ASUS' Transformer Book T100: Atom Z3740 Inside, Available October 18th at $349
by Anand Lal Shimpi on September 11, 2013 8:16 PM EST
Earlier today, ASUS CEO Jerry Shen teased their first Bay Trail tablet: the T100. Today at ASUS' IDF press conference we got some more details on the tablet. The official name is the Transformer Book T100 and it's a 10.1-inch Windows 8.1 tablet. The IPS display features a 1366x768 resolution. Normally I'd complain about that, but the T100 starts at $349 for a 32GB model.
Internally, ASUS settled on the Atom Z3740, a quad-core Bay Trail SKU clocked lower than the one we previewed earlier today. The max non-turbo frequency on the Z3740 is 1.33GHz, with a max turbo of 1.86GHz. Since this isn't a D-SKU, ASUS settled on a dual-channel (2x64-bit) LPDDR3 memory interface.
Much like the Bay Trail FFRD we tested, the T100 is equipped with 2GB of LPDDR3. NAND storage options include 32GB or 64GB eMMC. There's also a single microSD card reader.
Other IO includes a micro USB port for charging (and/or external USB devices), a micro HDMI output and a headphone/mic jack. There's keyboard dock included (!!) that adds a USB 3.0 port. ASUS claims they used the Thinkpad and MacBook keyboards as the benchmarks to evaluate the T100 against.
The T100 ships with an integrated 31Wh battery. ASUS promises up to 11 hours of battery life thanks to the Bay Trail silicon inside. The tablet measures 10.4" x 6.7" x 0.41" (0.93" thick with the dock) and weighs 550g/1.2 lbs (2.4 lbs with the dock).
On the software side, in addition to Windows 8.1 you get a pre-installed copy of Office 2013.
The T100 is extremely interesting as it's truly a reimagining of the netbooks of 5 years ago. It's thinner, lighter and much faster.
Facebook
Twitter
RSS
102 Comments
View All Comments
vcfan - Thursday, September 12, 2013 - link
actually,turbo would be 20% slower not 30%. If you're doing high loads,i think you'll be on non turbo more than turbo since your temps will be higher.ssiu - Wednesday, September 11, 2013 - link
Does keyboard dock has extra battery or not? If not, what do they put in to make it same weight as the tablet, lead? :)ShieTar - Thursday, September 12, 2013 - link
If they made the dock much lighter than the tablet, I'm sure it would fall over at the slightest touch? It's probably just a more stable structure than the tablet itself.ssiu - Wednesday, September 11, 2013 - link
How much is 64GB model, $399?Bob Todd - Thursday, September 12, 2013 - link
So...$150 more sounds reasonable for another SKU with a 1440p panel (just want desktop mode to be usable at quarter resolution), 64GB emmc, 4GB RAM, and possibly the fastest Bay Trail offering. I'd happily pay $500 for that, assuming the gimped graphics could push a 1440p panel well enough in 2D of course. Somebody build it!And even this at $350 sounds pretty damn compelling since it includes the dock and a full version of Office 2013. I'm assuming that is Home & Student? That's still a $100+ software savings if you wanted those apps. Looks like Microsoft and the OEMs get it this round, I see some Windows 8.1 tablets showing up under the tree this Christmas.
Daniel Egger - Thursday, September 12, 2013 - link
Unless I hear otherwise I'll assume that this is the same nonsense time-limited Office 2013 demo they ship with a lot of PCs nowadays and can be activated by paying up...rahuldesai1987 - Thursday, September 12, 2013 - link
No its the full version fre.. All touchscreen windows 8 devices upto 10.6 inches get a full version free.Jaybus - Friday, September 13, 2013 - link
That's because you have to have young eyes to sit and work with full-page Office documents on a 10 inch screen.rahuldesai1987 - Thursday, September 12, 2013 - link
Why does anybody buy an Ipad now? When you get a full os with a full office suite with lesser weight, as good battery life and better performance and a keyboard for $350. Ipad costs $600 for 32Gb version and no keyboard and no expandable memory!ananduser - Thursday, September 12, 2013 - link
Inertia. Simple OS and its equally simple ecosystem. Brand.