[Update: We are back online! As requested, we withheld the original Transformer Prime Post and the associated video until after 5pm Sydney time today. Thank you VERY much for your words of encouragement and support, and we’d like to repay this by presenting another 5 videos about the Transformer Prime which we hope you like, as they are a little different from the first one.
Here is the page with the videos collected. As each video is uploaded, we will update the page until it becomes a repository for all our Transformer Prime video content.
You can also visit the original article here, with the first video once again available to feast your eyes on the impressive Transformer Prime from Asus.
Thanks for your patience and hope you enjoy the new videos!]
Hello everyone,
We have been asked by ASUS Australia if we could suspend this review until the 1st of Dec and in the interest of goodwill, we have decided with a heavy heart to comply with their request. We understand we are all human and mistakes can happen (not on our end) and there is no need to compound that by keeping the video and this article up.
We did explain to them that the review had already gone viral and that this would disrupt a great many websites and viewers, especially with less than 31hrs to go.
They still asked if we could see fit to help them out. So we decided to do just that and put the video and this article on hold until Dec 1.
So please join us again on the 1st of Dec with this awesome review we have done and the hundreds of comments already added by people like you (the review was up for 2 whole days with tens of thousands of visitors reading and then many of them commenting…so there’s a wealth of information on that page).
At the same time we will be releasing a video with requested demonstrations of the transformer prime (these requests were made by YouTube viewers). So be sure to return 5pm Sydney Australia time:
http://www.timeanddate.com/worldclock/
We would also like to take the opportunity to appologise for any inconvenience this has or may have caused you.
Less than 27hrs to go now.
Should you wish to make your feelings known please do so at the following places:
Gabriel says
wait, is the review your talking about the one from before?
julio says
Asus Transformer Prime vs Ipad2 video ?….
Ritchie says
Hi Gabriel,
Yes it is. Unfortunately we were advised very late of this situation and agreed in the spirit of cooperation. However, we will have not one but TWO videos on the Prime tomorrow afternoon, Sydney time. Watch this space!
Gabriel says
cool, But im surprised they asked you to take it down, it actaully helped sales, like i preordered mine b/c of your vid. Oh well, cant wait to see the camera on it!
Andreas Ström says
“However, we will have not one but TWO videos on the Prime tomorrow afternoon, Sydney time.”
According to the world clock the time in Sydney is ~22:11. Will we see the videos today? 🙁
Ritchie says
Hi Andreas,
Actually the videos have been up since around 6pm Sydney time :-). We’ve created a page and posted all 5, yes 5 videos for you to see the Prime in action – and the content was created by answering questions from our audience: https://ritchiesroom.com/2011/12/01/question-and-answer-time-for-the-asus-transformer-prime/
Enjoy!
Johnny Silva says
Can’t wait! I was disappointed about the wait ’til I noticed time is much further ahead in your neck of the woods! Still 8 p.m. 11/29 over here! Thanks for keeping us up to date!
Ritchie says
Hi Johnny, we can’t wait to get everything back up as well. In fact we’ll have more content to showcase some specific features as well as the original video. Stay tuned!
gabriel says
sorry for so many comments but,
i found out that when i go to your asus prime review its still there, all i need to do is stop the loading before it reloads to this page. I think it would be better to make a direct link, and ‘delete’ it, but it will still be there. just a suggestion, since asus doesnt want anyone seeing it 😛
Studat says
I dont know why Australia is always the last and why are Asus being so secretive about the release date for Oz. I will buy it at almost any price. Keep up the good word guys.
Spanzer K says
Wow Ritchie, didn’t expect you to get into bed with ASUS like this. I can say that I don’t appreciate my gadget WWWs listening to the Man. Especially with something as trivial as this with mere hours remaining.
Come on, “interest of goodwill”….get real!!
~Former Reader
Sean says
You do realize he would be shooting himself in the foot by “sticking it to the man” right? How do you think he even has a unit before anyone else even knows a release date? Sure he could decide to ignore them but guess what, no early transformer 3 megatron will be coming his way!
This isn’t someone buckling to a request to change a review to make a product look better. Its agreeing that the manufacturer who actually gave you a unit early can have the ability to determine what and when information about their yet unreleased product should be given. Don’t want to play by their rules? Don’t expect any special consideration in the future from them.
That said I do think asus is being pretty silly to kill a video and article that is giving them tons of free advertising but whatever, ill be getting one and thats what matters to me!
