SOOO many people have a smart phone whether its an iPhone, Android or Windows Mobile. SOOOO many people have a tablet too. For those who have a phone with no tablet, $860 is too much. Plus, how many times have those of you (including me) had to use your phone while using your tablet?

 

[jerkwad]

^^^ I disagree with "too little too late". It has more than "decent" specs (the battery isn't great though - maybe it can charge from the tablet battery?). I have the RAZR and I have been holding out for a good tablet (i was hoping for quad-core tablet). But I am tired of the RAZR and a few of the annoying issues that go with it (bootloader, for example)...I see this device fitting in just fine. You can't say those that have a tablet won't buy this - Those that have a tablet will buy another tablet at some point - Just like we buy new cars, new phones, new TVs, etc...The biggest win here is that you (possibly) can buy this setup and stay OFF contract with the carriers AND have a decent spec phone AND have a decent spec tablet WITH wireless capabilities. Considering the Off-Contract price of many good phones is close to $700 this isn't that bad of a deal.

I don't see why you can't use this tablet and your phone (bluetooth headset/speaker) at the same time.

Perhaps THIS model may not take the market by storm, but if it is deemed "successful" I think this could present a great model going forward of integrating electronics.

I, for one, REALLY hope this is successful and that the carriers jump on this platform. The biggest thing that manufacturers will need to consider is ensuring multi-generation compatibility. If there is a "next" version, ASUS should ensure that the SAME phone can work in different/newer/larger/smaller tablet form factors AND existing tablet form factors will work with the next generation phone, because, while I don't think $860 is too much for a "one time cost", it WILL be too much if each 'upgrade' requires a new phone AND tablet...

 

[trestevenson]

Plus, how many times have those of you (including me) had to use your phone while using your tablet?

If I recall, you can use the stylus (which isn't included in this $860 price) to receive phone calls while the phone is mounted inside the tablet.