Powerful laptop, handy tablet
Let's admit it: carrying both a tablet and a laptop is a nuisance. Chi is a 2-in-1, which means exactly what it says - it's a Windows laptop with a keyboard that detaches, turning it into a Windows tablet. Two devices, in one beautiful package. It's a simple idea that's elegant and convenient, too. Need to work? It's a powerful laptop. Time to relax? Detach the keyboard and it's a handy tablet. No fuss, no hassle.
Thinner. Lighter
Transformer Book T100 Chi is razor-thin and feather-light, with a tablet that's just 7.2mm thin and weighs a mere 570g. Even with the keyboard attached, it's still a slender 13.2mm and weighs just 1.08kg, so you'll never have an excuse to leave your T100 Chi at home. Working (or playing!) on-the-go has never been so easy.
Luxury. Elegance. Purity
Transformer Book T100 Chi may look smooth, slim and sophisticated, but it's tough at heart. The body and display are both precision-crafted, all-aluminum one-piece designs that eliminates the need for ugly seams and screws. This also means that even though it's exceptionally thin and light, there's no loss of strength. Chi takes real life in its stride, without missing a beat.
Picture Perfect
Experience beautifully-clear and bright images with T100 Chi's ASUS TruVivid display, engineered using direct bonding to reduce reflections and give sharper, more vivid colors under any lighting conditions. With Chi, images look so good you'll think they're real. And with IPS technology for super-wide viewing angles, Chi really is a feast for your eyes.
Immersive Audio
Chi banishes the idea that small size means small sound. Exclusive ASUS SonicMaster technology combined with powerful stereo speakers gives you crystal-clear audio with deep, rich bass. Now you can enjoy the ultimate sound experience - anywhere!
Processor
Intel® Quad-Core Atom® Bay Trail-T, Z3775 1.46GHz
Up to 2.39GHz
2M Cache
Memory
2GB On-board
Hard Drive
64GB eMMC
Optical Drive
None
Software
Operating System: Windows 8.1 (32bit) - with Bing for Tablet (AFO)
Microsoft® Office 365 Personal - 1 Year Subscription
Display
10.1" Touch Screen
Ultra-Slim
LED Backlit
Resolution: 1920 x 1200 (WUXGA)
Graphics
1 x Micro USB 2.0
1 x Micro USB 3.0
1 x Headphone-out & Audio-in Combo Jack
1 x micro HDMI
Micro SD Card Reader (SDXC)
Warranty/Miscellaneous
HD web camera + 5 Mega Pixel rear camera with Auto Focus
ASUS 255mm keyboard with 17.43mm key pitch
1 Year Manufacturer Warranty
Top comments
CampGareth
13 Aug 164#12
You could always replace the battery on the X201?
Interloper to stevesuk
18 Aug 163#58
Just received mine. This has to be the tech bargain of the year so far.
First, consider what you are getting for £129.99 - this is a very premium, metal tablet with chamfered edges and excellent build quality. It was clearly designed at a much higher price point and when docked is not dissimilar in size and thinness to a MacBook Air 11". Even the box screams 'premium'. Inside that box you also get:
- An active stylus. Metal bodied with rubberised grip, similar in weight and feel to a Wacom pen.
- A keyboard dock with half-decent trackpad. Again , the wrist rest/keyboard surround is metal with chamfered edges.
- 1 year of UNLIMITED cloud storage from Asus Webstorage.
- 1 year of Office 365 Personal. I've already sold my code on eBay as I have no need for it (effectively bringing the price down to £105).
It's clear that Asus intended for this to compete with the non-Pro entry Surface 3 (that, too, has 2Gb RAM and 64Gb storage). This doesn't have a kickstand, but you can flip it around and dock it 'backwards' on the keyboard for a viewing mode with multiple angles.
To get this level of spec with the Surface 3 you would be looking at around £500 - the 64Gb model can be picked up for around £350 new right now, but the keyboard and pen would be separate purchases. For basic email/web, office stuff and note taking, this Asus is fantastic. I even have Dragon NaturallySpeaking running on it flawlessly.
