ASUS Transformer Book T100 Review: Redefining the Entry-Level Windows Notebook
by Anand Lal Shimpi on October 18, 2013 12:00 AM ESTDisplay
The T100 features a 10.1-inch 1366 x 768 IPS display, which makes for awesome viewing angles and an experience that will put most entry level notebooks to shame. Compared to what we’re used to seeing from Windows notebooks, ASUS did a tremendous job with the panel selection given the price of the T100.
Brightness, black levels and contrast are all reasonable but nothing extraordinary. Max brightness in particular is limited to only 228 nits. That’s more than bright enough for indoor use, but outdoors or in direct sunlight you may wish for a brighter panel. Black levels are quite good, which helps deliver great contrast ratio. As I mentioned at the beginning of the article, the gap between display panel and cover glass is large enough that reflections can be an issue - a problem that is worsened by the fact that the panel can’t get super bright.
Whether or not any of this is a problem to you really depends on perspective. If we’re limiting our comparison to traditional entry level PC notebooks then ASUS has really redefined what it means to be a $349 PC. If you broaden the comparison to Android tablets and even Chromebooks, the comparison grows more difficult.
Color accuracy isn’t great on the T100. Once again, compared to what you’d traditionally get from a Wintel PC at this price point it’s amazing. Compared to the Chromebook 11 we recently reviewed at $279 however, the T100 needs some work.
It’s definitely not a bad display, it just doesn’t live up to the expectations of some other low cost devices we’ve seen lately (e.g. 2013 Nexus 7, Chromebook 11). The charts below show you the stark difference between what we're expecting to display and what the T100 actually displays:
There's a green hue to all of the white/grays, and the other colors are just off. Users definitely benefit from the viewing angles of IPS but the T100 needs calibration.
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andrejg - Wednesday, November 13, 2013 - link
After readin this review and getting an offer from our local distributor, I purchased 64Gb version. I must say, Transformer is exactly what I was looking for. I used Dell lattitude XT2 for a two years now and since I travel a lot and need a lot of data at hand and also spreadsheets and documents, my phone was not enough due to my ageing eyesight and lattitude, albeit 12" and light was too much to carry around all the time. Speed of the unit is non issue for me. it is fast enough, it is a tablet and netbook, it runs smooth and display is very nice, I was expecting less at this price point.Sinca all my computers and phone are from the same OS generation - Windows 8, I find it very simple to have all the data at hand and all desktops almost the same, no matter which device I use. it saves me A LOT of time I used to spend to transfer, save, carry and also lose those USB keys...
So, if one uses it like this and also like entertainment tablet at home, it is all OK. Some heavy duty stuff can take you back to 2005 speed. And battery - I have it with me all the time the whole day and I have never really needed to charge it during the day. With lighter use it gets two days of use easily. It just isn't gamers device or workstation. But there are choices for those too, just they cost almost 5 times more.
zodiacfml - Monday, December 2, 2013 - link
I'm back from the first day this review is published and there's nothing out there to compete with this. I just wished it had 4GB ram.vmr - Tuesday, December 3, 2013 - link
The T100 supports the new Win 8.1 Miracast/WiDi feature. I tried it with a ActionTec ScreenBeam WiDi adapter and it worked great when I tried it with Youtube, PBS videos and Netfilx.zodiacfml - Wednesday, December 4, 2013 - link
I reckon there would be an T110, with an 11inch screen and hopefully 4 GB of RAM.Jettilton - Thursday, January 16, 2014 - link
Was in the market for one of these until I went into Best Buy and the only one they had had a keyboard that was coming apart around one of the USB ports....looks like the keyboard is really flimsy, but the tablet itself looked more solid...now Im going to get a real laptop, not a hybridmalkovich - Tuesday, May 13, 2014 - link
I better choose this <a href="http://www.buzred.com/dp/B00H7PWRU2/toshiba-satell... windows notebook</a>. As my first notebook.crlamke - Thursday, May 29, 2014 - link
Great review, Anand! I'm consistently impressed by the quality of your work. Thank you.SllimA - Thursday, September 11, 2014 - link
T100TA is a interesting unit. The issue here is the docking method. It sketches the screen borders. I am more concern about the quality. I bought 3 units last week and sent 2 back for touch pad alignment. On receiving, the unit cannot be started and had to stick my charger in at the service counter. One could be restarted and we can see that the battery charge status at 70%. The 2nd unit can restart. They advice me to resubmit for repair. All these happened within 5 days of buying. Today the 11 days of buying the 2 units they are still under repair. I just called the service center and they told me that one is ready but the other had to wait for a few weeks for spare parts. This is unacceptable. of the 11 days, two units are repair status for 6 days. Asus Singapore Service Center referance are 130201, 130202, 130449 and 130450. I wonder what is happening to Asus quality.