ASUS have just launched three devices under the Chi brand. The 12.5-inch T300, 10.1-inch T100 and the 8.9-inch T90.

We’ve seen the T300 Chi before through an accidental hands-on. It will launch with a Full HD display, Core M CPU and 128GB SSD for $699 in February. The ASUS T100 Chi is an Atom-based 2-in-1 much the same as the T100 that already exists. A Full HD screen, a year of Office 365, 2GB RAM and 64GB storage will cost you $399. Finally the T90 Chi is an 8.9-inch tablet and bluetooth keyboard with 1280×768 screen, Intel Atom CPU and a year of Office 365 will start at $299. A 64GB SSD option is available on the T90 Chi.

ASUS Press release here. (We’re updating information below as we get it…)

The Transformer Book T90 is the one that will interest many readers here.

ASUS Transformer Book T90 Chi Specifications

• Windows 8.1 32-bit
• 8.9in WXGA 1280 x 800 IPS display
• Quad-core Intel® Atom™ Z3775 processor
• 32/64GB eMMC
• 2GB RAM
• 241 x 137.5 x 7.5/16.5mm (tablet/docked)
• 0.40kg (tablet) 0.75kg (docked)
• 1 year Office 365

At an entry price of $299 there’s practically no reason that an ultra-mobile PC fan won’t want this. It looks great and weighs just 750 grams in total.

ASUS Transformer Book T90 Chi Back

ASUS Transformer Book T90 Chi

The ASUS T100 Chi looks just as sweet though. Total weight is 1.06 KG and the price is just $100 more. People are going to have a hard time deciding between the T90 and T100.

ASUS Transformer Book T100 Chi Specifications.

• Windows 8.1 32-bit
• 10.1in WUXGA 1920 x 1200 IPS display
• Quad-core Intel® Atom™ Z3775 processor
• 32/64GB eMMC
• 265 x 174.5 x 7.2/13.2mm (tablet/docked)
• 0.57kg (tablet) 1.06kg (docked)

Pricing for the T300 looks good if you’re not interested in a WQHD screen as long as the SSD is a real one. It’s listed as an iSSD on the ASUS website which could mean ‘integrated’ (which would mean eMMC.) We’ll have to wait for details on that. Here are the official specs we have so far for the T300 Chi.

ASUS T300 Chi Specifications. (Also in our database.)

Processor Intel Core M 5Y71 processor @1.2Ghz / Intel® Core® M 5Y10 processor @0.8Ghz
Display 12.5″ LED backlit WQHD (2560 x 1440) IPS panel / 12.5″ LED backlit Full HD (1920 x 1080) IPS panel
Touch panel: capacitive multi-touch
Main memory LPDDR3 1600MHz 4/8GB
Storage iSSD 64/128GB Storage
Connectivity 802.11a/b/g/n
Bluetooth 4.0, HS
Camera Front: 2MP HD camera (720p video recording)
Dimensions Pad: 317.8 x 191.6x 7.6mm
Dock: 317.8 x 191.6 x 8.9mm
Pad+Dock: 317.8 x 191.6 x 16.5mm
Weight Pad: 720g
Dock: 725g
Pad+Dock: 1445g

The beautiful ASUS Zenbook Z305, powered with the new Intel Core M CPU, will launch at €799 according to NotebookItalia. This 1.2KG Ultrabook with a 2K display, 4GB RAM and a 128GB SSD should be available in December.

ASUS UX305

We always though that ASUS would break into a new price point with this superlight but 799 euro (which is likely to translate to $799 pre-tax in the USA) is better than we expected.

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Seconds after I made this video at an IFA press event this ASUS Transformer Book T300 Chi was taken away. it shouldn’t have been there but my video camera had already been rolling.

The ASUS Transformer Book Chi has a really lightweight screen but it’s quite wide. The keyboard is great and the hinge and dock seem high quality. The casing too. I’ll jut leave you to enjoy the video…

At a press event in Berlin today ASUS launched a laptop based on Core M. The ASUS Zenbook UX305 is just 12.3 mm thick and weighs 1.2KG. There’s no price available yet but it’s clearly a Q4 product.

