If you are wondering “What is the Asus Transformer Book T100?”, it is a 2-in-1 ultra portable laptop with a detachable 10′ tablet. Asus has really been putting out some amazing products recently. This was the first of hopefully many that we managed to request to review for the site. Most people today a tablet or for the average user it would be an iPad. I am tried of an iPad where you don’t have any freedom to do what you want to do. I was looking for something that I could use for both work and play and this tablet definitely delivers in both departments.
Even though, the Asus Transformer Book T100 is a tablet, it has laptop like performance with the latest Intel Atom Bay Trail-T quad-core process and running Windows 8.1 operating system. So you have the option to use it as a tablet or attached keyboard and use it like a mini-laptop. All the features are there including Microsoft Office Home & Student 2013, which comes pre-installed and Windows Store stocked with Xbox Live games and music. The battery like is decent with the ability to last 11 hours web browsing. It is not like an iPad but you can do so much more with this you have to expect the battery to be drained faster.
Let’s get to some of the tablet’s core features now. Even though the system’s storage comes in a mere 32GB/64GB, what this does have is UNLIMITED ASUS WebStorage, which is not only cool but amazing! It does a file synchronization update for every item instantly as modified and added. The display is a very sharp 1366 x 768 IPS with wide viewing angles. It is able to output full HD video via it’s Micro HDMI port. The sound includes built-in high quality stereo speakers. I am a music man myself, I felt that there could have been a little extra “umph” added to these speakers personally.
The style of the complete device itself is rather cool. I like being able to just snap the keyboard on and off and work via touch screen or via laptop. My main concern with this though is in fact the size of the keyboard, maybe I have fat fingers but I had a terribly hard time typing on this keyboard, especially when using the shift key. Also, I would have loved….loved this to have had a back light on the keyboard since I spent a few nights trying to position the light from the screen to the keys in order to see what I was typing. That feature would have made this much more attractive to me in terms of using it since in terms of its features are otherwise pretty great.
Now I didn’t go much into the full HD video option, which can be connected via it’s Micro HDMI port, I took this on a trip with me (with the proper cable) and I was able to play videos for my daughter in the hotel TV right from the tablet. Since there is nothing worse that hotel TV, this literally made the trip. Traveling with this also was a treat because it is extremely mobile. The Asus Transformer Book T100 is not only one of the lightest ultra portables available right now, running at 2.2 lbs, it also one of the lightest 10-inch tablets (solo from keyboard) running at a mere 1.2 lbs.
So if you are a casual tablet user and looking for something light, portable and feature packed this will be the device for you. This is not a full laptop that you can be gaming on. It looks amazing with Netflix and other games though especially “Tiny Death Star”, which is a blast to play on this little device. The device is also extremely affordable running around MSRP $399 and Red and White colors are due to be available later this month!