Jeremy Vidal says
Asus just needs to give equality to all their “partners”. They will be disappointed if Asus will allow one site to post an early video of their device while they are waiting for their go signal.. Hmmm.. If Asus Australia really said that Ritchie can resume the reviews by Dec 1 then maybe we could expect a lot of reviews by then? (That will be less than an hour from now)…
Or maybe not, coz that go signal may only be for their Australian “partners”.. 🙂
Glen says
Any reason why Dec 1st? Is ASUS actually going to announce anything for Oz on that day?
ASUS AU needs to clean out their current crop of PR and Marketing people. The review was what everybody who was interested in this product wanted, it indeed did go viral, I’ve seen so many references to this article and video over the past few days. If I could pre-order here in Oz I would. Still, can’t wait till tomorrow! Clicks to richiesroom.com are going to go crazy!
Scotte says
I’m not sure why you were asked to remove the video.
I downloaded it when it came out so I could watch it later.
I just re-watched it and I don’t see any information that could possibly cause them to be concerned.
Maybe they are going to make a BIG change in the product before the final release???
Ritchie says
Hi Scotte, the video was removed to be in line with their global release plan. Thanks for your comments, we can’t wait to reload it tomorrow 5pm Sydney time as per their request.
Kokusho says
Yeah ! There will be ICS onboard.
Ritchie says
Thanks for the support and discussion about the incognito video. There was a miscommunication on the part of Asus, and it did cause a fair bit of trouble for them when our video hit the viral stage. They asked asked very nicely to remove it, many times, and we obliged.
Did we mention that in return Asus have agreed to a few things that will help our readers stay ahead of the curve when it comes to future Asus products?
At the end of the day, we want to do what’s right for our readers and having good relationships with the brands we cover will benefit everyone.
Thanks again for visiting and see you tomorrow… in a big way!
chook says
Sounds fair enough to me – to comply with Asus request – they would not want anything to disrupt their launch in their biggest market – which they will have put a lot of time and money into planning.
Studat – Australia would be the last as we do indeed pay almost anything for consumer goods – we typically pay much more (like over double on some things) than consumers in other countries for the same items – Internet ordering to one side, which I imagine is still a small segment of our total market.
Jonathan says
Just wanted to say that (probably like a lot of people) I found this page via Engadget and really liked the review, the video, and the way all the visitors’ questions were addressed in the comments. I think this seems a really nice site and will be visiting it regularly. In my view Ritchie’s compliance with Asus on this confirms my impression: it does seem a little odd that Asus would ask for a very popular video praising their product to be suspended, but nevertheless it is not an unreasonable request and to say Ritchie should not comply for reasons of sticking it to The Man is pretty childish. It’s only for a day or two and the fact that Asus simply asked, rather than breaking out the lawyers, is a positive for them too.
Toronto says
Let’s hope Asus has some concrete release dates for us themselves come Dec 1st. I am looking forward to the videos here as well but truly I’m very interested in finding out when those of us that have preordered tablets will be receiving them!
Thanks Ritchie and especially Asus for bringing us this tablet.
VM says
IMPORTANT: Beyond testing that daily non-user replaceable battery-life, please ask Asus if & how the tablet’s battery (& keyboard dock’s battery) can be serviced including cost even past day 365 (its one year warranty) otherwise its promise can not be fully realized & Apple will continue to point to the iPad’s serviceability (e.g. to keep such tablets out of landfills beyond 1yr). -Thanks Ritchie & look forward to the reviews!
Ritchie says
Hi VM,
It’s a good question as we all want our devices to be long lasting and repairable if something does happen. We’ll ask Asus for their advice on this, will share this info with all.
We look forward to delivering more reviews in the near future.
Cheers, Ritchie
VM says
Sounds great, we responsible prospective buyers would really appreciate that Ritchie (Samsung & Apple had said the non-user replaceable battery in their tablets could be replaced for ~$100 USD out of warranty within 1-2 weeks during phone calls) as well as please comparing if possible to both the iPad2 & MacBook Air form factors (latest 11″ & 13″) that we wonder if the 10.1″ Asus Transformer Prime’s convergence form factor could actually largely replace both-or only one of those form factors:)?
BTW, hopefully there will be consistent quality control with the Transformer Prime as some had complained in Amazon reviews of inconsistent quality control with the original Transformers (e.g. screens, tablet-dock battery drains etc).
-Thanks & Cheers Ritchie
Refs:
http://www.apple.com/batteries/replacements.html
iPad Owners
“Your one-year warranty includes replacement coverage for a defective battery. You can extend your coverage to two years from the date of your iPad purchase with the AppleCare Protection Plan for iPad. During the plan’s coverage period, Apple will replace the battery if it drops below 50% of its original capacity. If it is out of warranty, Apple offers a battery replacement for $99, plus $6.95 shipping, subject to local tax. Apple disposes of your battery in an environmentally friendly manner.”
