I bought one at Costco for $238.00 with a leatherette pouch. Costco gives a 90 day return on it so if Asus or Google or anybody trumps it over the next three months I may return it.
I really like it. The screen resolution is more than adequate. It plays at 720P very well, smooth and crisp.
The Samsung software overlay on the ICS OS is really intuitive and easy to manage.
Speakers are very loud for a 7" form factor - a real bonus when you can actually not have to plug in earphones to hear anything at all.
Processor is fine. I play "
Riptide GP", a very intense jet-ski racing game with full fluidity and rapid, crisp graphics and sound.
E-reader functions are very good.
One apparent glitch is the functionality of the Micro SD card. I am experiencing what many others are reporting and that is that external apps refuse to be moved to the card. Hopefully between the OS and Samsung a fix will be forthcoming for this.
Finally, build quality is excellent - very solid feel and very light and comfortable in the hand. It's a fingerprint hound, but what tablet/phone isn't?
For the price, this is an amazing value. I don't see it as a stripped down version of anything, but as a stand-alone, more than adequate entertainment and light business tablet.