A two-in-one tablet/notebook that ticks all the right boxes
The two-in-one convertible tablet/notebook form is doing surprisingly well at the moment. Most, if not all, of the big names have a version released with some slight change in the processing power or in the way the keyboard section attaches to the tablet section. Generally speaking, they all work more or less the same. Or do they?
The latest two-in-one offering from Asus may well make us reassess that statement. The T100HA is a fine example of mixing a tablet with a notebook, and the Intel Cherry Trail quad-core Z8500 processor runs at 1.4GHz with a burst frequency of 2.24GHz and manages to drive the 10.1" T100HA along a decent pace. The 2GB of LPDDR3 is enough for most tasks, and there’s a 64GB eMMC hard drive fitted with a copy of Windows 10 64-bit pre-installed.
Connectivity is good too, with the tablet section housing a micro-HDMI port, USB Type-C port, micro-SD card slot, and a microphone/headphone port. The keyboard section, or base if you prefer, increases the port numbers with a full-sized USB 2.0 port. Furthermore, there’s a 2MP front camera on the tablet, and a 5MP rear mounted camera.
Obviously you get the usual 802.11 a/b/g/n wi-fi and Bluetooth 4.0 as well, but all this is neatly fitted into the dark grey, anodised aluminium case of both the tablet and keyboard/base sections. It may not be the prettiest convertible to ever grace the desk, but it’s certainly functional, and it doesn’t look too bad.
The design of the T100HA works well, though. The tablet section pops on and off the base with a little tug to break the magnetic strip that keeps everything together. This makes the task of separating and bring the two together faster and more efficient. The 0.58kg tablet section and 0.46kg base combined are still light enough to carry on your person, and since it only measures 265 x 175 x 8.45mm with an added 10mm to the thickness for the base, it’s not a bad size either.
The keyboard section has the keys spread right to the edges, within a few millimetres, of the base. This gives just enough room for the keys to be reasonably well spaced apart to make for a comfortable typing position, and the trackpad below is wide enough to easily use the various gestures and so on to navigate Windows 10’s features.
In terms of performance, the T100HA did remarkably well. Geekbench 3 returned a combined processor score of 2,898, which is quite good and better than other convertibles we’ve tested in the past.
While it won’t play Fallout 4, though, the T100HA does an admirable job of navigating Windows 10, its apps and the usual array of word processing, web browsing and media viewing tasks. It’s predominantly a work/light play device, and it fits the role suitably without trying to hit above its weight and failing.
The screen has a maximum resolution of 1280 x 800, which in some respects can be limiting for those who want more detail from their graphics. However, it manages to produce a clear IPSlike display that’s easy on the eyes and looks good from a multitude of angles.
The Asus Transformer Book T100HA is a great little 10.1" convertible. It’s perfectly priced at around £299 and does a great job as a work and social tablet/notebook, and the battery lasted for a good eight hours of normal, office use too. David Hayward
A well-priced, and decent performing convertible.