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Hey,
Is it still possible to get one of these before Christmas (assuming the live date is before then) ? I have not preordered yet.
Thanks
If you are in the US and you can find a place that is still accepting pre-orders, then maybe. It is very doubtful any stores will have it in stock until after the new years and seems like Canada and Europe are out of the questions until Jan or Feb.
However, it seems like Best Buy is the only place that has not cancelled or delayed pre-orders, so I would say you have your work cut out for you if you want one before the holidays.
I'd suggest calling around to some GameStop B&M stores. From some of the postings, it appears a couple of locations have more inventory arriving then they have pre-orders. Everyone on this forum's been going nuts to be first to get a Prime and are well aware of GameStop. But the average shopper probably wouldn't even think of them for tablets. Keep in mind not all GameStop stores sell tablets. If you have friends and family in other cities use them to expand your search.
BarryH_GEG said:
I'd suggest calling around to some GameStop B&M stores. From some of the postings, it appears a couple of locations have more inventory arriving then they have pre-orders. Everyone on this forum's been going nuts to be first to get a Prime and are well aware of GameStop. But the average shopper probably wouldn't even think of them for tablets. Keep in mind not all GameStop stores sell tablets. If you have friends and family in other cities use them to expand your search.
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Click to collapse
Also keep in mind that Gamestop does not allow returns, so you would probably need to deal with Asus if you have any problems with the device. Honestly its a horrible place to buy anything but used games. They consistently open new products and sometimes remove contents or allow their employees to play with them before they shelf them. I just avoid buying anything new there.
However, it is true most people will not think of Gamestop for Tablets, so if they do get units this year it may be the best bet to find it.
UmbraeSoulsbane said:
Also keep in mind that Gamestop does not allow returns, so you would probably need to deal with Asus if you have any problems with the device. Honestly its a horrible place to buy anything but used games. They consistently open new products and sometimes remove contents or allow their employees to play with them before they shelf them. I just avoid buying anything new there.
However, it is true most people will not think of Gamestop for Tablets.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Funny you'd say that. There are three GameStop's in my city that I didn't even know existed until the whole Prime pre-order thing. They're in obscure locations and the one I went in to looked like a thrift shop. Everyone working there looked like they were still in high school. On their website they say they have 6,627 company-operated stores in 17 countries. Who knew?
Here's a link to the game they opened to remove the OnLive coupons:
http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,2817,2391755,00.asp
BarryH_GEG said:
Funny you'd say that. There are three GameStop's in my city that I didn't even know existed until the whole Prime pre-order thing. They're in obscure locations and the one I went in to looked like a thrift shop. Everyone working there looked like they were still in high school. On their website they say they have 6,627 company-operated stores in 17 countries. Who knew?
Here's a link to the game they opened to remove the OnLive coupons:
http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,2817,2391755,00.asp
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Click to collapse
Yeah, that was a big fiasco. I found that if you want a new game from Gamestop that is unopened, you pretty much have to pre-order it and show up for a midnight launch if they hold one. Other than that I have never gotten a shrink-wrapped products. I hear this can vary store to store, but I have 4 within 10 miles of me and they all do the same.
So I just go in an buy used games. Those are the ONLY product they sell you can actually return. Probably because they buy stuff for $1-$5 and sell it for $20-$50.
Of course, I guess this is all off topic. Sorry.
Yes, if you want to pay between $699-800 on ebay
http://www.ebay.com/itm/ASUS-TRANSFORMER-PRIME-TF201-TABLET-NEW-PRE-ORDER-FASTEST-MOST-POWERFUL-ANDROID-/110793309902?pt=US_Tablets&hash=item19cbcbbece
mchimney said:
Hey,
Is it still possible to get one of these before Christmas (assuming the live date is before then) ? I have not preordered yet.
Thanks
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I'm going to take my chance on Best Buy on launch date, they are bound to have some in stock on launch date.
I've never heard of a new product being sold to only online shoppers who pre-ordered weeks in advanced.
I also have it hard to believe that there many out there who are anxious for this product for it to sell out quickly on launch date.
