Asus Transformer Book T100T (Windows 8) Tablet Review

1. Introduction2. Asus Transformer Book T100T: Packaging and Bundle3. Asus Transformer Book T100T: Hardware4. Asus Transformer Book T100T: Software5. Hardware Performance6. Battery Life7. Closing Thoughts8. View All Pages

Today we are going to take a look at a hybrid tablet from Asus – the Transformer Book T100T. Asus have been pushing the hybrid tablet concept for a while now and have released a handful of models to date … we looked at the impressive Android powered Transformer Book TF300T back in 2012.

The concept of a hybrid tablet is a fascinating one, theoretically offering the best of both worlds between a tablet and a laptop. It will be interesting to see if the Transformer Book T100T does truly offer the best of both worlds and if Asus have had to make any significant compromises to integrate the two different form factors into one unit.

We are also interested to see if Windows 8 is a better fit for a hybrid tablet than the Android operating system was. While Android is well-suited to tablets, Windows 8 should offer a number of benefits when operating the Transformer Book as a laptop.

Specification

• Display: 10.1″ with Multi-Touch Screen WXGA (1366 x 768) Screen, IPS Panel
• Processor: 1.33 GHz Intel Atom Z3740 quad-core
• Memory: 2GB DDR3
• Storage: 32GB internal (non expandable)
• Wireless: 802.11 b/g/n and Bluetooth V4.0
• Camera:  1.2MP front-facing
• Battery: 2-cell Li-polymer
• Operating System: Windows 8.1 32-bit
• Dimensions: 263 x 171 x 10.5 mm (WxDxH)
• Weight (tablet): 523g
• Weight (with keyboard): 1104g

The Transformer Book T100T is supplied in a compact box, decorated in a grey livery. The top of the box features a simple design which includes a large image of the tablet.

The back of the box is completely blank too, although there are a few details of the specification of the unit on the side. The box is robust and should provide a high level of protection for the tablet inside in transit.

Asus include a USB cable and charger inside the box in addition to an MS Office license key, a warranty card and a concise user manual.  Even though the USB cable for charging is about the same length as those supplied with most tablets, it is much shorter than a laptop charging cable.

The Transformer Book looks T100T like any other tablet without the keyboard dock attached, with no obvious indicators that this is a hybrid model. The front of the unit is constructed entirely from a single piece of glass, although there is a large black border surrounding the 10.1″ screen.

Turning the tablet around reveals a glossy grey plastic back which has a subtle swirl imprinted into the design. While this looks quite nice, it picks up fingerprints very readily and it does not feel anywhere near as sturdy as tablets with metal backs.

It is also a little slippery which isn’t ideal when holding the tablet with one hand. Even though this isn’t a premium tablet, we would have liked to see Asus using better quality materials in the construction.

The aesthetic design of the keyboard dock contrasts slightly from the main unit. The palm rest is finished in textured matte plastic which has been designed to resemble brushed aluminium. It feels a little cheap and tacky, though.

The back of the keyboard dock is finished in rubberised plastic which feels much better quality than the rest of the unit.

Asus have been forced to use a reduced-size keyboard to conform to the size of the tablet. This feels rather cramped during use and means that the Transformer Book will struggle be a proper laptop replacement.

We don't rate the keyboard highly due to the lack of tactile feedback, especially for more intensive duties.

There is a small touchpad underneath the keyboard which works pretty well in practice. This is particularly useful when using non-touch optimised applications.

The only other feature of the keyboard dock worth mentioning is a single USB 3.0 port on the left side of the unit. Asus could have added another USB port here easily enough, although we wouldn't consider a single port a huge issue.

Unlike most Windows tablets, the Transformer Book doesn’t feature a Start button on the front. Asus have relegated it to the left hand side of the tablet alongside the volume controller. The power button is located nearby on the left side of the top edge of the tablet.

Moving around to the right side of the tablet, we find a micro-USB connector alongside a micro-HDMI connector and a 3.5mm headphone jack. There is no micro-SD card slot in this tablet, though, meaning that you can’t expand the 32 GB internal memory.

Asus have chosen to use a 10.1” screen in the Transformer Book, with a relatively low resolution of 1366 x 768 pixels.

Still, this is high enough resolution to play 720P video and is higher in terms of PPI than most laptops at this price point which typically have significantly larger screens with the same resolution.

Viewing angles are acceptable, but the excessively glossy display tends to wash out colours when viewed from the side.  Although this is supposedly a high quality IPS panel, it seems to suffer from a yellow tint. Unfortunately we weren't able to get rid of this by tweaking any of the colour settings.  This was particularly noticeable when using the tablet next to another device.

There is a 1.2 Megapixel front facing camera located just above the screen which is ideal for video chatting.

Asus have chosen to omit a rear-facing camera, though, which may be a deal breaker for some users. We don’t really see the point in rear-facing cameras on tablets, though, as most users will use their phone instead.

Perhaps the most interesting aspect of the Transformer Book is that Asus have installed a full-fat version of Windows 8.1, meaning this tablet can run in Desktop mode alongside the new tiled interface. It has to be said that Windows 8.1 is much better suited to touch-screen devices than it is to standard laptops and desktops.

