Asus Eee Pad Transformer Prime UK pre-order opens

Asus Eee Pad Transformer Prime UK pricing announced
Transformer Prime - you better watch out

Asus has finally opened the UK pre-order for the Tegra 3 toting Eee Pad Transformer Prime tablet, with the slinky slate and keyboard dock combo setting you back £499.

That's the 32GB Wi-Fi only model, which is the only one we'll be getting here in the UK by the looks of things.

You can hand your cash over to Asus now thanks to the magic of pre-ordering, but sadly there's still no official Transformer Prime UK release date so we can't tell you when you'll get it – it's likely to be January at the earliest though.

The good news is that you definitely will be able to enjoy a tasty Ice Cream Sandwichey treat when you finally get the tablet as the Android 4.0 software will "soon" be available via an over the air upgrade.

Soon can't come soon enough

£500 isn't bad for the world's first Tegra 3 tablet – Nvidia's quad-core processor brings super fast performance and full HD video and gaming without chomping too quickly through battery life.

But, as you'll see in our Asus Eee Pad Transformer Prime review, we weren't entirely sure that the tablet has what it takes to defeat the iPad 2 and Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1.

Rest assured, it's a 4.5 star slate – and if that sounds like your kind of thing, you can pre-order the Transformer Prime from today.

News Editor (UK)

Former UK News Editor for TechRadar, it was a perpetual challenge among the TechRadar staff to send Kate (Twitter, Google+) a link to something interesting on the internet that she hasn't already seen. As TechRadar's News Editor (UK), she was constantly on the hunt for top news and intriguing stories to feed your gadget lust. Kate now enjoys life as a renowned music critic – her words can be found in the i Paper, Guardian, GQ, Metro, Evening Standard and Time Out, and she's also the author of 'Amy Winehouse', a biography of the soul star.