Some slight downsides - the bezels are pretty big. Not a deal breaker (and the screen itself is fantastic) but it's obviously been designed this way to keep symmetry with the keyboard dock and not make the keys too tiny. Secondly, this ships with Windows 8.1 and it's a little buggy out of the box. I downloaded the Windows 10 Upgrade Tool via the Accessibility site and it updated perfectly for free.
Again, there is a LOT here for the money. Bear in mind the floppy iPad Pro Smart Keyboard costs MORE than this entire device! If you need the pen (I do, for digital markup of PDFs), there is simply nothing better value that comes close.
No. Not possible as the keyboard is always 'attached' via Bluetooth (unless you switch it off). My Surface devices didn't do this either - at least not reliably.
janner43
13 Aug 163#5
For hints, tips, discussion & helpful guides on this - IE W10 upgrade for example, don't search, just go here... TransformerForums T100Chi
If you visit TransformerForums you'll find exactly the same advice and a very large thread all about Windows & battery reporting.
stevesuk to janner43
15 Sep 16#71
Have read and followed the advice there with regards to letting the battery drain right down until such a point that the tablet won't power on, and then giving it full (10 hours or more) charge - which I understand is meant to calibrate it. Doesn't seem to have helped. Battery drains as you would expect down to about 50% to 40%, and then its like a big chunk of battery capacity is missed. Within seconds, it drops from there down to less than 20%.
I've given the calibrate process another chance this morning and will try again later (when the battery is fully charged again). Before shutting down, I also uninstalled the ACPI battery driver (as recommended in another thread).
But I have a feeling that my battery may be faulty. If it means I have to be without it for a few days whilst its off at the service centre, then I'll still be happy (providing it comes back fixed of course :-) )
stevesuk
14 Sep 16#69
Had the same thing happen this evening. 40% battery remaining. Put it down for 5 minutes to go end get a cup of tea, came back and 17% remaining. Something definitely isn't right.
I contacted Asus and received this reply:
"In order to find a solution to this issue, we may first perform a power discharge, so as to refresh the circuits on the motherboard. This can be done as explained below:
- turn off the machine (if it is switched on);
- disconnect the AC adapter;
- press and hold down the power button for 30 seconds (to discharge the components);
- plug the AC adapter;
- turn on the unit.
In case the above troubleshooting steps do not solve the issue, I am afraid that this indicates a possible hardware failure and in that situation we have two possibilities: you may consider either booking the unit for a repair with our repair centre or contacting the re-seller to see if the unit is stil within the return policy."
If you Google for Asus T100 Chi and battery issues, then there's a number of people with problems. Don't know what to do really. I have a suspicion that I'm getting what you'd expect from the battery, and it may actually be the reporting (in Windows) of remaining battery life that is wrong. So I could waste time sending it back to Asus, and it might be no better when I get it back.
You're right though... cracking bit of kit (other than this problem!).
Smartguy1
13 Sep 16#67
On my t300 I reinstalled the driver (downloaded from Asus) and then requested it to add a device in settings. That worked. On mine it didn't mind it automatically when I did a clean install of windows 10. As soon as I did that it paired it and gave me the 8 digit key.
t002236 to Smartguy1
14 Sep 16#68
Thanks I'll try that!
t002236
13 Sep 16#66
I'm experiencing keyboard pairing issues... just isn't happening! Works fine on one but not the other.
glam1
13 Sep 16#65
Stevesuk
I am also experiencing odd battery life
From a claimed 10 hour battery life...the most I can get is six
This can fluctuate from day to day even when I am doing the same tasks
Worried about returns in the same way that you are
Was going to contact Asus too
Please update if you get anywhere with this
Battery aside...it really is a cracking bit of kit...esp for the price...as long as you understand it's limitations:-))
stevesuk
9 Sep 16#64
If anyone is still following this thread after buying one of these, have you had any problems with battery life?
I thought something was up with mine from day one, so I installed a battery monitoring app to check.
