Asus Transformer Book T100TA (64GB)

The netbook scene used to be full of sub-$ 500 low-powered laptop good enough for general use, and small enough to take everywhere. Then along came the tablet like the iPad and Galaxy Note 10.1, but of course they come with a mobile OS, which means you had to provide a full-featured desktop browser, legacy Windows programs, and browser plug-in to only work across PCs. The era of compromise seems to come to an end on Asus Transformer Book T100TA ($ 399), a fully functional Windows 8.1 PC can act as either a tablet or as efficiently a clamshell netbook. This is the first hybrid tablet we've seen that can not ignore the limitations of the mobile OS powered tablet, for the same or better price. If you need to replace the netbook you bought before 2011 with something faster, longer lasting, and more modern, then Asus Transformer Book T100TA is what you want. It earns our Editors Choice 'for entry-level hybrid tablet.

Design and Features
The Transformer Book T100TA is the spiritual successor to last year attempted a hybrid laptop, Asus Vivo Tab RT ($ 599), which came to a similar looking configuration. The Transformer Book T100TA measures about 0.41 / 0.93 by 10.5 by 6.75 inches (HWD), it is 0.41-inch thick alone as a tablet and 0.93 inches thick with the included keyboard dock. It compares well with slightly larger Microsoft Surface 2 ($ 449) and is almost the same size as the Lenovo IdeaPad Tablet Miix 10 ($ 599). Neither Microsoft Surface 2 or the Lenovo keyboard Miix 10 includes the base price. The Transformer Book T100TA is made ​​of polycarbonate (plastic), which is not quite as nice as the metal construction VaporMG Surface 2, but the rounded corners T100TA Book Transformer is comfortable to hold alone or docked to keyboard its base anyway.

The tablet part of the system is light, only 1.23 pounds, which is lighter than the outgoing Apple iPad (4th Generation, Wi-Fi) ($ 499), weighing in at 1.44 pounds. Adding a keyboard dock adds a little over a pound, the total of £ 2.40. Undocking the tablet is as easy as actuating the push-button latch, then taking the tablet off the base. Replacing the tablet to the base locks the latch with a satisfying click. The 10.1-inch screen with 1366 by 768 resolution, compared with 1920 by 1080 resolution on Surface 2 Due to price and other features T100TA Transformer Book, the resolution is less forgivable. Unless you have eagle eyes of you probably will not miss the extra pixels on this size of screen. The Transformer Book T100TA have IPS display, guaranteeing good viewing from all angles and screen orientations, something the 8-inch Acer Iconia W3 (64GB) ($ 429.99) has a problem. Compared to display the Transformer Book T100TA, the appearance of the screen Iconia W3's like it was coated in mud.

Stereo speaker Transformer Book T100TA is powerful enough to fill a small quiet room, and they surprisingly do not clip all the bass notes. Sound effects in movies like Marvel's The Avengers will come much clearer than expected for a tablet. Streaming video from various online services play well and largely stutter-free. Between screens and more than enough built in speaker, looks Transformer Book T100TA and sounds like it is worth more than its sub-$ 400 price tag.

The tablet portion of the Transformer Book T100TA have micro-USB port that can be used for both charging (with the included AC adapter) and as a regular USB port (with an optional adapter). MicroUSB charging the Transformer Book T100TA can even be done from the USB charger your tablet or other PC or Mac USB port, which means you never have to find the proprietary charging bricks. Note that if you use a lower-powered USB port, it can take the better part of a day to recharge the tablet, so use a 10W / ​​2.1Amp USB adapter for best results (reviewed we have included adapter, a low-powered USB adapter for a smartphone, and another high-powered USB adapter designed for the tablet recharging). The tablet also has a micro-HDMI port, microSD card reader, volume control, power button, headset jack, and the physical Windows / Start button on its side. Dual band (2.4GHz and 5GHz) 802.11 a / ​​b / g / n Wi-Fi and Bluetooth 4.0 built-in wireless protocol Transformer Book T100TA's. The keyboard dock has no built-in extended battery pack, but as we will see below, the ability not absolutely necessary. The keyboard dock is not backlit, but the compact keyboard is comfortable to use, and the dock has a full sized USB 3.0 port built-in.

Multi-Touch trackpad system is one of the semi-serious drawback: It has had intermittent swipes the registration number of calls menu Charms and sometimes there was a delay in tracking the first touch. This deficiency notice if you hook up an external mouse or exceed the trackpad and use the five-point touch screen most of the time. You can use the microSD card reader to increase the integrated 64GB SSD, and recommended, since the system has only about 31GB free after you activate the integrated Microsoft Office Home and Student 2013 can increase the storage with a 64GB microSD card, or use the included "unlimited" Asus WebStorage (nominally 1TB, free for one year) for online storage.

Asus includes the version of Home and Student suite with Office Word, Excel, PowerPoint, and OneNote, but not Outlook. It just about matches the version Office RT among the tablet such as Microsoft Surface 2, Windows RT push further towards the edge of irrelevancy. Along with this full version of Office, the Transformer Book has T100TA Amazon Kindle app, Netflix, Skype, and a few Asus apps pre-installed. In summary, this is a good mix, and a welcome one.

The Transformer Book T100TA automatically changes the color balance of the screen toward a more yellow / Sepia while using the built in Windows 8.1 Mail, Reader, and apps News. It is the setting of Asus Reading Mode ', where you can add other apps or be turned off completely for a continuous color palette. Reading Mode can make it easier to read text-based communication by toning down the blue / white screen cast. The Transformer Book T100TA have a standard one-year warranty and a 30-day zero bright dot display guarantee. With zero bright dot guarantee, you can swap the Transformer Book T100TA for a new one if you see a bright, will be stuck pixel anywhere on your display.