Unlike that $199 1080p Sharp HDTV Best Buy fire sold on Black Friday, I was amazed then that no body in the line I waited that day was interested in the $249 Transformer.
the_game_master said:
I'm going to take my chance on Best Buy on launch date, they are bound to have some in stock on launch date.
I've never heard of a new product being sold to only online shoppers who pre-ordered weeks in advanced.
I also have it hard to believe that there many out there who are anxious for this product for it to sell out quickly on launch date.
Unlike that $199 1080p Sharp HDTV Best Buy fire sold on Black Friday, I was amazed then that no body in the line I waited that day was interested in the $249 Transformer.
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Click to collapse
Nexus One lol
the_game_master said:
Unlike that $199 1080p Sharp HDTV Best Buy fire sold on Black Friday, I was amazed then that no body in the line I waited that day was interested in the $249 Transformer.
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Click to collapse
The Prime probably decreased interest in original Transformer sales. It's a sweet deal at $250 but the second version was already announced. That said, my friend couldn't get a hold of the $250 ones (she waited in Manhattan)... I guess it also depends on the location.
Anyway, it's a week away from release so really the best chance now would be to stalk brick and mortar stores. (call ahead)
I was looking to buy one of these tablets from Micro Center, but it seems that they have gone out of stock with them and removed them as a listing from their website (you can still get to the item if you google it for some reason, they didn't delete the actual page..). I saw that best buy has them in stock, but I was just wondering if any other stores have it in stock because there is no best buy close by but there is a micro center (odd, I know).
If anybody could help link me to some stores (not online) that have this item, that would help me out a lot.
Thanks!
Target supposedly has some in stock. They are in stock online. You can call your local store to see if you get lucky.
http://www.nowinstock.net/computers/tablets/asus/
05GT said:
Target supposedly has some in stock. They are in stock online. You can call your local store to see if you get lucky.
http://www.nowinstock.net/computers/tablets/asus/
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Thanks! I'm going to call local ones now and see if they have it and then ask if they'll price match if they happen to. Hopefully I can because if I could get it for $450 vs $500 that would be awesome.
Turtle and the Hare
I called up a ~20 BestBuy today and one said they they had one last Transformer Prime in stock. So I asked the guy to hold it for me till i get there. He said no we are not allowed so I ran to my car half dressed no winter coat bed head and all raced to the store run to the department just has I'm getting there they are pulling it out and I assume its for me but they hand it to a 70+ year old woman who looks like shes not going to give it up even tho she doesn't know what its for! ROFL I was going to offer her 20$ to let me buy it but I didn't wanna disrespect my elder/ stoop that low...
4u2nvinmtl said:
I called up a ~20 BestBuy today and one said they they had one last Transformer Prime in stock. So I asked the guy to hold it for me till i get there. He said no we are not allowed so I ran to my car half dressed no winter coat bed head and all raced to the store run to the department just has I'm getting there they are pulling it out and I assume its for me but they hand it to a 70+ year old woman who looks like shes not going to give it up even tho she doesn't know what its for! ROFL I was going to offer her 20$ to let me buy it but I didn't wanna disrespect my elder/ stoop that low...
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Wow,
That really sucks man. Guess it just wasn't meant to be just yet.
Just a heads up, I'm in Montreal
If you're looking to getting the prime, I walked in to the BB at Fairview Pointe-Claire to buy my Dock and they had 6 in stock on Saturday around noon.
They seem to be getting them on a regular basis every week around Friday.
I recommend you call on Thursday/Friday/Saturday morning to see if they have any.
They seem to receive their stock right before the week-end, because I picked up my first Prime from FS on Thursday two weeks before (also Pointe-Claire)
And just a heads up, not all store will carry it, due to it not being available in french so I was told by a FS store manager, so chose your store locations carefully, but Pointe-Claire BB and FS are your best bet in Montreal from my experience.
Thank you all for the help, but I ended getting a tf101 for
$350 at compusa. Im not using this device for hardcore graphics or anything so i figured a tegra 2 would suffice.
Sent from my Transformer TF101 using Tapatalk
Bought my first Prime from Gamestop in January, returned mostly because of light bleed, but also WiFi/GPS was horrible. Bought second Prime beginning of February, but it has WiFi/BT issues, so I'm going to return it also.
