
Asus' Transformer Book T100 - kyriakos
http://www.anandtech.com/show/7320/asus-transformer-book-t100-atom-z3740-inside
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makeramen
How is the Linux compatibility with transforming/dock computers like this?
This would make one hell of a portable dev machine.

~~~
bretkoppel
Not the same, but I was already imagining carrying a microSD card around with
a Linux VM on it for portable dev. I enjoy the native Win8 experience, though.

Edit: Of course, this[1] thread seems to indicate that microSD might not be
fast enough, in which case I'd have to fall back to the USB3 port. Either way,
not a terrible solution.

[1] [http://superuser.com/questions/492182/using-a-microsd-
card-a...](http://superuser.com/questions/492182/using-a-microsd-card-as-a-vm-
harddrive-on-mac)

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drill_sarge
I won't buy because of the horrible experience I had with the ASUS support who
refused to repair 2 laptops which clearly had manufacturing deficits within
warranty. never again.

~~~
farresito
Unfortunately, this happens with all the major companies. I've heard a lot of
people talk about the wonders of ASUS support and other people about how bad
it is. ASUS is probably one of the best companies out there in terms of design
quality (at least, I've never had any problem with them). Sorry about the bad
experience.

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brokenparser
The netbook of 6 years ago had an ethernet port and ran Linux out of the box.
Feature parity has not been achieved by later models, if this is reimagining
things they're imagining with a case of Alzheimer's.

~~~
sliverstorm
Gee, I wonder why a notebook that's like an eight of an inch thick doesn't
have an ethernet port. Well, it's probably because they are too _stupid_ to
remember 6 years ago... I mean, what else could it be?

~~~
harshreality
Many (more than 6) years ago there was a pcmcia card (3com perhaps?) that had
an ethernet jack that popped out of the card, rather than requiring a dongle.
Think of it like a cross section of the important parts of a normal ethernet
port, with push-to-latch, push-to-unlatch-and-deploy behavior.

Rather than requiring movable parts, it could be built into the keyboard with
some sort of protective cover on both top and bottom (if there's enough
clearance on the bottom for the end of the ethernet connector).

It's possible. It might be too costly to get acceptable reliability, but it's
possible and it's been done.

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hayksaakian
Where does the article say anything about Windows RT?

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ericmsimons
Yeah - OP, change your title to the one provided in the article.

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kyriakos
How can I edit it?

To clarify the reason I mentioned RT in the title is that since decent Windows
8.1 Pro tablets can be priced so low, I believe there is no room for RT.

~~~
kyriakos
repeating my question: is it possible to edit it ?

~~~
Semaphor
No, you'll have to wait for mods to wake up.

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iyulaev
Agree 100%. I bought a Samsung 500T under the same premise about 6 months ago.
1.5 lbs, 10 hour battery life, atom processor, and it runs "real windows".
It's not as good a tablet as the iPad but it's a much better computer. Not
sure what the advantage of Windows RT would be given the excellent battery
life possible with x86 windows.

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zhte415
A personal peeve, and question.

Peeve:

I visit a lot of companies, and a lot of my works involves displaying a
presentation or video. Modern offices' projectors almost exclusively use a VGA
cable. A few more modern offices, re-fitted in the past 2-3 years, do have
projectors with HDMI ports, but there's rarely a cable as the laptops they use
have VGA cables, usually the laptops are ThinkPads.

Question:

Why has a VGA connector been dropped from most modern machines given a current
if legacy usage?

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RobAley
Size.

~~~
mseebach
\+ the fact that HDMI, DVI and DisplayPort, besides being technically far
superior to VGA, are backwards compatible with VGA through a cheap adaptor.

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WatchDog
From the benchmarks I have seen [1] it performs pretty similarly to it's ARM
competitors.

[1] [http://www.pcper.com/reviews/Processors/Intel-
Atom-Z3000-Ser...](http://www.pcper.com/reviews/Processors/Intel-
Atom-Z3000-Series-Review-Bay-Trail-and-Silvermont-Arrive/Android-Performanc)

~~~
skrebbel
But it runs Windows 8.1, not RT. That's a major plus.

~~~
kyriakos
and includes a full version of Office 2013 + keyboard dock in the price.

~~~
taspeotis
> and includes a full version of Office 2013 + keyboard dock in the price.

I could not find where they discussed the Office 2013 license. From the
article:

> On the software side, in addition to Windows 8.1 you get a pre-installed
> copy of Office 2013.

Which is to say Office 2013 is installed, but not necessarily licensed. It
might be a trial.

~~~
kyriakos
looked it up it seems to be full version of Home & Student edition. It says it
on the press release at: [http://www.engadget.com/2013/09/11/asus-reveals-
transformer-...](http://www.engadget.com/2013/09/11/asus-reveals-transformer-
book-t100-with-windows-8-1-for-349-we/)

"Transformer Book T100 features Microsoft Office Home & Student 2013 with full
versions of Word, Excel, PowerPoint and OneNote, the perfect productivity
solution for both school and work."

it doesn't include Outlook unfortunately

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zmmmmm
Asus _was_ previously touting a Transformer Book Trio which ran both Android
_and_ Windows 8. It appears to have vanished from existence, and I now wonder
heavily if they got a visit from the Microsoft legal or marketing department
(as seems to have happened with the Ativ Q)?

~~~
josteink
I always thought it was because of lacking demand. I'm a former owner of the
original Asus Transformer (Android-tablet + keyboard dock) and I still fail to
see why I would want to have a device with two architectures, and two OSes.

People _love_ to talk about Android and fragmentation, much more so than I
find constructive, but putting both Android and Windows in two different
universes on the same device is pure madness.

I would never buy a device like that, and I think that applies to most
technically minded people I know as well.

I'm curious as to why you think Microsoft's legal or marketing team would be
opposed to this sort of product though.

~~~
zmmmmm
> I'm curious as to why you think Microsoft's legal or marketing team would be
> opposed to this sort of product though

It's pure speculation that it is Microsoft, but it does seem to be a legal
problem in the case of the Ativ Q (patents are mentioned but I'm not 100% it
is really patents because some sources just say "legal problems"):

[http://androidcommunity.com/samsung-ativ-q-hounded-by-
patent...](http://androidcommunity.com/samsung-ativ-q-hounded-by-patent-
problems-could-be-canceled-20130825/)

Microsoft is famous for making agreements with OEMs constraining them from
shipping other OSes instead of or in combination with Windows. Their motive
seems very clear to me in that they would be desperate to prevent Android from
rising into the laptop / netbook space. This kind of transition device could
be very threatening in that regard.

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taspeotis
> Asus Transformer T100 the future of Windows & end of RT (anandtech.com)

> 20 points by kyriakos 2 hours ago | flag | 11 comments

Actual article title: _ASUS ' Transformer Book T100: Atom Z3740 Inside,
Available October 18th at $349_

References to Windows RT in article text: _0_

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schuke
I want this with a MS Surface design. I don't mind paying 200 dollars more. It
would then match the iPad in terms design and surpass it in practicality.

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rayiner
You won't see bay trail in surface because MS feels the need to justify Win
RT. They'll let market segmentation drive the product design. They will
rationalize this by saying that Apple has segmentation with iOS versus OS X
but ignore the difference which is that iOS is compelling on its own while RT
is not.

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Zigurd
Is anyone out there using a touch-oriented Linux distribution with a
convertible device like this one? Any recommendations?

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gfosco
At this price, they might actually start competing with the iPad.

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greyman
Is 2GB RAM enough?

