On the Apple side of the equation, the latest iPad is their biggest yet and seems to have almost all the functionality of a MacBook without the keyboard.
Meanwhile, Microsoft keeps banging out its Surfaces of course. Physically this concept has always been tempting; from the outset, a highly portable Windows tablet with a purpose-built keyboard seems like a neat idea. Unfortunately the first few generations were hopelessly under-powered and offered such limited performance I'm sure they would have frustrated some users right away from the brand for good.
Now there a several "2-in-1" devices on the market, although often the design involves folding the keyboard away underneath the screen to create a pseudo-tablet experience - practical but perhaps not an ideal solution in terms of cosmetics or comfort of use.
The Transformer Book T300 Chi from ASUS is different again...
To look at, the T300 Chi is a Windows tablet with a detachable keyboard. But it isn't. It's a fully functioning LAPTOP with a detachable keyboard. ASUS have packed plenty of Intel's latest processing power into the tablet side of the equation and I'm convinced this device is more than capable of fulfilling most daily computing requirements.
There's an adjective I'll probably use several times in this review; "solid." With the screen and keyboard magnetically clipped together, there's a definite solid feel to the whole set-up. The keyboard is robust and responsive, with a good number of functions, although I found it a bit of a pain having to use the function key to access the "home" and "end" operations.
Close it all up and again there's a solid, safely-tucked-away vibe going on. The screen feels protected and while at 720 grams (tablet only) it's certainly light enough, there's a heft there that inspires confidence.
It took me a few goes to get the hang of detaching and reattaching the keyboard, but only because it was less complicated than I expected. There are two very strong magnetic hinges which make it difficult to do anything OTHER than line them up in the right place.
As a tablet, you are of course restricted to an on-screen keyboard, lot more limited than the one you've just removed. I'm not into on-screen keyboards so I'm not sure how the ASUS one stacks up. I'm sure it's fine, even if it does conceal half of what you're looking at - which is a shame because the T300 Chi's screen resolution is off the hook.
Wind it all the way up to 2560 by 1440 and you'll swear you can see pixels on the pixels. Handy tip for newcomers to this level of definition; (like this tired, blind old geezer was) go straight to the display preferences and opt to "make text and other items" as large as possible. Otherwise the text in your task bar, window titles and notification bubbles will be so small, you'll need a microscope to to read it. Really clear... but tiny.
There is no standard USB port to plug other accessories into, although there is a Micro USB so I assume an adapter would get around that. Unlike most other tablets, you get an SD card reader and a Micro HDMI slot too. Sadly, the mic and headphone ports have been combined into one which seems to be the trend these days - annoying when you want to use separate audio devices. This isn't a phone, there's plenty of space for 1 extra jack, surely.
I'm very confused about battery life. The ASUS website claims the T300 Chi will last 8hrs on a charge. So I charged it, which doesn't take as long as some comparable devices I have used. However, when I hovered the cursor over the battery indicator and I was told there was just 3hrs 40mins remaining. Disappointing, but I've come to expect underwhelming power stamina from such devices. Weirdly, about 2 hours later, the battery indicator told me I still had more than 3 hours left. So I don't know whether this thing will stay on all day or not.
Perhaps the confusion arises due to being connected to its keyboard via bluetooth. Depending on how constant the use is, bluetooth can be quite power-hungry. In saying that, every time I checked the level on the keyboard itself, I was always pleasantly surprised to discover it had drained hardly at all. I imagine you could go several days before having to top up the keyboard side of the ledger, which is probably just as well, because it's a bit fiddly. For some reason the ports to connect the screen to the keyboard for charging are on opposite sides, meaning an unnecessarily long cable to join the two. In practical terms, it doesn't make a great deal of difference but it seems strangely clumsy and inelegant.
I wish I could get a definitive read on the T300 Chi's battery life because as I've mentioned before, if a device like this really wants to compete with the likes of iPad and Microsoft Surface, it absolutely must last out the day.
That being said, I found this machine very usable. The fanless operation of its swanky Intel processor made for a cool, quiet experience and there was nothing I wanted it to do it didn't want to. Solid, solid, solid.
The Transformer Book T300 Chi is neither a laptop or a tablet... it does both things so well it may be a laplet. (Please tell me I just invented that)
Click here for more information on the ASUS Transformer Book T300 Chi
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