Asus T100 Transformer

t100_edition_10sI’ve gone and bought another toy!

The Asus T100 Transformer is a full Windows 8.1 machine in a 10" form factor which will "transform" from a dinky notebook format to a freestanding tablet – all of the gubbins are in the display. I paid £309 for the 32GB 2014 model which has a slightly more powerful processor than the 2013 model.

The T100 really is a proper Windows 8.1 machine, only tiny. It includes Microsoft Office which works just as you would expect, and I installed Python(x,y) which is a moderate size install which I’d expect to fail on a system which wasn’t genuine, full Windows. I’ve also installed Picasa, my favourite photo collection software and that just works too.

The performance is pretty good for such a small package, things got a bit laggy when I ran a 1920×1080 display over the mini-HDMI port but not unusably so and that seemed to be more a display drive problem than a processor problem.

The modern OS experience differs from what went before, I used my Microsoft ID when setting up, and as if by magic my personal settings appeared on the T100 – including my familiar desktop wallpaper and the few apps I installed from the Windows app store. The same goes for Google Chrome – my default browser – once it knows who you are all your settings appear as if by magic.

I wrote a while back when I got my Sony Vaio that it seemed like Windows 8 was designed for the tablet form factor. And it sort of is. But I have the same feeling moving from my (Android) Nexus 7 to a Windows 8 tablet as I do when I move from a Windows 8 machine to a Mac. The new place is all very nice, and I’m sure I’d settle in eventually but it’s not the same. Windows 8 is still trying to be a desktop OS and a touch OS, and that just doesn’t work very well.

The T100 hardware is OK, the display looks fine and the latch/unlatch mechanism feels sturdy but the keyboard is a bit rattly. I would have liked to have had a more prominent "Windows” button on the display part in the style of an Android tablet. As it is there are three anonymous buttons on the display whose functionality I forget. Attaching and removing the keyboard kept me amused for a good half hour, the mechanism is reassuringly sturdy.

For me this form factor doesn’t really fit. I have a Nexus 7 tablet, which is lighter than the T100 for reading Kindle books on, Chromecasting to the TV (which I can’t do on the T100), browsing the internet or catching up on twitter. I have a Sony Vaio T13 ultrabook which is more useable as a laptop with it’s 13” display but is only a bit heavier. I’ve discovered I don’t need something of intermediate size!

Interestingly I have noted that I hold my 4 inch Nexus phone and 7 inch Nexus tablet at a distance such that their displays seem the same size, to match this feat with the T100 I would need arms like a gibbon! 

I can see the T100 working as a travel system for someone with a chunky laptop or desktop, or as a tablet. It’s nice to have a backup machine for work and home.

I’m intrigued by the idea of installing Ubuntu on this machine, I have it in a virtual machine on my Sony Vaio, the process is described here but it’s a bit fiddly launching Windows and then the VM and the performance isn’t great. I find extensive instructions for installing Ubuntu on the T100 here, they look lengthy!

In summary, impressive to get a Windows laptop in such a small form factor and for such a reasonable price but it doesn’t really fit with my current devices except as a backup.

2 comments

  1. The “instructions for installing Ubuntu on the T100” are not so much lengthy as detailed. They really are a step by step process that should lead to a working installation, with a backup in place, and the option in subsequent (not so lengthy posts) to tweak the OS. However, note that Linux on the T100 is still a work in progress. Many individuals are working to get all the tablet’s hardware working under Linux. It isn’t clear (to me) how much of these efforts are being incorporated into an actual distro. So, for now at least, the process is convoluted and overly complex.

    • SomeBeans on October 28, 2014 at 8:31 am
      Author

    Thanks for your comment, Alan.

    I was very impressed by the detail you provided in your instructions! Trying out Linux seems to have got a whole lot more difficult over the last few years. I have a week off soon, so maybe I’ll give it a go then!

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