Asus transformer t100 or...?

[georges]

Hi guys,
I've been looking at the Asus t100 as it seems pretty good value and I like the idea of having a tablet that has full windows on and can be connected to a keyboard.


It will be mainly used for word/browsing/Netflix hd and maybe a few light games at low settings and is to replace my current laptop (dell studio 15). I'd probably try get the version with a 500gb disk built into the hard drive.



Question is, is there anything else which is similar for the money? The 500gb seems to push the price up but I think I'd need it to replace a laptop properly.

Also, is there anything coming out soon that would make me jealous and is worth waiting for?


Cheers!

 

[Andrew_McP]

This week I took delivery of an HP Omni 10; £250 from Currys if they have any more stock. It lacks the keyboard but has a 19x12 screen which is what held me back from buying the T100. Otherwise they're very similar devices.

I must admit that so far my reaction to a Win8 tablet has been mixed. I love the flexibility of being able to run anything I want, and although it's annoying to have to use an OTG adapter, any USB device or peripheral works, which is marvellous. A 32GB MicroSD card also helps overcome the problems which having about 12Gb free on a 32GB internal drive, but ultimately you shouldn't be seeing these kind of devices as places to store large amounts of data or software.

Where I'm struggling is the quirky, disjointed nature of Win8. The Metro stuff is limited but perfectly functional, but desktop mode is fairly unsatisfactory with a touch interface. Ok, a lot of my problems are down to experimenting with my Steam library, and very, very little seems happy with a touch interface. So adding a mouse and keyboard soon becomes necessary for that kind of thing, which might play into the hands of the T100.

After a few days I find myself wondering if I'm guilty of wanting my cake and eating it too. The desktop certainly works well enough if you stick to simple tasks, and of course the overall flexibility makes it worth a few hassles. But if I'd paid more than £250 (ok and another £16 for an SD card) I'd be feeling a bit more like sending it back and upping my budget to a halfway decent, lightweight touchscreen laptop.

Like you, I liked the idea of a full Windows tablet, and it is tantalisingly close to being a great idea. But... I'm not sure. Something about this is both wonderful and disappointing. In time I may grow to love this thing, but so far my jury is definitely out on the Win8 tablet experience.

However at least now I can stop wondering about what to buy. I've made my bed and I will try to find a way to lie in it comfortably.

 

[georges]

Thanks for your input, I think the small storage (unless I always keep the keyboard attached) and only a micro USB will get on my nerves now I think about it.

Have just seen the original surface pro 128gb is going for £460 which looks like not too bad a price. Anyone have any thoughts on that?

 

[Andrew_McP]

Via the XP Upgrade path the 64GB Pro for £359 from MS isn't a bad deal with the free (if rather nasty) touchcover. http://www.microsoftstore.com/store/msuk/en_GB/pdp/Surface-Pro/productID.277069200

But even though I was very tempted, the battery life, weight, and fan put me off. However 4GB would be handy. When buying the Omni I forgot video memory is shared, and that's a significant factor in gaming on a 2GB device... though realistically we're never going to be gaming seriously on these things. It's nice to have the option though, and this morning I found the very cheap usb keyboard case I bought a while back. With that attached the Omni 10 is a lot more receptive to games. And with a mouse attached I was even running Far Cry 1 just now... though it needs a mouse to start up and a keyboard for control, which is a pain with one USB port. Adding a hub might help, but the portability of this thing is sinking fast. :-> The T100 and Surface would have the advantage of a separately attached keyboard.

Civ5 runs well though, because it has a touch mode, so overall there's a lot of power and potential in these tablets. It's just that after a week I'm finding the tablet Win8 experience more of a mixed bag than I hoped. MS could certainly tweak things to make life easier, but at the end of the day it's amazing we can finally have tablets with this kind of capability; quirks and all.

