Recently in last quarter of 2013 ASUS launch it's Transformer Book T100 partners a 10.1in tablet with a matching keyboard dock; the difference is that it has a quad-core Intel Atom processor and runs Windows 8.1. The big news, however, is that it costs only $600.
The 10.1in tablet weighs only 550g and measures 11mm thick. While there isn’t the premium-feeling build quality of the best Android tablets, or Apple’s iPad Air, it isn’t unforgivably low-rent. There’s some give in the plastic rear, but it’s solid enough. Slot it back into the keyboard base and the two latches hold it firmly, only letting go once the release catch is pressed fully. Together, they weigh 1.07kg.
The Processor is "good enough"
At the heart of Bay Trail lies the new 22nm Silvermont microarchitecture. This introduces a quad-core design and out-of-order execution, as well as support for USB 3, DDR3 RAM and 64-bit operating systems. Graphics performance promises to take a leap forwards, too, thanks to a cut-down Ivy Bridge-class GPU.
The T100 is powered by a mid-range Bay Trail CPU – the quad-core, 1.33GHz Atom Z3740 – which is capable of running at burst frequencies of up to 1.86GHz. Although the CPU supports up to 4GB of RAM, Asus has focused on keeping the T100 affordable – there’s a basic 2GB of DDR3 RAM and 64GB of eMMC flash storage. It’s worth noting that only 48GB of this is left free, however.
The speed benchmark
In benchmark testing, the Asus left Clover Trail-powered rivals far behind. Where the 1.8GHz Atom Z2760 of Dell’s Latitude 10 scored 0.22 in our Real World Benchmarks, the Asus racked up a result of 0.32, which is more than 45% faster.
Long live the netbook
Asus has included a fine range of features for the money. The tablet charges via the micro-USB connection, and there’s also a micro-HDMI output, and a microSD slot for expanding the frugal 32GB of storage. In addition, there’s dual-band 802.11n wireless, Bluetooth 4, a TPM2 security module and a 1.2-megapixel front-facing camera.
The dock adds a single USB 3 port, which is a most welcome addition. As a result, offloading files from the main 32GB system drive is painless.
By far the most attractive feature of the T100, however, is the bundled software. Somehow, Asus has found room in the budget to provide a full copy of Microsoft Office Home & Student 2013. For many, that will be enough to turn the Asus from being a highly tempting purchase into an absolutely essential one.