yashsingh1/xdaforums huggingface dataset:
[Asus  Eee Pad Transformer Prime] Windiddy:
Bestbuy Mobile stores

I know that Best Buy mobile stores carry both the Prime and keyboard dock. The BB mobile store in NYC Union Square has some and also Menlo Park Mall in Edison NJ has some Prime and Keyboard docks as of past weekend.
[Asus  Eee Pad Transformer Prime] wynand32:
Just to clarify: the TF300 is NOT "exactly" like the TF201. Here are some differences:

1. Lower Tegra 3 clock speed at 1.2GHz max.

2. No LED flash.

3. No IPS+ screen.

There might be other differences, but those are the ones that jump out at me. And the lack of an IPS+ screen is enough to justify a lower price (and to make it absolutely unappealing to me, personally).

As far as the announcement of the TF700 goes, and has been said many times before: ASUS had no choice but to announce it when they did, because that's what CES is all about. It's worth everything to get the buzz that comes from announcing at CES, and this says more about ASUS's launch schedule than it does about announcing a product so soon after another was released (they should probably sync their release schedule around CES).

And, I still don't get what gets people so upset about the TF700's announcement. It's not going to be available, from any indication, until June at the earliest. So are you upset because you would have waited six months to buy a tablet instead of buying the TF201? Personally, I'd rather enjoy the Prime in the meantime and then sell it and trade up to the TF700 if it ends up being so much better. I'd never have considered going six months without a tablet--don't we buy these things to USE them?

Sorry, I still don't get what's so terrible here...

---------- Post added at 09:20 AM ---------- Previous post was at 09:16 AM ----------

I don't know how Best Buy works, but could it be possible that all three stores have the same buyer? Maybe they're all getting the story from the same person?

Just curious... Maybe someone who knows Best Buy really well could comment.
[Asus  Eee Pad Transformer Prime] rushless:
Asus apparently only made 80,000. This is per their submission to the court case with Hasbro:

http://techcrunch.com/2012/03/27/ju...rk-and-asus-reveals-embarrassing-sales-stats/

Considering the problems that have been known (as per the Anandtech preview BEFORE launch) it makes sense not too many were made, so hard to find as a result. The issue is not demand, but small supply volume is.

As far as the artcle, the media keeps focus on the 2,000 number, but that was preorders to Asus. 80,000 is what was sent to channels.
[Asus  Eee Pad Transformer Prime] wynand32:
Gack, this again... No, the 80,000 is what ASUS was saying in February were retailer orders for March and April. It was NOT a statement about how many have been shipped to date.
[Asus  Eee Pad Transformer Prime] David Dee:
Best Buys in Canada are all corporate stores with centralized buying I believe. One of the sales guys told me they physically shipped back units to Asus. Maybe C1s or C2s?
[Asus  Eee Pad Transformer Prime] jwhendy:
I was searching for differences myself. I didn't track down anything that confirmed GPS (including the Asus page), though I can't imagine it *not* having it. Does it for sure have GPS?
[Asus  Eee Pad Transformer Prime] buxtahuda:
Pretty sure it does, didn't some demo videos show it under the settings?
[Asus  Eee Pad Transformer Prime] demandarin:
I know right...lmfao.
[Asus  Eee Pad Transformer Prime] jwhendy:
Indeed. I can't post links yet, but google "amazon best selling tablets" and click the first link. The TF Prime is listed at #8 and #9, which is more like #6 and #7 since the Galaxy 2 and TF 300 are listed at #2 and #6, which is impossible since they aren't even released yet. I think you need to sell more than 80,000 to make it that high in the list.

It'd be fantastic to correlate the number of reviews with the number of actual products sold if that's even possible. For example the Kindle Fire has 16k review, the iPad 2 had 790, and the Prime has about 500. I wonder how this matches with actual number of products purchased...
[Asus  Eee Pad Transformer Prime] malaeus:
i got really lucky and picked mine up (c3) at my local best buy, only 2 tabs left in store after mine. and i bought the last keyboard dock in stock.

they told me they wont be ordering any more tf201s they will be ordering the tf300's until the 700/infinity comes out. then wash the 300s out the door with big sale.