I've read so many positive reviews that I'm hoping my next Prime will be great, and looking forward to exchanging it... not just a refund.
BUT I CANNOT FIND PRIMES ANYWHERE LOCALLY!!
Given the fact that the Primes have an awesome less then 1% failure rate, why are they not on the shelves at retailers? Why are the retailers not sure when, or even if, they will get more stock?
Thanks in advance for your answer.
acidus. said:
Bought my first Prime from Gamestop in January, returned mostly because of light bleed, but also WiFi/GPS was horrible. Bought second Prime beginning of February, but it has WiFi/BT issues, so I'm going to return it also.
I've read so many positive reviews that I'm hoping my next Prime will be great, and looking forward to exchanging it... not just a refund.
BUT I CANNOT FIND PRIMES ANYWHERE LOCALLY!!
Given the fact that the Primes have an awesome less then 1% failure rate, why are they not on the shelves at retailers? Why are the retailers not sure when, or even if, they will get more stock?
Thanks in advance for your answer.
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I'm not Gary, but I sure am interested to know.
Best Buy couldn't even order me one. I was able to order mine from Tiger though and it should arrive tomorrow after being on backorder for a week.
Sent from my Incredible 2 using XDA App
if you want a prime go to nowinstock.net and resister and get notified when its in stock somewhere online
far and away the easiest way
Thanks knives. I thought that site was only for online vendors, who are moving whatever inventory that managed to get their way through the supply chain.
I had no idea that site provided local retail availability!!!
It is an interesting question though... Where are the primes? It seems as though availability is getting worse, not better. Has Asus decided the beta period is over, and is now switching to produce production models?
No joke... I sent mine back to Amazon after soft bricking, for a new replacement... ****, 64GB Primes are 4 -6 weeks out.
I hope they are doing some big time quality control improvement, and the new ones, when they do come out will be problem free.
Norway gave up...
krifos said:
The biggest online retailer in Norway has removed the TF201 from stock, only 2 weeks after release.
http://www.komplett.no/k/ki.aspx?sku=652778&cks=ASS&assoc=D17C9206-4ABF-4D73-94BE-9D52E5984D4D
They claim it is because that they don't know when they get more in stock so they don't want to fill in more orders.
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acidus. said:
Thanks knives. I thought that site was only for online vendors, who are moving whatever inventory that managed to get their way through the supply chain.
I had no idea that site provided local retail availability!!!
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Click to collapse
no idea why anyone would want to buy it locally, unless you like wasting time and money. no tax with amazon and the easiest return system ever.
i order with amazon prime and get it the next day for 3.99...truly amazing service
If you go to Staples website and search for Asus transformer prime, you won't get results. The only way to find the tablet is to use google and search for staples asus transformer prime. I think that Staples is gearing up to stop selling the device completely.
Couple that with my 2 local staples returning all of their stock to the warehouse and I'm starting to think that asus is going to slowly stop selling the prime. Would make sense with all of the issues it has.
It makes business sense to stop selling the device and get out the new units with "improved wireless" ASAP so they can stop eating all the costs of having to deal with their mistake on the TF201.
knives of ice said:
no idea why anyone would want to buy it locally, unless you like wasting time and money. no tax with amazon and the easiest return system ever.
i order with amazon prime and get it the next day for 3.99...truly amazing service
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Click to collapse
Seems I was a bit premature giving thanks to Knives. (By the way, I'm an Amazon Prime member)
NowInStock.net only shows online retailers. Given enough margin, online retailers will sell anything.
What is strange is every local retailer that carried the Prime is now telling me the same story:
They've heard of problems with the Prime
They've had a lot of returns of the Prime
They have no estimate of when, or if, they will get new stock
Not just one, but all of them: BestBuy, HHGRegg, GameStop and even Staples!
Since Gary has confirmed the Prime has less than 1% failure rate, which is AWESOME, it just seems strange that no local retailers are expecting new stock. If these things are flying off the shelves, why don't any retailers have them or at least an ETA?