 

[McPhee]

I've got the T100. Great machine in terms of flexibility. I'm finding the storage space more of an inconvenience than an issue. There's enough space for Windows, Office and a bunch of desktop/Metro applications (I currently have around 9GB free). Regular housekeeping is kind of important though. My media consumption is all cloud-based (Spotify, NowTV and Amazon Prime) so I don't have any storage grumbles on that front. Games-wise, I have Warzone 2100 installed on the system storage and Battle For Middle Earth 2 and Civ V installed on an SD card. The first runs without fault (expected, given it was released in 1999), while the latter 2 run fine, although RAM is tight.

I'm pretty happy with the machine, but I only paid a couple of hundred quid for it. At £300+, I'd be very tempted by the Surface Pro. It is better in literally every way apart from battery life (which is quite awesome on the Asus). I looked at the HP Omni, but decided against it for the reasons Andrew mentions. Windows 8 isn't really a convincing touch-only OS. At times you'll regret not having a mouse and keyboard handy - having a device with some sort of keyboard dock or cover is certainly preferable. I guess a case with built-in stand and a smartphone application like Windows 8 Controller could fill the gap though.

Steam is bloody awful on a touch screen. I can't help but wonder if it is by design though. I mean, it literally has to be the worst application that I have tried to use, and Gabe Newell has been pretty outspoken against Windows 8. It just doesn't work at all and is ridiculously frustrating to use - I even gave big picture mode a go, figuring that would function better.

 

[georges]

I've got the T100. Great machine in terms of flexibility. I'm finding the storage space more of an inconvenience than an issue. There's enough space for Windows, Office and a bunch of desktop/Metro applications (I currently have around 9GB free). Regular housekeeping is kind of important though. My media consumption is all cloud-based (Spotify, NowTV and Amazon Prime) so I don't have any storage grumbles on that front. Games-wise, I have Warzone 2100 installed on the system storage and Battle For Middle Earth 2 and Civ V installed on an SD card. The first runs without fault (expected, given it was released in 1999), while the latter 2 run fine, although RAM is tight.

I'm pretty happy with the machine, but I only paid a couple of hundred quid for it. At £300+, I'd be very tempted by the Surface Pro. It is better in literally every way apart from battery life (which is quite awesome on the Asus). I looked at the HP Omni, but decided against it for the reasons Andrew mentions. Windows 8 isn't really a convincing touch-only OS. At times you'll regret not having a mouse and keyboard handy - having a device with some sort of keyboard dock or cover is certainly preferable. I guess a case with built-in stand and a smartphone application like Windows 8 Controller could fill the gap though.

Steam is bloody awful on a touch screen. I can't help but wonder if it is by design though. I mean, it literally has to be the worst application that I have tried to use, and Gabe Newell has been pretty outspoken against Windows 8. It just doesn't work at all and is ridiculously frustrating to use - I even gave big picture mode a go, figuring that would function better.

I think you're right, the t100 UK just seems a bit steep now when I'd be putting up with the performance /storage as it's 'cheap' but given the UK pricing is 330-400 (storage dependent) it's not really cheap (compared to 300 dollars us prices!) compared to the other options.

Thanks for your help guys, will order the surface pro tomorrow!

 

[georges]

80 quid xp discount + £50 topcashback (expires today - get on it fast if people want it), with touch cover and a tenner windows store voucher...don't mind if I do.

comes to £390 all in for the 128gb model. Success!

 

[covenantuk]

I went for the Surface Pro in the end.

If you can't stretch to the latest version the old Surface Pro is an absolute bargain at under £400 including a free keyboard and is more powerful than just about anything else at that price level, although it is a touch heavier than some.

 

[gradyhawks]

I got myself a t100 and love the thing, although those Surface's do look very nice.

 

[kevpuk]

Take a look at the Samsung Smart PC Pro Ativ 700.....very nice piece of kit.
Core i5, 1920x1080 11.6" screen, USB3 port on tablet, microSD, 4GB, RAM, 64GB SSD (mSata), S Pen......usually supplied with detachable 'proper' keyboard. Can be found for just under £400