Vs.
http://www.customerservicescoreboard.com/Asus
“11/29/11 12:53PM : I spent over an hour on the phone with ASUS trying to find out what it will cost me to have the battery replaced in a Transformer when it goes out of warranty. I want to compare the cost of ownership with other tablets such as the Toshiba which has a USER replaceable battery. Guess what? NO ONE would tell me. They transferred me and gave me useless URLs to follow (ASUS estore??). When I called the last number given it was simply another number for Support which is where I started. Finally they transferred me to a Supervisor who said I’d have to send the unit in for a quote in order to find out. WHAT????? Are you kidding me? Why would I spend my money to send the unit in for a quote when this is a specific incident that will happen to EVERYONE that owns a Transformer???? ”
-Let’s hope Asus can learn from Apple’s straight-forward serviceability so prospective buyers could buy with similar confidence..
Angel says
Hi! I wanted to know how many hours were left before you release your review?
Ritchie says
Hi Angel,
7 more hours as of this post reply. I can tell you we are counting down the hours!
dnaL0R says
so, 4PM local time [Sydney]?
thnx.
DC says
VM – you’re starting to sound like a troll. Settle down.
Duncan says
It’s almost midday Dec 1st here in Australia, surely Asus Australia are not going to mind?
A lot of other sites have already been releasing information today pushing back your page in google search results.
Gabriel says
Cant wait! counting down! p.s. this will also be my first tablet 😀
Jolz says
Me too 😀
Quinn says
Mine too, I can’t wait!
Jim says
This is getting kind of ridiculous. Let’s see the details.
dnaL0R says
legoooooooooo ~
JC says
time check…
Duncan says
Took to long, heading elsewhere.
Even the official asus site has their release page up with new content….
Quinn says
Its 5 now Please post videos!
infiguna says
What are we waiting for mate? I hope you did’nt loose it!!! :O
JC says
Time check… Will the Video be up soon, it just hit midnight here and i wanted t o catch it before going to bed?
Alex says
Im also at midnigth here!!! hahah cmon wheres the vid??
Roberto says
Time Check…
Italy is waiting you!!!
SlicK says
I’ve been refreshing this website the last 5 minutes. When is the new review video going to go live? =(
bustafone says
Hey! Wake up!
Stop milking this stupid video.
Logan says
In California and waiting… Like a kid on Christmas!!
Atomizer says
It’s 5 PM in Sydney, where are the videos?
random says
Droppin the ball on this one Ricky …
JC says
slashgear has an unboxing review…
Chad says
Here’s a review to read while we all wait…
http://www.engadget.com/2011/12/01/asus-eee-pad-transformer-prime-review/
random says
Haha hey everyone… he probablry lives near brisbane. Its 4:24 there now…. 36 minutes hahaha
Michael Blair says
The time stamps on these posts are wrong. It’s currently daylight savings time in Australia.
As I type this it’s 5:25 in Sydney. Put the review up now please 🙂
Jude says
Richie, we are waiting 🙂
Roberto says
Ritchie has been beated on time from other sites…
http://www.theverge.com/2011/12/1/2601558/asus-eee-pad-transformer-prime-review
http://www.androidpolice.com/2011/11/30/asus-transformer-prime-initial-impressions-four-isnt-a-prime-number-but-it-sure-feels-special/
And… Here there are two new VIDEOS!
http://androidcommunity.com/asus-transformer-prime-official-hands-on-20111201/
Ritchie: don’t waste your time with other things, put the videos on!
We are waiting you!
JC says
here is slashgear’s video
http://www.slashgear.com/asus-transformer-prime-hands-on-and-unboxing-01199030/
Ritchie says
Hi everyone,
Thank you ALL for your encouragement to get the content back up. The original article has been reposted for all to see, along with the video which we had to remove due to the embargo.:
https://ritchiesroom.com/2011/11/28/asus-eee-pad-transformer-prime-first-look/
We are working furiously now to get another 5 segments up that showcase many different features of the Transformer Prime and we hope you enjoy those as well. We’ll be back very soon with the new videos.
Again, we appreciate you taking the time to visit our site, it’s been a wild few days and we hope you continue to visit us as we update you with new videos and content.
Cheers,
Ritchie
dy4me says
Hey Ritchie,
Any details on the australian release dates? or should we just order form the US?
Ritchie says
We’re still waiting for official word – we’ve been everything from early next week to sometime in January. One thing is for sure, the Prime has had an excellent pre-order response and on that basis stock is already spoken for in many regions. We’ll keep you up to date.
kevin.w says
Hi, any idea when the prime will be here in Australia? also how much$ in Au?
thanks
kevin.w says
can we pre-order in Au? if so, where?