The TFP is exactly what I want. For me, higher resolution "2048xwhatever" is just too small on a 10" display, plus it will be slower.
Even Apple products are not this constrained after two months, where people camp out and wait for them.
Its been two months, and retailers are saying due to problems we're not sure when we'll get more?
Ofcourse, there is always the extermely remote possibility that Gary is not telling us the truth. That retailers have suffered from such a high return rate, they have decided not to carry that SKU anymore.
Which I'm sure is not the case. I'm sure Gary will post here tomorrow and clear things up.
Swiftks said:
No joke... I sent mine back to Amazon after soft bricking, for a new replacement... ****, 64GB Primes are 4 -6 weeks out.
I hope they are doing some big time quality control improvement, and the new ones, when they do come out will be problem free.
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@Swift, howdy , I see your located in C-Stat. I actually called the BB here in C-Stat today to see if there were any Primes available after returning my 2nd one last weekend. The rep told me they could have 2 avail by tomorrow and to call in the morning. Just a heads up if your looking bro.
Also guys, I called the BB in my hometown and on 2 different occasions they told me they were waiting on the "new batch" of primes b/c of all the problems they have been having with them. No info as to when this "new batch" is hitting stores though.
xIC-MACIx said:
@Swift, howdy , I see your located in C-Stat. I actually called the BB here in C-Stat today to see if there were any Primes available after returning my 2nd one last weekend. The rep told me they could have 2 avail by tomorrow and to call in the morning. Just a heads up if your looking bro.
Also guys, I called the BB in my hometown and on 2 different occasions they told me they were waiting on the "new batch" of primes b/c of all the problems they have been having with them. No info as to when this "new batch" is hitting stores though.
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HOWDY!
Thanks, but I'm replacing my 64GB Grey, which as far as I know BB doesn't carry. Besides, I'm getting a full replacement from Amazon... whenever they get some again.
With the law suit happening (and probably winning), it'd be smart for Asus not to ship any new primes.
maretus said:
If you go to Staples website and search for Asus transformer prime, you won't get results. The only way to find the tablet is to use google and search for staples asus transformer prime. I think that Staples is gearing up to stop selling the device completely.
Couple that with my 2 local staples returning all of their stock to the warehouse and I'm starting to think that asus is going to slowly stop selling the prime. Would make sense with all of the issues it has.
It makes business sense to stop selling the device and get out the new units with "improved wireless" ASAP so they can stop eating all the costs of having to deal with their mistake on the TF201.
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BINGO! Exactly what i did. I was like WTH cant i find it on their site. Light bulb went off & i used google & it came up. Did a store check and what do you know..... 2 stores locally just got a stock. I grabbed my jacket, & GF and ran! LOL. Actually the guy held it for me.
Oh also when i returned my original to BB the lady said they were not selling them anymore because of the high return rate.
knives of ice said:
no idea why anyone would want to buy it locally, unless you like wasting time and money. no tax with amazon and the easiest return system ever.
i order with amazon prime and get it the next day for 3.99...truly amazing service
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Click to collapse
I'm an Amazon Prime member too.
I guess you missed the seperate paragraph, which was in ALL CAPS, that said:
"BUT I CANNOT FIND PRIMES ANYWHERE LOCALLY!!"
Some people don't mind spending a little extra money and time, to buy something locally. But since you have no idea why that would happen, its not valid. Guessing you have no use for GPS or BT also.
Vcolassi said:
BINGO! Exactly what i did. I was like WTH cant i find it on their site. Light bulb went off & i used google & it came up. Did a store check and what do you know..... 2 stores locally just got a stock. I grabbed my jacket, & GF and ran! LOL. Actually the guy held it for me.
Oh also when i returned my original to BB the lady said they were not selling them anymore because of the high return rate.
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I Googled Staples and TF201 and found it on their site. Checked local availability a couple days ago, and there were a couple stores with stock. Returning my Prime tomorrow. Re-checked Staples, no local availability. Plus if you check their main site, they don't even acknowledge TF201 as an item.
Must be because its so poplular, they don't want to sell it.
