Is Asus waiting for IFA 2015 to rollout ZenPads in Europe?

September 1, 2015 Categories: IFA 2015 by 0 Comments

Certainly you can find ZenPad tablets in Europe. You see a mixed bag of results however. France has their full range of ZenPad tablets, widely available, but largely in pre order phase. The UK has had listings up for a long while now, also in the pre order phase largely. Germany has seen a incredible selection of ZenPad tablets on Amazon.de, only to have those removed. They did the same with the full range of official Asus ZenPad accessories. Italy has little in the way of ZenPads in retail outlets. It’s a bit odd but perhaps there is an explanation.

How about the upcoming IFA 2015 event for Asus? Although that is where Asus is expected to show off a few new Zenfone 2 models, it’s not a stretch to consider a big ZenPad announcement along with some prices in Euro. Most markets have seen launch events so it’s reasonable to expect Asus to put up some ZenPad slides along with pricing for the European market.

This is our theory and we only have hours before we know for sure. Will there be some tablet surprises from the Asus IFA 2015 event? We sure hope so, although we haven’t picked up on any leaks or rumors. That said, getting some solid release date information for the Z580CA in Europe would be nice, at the very least.

Stay with us into tomorrow morning because hopefully there is some juicy Asus tablet announcements coming up.

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ZenPad tablets start to show up in Spain including 4G LTE Z300CL

September 1, 2015 Categories: Buy ZenPad, Spain by 0 Comments

Many countries are seeing ZenPad tablets hitting retail stores. Not all countries unfortunately and some countries aren’t seeing the top end hero Z580CA yet. As they say, your mileage may vary.

We’re seeing some retail listing in Spain and we’re comfortable listing these prices as being accurate. Although some retailers can get listings onto their sites ahead of some main retailers, often their prices are inflated high above what they should be in reality.

Here are the 3 available tablets in Spain that we’re seeing as in-stock and shipping now:

  • ZenPad 10 (Z300CL 4G LTE) – EUR 283,25
  • ZenPad C 7.0 (Z170CG 3G) – EUR 140,31
  • ZenPad C 7.0 (Z170C) – EUR 120,00

We’re hoping to see other models hitting the main retailers so we can report to you some updated prices and availability. Official Asus accessories have yet to show in Spain also. We hope this week will see some more products arriving in various countries.

Best Buy Canada starts selling ZenPad tablets

August 30, 2015 Categories: Buy ZenPad, Canada, Price by 1 Comment

With Asus talking about the ZenPad tablets following many similar footsteps as the Zenfone smartphones, we wondered how Asus would roll things out in Canada for ZenPads. The reason for our wonder? In Canada, the Zenfone 2 didn’t make it to most main retailers such as Best Buy. When we saw ZenPad tablets showing up in smaller Canadian retailers first, we wondered if once again Asus was going to “go small” in terms of Canadian retailers. This is not the case which is in our minds, better for the consumer.

So we have some pricing here right off the bat, along with ZenPad models in the “coming soon” category.

  • ZenPad 10 – $199.99 (saving of $30)
  • ZenPad C 7 – $109.99 (savings of $20)
  • ZenPad 8.0 – $179 (not in stock yet)
  • ZenPad S 8.0 (Z580CA) – $399 (not in stock yet)

So regarding the hero Z580CA, there is no indicator on possible release date or availability. We’re hoping for new stock updates first thing this Monday morning. Accessories you ask? Like that Audio Dock keyboard for the ZenPad 10? Nope. We don’t see official Asus accessories on BestBuy.ca just yet.

So Canadian shoppers, be happy that there will be at least one big retailer shipping ZenPad tablets because it means more price competition. We’re not sure you’re ever going to see the Z580CA cheaper than $399, but it’s always possible. Perhaps you have a Best Buy gift card?

Note: We have good information regarding Z580CA backorders and we highly highly suggest you order or pre order one now, rather than waiting. From what’s happened in the US, it’s quite possible that the demand is going to far outweigh the supply. A hunch on our part with a bit of information about the matter.

best-buy-canada

Price Comparison: Galaxy Tab S2 8.0 vs. Asus Z580CA

August 30, 2015 Categories: comparison, vs, vs. Galaxy Tab S2, vs. Galaxy Tab S2 8.0, Z580CA, ZenPad S, ZenPad S 8, ZenPad S 8.0, ZenPad S8 by 5 Comments

We’ve put forward a more detailed comparison vs. article between these two flagship tablets here. However, our original article was published prior to the Samsung Galaxy Tab S2 8.0 official price unveiling. Believe us, this isn’t close, and that doesn’t even tell the whole story.

