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ASUS just wrapped up their CES 2014 press event where they announced a ton of great new products. One of those products was the ASUS Transformer Book Duet TD300, which they’re calling the world’s first 4-in-1 laptop / tablet combo running both Android and Windows on one chipset. It’s the first device to use Intel to run both Android and Windows on the same chip, meaning there’s little overhead and resources being used for emulating one or the other.
This sort of combo has been done before, but devices typically need separate SoCs for each respective platform. Said SoCs might only be activated in certain states (for example, Windows would only be accessible while docked inside of a tablet dock). It certainly is an exciting achievement for ASUS and Intel, and it should prove to be the breakthrough needed to help increase the popularity of this useful form factor.
Even more exciting is its price tag: just $599 to walk away with one, apparently. We should note that is only the device’s starting price tag, though, which will come with a Core i3 processor and a 13.3-inch 1,366 x 768 display. That same configuration can be had in 1080p flavoring for just $100.
Models in the range go all the way up to a 1080p HD display with Intel’s Core i7 fourth generation processor. We’re not quite sure how much that will cost just yet, but judging by ASUS’ desire to keep costs down on other products in their lineup, we can’t imagine it’ll be a huge difference.
We’re a bit saddened that this thing will only be running Android 4.1 at launch, but at least the Windows installation is the latest version available. We’ll be crossing our fingers that ASUS brings us up to at least Android 4.3, though we’d give them extra cool points if they can find a way to squeeze a KitKat bar in there somewhere. It should be launching in Europe and Asia in Q1 2014, and will be making its way stateside in Q2
I still don’t get why laptop resolutions have to be so crud. The Nexus lines prove that great screen quality doesn’t have to cost a lot, especially the Nexus 10.
This is a no-go for me because of that reason.
battery life…high resolutions plus big screens draw tons of power
Which is why they typically put tons of battery in big devices
Eh…? I can see me using this more as a laptop. So my battery may be a bit more bad since I leave my charger plugged in most of the time. =.S
Well… IDK… I’ve been treating mobile devices differently. If the battery life is greater than 2 hours when using it, then yea. I’ll leave it unplugged when not using it.
$100 more for the 1080p; I’m down
Don’t forget this is a full on Windows computer too, and a 1080p 13.3″ tablet (with a keyboard dock?) for $699, or $599 for the 720p version. Also an i3 will smoke any current shipping ARM SoC. I’d say this is a really good deal.
I wouldn’t mind a 10″ is version at a cheaper price point. :) 399 for 10″ 1080p? (one can dream)
I’m with lolwut…A lot of people are just fine with 720p, and the 1080p version is available for not much more. Considering I got their Transformer Prime w/dock for $650, the fact that this will have a cheaper starting price w/ a better processor and Windows is proof they are out to earn my money. I have been fairly (not extremely, mind you) happy with said T-Prime, but I’m in the market for something that is a full-fledged beast that will run my Android apps. The AtivQ is DOA, so this may be my next big device!
You did see that there was a 1080P option?
Does this setup make devs nutty? Would we be able to reasonably expect this to wind up with an unlocked bootloader and rootable?
Now that my friend, would be the icing on the cake.
Man, the product models holding the new tech devices in America really need some work. The one on the left even looks kinda like a dude. /s
thank God for Android’s open source..or this “dual-boot” trend would almost not be possible….
4.1 is fine by me, actually. I don’t mind using Jelly Bean. Things are messing up on this 4.4 Sense ROM I have. I’m just too lazy to go back to 4.3 since I know I’ll have fully erase to get rid of issues. LoL!!
I can see my next laptop. This is just what I wanted. And it’s super cool that it’s a tablet with a dock. All the more reason to get one. Hmm…
While I applaud Asus on making this dual OS device I am left to wonder why is it that they decide to put a Wacom digitizer on the smaller 8 inch Windows 8.1 VivoTab Note 8 and not on this beauty where the use of the Wacom pen would be more useful and productive. If this device had that it would surely be on top of my list of great CES products to get this year.
ugh. technology doesn’t come in “flavors”! lol
yay! now i wonder how the os’es are installed? is it a traditional hard drive/SSD, with full 8.1, and if so is android just a separate linux partition?
Any word on storage configurations, and whether windows is the gimpy rt, or the whole enchilada?
It’s not RT. RT is Arm only. They said it was running on Intel.
I don’t get the point of Android on a device like this. I have my Chromebook and I would rather run Chrome OS over Android on the big screen. I’ll keep an eye on it tho cuz I need a new PC pretty soon.
Should’ve had wacom digitizer. Would’ve been PERFECT.
Cam I put an ssd and better ram then im in
EDIT: http://www.asus.com/us/News/hnzqzGZ8TfSnrQTo
Apparently there’s already an SSD