We can't help but feel that we're being lied to by Asus. These things are f'd up and being sent back as fast as they can ship them. Very disappointed in Asus for this massive f'up. 1% failure rate my a$$. I was totally ready to accept a unit w non functioning GPS (as I won't use it), but screen bleed out the a$$! no. And still a locked bootloader!
NastroGlide said:
We can't help but feel that we're being lied to by Asus. These things are f'd up and being sent back as fast as they can ship them. Very disappointed in Asus for this massive f'up. 1% failure rate my a$$. I was totally ready to accept a unit w non functioning GPS (as I won't use it), but screen bleed out the a$$! no. And still a locked bootloader!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I know how you feel (except I would use the GPS). But I'm sure local retailers are wrong, and a boat-load of fully functional TFP's are on their way to retailers.
I bet the retailers got caught up in reading XDA posts and didn't pay attention to their actual return rates, which are less than 1%, like Gary said.
Seriously looking forward to Gary's reply. I know he has a couple PM's, but with less than 1% defects, spending 30 seconds addressing this thread will clear things up for a lot of existing and potential customers.
NCIX in Canada shows >53 in stock of 32 and 64 gb versions. I bought one there last month and it was such a hassle returning. I had to demonstrate all issues to the service guy and he was very reluctant to take it back until he got the ok from ASUS. I won't be buying my next tablet from them. Their return policy is horrible.
I am awaiting confirmation on this forum that a new batch is on its way.
West coast.
Prime out of stock in Canada "for good" ? Updt: Now available in some stores
Not meaning to spread rumors or anything but felt like I'd share what I was told this morning by various big store employees.
My Prime is defective in many ways (including dead HDMI and wonky WIfi) so I had the choice to either get a replacement unit or get a refund. Since Asus said they were out of stock themselves back a few weeks ago I decided to simply ask a refund and purchase another PRime locally... that should have been simple enough.
Unfortunately, none of the large stores (Bestbuy, Futureshop and Staples) have Primes in stock, either online or instore. All out. Futureshop and Staples both confirmed they never had a single unit instore besides returned defective units. Best Buy didn't know if they ever did have a few but confirmed that he had no ETA on future allocation.
In other words, 3 months post launch, the 3 major canadian retailers don't have Primes and don't have any ETA. Moreover, the staff I talked to at Futureshop indicated that he doubted they'd ever get any more stock because of the numerous returns they had. In fact someone returned one at that very location for the same reason I am exchanging/refunding mine (dead HDMI and.. defective Wifi!).
Obviously the staff in those store often misinform people due to lack of knowledge but I did find it surprising that all 3 were on the same page.
Have you guys experienced anything similar? I'm now asking for a replacement unit since ASus does seem to have some instock.. after all, I don't want another tablet, I want a working Prime..
I had a heck of a time finding one in Winnipeg. Luckily the Best Buy here got like 5 in stock that morning. It has been fine (haven't tried the HDMI port yet) and so I haven't had any issues with it. Looking now none of the Future Shops here have any and you can't even check at Best Buy anymore. The Staples that I have been to looking for accessories have never had any actual Primes in stock ever. Looks like they may have given up on it. =(
The OP has a good point. I looked at Canada Computers, TigerDirect, BreastBuy, Future Shop, NCIX and Staples. It appears there are very limited quantities in Canada and especially southern Ontario. We're talking about 24 or less. Some places had nothing at all and others had less than 10. I agree, what's up with that? There is no proof that they're gone "for good" other than speculation though.
Ncix has the 64gb $599 version in stock. Also checking staples online store says available for next business day delivery
Sent from my Transformer TF101 using Tapatalk
It sucks for people that don't have one. I didn't have much of a problem finding the tablet but dock was a real pain.
I'm lucky I guess. I have a perfect Prime, can't find one flaw and a nice English-only dock.
Are you talking about canada or Canada? Ncix has in stock, futureshop says in stock in store and 64gb online. I personally got 2 in store from futureshop in january. Memory express has 64gb in stock limited quantities. Are you from the future maybe? Or the past? Can i have your autograph?