The battery discharges fine to about 35% - 40%, then suddenly Windows reports (within seconds) that it's down to ~ 5%. Also, when I charge it, although Windows thinks its fully charged - if you shut Windows down and go by the BIOS level on-screen charging meter (quick push on the power button, and it shows a battery meter on the screen briefly), it never seems to charge beyond 80% - even if I leave it plugged in all night.
I had a Google, and it seems I'm not the only one who's experienced this problem. I don't really want to send it back for a refund (knowing that eBuyer don't seem to have any left now), because other than this - its a great bit of kit.
I'm going to contact Asus tech support, but just wondered if anyone else had noticed similar behaviour? Worried eBuyer have had them sat in a warehouse for some time, and the battery has decayed.
stevesuk
20 Aug 16#63
Mine just arrived, first impressions (coming from a similar Lenovo Miix 300) are "wow!" ... Especially the keyboard dock.
pw26228
19 Aug 16#61
149.99 now
basergorkobal to pw26228
19 Aug 16#62
I was about to pull the trigger on this after much deliberation.
Saved me £130
Smartguy1
18 Aug 161#60
To anyone who has bought one of these these have you tried a usb 3 stick in it. I have the t300chi and suspect the usb3 is not usb 3 at all. I have tried mine with a sandisk ultra and toshiba portable drive with both set to fast performance in properties and the transfer speed is very slow. I will have to download a programme to check but running the same file transfer on my wife's old Acer is far quicker. Just checked mine and it took about 3 minutes to transfer a 1gb file which is a bit slow for usb 3 speeds.
On the good side I have finally done a clean install of windows 10. That includes deleting the original partitions and everything that Asus put on. Windows media creation tool wouldn't let me do that on the T300 and I could not change the boot order in the bios to boot the windows 10 iso file from usb because usb boot was not there. I used the 'Rufus' software to create a bootable usb drive using the windows 10 iso file and I could then run that file from the settings and recovery menu. Seems very zippy to how it was.
stevesuk
18 Aug 161#59
Thanks, I ordered one anyway yesterday (should come tomorrow). I already have the similar Lenovo Miix 300, but that only has 32Gb of onboard storage, which is limiting. 64Gb (with another 64Gb MicroSD card) will be perfect for what I need. This was too good a deal to miss out on, and my 6 year old will be getting the Lenovo to play with :smiley:
Good to hear it comes with a stylus, and also that you managed to update to Windows 10 with no issues. I plan to do the same, as my Lenovo is running 10, and the Anniversary update was a big improvement.
I wrote a Windows service for the Lenovo that did the automatic tablet/laptop mode switching based on it detecting the attachment (and disconnection) of the keyboard dock. So I might look at the feasibility of doing the same here.
stevesuk
17 Aug 16#57
Still tempted to get one of these. For people who have one, does it have automatic switching between tablet and laptop mode when you attach the keyboard? (i.e. when keyboard is docked, does Windows disable tablet mode and screen rotation)?
Interloper to stevesuk
18 Aug 163#58
Just received mine. This has to be the tech bargain of the year so far.
First, consider what you are getting for £129.99 - this is a very premium, metal tablet with chamfered edges and excellent build quality. It was clearly designed at a much higher price point and when docked is not dissimilar in size and thinness to a MacBook Air 11". Even the box screams 'premium'. Inside that box you also get:
- An active stylus. Metal bodied with rubberised grip, similar in weight and feel to a Wacom pen.
- A keyboard dock with half-decent trackpad. Again , the wrist rest/keyboard surround is metal with chamfered edges.
- 1 year of UNLIMITED cloud storage from Asus Webstorage.
- 1 year of Office 365 Personal. I've already sold my code on eBay as I have no need for it (effectively bringing the price down to £105).
It's clear that Asus intended for this to compete with the non-Pro entry Surface 3 (that, too, has 2Gb RAM and 64Gb storage). This doesn't have a kickstand, but you can flip it around and dock it 'backwards' on the keyboard for a viewing mode with multiple angles.
To get this level of spec with the Surface 3 you would be looking at around £500 - the 64Gb model can be picked up for around £350 new right now, but the keyboard and pen would be separate purchases. For basic email/web, office stuff and note taking, this Asus is fantastic. I even have Dragon NaturallySpeaking running on it flawlessly.
