{"id":2360,"date":"2013-11-29T12:56:17","date_gmt":"2013-11-29T20:56:17","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.oneminutetodolist.com\/blog\/?p=2360"},"modified":"2013-11-30T13:30:15","modified_gmt":"2013-11-30T21:30:15","slug":"budget-windows-bay-trail-tablet-the-asus-transformer-book-t100","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.michaellinenberger.com\/blog\/budget-windows-bay-trail-tablet-the-asus-transformer-book-t100\/","title":{"rendered":"Budget Windows Bay Trail Tablet: The Asus Transformer Book T100"},"content":{"rendered":"

November 29, 2013<\/strong><\/p>\n

I\u2019ve been waiting and watching for some 10-inch Bay Trail Windows tablets to roll out. These are iPad-sized tablets that\u00a0promise access to a full desktop copy of Outlook, something often needed when using the MYN e-mail and task productivity system<\/a>. Such tablets give you a full<\/em> version of Windows, not the limited Windows RT version like on the Surface 2 (non-Pro). And recall, Bay Trail devices run just as fast as many laptops, but with a smaller tablet size and very long battery life.<\/p>\n

\"ASUS-T100\"<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n

One such tablet that has been out almost a month now is the Asus Transformer Book T100<\/strong>. It was recently the number-one best-selling laptop on Amazon. The 64GB version lists for $399 with keyboard and Microsoft Office (Home and Student) included, which is an incredible price. Amazon also lists it for $399, but periodically sells it between $349 and $379 (see this link<\/a>). Microsoft lists it for $299 on its store<\/a>, but it’s been sold out for a while.<\/p>\n

Why This Tablet<\/strong><\/p>\n

While this is not my ultimate Windows tablet (for example there’s no pen and it’s not super thin), the reason I am emphasizing it now is that you get a lot for the money. I mentioned the included keyboard and Office software. Also, it weighs only 1.2 pounds (without keyboard), which is as light as any 10-inch Windows tablet currently gets. Light weight is a big deal for tablets because you should be able to easily hold them with one hand when reading. Lot’s of so-called tablets are 1.5 pounds or heavier, and that starts to get too heavy for such use.<\/p>\n

Also, this tablet gives 11 hours of battery life. Long battery life is the second most important specification for a tablet since you usually don’t keep these plugged in during the day while you carry them about.<\/p>\n

Clamshell Keyboard Dock<\/strong><\/p>\n

Another cool thing about this tablet is the way it docks to its keyboard. The juncture is basically a laptop hinge, which means when docked it operates like a clamshell laptop.\u00a0This has lots of advantages: you don’t need a stand or prop to keep the tablet up; you can put it on your lap and type with it; you can set the tilt at nearly any angle; and when closed it protects the screen–no cover needed.<\/p>\n

All About Price<\/strong><\/p>\n

Competitors? Microsoft’s 64GB Surface 2 (non-Pro), which does not<\/em> run a full copy of Windows, will cost you about $650 with its keyboard. For a full<\/em> copy of Windows, jump to about $1000 for the much heavier Surface 2 Pro with keyboard. Of course these Surfaces are premium-build packages with different processors.<\/p>\n

Fairer is to compare prices with other Bay Trail tablets, but there’s not many 10 or 11-inch Bay Trails out yet. The main competitor is probably the base-model Dell Venue 11<\/a>, which sells for about $630 once you add its comparable keyboard. That’s nearly twice what I just paid for the Asus tablet\u00a0at Amazon (link above). And it’s a bit heavier and it offers somewhat shorter battery life. The HP Omni 10 might get there eventually, but as of this\u00a0writing\u00a0it’s preorder only and\u00a0it only offers 32 GB for $399, without keyboard. And like the Dell, it’s a bit heavier (1.4 lbs) and it offers shorter battery life (8.5 hrs)\u00a0than the Asus.<\/p>\n

Intel says<\/a> other light, thin, low-cost Bay Trail tablets should be\u00a0out soon at prices similar to the Asus T100, which will be great if and when it happens. But they are late;\u00a0few others\u00a0are even announced<\/em> yet. In the meantime, the T100 I just ordered will be here soon and I’ll write it up for you when it arrives. Before that, here are some reviews you can study now:<\/p>\n

For a quick overview, see this CNET article: http:\/\/reviews.cnet.com\/tablets\/asus-transformer-book-t100\/4505-3126_7-35827544.html<\/a><\/p>\n

Medium length, more detailed review: http:\/\/www.trustedreviews.com\/asus-transformer-book-t100_Tablet_review<\/a><\/p>\n

And here is a very in-depth technical review: http:\/\/techreport.com\/review\/25537\/asus-transformer-book-t100-convertible-notebook-reviewed<\/a><\/p>\n

Michael Linenberger<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

November 29, 2013 I\u2019ve been waiting and watching for some 10-inch Bay Trail Windows tablets to roll out. These are iPad-sized tablets that\u00a0promise access to a full desktop copy of Outlook, something often needed when using the MYN e-mail and … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2360","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.michaellinenberger.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2360","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.michaellinenberger.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.michaellinenberger.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.michaellinenberger.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.michaellinenberger.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2360"}],"version-history":[{"count":13,"href":"https:\/\/www.michaellinenberger.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2360\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2368,"href":"https:\/\/www.michaellinenberger.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2360\/revisions\/2368"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.michaellinenberger.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2360"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.michaellinenberger.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2360"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.michaellinenberger.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2360"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}