-lukin- said:
The OP has a good point. I looked at Canada Computers, TigerDirect, BreastBuy, Future Shop, NCIX and Staples. It appears there are very limited quantities in Canada and especially southern Ontario. We're talking about 24 or less. Some places had nothing at all and others had less than 10. I agree, what's up with that? There is no proof that they're gone "for good" other than speculation though.
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Where is this BreastBuy, I would like to browse their selection?
Looking at the US right it's not much better. Can't find it anywhere, and none of my local Best Buy stores ever had any in stock.
Either Asus is getting ready to release a fixed version, or more likely, Prime will fade into history with 700.
Major win for Breastbuy
Besides that, I am talking about the CURRENT situation, not that you found one in January, December or June 2016, I mean right now.
As for Staples if you click on any link you will get an OOS notice altough it does still say "Shipping next day".. Staples is just that great yeah..
FS does say "Available in store but when I browse through the 60 closest stores (which is like 3 provinces around) none have any instock so yeah, that is equal to 0 for me. BB is the exact same.
NCIX doesn't have the 32gb in either color and does have extremely low stock of the 64gb.
It's not available at Tigerdirect either. So.. what's left in terms of larger retailers?
Think about any popular product launch and find one where the product wasn't readily available off the shelf 3 months post launch? Scarce allocation is either because there is too much demand or simply not enough offered. I doubt the demand is that insanely high at this point considering it's very much a "geek" device and not a mass hysteria popular product a la fruit company and most geek happly got theirs (I did).
So all I was saying is that I was told by 3 major outlets that they didn't expect any stock for a rather popular product that has been out for 3 months... I think it's odd that's all.
I just got my Prime today, was really hard to find.
It's sold out on all Media Markts in Germany, Conrad didnt have any (they sold the lasts ones yesterday, I saw them)
And today I found mine on Saturn, not many left there either, and they said they did not know when where they coming back to stock.
You had me at breastbuy....
Sent from my Transformer Prime TF201 using Tapatalk
I got my grey 32gb from ncix this week. They have been getting stock but its gone just like that and the back order list grows again.
astralmind said:
Major win for Breastbuy
Besides that, I am talking about the CURRENT situation, not that you found one in January, December or June 2016, I mean right now.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Give your head a shake. I don't care what you think I was simply stating I bought 2 in store, yes in store as in i walked into a store, a brick and morter store with walls and such on 2 separate occasions and bought a prime with real money from a real cash register with a real person and then walked out of real doors. TWICE! So don't be spreading false information.
Play nice kids….
Ya im in the same boat. Been looking locally and everyones out of stock…kinda weird.
I had no luck finding any Primes in stores.
Last month I had my hands on at least 4 Primes and they all were defective, either in the camera lens or the screen - 2 from Future Shop and 2 from Staples.
I really need to get a Prime.. my keyboard dock is sitting in its box
*hopefully Asus is going to start distributing fixed Primes
729927852 said:
I had no luck finding any Primes in stores.
Last month I had my hands on at least 4 Primes and they all were defective, either in the camera lens or the screen - 2 from Future Shop and 2 from Staples.
I really need to get a Prime.. my keyboard dock is sitting in its box
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I want to buy a bilingual keyboard.....where can i find it....so sad....why so hard to find....
keroma said:
I want to buy a bilingual keyboard.....where can i find it....so sad....why so hard to find....
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
They seem to be everywhere i cant find the English one.
Check:
Staples
Visions
Best buy
Futureshop
Canada computers
Ncix
I've been trying to get my hands on a 32gb model for two weeks and I'm getting similar results. I'm in BC. I noticed that future shop and best buy have 64gb models online for order. The only in store unit I have ever seen was a best buy display model.
I spoke with a future shop employee who said that they have never had any units in store since release and they don't expect any units anytime soon.
The keyboard dock is also quite hard to find sold out in most locations.
This is definitely odd. Can't say I can remember the last time you couldn't find a reasonably popular product in stores 3 months after launch.
Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using Tapatalk
Try nowinstock.net
I was having a hard time finding one. Nowinstock tracked it and took me 1 day .