Some slight downsides - the bezels are pretty big. Not a deal breaker (and the screen itself is fantastic) but it's obviously been designed this way to keep symmetry with the keyboard dock and not make the keys too tiny. Secondly, this ships with Windows 8.1 and it's a little buggy out of the box. I downloaded the Windows 10 Upgrade Tool via the Accessibility site and it updated perfectly for free.
Again, there is a LOT here for the money. Bear in mind the floppy iPad Pro Smart Keyboard costs MORE than this entire device! If you need the pen (I do, for digital markup of PDFs), there is simply nothing better value that comes close.
No. Not possible as the keyboard is always 'attached' via Bluetooth (unless you switch it off). My Surface devices didn't do this either - at least not reliably.
chrisjdhuckle
13 Aug 162#15
absolutely shocking worse thing I've Ever brought
moob to chrisjdhuckle
16 Aug 161#56
Where did you go with it?
italondonistaavataurino
13 Aug 16#19
I read on the seller's website within the comments thato it comes with an active stylus.That''s good.But it doesn't have standard USB ports(micro) and the Bluetooth keyboard and tablet part they need to be charged separately and you only have one cable included.That's annoying. Any owner of the tablet here?Starting thinking that the chromebook might be the best option for me..
UZOR to italondonistaavataurino
15 Aug 16#55
the keyboard charging thing is not an issue as the battery last so long. even if you were caught out you could just plug it into any micro USB charger
Smartguy1
14 Aug 16#54
I have the t300chi, special offer on Very a few months ago. It has the M-Y510 processor. That's the same one as they put in the ipad air I believe. It has a passmark of 2775 on Benchmark. It's a nice laptop / tablet with a nice screen although not quite as nice as my Lenovo Miix 3 which has a slightly higher resolution and still find I have to use the scale factor up to 150%. If you are older and need reading glasses to use a pc you will struggle with 1920 x 1200 pixels at 10.1". It is also impossible to adjust some of the windows title bars without lowering the resolution, but you cannot adjust them all using the scale tool.
I have just sold my Miix 3 which is a shame really. The screen is really nice to watch videos on and owning the t300 and the Miix 3 with the same resolution as the T100chi I doubt many will be disappointed with the screen quality of the t100chi. At this price it represents excellent value. However one thing that may P you off is the micro-b usb 3 port. Why Asus did this is ridiculous for the sake of maybe saving 1 to 2mm in product thickness. My t300chi came with a little converter hub but it's so tight trying to put a memory stick in it I am worried I am going to break something. I bought another converter lead of ebay as well as some OTG leads. You can use a normal micro-b (android phone lead) which plugs into the micro-b3 port. I got mine from kenable and they are fairly cheap.
The t100chi has a benchmark pass of 1256 which is quite respectable for this size of laptop. I didn't really have any issues with general surfing and scrolling through the menus on the Miix 3 which has a slower processor than the t100. I also have a Lenovo Yoga 300 which has 4gb ram and a 1965 passmark yet in some respects the Miix is faster and better.
zaheer2003
14 Aug 16#53
Good device as long as you understand it's limitations. It is a tablet with a KB so expect the same type of performance. It is not an i7 and it has a long battery life, so it is slow and lasts.....
arfster
14 Aug 16#52
Pretty pleased with mine. Treat it as a tablet with a keyboard dock, it's not a powerful laptop for sure. However, if you want a tablet with the occasional ability to type and use windows apps, it's perfect. You can use it as a laptop or tablet, without either aspect being compromised - a pretty compelling combo imo.
Also a very nice design and high-res screen for this price point.
Wrt the keyboard Bluetooth: it's a bit of a pointless design choice by Asus certainly, doesn't seem to serve any purpose. However, the battery on the keyboard part lasts forever on standby, so it's not really a negative.
AndyRoyd
14 Aug 16#51
Marketing demand and supply. If there's enough consumers that show an interest in a feature, the manufacturers will supply it. Clearly this is what the smaller manufacturers have noted and have responded appropriately, knowing that limited support is unlikely to be detrimental to its sales.