(in the US the 300 is going to be in red, white, and blue options.) possibly pointing toward a july super-sale. maybe 700/infinity comes in july?
[Asus  Eee Pad Transformer Prime] phree1:
Man, this thread again?

First, all Best Buy locations are corporate locations. It's not a franchise or anything. All Best Buy locations in the US, Canada, Mexico, and Puerto Rico use the same IT systems but on different networks.

I.E. There is Best Buy US network infrastructure, Best Buy Canada network Infrastructure, etc.

The prime has not been recalled, discontinued, etc. If a Best Buy employee told you that, he or she is flat out wrong. Point, period, end of conversation.

In fact, I just bought a C3 tonight from my local store. Supplies are currently limited and the Prime is a popular item (compared to other Android tablets). This makes it very difficult to find.
[Asus  Eee Pad Transformer Prime] Keion:
OP is a f*****g as****e f**k. Did you not read the f*****g sticky you incompetent motherf*****g piece of s**t? People like you need to f*****g leave because it is getting d**m f*****g annoying to see s**tposters like you clogging up these forums. Godd**mit.

/rant

Sent from my tf9001 with XDA XD.
[Asus  Eee Pad Transformer Prime] Dnakaman:
Maybe it wasn't that the prime was discontinued...

Maybe that particular Best Buy store was discontinued...
[Asus  Eee Pad Transformer Prime] phree1:
That is unlikely. High demand product, especially those that are relatively new in their life cycle will be transferred to other locations.
[Asus  Eee Pad Transformer Prime] SalsaForte:
One of my colleagues went to Staples yesterday and was told the TF201 is listed as discontinued in their system.

TF700 and TF300 will replace the TF201.

Another sign the TF201 will become "obsolete" sooner than expected! hey hey!
[Asus  Eee Pad Transformer Prime] buxtahuda:
I think that regardless of ASUS's comments to try and keep sales up a bit, this was a pretty obvious outcome wasn't it? I know I thought this is how it would happen. I think Samsung is a prime example to all companies that you don't want to try and proliferate the market with too many choices. And it seems like the 300 isn't all that much cheaper even though it's seriously lacking in some respects.
[Asus  Eee Pad Transformer Prime] chucky7910:
I have no idea why this keeps popping up so many times. I talked with a best buy manager the other day and he said that supplies are currently VERY limited and that the TFP is in their system it's just that there aren't any units to order. Asus is only shipping like two dozen units for all of the US bestbuy stores, so it's very difficult to get. He said it is definately not discontinued. This was reiterated when I called bestbuy online to inquire about ordering it (they said the likely reason for it not being available online was that too many units were being damaged during shipping. If you think about the fact that Asus went to all this trouble to produce a free GPS dongle you'll realize that it's not being discontinued. Why would a company spend money to fix the GPS on the TFP if it was going to replace it with the infinity. Besides the TF300 is NOT the same as the prime...no GPS...plastic molding..inferior screen. Can we lock this thread or just stop bringing this RUMOR based issue to a close now.
[Asus  Eee Pad Transformer Prime] David Dee:
The TF300 actually does have GPS, that works incredibly well, Dongle free.
[Asus  Eee Pad Transformer Prime] Ready2Mosh:
My problem is the device has been out for basically 5 months and they are still really hard to find. I haven't seen a change on now in stock for a 64 gb model in 2 weeks.

Either they stopped production to implement some fixes or this thing is finished, production should be able to keep up with demand at this point.

I want to jump back in, but lack of availability is making it so I can't, pretty sad.
[Asus  Eee Pad Transformer Prime] junrider:
I bet the tf300 is the one getting mass produced and hitting the shelfs, leaving the prime back home back on on the drawing board. Already have good review that everything works as it should out of the box, GPS and wifi performance as it should. Just looking at the release, plenty of online sites still have them available. I must question Asus with their dribbling production of the prime..:confused:
[Asus  Eee Pad Transformer Prime] omegafiler:
Yeah, I still get conflicting info from Best Buy whenever I inquire about the Prime. I'm not even looking for one, but I was just asking out of curiousity.

Like just today, I had one say it was discontinued due to the wireless issues. Then another BB down the street said they still get them in, but they are still extremely hard to come by. That particular store has only had maybe 10 or so since it was released.