The Transformer Book is supplied with a vanilla version of Windows 8.1 so all of the key apps are just the standard ones which are supplied with Windows.  The downside of the Windows operating system is the lack of tablet-specific apps available in the Store.

Asus pre-install a number of applications on the tablet which are actually quite useful. These include a live update app which helps keep drivers up to date, an eManual for the tablet and a WebStorage app which gives you access to 1 TB of free online storage.  Without doubt the most useful included software is a variant of Microsoft Office Home and Student Edition which offers fully functioning versions of Word, Excel,PowerPoint and OneNote.  This needs to be downloaded from the internet and installed, but this is a fairly simple process.

This storage may well prove useful as the internal storage is rather limited. There is around 14.5 GB of free space with the operating system installed which doesn’t leave much room for additional applications and media files.

This will be especially limiting for those who plan to use this as a standalone device.

We were very impressed with the browsing experience provided by the Transformer Book T100T.  We aren't too fond of the ‘tablet friendly' version of Internet Explorer which is accessed through the metro interface, so we chose to install Chrome instead.  The browsing experience is decent in both though, it's simply a matter of preference.

The T100T coped well with video playback.  We used a number of sources including Netflix, Amazon Instant Video and YouTube.  These all yielded impressive quality, although the lack of a proper YouTube app for Windows 8 is a little annoying as the website isn't optimized for touch. We would definitely recommend Netflix over Amazon Instant Video to complement the T100T as the former boasts a Windows 8 app and a much more touch-friendly online interface.

Music Playback is handled by the Xbox Music app which is simple and easy to navigate.  The built-in speakers are fairly loud, even though they don't offer the best sound quality.  We found them to be a little tinny and lacked power in the lower registers.

The on-screen keyboard is the standard Windows 8 one and is pretty easy to use.  The keyboard dock is certainly preferable though so we would recommend carry it around with you.

The Transformer Book T100T features an Intel Atom Z3740 processor which is clocked at 1.33 GHz, although this can be boosted to around 1.8 GHz in Turbo Mode.  This is a quad core model, which suggests that this tablet will offer decent multi-tasking performance.  In addition, the T100T features 2 GB of DDR3 RAM which is clocked at 1066 MHz.

The T100T delivers solid performance for a tablet, although it is significantly slower than most full-size Windows 8.1 notebooks.  Still, it has enough power to complete basic tasks such as word processing and multimedia playback, so it should more than suffice for most users.

In our battery life test we ran a 30 minute video clip from Netflix (through Chrome) with the display at full brightness and Wi-Fi switched on. We recorded the decrease in battery capacity over the 30 minutes (9% decrease) and then calculated the time it would take to completely discharge the battery from this.

This test is fairly intensive so five and a half hours is a perfectly respectable score.  We imagine that you would be able to get even longer out of it with the screen dimmed slightly and WiFi turned off.

Asus have been pushing the hybrid tablet form factor for a while now and the shift from Android to Windows 8.1 on the Transformer Book T100T is positive.  This operating system makes the T100T ideal for those users who are looking for a standalone device.

In terms of its physical design, the T100T doesn't exactly push the boundaries. The product would feel much more exclusive if it featured a metal chassis – the gloss plastic looks nice when you get it out of the box but it soon picks up marks and scratches.  That said, considering the price of the T100T we cannot expect the highest levels of quality, especially with the inclusion of a keyboard dock.

The keyboard dock certainly enhances the functionality of the tablet, making it bearable to edit Word and Excel documents on the go.  We wouldn't recommend the device for those people who frequently type long documents, though, as the keyboard isn't particularly pleasant to use.  Asus also include a version of Microsoft Office Home and Student with the T100T, which is very useful indeed.

Other than Microsoft Office and a few basic pre-installed apps, the Windows 8.1 OS install is entirely vanilla.  While the standard Windows apps are fairly competent in themselves, the selection of third party apps available in the Store is significantly more limited than the iOS and Android stores.

We were slightly disappointed with the screen that Asus have chosen to use in this tablet as it exhibits a slightly yellow tint.  This is a problem which we have seen on other touch-screen devices, but is only really noticeable when viewing bright white content.

Perhaps the only significant drawback of the T100T is the lack of integrated memory.  With Windows 8.1 installed, there is only around 14.5 GB of space available on the tablet which is very small indeed, especially for those users who are looking for a standalone device.  There is a micro-SD card slot, though, which provides some extra space for multimedia and other files.

At a price of £330 from PC World, we feel that the Asus Transformer Book T100T offers good value for money.  This price includes the keyboard dock, meaning you effectively get a tablet, a basic Windows 8.1 powered laptop and a copy of Microsoft Office Home and Student 2013 for £330.

For those looking for a tablet and a basic standalone computer without breaking the bank, the T100T is ideal.

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Pros:

• Excellent value for money.
• Office Home and Student 2013 included.
• Full version of Windows (8.1).
• Keyboard Dock included.

Cons:

• Limited internal storage.
• Screen has a yellow tint.
• The plastic finish marks rather easily.

KitGuru says: The Asus Transformer Book T100T is a high value for money mobile device.

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