Had ita week now.. ics update the first day and only possibleissue I've had is sound isnt veryloud watchingmovies
Sent from my Transformer Prime TF201 using Tapatalk
Automator4 said:
I spoke with a future shop employee who said that they have never had any units in store since release and they don't expect any units anytime soon.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Im not sure why they are lying I got both my primes at futureshop and they had them on at least 3 different times.
First of all, let me just say that I have a prime with a working gps (accuracy down to 5 feet) and I absolutely love my prime. The only way I'm going to replace my prime is if I can get my hands on the infinity.
I just called 4 different best buys to ask if they have a prime. I've been looking for one as a gift for someone. All 4 told me the prime is discontinued. And to prove that this is not just another rumor thread, here are the individual best buys I called.
350 W Army Trail Rd
Bloomingdale, IL 60108
Phone: 630-582-1070
GEO: 41.937950, -88.110245
1561 S Randall Rd
Algonquin, IL 60102
Phone: 847-458-5768
GEO: 42.156265, -88.333092
1830 Towne Centre Drive
North Aurora, IL 60542
Phone: 630-906-5889
GEO: 41.79631, -88.36679
1876 S Randall Rd
Geneva, IL 60134
Phone: 630-845-1986
GEO: 41.867233, -88.342552
Asus has to stop selling their Prime if they want to sell their Infinity at all, unless they expect to sell their Infinity 32GB at lesat $650. That's without the keyboard. So you are talking about $750 for a tablet. I never thought I would ever see prices on a tablet in my life go towards this much but that's the only way Asus could sell both of them together. They can't lower the price on the Prime because of course they already have the 300 in there. Just another company releasing too many products on top of one another without making one perfect. Too bad. The potential "was" there.
I was in a best buy last weekend that had the 201 and 300 both on display. They were even on an end cap prominently displayed with signs and everything. Also had a demo guy walking around with a 201 showing it to people.
Amazon has them and the dock is $108.
I got a refund for my prime purchased on Feb. 3rd and had no problem finding a prime at Best Buy. I did a search this morning on their website, found 2 stores in Austin that said in stock, went in an hour ago and walked out with a new gray tone prime. On Friday I did a search and none of the stores had them in stock. They must have gotten a shipment in this week. Sales guy said they sold one yesterday also.
I will say sales rep was pushing the t300 hard. Mainly for the cost of it. Get the keyboard dock with it and it would have been $50 more than the prime. It really is a good deal but I'm hoping the C4 I got will perform better than the C1 with wifi/bt. I also already have a case I like for the prime and the gps dongle. I didn't know if they would be compatible and have 30days to test out this model for issues.
You can try calling the stores here in Austin and see if they will ship you one from their location.
Its pretty cool that Best Buy is now in charge of ASUS manufacturing. Especially democratic of them to let the idiots who can't tell me the difference between DSLR and point and shoot cameras decide what the consumer wants.
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Second that...
Ready2Mosh said:
Amazon has them and the dock is $108.
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Best buy is the worst place to buy one anyway (and worst place to buy most anything else too).
Even if you need it right away, Amazon is a better place to buy. With my Amazon Prime membership I could get two day shipping for free and overnight for just $4.00 more. When I got mine a couple of weeks ago now, the device itself was $25 less than retail/best buy and as mentioned the keyboard/dock was $108 rather than retail. Then throw in no sales tax.
Even without the prime membership you could probably get two day shipping and still pay much less than best buy.
If its isn't discontinued, it is going to quietly disappear soon, especially with the Infinity being around the corner.
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OP / GoodIntentions
I know the feeling you have. I live in IL as well, the bestbuys around me plus the ones in other towns I go through for my work all say "the prime is discontinued".
Which seems to be a regional thing cause I've heard of them being sold in other states, but it seems IL just wants to sell the TF300 - no offense to it but I dont see why they released it, it's less powerful. But then again thats a different kettle of fish.
I hope you find one for sale. If you cant I would recommend amazon, thats where I got mine at - I'm very happy with it! Got it with the dock as well, and again no problems with it!
So what? The TF201 is discontinued. Its not like product support will end. The Transformer TF101 will be supported for awhile and the TF201 even longer.
I love my Prime and it works great. The Infinity replaces it.
