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Asus MemoPad Smart ME301T vs iPad 4/2, VivoTab Smart and Samsung Galaxy Note 10.1

By Andrei Girbea , updated on June 4, 2014

If you’ve read my previous post, you probably know that I’ve been playing with the Asus MemoPad Smart ME301T for the last couple of weeks. If not, go ahead and read that review.

Anyway, after telling you all there is to know about that tablet, it’s now time to put the MemoPad ME301T next to a couple of the popular tablets available in stores these days.

Of course, it would have been great if I could have compared it with its close competitors, devices like the Google Nexus 10 or the Asus Transformer Pad TF300. Unfortunately, I don’t own any of these around, so instead I’ve compared it to the latest generation iPad (with references to the iPad 2), the Asus VivoTab Smart and the Samsung Galaxy Note 10.1 .

However, if you’re to choose between this MemoPad Smart and the Transformer Pad TF300, you should know that they are pretty much the same, with some small differences. The Transformer can be paired with a docking unit, thus has some latches on the bottom and uses a proprietary charging port. The MemoPad lacks the docking, but uses microUSB for charging and packs a set of stereo speakers. The MemoPad is also cheaper.

If you put the MemoPad Smart next to the Nexus 10, the two sell for roughly the same kind of money in the US (around $300), but the Nexus is more expensive or even unavailable in most other countries. The Nexus 10 comes with a higher resolution screen, which leads to sharper images. It’s also more powerful and packs more RAM, but given the higher resolution display, the overall experience in everyday use is actually poorer than on the MemoPad.

Still, if you’re in the US, UK and the other countries where Google officially sells the Nexus 10, there’s little reason to pick the MemoPad over it. Otherwise, it depends on how much the Google slate is going to sell for in your country.

Ok, and back to our videos now.

Asus MemoPad ME301T vs Apple iPad 4 / iPad 2

The iPad 2 is for sure the closer match to the Asus, since it’s cheaper than the iPad 4. But the latest retina iPad has aces down its sleeve, with the fast hardware, huge battery life and awesome display.

Even so, the iPad 2 is more expensive than the MemoPad, so picking one over the other is more or less a matter of ecosystem strength. To be more specific, if you’ll want to run games or all sorts of third party apps on your tablet, the iPad is the better pick, but if you’re fine with browsing, multimedia, reading and only playing light games, the MemoPad will do as well.

Asus Memo Pad Smart ME301T vs Asus VivoTab Smart

This is an updated tablet vs PC fight, as the MemoPad is an Android slate that can only run Android apps, while the VivoTab is an Atom based computer running Windows 8 , that can handle both Metro touch-friendly apps, but also most of the software you’ve been using on your other Windows computers in the past, including Office, Photoshop, Winamp, Media Player and others.

Do you need all these and are you willing to pay $500 for that? If yes, the VivoTab is for you. Otherwise, if you only need a multimedia tab for casual use and content consumption, go for the MemoPad instead.

Asus MemoPad Smart ME301T vs Samsung Galaxy Note 10.1

These are both 10 inch Android tablets running JellyBean on decently powerful hardware platforms. The MemoPad costs around $300 though, while the Samsung sells for $500 and up. Why? Well, because it’s a Samsung and because it packs a digitizer and a pen, that will allow you to sketch, draw, take notes and perform other tasks on your device.

Thus, the Note 10.1 is in a way a MemoPad enhanced, so you can pick one over the other if you need the bundled steroids or you don’t.

Wrap up

That’s about it for now. We’ve compared the 10 inch MemoPad Smart with some of the most popular tables of the moment, showing you their strengths and weaknesses. And don’t forget that if you’re after more details about the MemoPad, there’s also a thorough review here on the site.

And of course, if you have any questions about the devices listed here or any other tables, feel free do drop them in the comments section below.

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Andrei Girbea, Editor-in-Chief at TLBHD.com. This project was born as part of my search for capable mini-laptops that I could easily lug around to work, and still provide the performance that I'd need on a daily basis. I'm primarily using such ultracompact devices and have been testing them since 2006.

2 Comments

  1. TABL3TS

    February 8, 2013 at 2:54 pm

    You’re doing such an amazing job Mike! Great exclusives and and straightforward reviews.

    PS: You linked the Vivo Tab vs Note 10.1 video 😉

    • Andrei Girbea

      February 9, 2013 at 4:11 pm

      thanks for the heads-up, I’ve fixed it now 😉

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