BeerGoggles
14 Aug 16#49
I'm looking for an ultralight laptop I can take on an extensive backpacking trip to india, however I need to use Microsoft Word and maybe powerpoint so I'd need to install it on the device. Would this do? If not can someone recommend a device? I don't want to spend silly money on it in case it get broke or stolen. cheers.
kentris to BeerGoggles
14 Aug 16#50
This would be perfect for it. I've got one and it runs YouTube 1080p videos without any hitches.
There are some visible signs of lag, but that's mainly if Windows Defender is kicking in, or you've got a lot of Chrome tabs open.
benlondon
14 Aug 16#48
Apart from on gearbest and other Chinese sites
coollg_1
14 Aug 16#47
Bought one should get on Monday :smiley:
maxmax
13 Aug 162#6
Can ya downgrade to win7 on these?
don`t want 8 or 10
janner43 to maxmax
13 Aug 161#9
Not as far as I know. W7 doesn't have the drivers required.
thabiz to maxmax
13 Aug 161#20
8 can be made to almost like 7 with the install of Start Menu, then block the W10 update with GWX or whatever it's called. I occasionally go into the metro interface by mistake but other than that it is the same as 7.
Nice to see another person giving the finger to Windows 10. I hate the way MS have forced the update through, and how it's all about data mining, and cloud BS, and updates you can't turn off. It's bad enough that google and social media are making money off every shred of info about me, but now an entire OS is doing that aswell.
Elevation to maxmax
14 Aug 16#46
Downgrade....?
chocobogamer
14 Aug 16#45
Even if MS and Google relaxed this, can't see many manufacturers doing it. BIOS flashes and firmwares would have to be tested to work perfectly on both platforms. With Windows systems you choose to install Android on, there's no support requirement
coollg_1
13 Aug 16#43
Can you set the screen to full hd on the desktop. Even if the icons would be tiny ?
Sp0oner to coollg_1
13 Aug 16#44
Yes I have it to full HD with no scaling as like it that way.
lukewalker48
13 Aug 161#42
Thanks, I ordered one. I had been looking for an android tablet at this screen size and resolution and price , but nothing quite so nice as this around, so will give windows a shot.
luvsadealdealdeal
13 Aug 16#41
ultimately it's the processor that lets it down
pretty weak & useless
stevesuk
13 Aug 16#40
I already have a Lenovo Miix 300, so don't really need this, but something tells me the build quality might be better, and having double the storage (without having to resort to SD cards) and also full HD would be useful. Can't decide :smiley: To anyone on the fence in general, these machines feel better than the sum of their parts, if that makes sense. I use my Lenovo for all my day to day stuff (emails, web, Facebook, YouTube, Word etc.). I've not once thought "this is slow". I used to use my iPad for reading/surfing, but now I use the Lenovo instead (equally as good in tablet or laptop mode). Windows 10 seems to be improving with each update too.
Sp0oner
13 Aug 16#39
I've had one since the last deal when they were £135 and very happy with mine. I had a Linx 10 before this and this is miles ahead in build quality and the screen is fantastic.
I stuck a 128gb sdxc card in mine and stuck my OneDrive account on there and all Win10 apps so plenty of storage space. I was dubious about the keyboard but since it's first charge I haven't had to charge it! The keyboard really isn't an issue and just use a smart phone charger is you need to charge that at the same time as the tablet.
I use mine for when away from home and out in the garden and have it sat in the kitchen when at home mainly for web browsing and emails and it's perfect for light use. Also got games installed like GTA San Andreas and Asphalt 8 just don't expect it to play Forza!
italondonistaavataurino
13 Aug 16#28
Does anyone has this and might report his thoughts?The FHD resolution,the 64gb and the rest of specs seems quite good value for the price..but how good this machine is in real use?And how many hours can you squeeze out from the battery with the average use?I would probably install a Linux distribution on it,that's also to be considered.
sarahjq to italondonistaavataurino
13 Aug 16#38
I just read reviews from purchasers on ebuyer and Amazon, most of your questions should be answered from the reviews :smiley:
mjp100
13 Aug 16#37
Nice one. Ordered. Reviews seem good
dmi3k
13 Aug 161#36
Bought one. Great price for a full HD tablet that also with good battery life, and comes with a keyboard dock.