So it's not surprising that some may assume that it's been discontinued.
[Asus  Eee Pad Transformer Prime] dcAndroidFan:
Whether it's been officially "discontinued" or not, I think it's safe to say that Asus isn't putting their full resources into producing as many of them as they possibly can. People can cite "high demand" as much as they want, but the fact is that we're over five months after launch now, and we're having discussions about whether it's been discontinued because people can't get a straight answer from retailers. Any way you spin it, that's a supply-chain failure -- and if this was a highly-profitable device I don't think Asus would allow that. It seems like they're continuing to supply some of them, but not really making any efforts to supply very many of them.

Whether it's intentional or not, the impression that's left with the public is that Asus doesn't have enough faith in this device to take care of the supply chain. It's tragic, really. Once again, we thought there would be a real contender in the Android tablet market and once again, production problems and design problems have kept it from making a dent in the iOS market.
[Asus  Eee Pad Transformer Prime] rushless:
Not to mention the 300 will be easy to find and is brand new.
[Asus  Eee Pad Transformer Prime] phree1:
Have you done some type of research poll to determine what John Q. Public actually thinks, or are you suggesting what you think the public thinks?
[Asus  Eee Pad Transformer Prime] dcAndroidFan:
Brilliant question. I'll ask one of my own.

As a representative of John Q. Public, and a member of the public at large, what do YOU think when a mainstream consumer device has been out for over five months, yet many of the primary retail distributors can't predict when they will get stock and can't get more than a few units to sell every few weeks, at best? Does that make you think that there's "high demand" or does that make you think that the manufacturer is having supply-chain issues? Does it make YOU think that Asus is fully committed to producing and supporting as many of these as they possibly can? When they promised us that the retail supply chain would be fully supplied by mid-January?

The mere fact that this thread exists and these discussions are taking place is an indication that the public thinks there's something going on. Call it rumor if you want but it's a real perception problem for many people. Challenge me on "poll" statistics if you want, but then ask yourself when the last time was that you heard a rumor about the new iPad being discontinued because stores can't get them or won't stock them.
[Asus  Eee Pad Transformer Prime] ill1:
Consider: the prime was the first tegra 3 tab, it also had a higher resolution screen before the new ipad, also its easily the best looking android tablet (my opinion). Fast forward five months later if you really think about it the rest of the tab makers are "catching up". Asus competition is refreshing their line ups. Apple has a higher resolution tablet out. Also the problems the prime has have made it into a PR nightmare, the infinity isn't named transformer prime 2... Also why make the infinity and the prime you have so much overlap, it would b silly to market both. Asus is just refreshing their line up the same as everyone else.

Even if the prime is discontinued and replaced with infinity the prime will still work and most likely be updated for the near future. It's not a big deal, consider it product evolution.
[Asus  Eee Pad Transformer Prime] demandarin:
people need to let this rumor die and stop worrying about it so much. People been bringing this up only weeks after prime launch. here we are 5 months later. prime will be discontinued once it reaches the end of its cycle life. or like 3-4 months after infinity pad release. whichever comes first.

I actually wouldn't care if it was discontinued in 5 mins. lol it wont stop my device from working. It wont stop xda developement. It wont stop Asus updates. Even once discontinued Asus will continue software and firmware support. Like they will do with discontinued tf-101. Warranty will still be valid until its year anniversary comes around.
[Asus  Eee Pad Transformer Prime] phree1:
That's a fantastic non-answer. I assume you are in DC for politics?

It is presumptuous and narcissistic to think that just because you think something, it is the same way the rest of the public thinks.

To wit, I am part of the public, and I think, no, I know, that Asus has plenty of faith in the Prime.

It will soon be their mid price point Transformer offering, with the 300 being the entry level and the 700 being the premium level.
[Asus  Eee Pad Transformer Prime] aznmode:
Just went to my local BB and they still sell the primes but out of stock. They even have the demo unit out too.
[Asus  Eee Pad Transformer Prime] David Dee:
I feel this dialogue is digressing into a personal debate. The question here is not what the public thinks, nor if the Prime is a good or bad device, but whether it has, or will be discontinued. I am sure many are loving their primes, have no issues and will benefit from great development on the device regardless, it is a cool device, but it may be discontinued. Living in Canada, we have most of the same products and big box chains as the US, but on much smaller scale. Small enough, in fact, to credibly confirm that no new shipments of Primes have come in over the last month or so at Best Buy, Staples or any other big chains (I was searching for a new prime, my first had touch screen issues... I have to look domestically to avoid duties). Nothing, but b1's. If I was a betting man, I would stake my lot with the discontinue gang, even though I really liked my Prime and unfortunately had a rare defect that didn't include any of the "mainstream" issues.