$399 (Samsung Galaxy Tab S2 8.0) vs. $299 (Asus ZenPad S 8.0 Z580CA)

You’re going to pay $100 less for a tablet, that for all intents and purposes, blasts the new Galaxy Tab S2 8.0 out of the water. Sure there is going to be a more premium feel to the Samsung build quality (it’s thinner for sure) and expect the Tab S2 8.0 to beat the Z580CA in battery comparisons, but still we’re talking about a whopping $100 price difference on a same sized tablet, with both claiming to be flagship devices.

We’ve kept the specs comparison to another article, but to quickly make points on the wins for the Asus Z580CA, here are just a few:

  • 64GB storage for Asus, but 32GB for Samsung
  • USB Type-C for Asus, but microUSB for Samsung
  • 2.3GHz processor for Asus, but 1.9GHz for Samsung
  • 4GB RAM for Asus, but 3GB RAM for Samsung
  • Stylus for Asus, but no stylus for Samsung
  • 5MP front facing camera for Asus, but 2.1MP front facing camera for Samsung
  • Dual stereo front facing speakers for Asus, but bottom side mounted speakers for Samsung

There will be some points that the new Samsung Galaxy Tab S2 will beat the Asus Z580CA, but are those differences going to justify spending an extra $100? If you’re contemplating a purchase, then we recommend you take a look at our in depth comparison article. Saving $100 on a 8-inch tablet that is top of the class (both are great flagship tablets) is hard to pass up.

The fact is Asus has a more modest ZenPad S 8.0 (Z580CA) offering that has 32GB storage and 2GB RAM. That would put it more close to the Samsung Galaxy Tab S2 8.0, yet it would be priced even lower than $299, making it that much harder to justify spending the money on the new Galaxy Tab S2. It’s unclear what Asus is planning to do for the US market and if there will be a lesser spec Z580CA, such as a Z580CA-B1, hitting store shelves.

This is our view, what’s yours? Is Asus offering an unbeatable price/feature tablet? Must Samsung drop their prices immediately?

Surprise! Asus releases new promo video for ZenPad 8.0 and 7.0 tablets

August 27, 2015 Categories: Video, Z370C, Z370CG, Z370KL, Z380, Z380C, Z380CX, Z380KL, ZenPad 7, ZenPad 7.0, ZenPad 8, ZenPad 8.0 by 0 Comments

We just had a lengthy promotional video from Asus about a week ago. It was around 8 minutes and at that point, we thought that was the end of the ZenPad promotional videos. Wrong! How wrong we were indeed.

Today we see a new video from Asus. This time it’s looking a bit more closely at the ZenPad 8.0 and 7.0. At points we thought this was the video from the week before as they share some of the same clips. There is a bit of crossover information that you might have seen in previous promotional videos. Like anything, there is always something new to learn. I betcha didn’t know about the blue light filtering! We sure didn’t know about that feature. Who woulda thunk it?

Screenshots From Video:

Case for ZenPad C 7.0 (Z170MG) – Asus Persona Cover Details, Photos

August 26, 2015 Categories: Accessories, Cases and Covers, Persona Cover, Photos, Z170MG by 0 Comments

Keep in the budget theme with the ZenPad C Series, Asus released a “Persona Cover”. No, that’s not a typo on our part. It’s “Persona”.

This is a basic style case which provides a tight, non bulky fit. The rubber on the edges/corners give some protection from falls against drops. What you don’t get, and this might be a big deal to some, is you don’t get the angles for positioning like for landscape etc. The Persona Cover is a protective shell with a front flap over the screen.

So right now, we see this listed for the Z170MG model. We have to assume and hope that Asus has the same case available for the Z170C and Z170CG, but we await news on that.

Here are the specs:

  • 19.2 x 11.4 x 1.3 cm(WxDxH)
  • 98g
  • Black

Photo Gallery:

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