The Asus Transformer Book is slowly trickling out into the wild and UltrabookReview.com have got their hands on one and have posted both a video and extensive written review of the elusive UltraBook which should help ease the wait till it hits retail in adequate quantities.
UltraBookReview states the review model was actually a press sample device but that it should still be representative of final retail models and it comes packed with all the advertised goodies on board like a full HD 13.3″ screen, 128GB SSD on the tablet and 500GB HDD on the dock, 4GB RAM, backlit keyboard with extra battery, 2x USB 3.0 ports, SD card slot, mini Displayport and Ethernet port powered by a Core i7 Intel CPU.
The review covers the base features and performance of the device very well and does a particularly good job of examining the battery performance as well as covering potential issues with the docking mechanism and overall gives a good insight into the device and should be useful for anyone considering a purchase although with availability figures extending well into the future, we wonder if ASUS is now waiting for Haswell in June.
Anyone spotted real, large-stock availability in their area?
Personally, for a hybrid form factor, I’d rather get a slider with a trackpoint nub even if it’s heavier as a tablet and possibly look ugly from the back view.
Maybe have the motherboard on the screen section so the bottom section won’t get hot like these detachable ones.
I’m hoping for some improved slider designs as well. The Sony seems the best but the optical trackpoint instead of a traditional nub is a downside. I’m concerned about the exposed cable too.
Since Haswell is supposed to support Connected Standby, I hope there’s an option to disable automatically going into Connected Standby when you turn off the screen. On Clover Trail tablets there’s no way to have the screen off and still have desktop apps continue to run until the specified idle timeout.