italondonistaavataurino
13 Aug 16#35
MrPuddington, thanks for your comment.I'm IT literate enough to be able to install firmwares and OSs and to do other things, I'm not concerned on that aspect. I use Linux on my X201t and if needed I got win 8.1 in virtual machine. The thing is that my X201t will never be suitable for travelling,even with a new battery, as it won't do more than 4-5 hours in the best case with the enhanced 12++ battery..and is not lightweight as I'd like.On the other hand, my Note 10.1 was better and now my tab pro 8.4 is perfect for mobility, but not as complete as OS and with no same comfort of typing even with the best external wireless keyboard,not comparable to the X201t or to a proper mini sub-notebook,likewise a chromebook. I didn't like the idea of a Windows 2in1 after having used the system for years and promoted them as Intel Rep. I tried Chromebooks and probably would be my better choice. I was tempted by the idea of converting the t100chi to a linux/Chromebook machine whilst keeping some decent hw specs,but I still want the sleekness of Chrome OS and longest battery possible..so if that won't be achievable with this T100CHI then I would probably go to the Asus c201pa which seems having all I need(probably preferable to the c100 touchscreen version without fuffing too much about the convenience of having a touchscreen for android apps etc.)..
MrPuddington
13 Aug 16#34
First of all I would say if you want a Chromebook, buy a Chromebook. The whole point is that it is easy, and installing Chromium OS is not easy (and it will probably never run the Android emulation either). The same goes for Android: yes, there is Jide OS, but again installing it is not always successful.
That being said, Windows devices are very flexible, and you can probably achieve everything you want with it. But is it worth the effort?
jameshothothot
13 Aug 16#33
Depends what you want to do with it. For long battery life, Netflix, football video streaming, FM2015 on the train, turn-based strategy games, this is perfectly fine. If you want to play Rainbox six siege. Yeah. Sure. But... for £130?
janner43
13 Aug 16#32
Yeah. Right. Let me know when you can find one for £130!! :man:
sam_of_london
13 Aug 16#31
This is a crippled to due Atom 32bit and 2gb ram. Better buy Microsoft Surface or similar with better cpu and more ram.
hornetsam
13 Aug 16#1
its nice i just wish it was dual windows/android boot
janner43 to hornetsam
13 Aug 161#2
You won't find anything on sale that does that. Both MS & Google have "banned" their sale. You'll need to do it yourself.
jameshothothot to hornetsam
13 Aug 161#30
i dual booted mine with remixos. wasn't easy but mine was 32gb and so this would be better as I had to install on internal drive not external sd card
svetts
13 Aug 16#29
The keyboard setup on this is awful, the other T100 models like the HA don't have the same nonsense seperate charger setup and also have proper full size usb ports in the keyboard section. Meaning you don't have to use micro usb adapters to plug in your phone or memory stick. Otherwise it's fine!
janner43
13 Aug 161#27
My take on this is pretty simple - the price is right.
I'd rather have a Chromebook - but for the majority who are wedded to Windows, other than the 2gb RAM, I doubt you'll find anything better for the price. I'm no Asus sycophant , I can assure you, but this is cheap for what you are getting.
speculatrix
13 Aug 162#26
I'm sure it's Intel and Microsoft who ensure these devices are crippled so as only to run Windows with just 2GB RAM
SFconvert
13 Aug 16#25
Seems a good deal, nice screen too. 64gb memory a bonus, I have a 32gb win 10 tablet/laptop and Windows does take a fair old chunk of it, it got down to around 3gb spare when it did a major update the other day.
I upgraded a Windows 7 laptop yesterday without issue.
luvsadealdealdeal
13 Aug 161#23
Powerful?!!!