Sent from my Desire Z using the XDA App
[Asus  Eee Pad Transformer Prime] rcatron:
The writing is on the wall. Wake up. There simply are not any primes in my area to speak of. If the stores had them at one time, they do not now (and I make my rounds every week)

Office Depot has it listed in store as "special order" - Staples has a display item, but no stock (the display item appeared within the last 4-5 weeks). Same with Best Buy - they finally put a floor model out but "cannot sell them due a recall" (that we know didn't happen). Here is the Best Buy Search for my area (Lexington/Louisville, KY and Cincinnati, OH) http://www.bestbuy.com/site/olspage.jsp?id=pcat17006&type=page&skuId=4038674&searchpage=true&_requestid=448302

I know we love our devices, but lets face it - the Prime is out. Lets just hope they learned from the mistakes of the Prime by the time the Infinity comes out. They are hoping by showing the effort with the dongle that we will move to the 300 or Infinity model (and in turn, give them another chance).

Also, think about it - with the launch of the iPad (3) - and its super high resolution screen, at the same price point as previous models - there is no way that the Infinity can be priced at any other price point but the current Prime's. You can Quad Core this, 1080p screen that, but it must compete in price to the iPad.

If the Infinity made it out a few months before the new iPad, Asus could have tried to milk $599/32GB - but not now. Time has moved to fast.

Just being a realist. No room for three models in the lineup.
[Asus  Eee Pad Transformer Prime] TheWerewolf:
I was just in Best Buy Canada and Future Shop (owned by Best Buy), and found a card marking where the Prime *would* be - but didn't have any.

Memory Express (which is where I bought mine) shows more than ten in all their stores and online...

http://www.memoryexpress.com/Products/MX37155

They're also preordering the TF300...

I think the problem with Best Buy/Future Shop is that they have VERY liberal return policies. You can return a tablet within 14 days no questions asked. If Asus is still enforcing a 'no returns' policy on the Primes, then BB/FS won't touch them.

Memory Express, on the other hand, just sells them with a 'no return' policy passed down.
[Asus  Eee Pad Transformer Prime] David Dee:
Call and you will find out they have no c serial numbers. Same with Canada Computers and Tiger Direct.... Just old stock.

Sent from my Desire Z using the XDA App
[Asus  Eee Pad Transformer Prime] ElCamino:
I was back in the Best Buy that had the TP on clearance and now no more TP on display. Sales guy said they are making room for the upcoming Tablets.

Samsung Galaxy Tab 2 10.1

Acer Iconia Tab A510 http://www.bestbuy.com/site/searchp...p=&qp=&list=n&iht=y&usc=All+Categories&ks=960

and the current Galaxy Tab 2 7-inch.

My TP is my to go tablet. The keyboard dock is one of the best accessories that I se daily.
[Asus  Eee Pad Transformer Prime] TheWerewolf:
Are you suggesting or telling? :)

You could be right - but I'd be kind of surprised they got their hands on more than 40 B series Primes...
[Asus  Eee Pad Transformer Prime] David Dee:
For Memory Express I am suggesting, for all others I mentioned I am telling. Have yet to find a C10 in Canada. At this point I am going to wait for the Infinity Pad, seems to be the device to beat this year.
[Asus  Eee Pad Transformer Prime] phree1:
My local Best Buy store had 6 C3's in stock this morning. They are all sold now.
[Asus  Eee Pad Transformer Prime] CadenH:
I went into best buy mobile to have myscreen protector replaced and he told me wont be getting any more in. They had a few in store but that was the last of them.
[Asus  Eee Pad Transformer Prime] phree1:
It's possible they are no longer being carried in the BBYM stand alone stores. Our inventory system still shows it as an active sku.
[Asus  Eee Pad Transformer Prime] MadmanJay:
I checked futureshop.ca two days ago an they had 20 primes available online but today they are sold out again. I was Bestbuy yesterday and asked a sales rep why they never have any primes on stock and if are no longer carrying the product. He indicated that it was Asus holding all shipments of the prime and that you will not find any primes in the stores in Canada as a result. He also said that for bestbuy and futureshop stores if you see the price end with a .95 or. 97 it indicates the product is on clearance and once the inventory is out they will no longer carry the product. When I checked their web sites again I did notice the price ended with a. 95. However the keyboard did not which I thought was interesting.

