ASUS Transformer Book T100 Review: Redefining the Entry-Level Windows Notebook
by Anand Lal Shimpi on October 18, 2013 12:00 AM ESTBattery Life
The Transformer Book T100 features an integrated 31Wh battery. As the keyboard dock doesn’t include an extra battery, that’s all you get. The good news is that Intel’s Atom Z3740 is built on the company’s first 22nm SoC process and it’s paired with LPDDR3. At least on the silicon front, the T100 should be fairly power efficient. Granted there are still the PMIC, display, WiFi and other components to worry about, but here’s to hoping ASUS did a reasonable job there as well.
Unfortunately ASUS delivered our T100 review sample less than 48 hours ago and I’ve been using it non-stop since then. I think I technically broke embargo by using it at a press event but it’s the only way I’d get enough time with the thing under my belt to feel comfortable writing about it. The bad news is that I only had enough time to provide a battery life teaser. I’m still running more data but for now all I’ve got is our WiFi web browsing test.
The T100’s results are presented with the keyboard dock attached and with the display calibrated to 200 nits:
Battery life looks decent at just over 8.5 hours on a single charge. In practice I had no complaints about battery life while using the device. It feels more like a tablet in that regard and less like a notebook, which is a good thing. Once again we’re seeing ASUS redefining what we’ve come to expect from an entry level notebook PC here. Even compared to Chromebooks we see the T100 do extremely well. I’m curious to get a better feel for how Bay Trail performs in the battery life department, which I’ll be doing over the coming days. So far the results look good but not quite stellar if you compare it to traditional Android/iOS tablets. I am curious to see how BT running Android would turn out.
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nathanddrews - Friday, October 18, 2013 - link
8+ hour battery life, under 1" thick, under 3lbs, full Windows OS, IPS touchscreen, detachable base for tablet mode, $350. How exactly is that not redefining entry level? I sure as H-E-double hockey sticks haven't seen anything like it.AsusJake - Sunday, October 16, 2016 - link
3 years later I'm still using an asus t100 now with windows 10 64 bit system only 2 gigs of ram and still better than any tablet ive had. only my note 5 that I own has been faster......Drumsticks - Friday, October 18, 2013 - link
"Redefining the Entry Level Windows Notebook" how is it not? Great display, Decent performance without a bad IO system, and amazing battery life. There wasn't a single $350 notebook on the market a year ago that would have given you that.Qwertilot - Friday, October 18, 2013 - link
Running windows anyway ;)Seriously though, this isn't an entry level notebook, its a slightly odd hybrid device. With associated compromises noted in the review. Anyone know if we're going to get normal notebooks with similar specs as well?
Drumsticks - Friday, October 18, 2013 - link
Dell has a haswell Pentium based CPU in an 11" notebook rated for somewhere in between 8-10 hours of battery life for $379. I'm not sure if it has an IPS display though.Krysto - Friday, October 18, 2013 - link
Also, as usual, Intel's Atom can barely keep up with LAST YEAR's ARM chips, in both CPU and GPU performance. Same old story.Guess Silvermont wasn't as revolutionary as you made us think it is with every chance you got - was it, Anand?
Speedfriend - Friday, October 18, 2013 - link
"Intel's Atom can barely keep up with LAST YEAR's ARM chips, in both CPU and GPU"You seem to have problem with reading, The Samsung Note 10.1 has the latest top of the range Samsung big.little quad core with the latest Mali 628 and yet loses out to the Atom in every CPU test. And this isn't even top of the range...
I know some people are biased, but come on...
darkich - Friday, October 18, 2013 - link
..and you say that Note's 1440p doesn't matter?Or the fact that android has shitty JS optimization?
Amazing how you failed to see how an old dual core Exynos on Chromebook outperformed this BT on those SAME CPU tests you bring up!
And you talk about bias!
The fact is Bay Trail is a Meh chip.
Given the superior manufacturing process it fares pretty badly in coparison with ARM, and has about 30-50 % weaker GPU.
Boissez - Friday, October 18, 2013 - link
Wow... I've never seen a device with colors this much out of wack. The beauty of this thing running Windows is that it can be fixed with a color calibrator though. It's a shame about the poor brightness though.Either way the latest batch of Win 8.1 tablets are shaping up nicely. Are there any plans to review any of the smaller 8" tablets like the Dell Venue 8 pro or Lenovo Miix 2?
CSbeer - Friday, October 18, 2013 - link
I bought a win8 tablet on clearance (Iconia W3 for $249) and have to say I'm never going back to IOS or Android. It's even gone so far as replaced my netbook and I only lug around my 15" laptop when I need the extra power for school or work. I just don't get all the win8 hate, it sure has made my life easier.