ASUS has just launched the EeeBook X205, a n 11.6-inch Windows laptop featuring ‘long’ battery life and a full-size keyboard for just €199. It weighs just 980 grams.

Running the Baytrail platform (Z3000-series as seen in the cheap tablets) it’s undercutting even ASUS’ own cheap Chromebook, the C200. In the model I got hands-on with there was only 1GB of RAM. ASUS specifications show 2GB RAM. I hope it’s the latter because 1GB RAM is not enough (as I found out in my review of the Toshiba Encore 2 WT8 at Notebookcheck

The keyboard isn’t the best quality but it’s big and was stress-free in my 5-line test. There’s no touch and of course it’s a sealed unit. Note that you’re likely to find soldered RAM and eMMC storage inside so don’t expect to be able to do any DIY upgrades.

This isn’t the first ASUS laptop that’s retailed for this price but it’s the first that isn’t constrained by a 10-inch screen. Multiple colour options could turn this into a big seller in the next quarter.

In my hands-on I saw an 18Wh battery which is really small for an 11.6-inch laptop and won’t give 12 hours battery life for the average user. It’s possible I was handling a non-final build though so let’s hope for a bigger battery in the final version.

More images from the session in this gallery.

I’ve previously done work with ChromeOS and Chromebooks but this is the first time I’ve done a top-to-bottom, deep-dive analysis of a Chromebook. The two weeks of testing and analysis has just been published at Notebookcheck.net and the overview video is below.

The ASUS C200 is probably the most productive PC per $ that I’ve ever tested. It offers over 10 hours of battery life in some scenarios and along with that it’s got a good keyboard, it’s light (1.2KG) and it’s completely silent.  But it’s a Chromebook and it has its limitations. It’s also running on a low power Intel Baytrail-M platform so that has limits too.

Luckily the C200 is running a high-end Baytrail-M platform so performance isn’t a major issue for web browsing but when it gets to HTML5 applications there are some issues. Documents in Google Drive took a long time to load as did my large Google Play Music collection and even good old Tweetdeck.  These long loading times aren’t due to poor WiFi performance as the AC-capable module was strong throughout the test.

Good speakers mean you’ve got the potential for a good video experience and this 32GB model had enough space to load up a number of films. With 10 hours of offline video viewing available with one charge you’ll have no problem on a long-haul flight although it must be said that this non-IPS 1366×768 screen has limited viewing angles.

ASUS have done a good job with the C200. It’s not a direct competitor to the Acer C720 which  you would probably choose if you were more into web-based working. If you’re more into a casual web experience, the C200 is the Chromebook to buy.

It’s well-built and incredible value. $229 right now on Amazon. Looking forward to 2015 and a time when Android Runtime and local apps are starting to be ported over it could solve some of the issues  I listed in the full review. Here’s a summary of those Chromebook issues:

Chromebook issues: Skype, local storage, printing, Microsoft Office and other Windows (or OSX) productivity suites, offline applications, USB device support, network attached storage using SMB, NFS and DLNA,video format support, AC3 and DTS audio incompatibility, music player synchronization, Amazon Prime Video outside the USA.

Enjoy the video and the full review and if you have any questions, let me know.

When ASUS launched the Zenbook NX500 at Computex earlier this year it had one of the most impressive specifications lists to date. An Intel Core  i7-4702HQ  with Turbo Boost Up to 3.2GHz and an NVIDIA GeForce GTX 850 are the processors that power the 15.6-inch 4K IPS screen. There’s a huge 96Wh battery AC WiFi and a lot more. The price is high and the weight is over 2KG. Ultrabookreview have just published a full review and I spoke to the author, Andrei, about the unit…

I was a little surprised that ASUS didn’t mention the Transformer Book T200TA in the press event at Computex yesterday but at least it showed-up on the Asus booth today. This 399 Euro 2-in-1 should raise some eyebrows.

Mobilegeeks got hands-on and here’s a round-up of the specifications for you. Video below.

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