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Too good to be true?

Z

zbarvian

macrumors 68010
Original poster
Jul 23, 2011
2,004
2
http://m.ebay.com/itm/New-ASUS-Tran...Signature-Edition-2-in-1-Laptop-/251988232111

I just picked one of these up on EBay, and I'm shocked this isn't more popular than it is. For $500, the same price as a Surface 3 (and base iPad), you get:
  • Bigger display
  • Twice the RAM
  • Twice the SSD
  • Faster chip
  • Full keyboard dock to use as a real laptop
  • Thinner, sleeker design (tablet)
  • Unibody aluminum
To get the comparable Surface 3 + keyboard, you'd be paying around $250 more. Plus, this comes directly from Microsoft so no bloat ware and hopefully preinstalled drivers, and an easy upgrade to Windows 10. Reviewers knocked this device for the battery, but this one has the more frugal chip, 1080p display, runs clean build of Windows, so I think the battery will be far better. Thoughts?
 
It's a laptop, so it shouldn't be compared to an iPad, and since it runs Windows, I don't care about how it compares to a Surface. Other than those two thoughts, cool story.
 
chabig said:
It's a laptop, so it shouldn't be compared to an iPad, and since it runs Windows, I don't care about how it compares to a Surface. Other than those two thoughts, cool story.
Click to expand...

It's a tablet with an attachable keyboard dock, and I'm just trying to show the deal to any interested.
 
I have tried a hybrid device with a similar design (Acer Aspire Switch). My problem with it was that because the display was considerably heavier than the keyboard, the maximum tilt back angle of the display before toppling backward was less than I would like. This irritated me and I got rid of it mainly for this reason.

Do you not find this to be an issue with the Asus?

Whilst the MS Surface design does have some issues (e.g., not ideal for using on a lap), the fact that it uses a kickstand means the display won't topple backwards even at a large tilt back angle.
 
ozaz said:
I have tried a hybrid device with a similar design (Acer Aspire Switch). My problem with it was that because the display was considerably heavier than the keyboard, the maximum tilt back angle of the display before toppling backward was less than I would like. This irritated me and I got rid of it mainly for this reason.

Do you not find this to be an issue with the Asus?

Whilst the surface design does have some issues (not ideal for using on a lap), the fact that it uses a kickstand means the display won't topple backwards even at a large tilt back angle.
Click to expand...

I did read that for that device, but I haven't heard anyone say the same thing about this one. Better weight distribution it seems, maybe a little top heavy but it's minor. I'll leave some comments when I get it.
 
I tried to look for the catch. But it's a good deal. And evey ASUS product I've had was of good build quality.
 
zbarvian said:
http://m.ebay.com/itm/New-ASUS-Tran...Signature-Edition-2-in-1-Laptop-/251988232111

I just picked one of these up on EBay, and I'm shocked this isn't more popular than it is. For $500, the same price as a Surface 3 (and base iPad), you get:
  • Bigger display
  • Twice the RAM
  • Twice the SSD
  • Faster chip
  • Full keyboard dock to use as a real laptop
  • Thinner, sleeker design (tablet)
  • Unibody aluminum
To get the comparable Surface 3 + keyboard, you'd be paying around $250 more. Plus, this comes directly from Microsoft so no bloat ware and hopefully preinstalled drivers, and an easy upgrade to Windows 10. Reviewers knocked this device for the battery, but this one has the more frugal chip, 1080p display, runs clean build of Windows, so I think the battery will be far better. Thoughts?
Click to expand...

That is VERY nice, can't blame you for picking it. Personally I really love the keyboard and the kickstand on the surface pro. The keyboard just can't be beat because it adds almost no bulk, and the kickstand is completely invaluable. Sometimes I wonder why the kickstand isn't on EVERY tablet it's so useful.

I think an advantage of the surface 3 (non pro) over the Asus would be battery life, I'd expect the atom CPU to have a much better battery life, but am only guessing.
 
zbarvian said:
http://m.ebay.com/itm/New-ASUS-Tran...Signature-Edition-2-in-1-Laptop-/251988232111

I just picked one of these up on EBay, and I'm shocked this isn't more popular than it is. For $500, the same price as a Surface 3 (and base iPad), you get:
  • Bigger display
  • Twice the RAM
  • Twice the SSD
  • Faster chip
  • Full keyboard dock to use as a real laptop
  • Thinner, sleeker design (tablet)
  • Unibody aluminum
To get the comparable Surface 3 + keyboard, you'd be paying around $250 more. Plus, this comes directly from Microsoft so no bloat ware and hopefully preinstalled drivers, and an easy upgrade to Windows 10. Reviewers knocked this device for the battery, but this one has the more frugal chip, 1080p display, runs clean build of Windows, so I think the battery will be far better. Thoughts?
Click to expand...
Not a bad price. Other than lacking an active digitizer, a pretty decent device. I bought an acer aspire switch 11 w/core i3 and digitizer and similar specs for $449 (also a Microsoft signature, no bloatware)
Please follow up with a review once you receive it and have a chance to play with it.
 
gotluck said:
Battery life is my biggest curiosity too, let us know

Specs look great
Click to expand...

I'm expecting it to be perfectly average for battery, nothing exceptional. Hopefully about 7-8 hours of non-intensive usage with medium brightness.
 
Its one of those hybrid machines that we see from some manufacturers. I googled it and I see their on amazon and other places for more money. Seems like a decent buy. There was one review on amazon complaining about battery life. I'm too lazy to see if that's an issue or not. Since I'm not interested in the product, I'll not delve too much more into the details :)
 
Just picked it up. I'm immediately impressed by the basically impeccable build quality. Very sturdy, and am loving the aluminum unibody. Downloading windows 10, will update more with some battery impressions later. But the screen, even for 1080p, looks sharp and overall great. The keyboard dock works superbly well, except it doesn't allow the screen to tilt back too far. This really feels like a steal.
 
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Looks like a great deal on a nice little device.

Please post another update after you've had a chance to put it through some paces with Windows 10.
 
Very pleased with windows 10. I can see that battery life is not going to be excellent, but it's definitely acceptable given the pretty immense size of the screen. I'm on track for about 6 hours of use on this charge, which isn't bad at all considering it's been downloading and installing apps and an operating system the whole time. I'll probably be getting the predicted 7-8 hours of use normally.
 
zbarvian said:
The keyboard dock works superbly well, except it doesn't allow the screen to tilt back too far.
Click to expand...

Would you mind measuring the max tilt angle please? If you don't have a physical protractor, there are lots of free smartphone protractor apps.
 
ozaz said:
Would you mind measuring the max tilt angle please? If you don't have a physical protractor, there are lots of free smartphone protractor apps.
Click to expand...

I think I read from another review that's it 110 degrees.
 
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