If only there was a way to get the $105 dock to Australia, can't seem to find any docks around here.
Do we REALLY need another one of these threads?
Bestbuy reps usually have no idea wtf is going on.
Know that saying only a fool takes a fool's advice? well....
Also, what company do you know of that has ever announced its discontinued a product line? Ever?
We already know the prime had limited availability pretty much worldwide. Far too much demand, not enough supply. IF you hit a store when they got a shipment you were golden, if you were too late you had to wait around for another shipment.
My local BB and FS stopped stocking the prime, they are selling it as a web only. They can order it to the store if you ask a rep that knows how, otherwise they try to sell you something else saying its "just as good".
You could have done a quick search and gotten the answer to this:
"discontinued" on best buy's system isnt asus discontinuing the prime. its a code that comes up when the SKU is searched. It just means best buy is no longer ordering that particular thing for restock. it has nothing to do with asus manufacturing.
the reason, im just is that logically the prime has no place in the asus ecosystem anymore. peole that want a midrange tablet can get the 300, people that want the upscale can get the 700 for $500, the same price as a prime. theres no upshot for them to continue ordering old models that serve no purpose.
fwiw HMV in the UK has Primes in the stores again.
pileot said:
Bestbuy reps usually have no idea wtf is going on.
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Heh...the guy at the local Best Buy said the TF201 was discontinued because of the legal issues surrounding the Transformer Prime name lol
AdyCarter said:
fwiw HMV in the UK has Primes in the stores again.
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In the US they are still readily available from Amazon.com....but the price has gone up about $60. I bought mine a couple of weeks ago for $475 with free prime shipping. The same thing today is $534. I have to wonder if the supply is drying up?
At the same time their pricing on used ones has dropped from $415to $360..
Anyway it seems to me that the only way they could keep selling the prime would be to drop its price to no more than $400 - but then they would have to drop the TF300 down to about $300. So you would end up with a three device lineup at $300, $400, and $500 (TF300, TF201, TF700). Wonder how much they have to get for them to actually make money? Seems like they would come out ahead by just discontinuing the prime and leaving the 300 priced as it is.
Still - I think I got mine at a good time
ratman6161 said:
In the US they are still readily available from Amazon.com....but the price has gone up about $60. I bought mine a couple of weeks ago for $475 with free prime shipping. The same thing today is $534. I have to wonder if the supply is drying up?
At the same time their pricing on used ones has dropped from $415to $360..
Anyway it seems to me that the only way they could keep selling the prime would be to drop its price to no more than $400 - but then they would have to drop the TF300 down to about $300. So you would end up with a three device lineup at $300, $400, and $500 (TF300, TF201, TF700). Wonder how much they have to get for them to actually make money? Seems like they would come out ahead by just discontinuing the prime and leaving the 300 priced as it is.
Still - I think I got mine at a good time
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It went up because Amazon is out of stock on that particular model, so it lists a market reseller whom is trying to make a little more.
Note that Amazon has the champagne model listed today at 479 and free shipping. Must have dug a few up.
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goodintentions said:
I just called 4 different best buys to ask if they have a prime. I've been looking for one as a gift for someone. All 4 told me the prime is discontinued.
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These stores could simply mean that their specific Bestbuy stores are no longer carrying the Prime. Or it could mean that Bestbuy in general is no longer going to carry the Prime.
This could be because they are preparing for the Infinity to reach stores in the next month or so and don't want to buy inventory of a tablet very similar to the Infinity and which is due for a price drop. Or it could be because they already offer the TP300 and are getting the Infinity and see no need to offer 3 very similar tablets rather than stocking products from other vendors.
In any case, Asus has said that they are still manufacturing the Prime and new stock keeps showing up at Amazon and other retailers. Given that Asus manufactures the Prime I would trust Asus to know more about the manufacturing lifespan of their product over any retailer.
With Asus and the TF700 don't count your chickens before they hatch! With Asus's track record the TF700 may fall into their normal black hole of device release delays! Or even worse than that is that they will release 100 the first week, 200 the second week, etc... and then rave about how they can't keep them on the shelves!
My local BB still had 3 in stock and a few keyboards too.