Asus Transformer Book TX300 review

The last time we saw the Asus Transformer Book at IFA in 2012, it was off-limits under a big Perspex box. We didn’t have any specifications or a release date, but last night we were finally able to go hands on with a working model of the Transformer Book, the TX300.

At first glance, it looks very much like an ordinary 13.3in ultraportable laptop, but open it up and the screen can be detached so you can use it as a standalone tablet.

It feels a little strange holding a huge 13.3in tablet in your hands, but its Full HD IPS display is outstanding. Its wide viewing angles meant we could see what was on screen from almost any angle, even at the dimly lit event, and its ten-point touchscreen was very snappy and responsive. At 11mm, it’s very slim and comfortable to hold for long periods of time, but at 950g it’s still very much a two hand operation.

Together with the keyboard dock, it’s a little thicker than other ultraportable laptops, measuring 23mm, but its combined weight of 1.93kg means it’s still very portable and easy to take on the move.

The Transformer Book’s real party trick, though, is that the tablet has its own 128GB SSD packed behind the screen, while the keyboard dock has a separate 500GB hard disk. This sets it apart from almost every other device of its kind as it not only gives you much more storage space than any of its rivals, but it also gives you a greater amount of freedom with what files you take with you on the go.

The tablet has its own set of ports, including a micro-HDMI video output, a micro SD card slot, a combined headphone and microphone jack, but the keyboard dock has a wider variety. Here you’ll find two USB3 ports, a mini-DisplayPort, a Gigabit Ethernet port, and a full-sized SD card reader.

As a laptop, the TX300 was very comfortable to type on. The keys are quite flat, but they still had plenty of bounce and we were typing at full speed in no time at all. The smooth all-in-one touchpad was also a joy to use, as it was very accurate and responsive despite its lack of physical buttons. The screen doesn’t tilt back very far, though, but this shouldn’t be too much of a problem given its excellent screen.

The tablet and keyboard dock also have their own respective batteries. Asus claims you’ll get 8 hours of use in tablet mode and another 5 hours as a full laptop, giving you a combined total of around 13 hours. Eight hours alone would be impressive for an ultraportable, but 13 hours would put the Transformer Book in line with Haswell-powered Ultrabooks like the Sony VAIO Pro 13. Asus also claim you’ll be able to disable the dock’s hard drive and ports to extend the notebook’s battery life by another 3 hours, so the Transformer Book could potentially last a huge 16 hours on a single charge.

We were a little disappointed with its underlying components, though. We were hoping for a Haswell-based specification at this point, but instead it was running an Intel Core i7-3517U processor with 4GB of RAM. This will still provide plenty of power and speed, especially for a tablet, but it’s not quite what we were expecting given its RRP of £1,499.

This makes the Asus Transformer Book TX300 rather expensive, but it’s also unlike any other laptop tablet hybrid we’ve seen so far. Its dual storage setup gives it a much more attractive edge than other similarly priced laptops like the Sony VAIO Duo 13, and its standalone tablet will also be one of the most powerful Full Windows 8 tablets currently available. We’ll bring you our full review in the coming months.