So not sure what this means exactly.... perhaps Asus is withholding shipments until they fix the Wifi BT and GPS issues and will then quietly release the fixed version? There was a rep that indicated future builds of the prime would have the issues resolved. I do hope if Asus does fix the problem that they allow us to RMA our devices to implementation the fixes.

Anyway... take this info for what its worth. Not saying it is true...just passing on what I was told.
[Asus  Eee Pad Transformer Prime] pileot:
Ok, heres the thing: Guys at bestbuy or your local shoppes are usually misinformed. Sometimes they will say anything to make a sale (i heard one guy tell a customer that the prime was basically an overpriced version of the TF101 and the 101 was better in some respects, what BS)

I also heard some BB guys saying you can only get the prime online, while i picked up my tablet a couple days later at that very store. Another one said wifi/gps works wonderfully, yet another says there is no wifi or gps.

Its not like all bestbuy associates are brought to a morning meeting and told the same thing, some will know more than others and some will say whatever is needed to make that sale.

My point is this: Do your own research. How hard was it to get a prime after release date? pretty damn. How many units are being returned because of defects or whatnot? Quite a few. Hell i went through three.

It also stands to reason that Asus would push the newer, less expensive to make (higher profit margin) tablet that does not have lots of problems. Plastic parts are easier to form so production can go a lot faster and at that price point its easy to see how its a shoe in for most people being low price with lots of options.

In addiion, consider that tech usually doubles every 6 months or so. The prime is, mathematically, coming close to the end of its reign as the best tablet on the market. This does not make it any less awesome, it just means that soon there will be something better on the market, it happens with everything. As new stuff comes in old stuff goes out. its the way of the world.

Please, can a mod start killing these threads as they pop up? every day it seems theres a new one.
[Asus  Eee Pad Transformer Prime] buxtahuda:
I wouldn't say every day, this was the first one after like a month's break lol

But I do wish people would look further than the front page or use the search feature, we do have some very repetitive threads. (especially on the dongle lol)
[Asus  Eee Pad Transformer Prime] ElCamino:
So looks that at least the TP might not be available at Best Buy stores, at least the one I have been going too. Like the sales Guy mentioned to me last week that the TP was going to be at least for now replaced by newer tablets and looks like the Tab 300 is already at Best Buy with keyboard dock.

Tested the GPS and same as TP, the GPS never showed any satellites in range.

While I was using it, I got that there was a newer firmware available for download. So I applied it. :)
[Asus  Eee Pad Transformer Prime] rcatron:
The only thing deader than this thread are our primes...

Case in point - today's Best Buy ad featured the 300 on the front page.

Tell me if you have every seen BB advertise the Prime.
[Asus  Eee Pad Transformer Prime] demandarin:
who cares....
[Asus  Eee Pad Transformer Prime] shinzz:
It is a bit sad. While Pad 300 can be found in any local B&M store around me (and they have a lot in stock)....

I can't say the same for Transformer Prime since.. well.. launch. Prime isn't officially "canned" by Asus (I doubt they will ever admit it..)... but when was the last time we had new version of Prime's appear... even in this forum???

Would be great if Asus rewards the "guinea pigs" such as myself for testing their product. I'm not looking for voucher program to Infinity 700 upgrade.. or whatever..

but... simply.. for being their test subject...

as a reward.. (cough.. sarcasm...cough)

I want Asus to fix all the major (such as WIFI) & minor issues being found in Transformer Prime. Sadly, I doubt we will receive this reward... =/
[Asus  Eee Pad Transformer Prime] rcatron:
Agreed. I wouldn't have to go very far out on a limb to predict that if Asus does not nail it with the 300 / 700 models (primarily in regards to quality), they will exit the tablet market as quickly as they entered it.
[Asus  Eee Pad Transformer Prime] krighton:
just got my new Prime today...this thread makes me feel all warm having one.