Average cpu 1256
not totally useless for the money but not any good for anything much other than email & simple surfing
italondonistaavataurino
13 Aug 16#18
And also my x201t has Linux mint on it running pretty well. I wanted a ultra light mini laptop and that's why I was oriented to those 11.6 chromebooks or at an Intel 2in1 but only if really good and at similar price..and want a real 10 hours battery life..so any thoughts people?would make sense to sell one/both my galaxy tablet(s) to add that T100chi as companion to my x201t and as a partial replacement also to my android tablets?
italondonistaavataurino
13 Aug 16#17
No no the X201t will live forever!But when going out for travelling or outside home I still need a machine with a good battery life. And BTW the battery for my X201t they might cost around £25-35, for the more powerful version, which anyway seems not to make a huge difference as read on Internet..it won't last more than 4 hours. I would be glad if someone would point me to a real reliable battery for my x201t, anyway even the original costly lenovo one wouldn't last much long considering its old age(2010). Example: https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B008CNJGIE/
MrPuddington
13 Aug 16#16
It looks good: large storage, full HD display, very light. But the choice to only install 2GB of RAM seems strange, that is an obvious bottleneck. I would rather spend a bit more and get 4GB.
fishmaster
13 Aug 161#14
Replace the battery on the X201! It'll be £15-20. Way better than this piece of crap in this deal. Asus are a bunch of wayne kerrs as well. If you replace the X201 with this you're mad.
sradmad
13 Aug 162#13
good find op, heat added
CampGareth
13 Aug 164#12
You could always replace the battery on the X201?
AndyRoyd
13 Aug 16#11
Nothing more recent than 2.5 years ago? Would be interesting to see how MS or Google currently justify the suggestion.
italondonistaavataurino
13 Aug 16#10
Hi everyone, this deal is tempting to me because I'm looking for a mini laptop to replace/add to my Thinkpad X201t(which still works but has a crap battery). I was more oriented towards chromebooks, to the c100pa initially ( https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B0107N7WT6/ ) but don't want to spend over £170. So was thinking about the C201pa ( https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B0107N7X5E/ ) or the N22 ( https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B01GCNZ79C/ ). I have a galaxy note 10.1 2012 edition and a galaxy tab pro 8.4 and was thinking that I might be fine in selling them and then buying just one of those chromebooks( since I have a note 4 for quick notes taking I don't feel I need the note 10.1 anymore and BTW my old thinkpad has also the wacom digitizer with its pen just in case). I didn't like the idea of a windows tablet but this one seems really good on specs and price and might be able to install linux or a sort of chromebook-like-os on it..Therefore, I wanted to hear your thoughts on it and about the tablet,especially if someone has it already..
The screen is a big bonus as well. Main reason why I kept mine rather than sell it on.
Also, Poundland have excellent cases for these at the moment - see HERE for pics (not listed online)
janner43
13 Aug 161#3
Yes - it's only about the price for me on this. And the 64gb eMMC. For the price, this is a bargain - not that I intend to buy one...:smiley:
![Fresh Breakfast Meat Box (Using code) @ Campbells Meat [Haggis / Lorne Sausage / Bacon / Black Pudding & More]](/images/topics/208684_1.jpg)
![[Xbox One] Q. u. b. e: Director's Cut on Deals with Gold](/images/topics/208716_1.jpg)
Opening post
Let's admit it: carrying both a tablet and a laptop is a nuisance. Chi is a 2-in-1, which means exactly what it says - it's a Windows laptop with a keyboard that detaches, turning it into a Windows tablet. Two devices, in one beautiful package. It's a simple idea that's elegant and convenient, too. Need to work? It's a powerful laptop. Time to relax? Detach the keyboard and it's a handy tablet. No fuss, no hassle.
Thinner. Lighter
Transformer Book T100 Chi is razor-thin and feather-light, with a tablet that's just 7.2mm thin and weighs a mere 570g. Even with the keyboard attached, it's still a slender 13.2mm and weighs just 1.08kg, so you'll never have an excuse to leave your T100 Chi at home. Working (or playing!) on-the-go has never been so easy.
Luxury. Elegance. Purity
Transformer Book T100 Chi may look smooth, slim and sophisticated, but it's tough at heart. The body and display are both precision-crafted, all-aluminum one-piece designs that eliminates the need for ugly seams and screws. This also means that even though it's exceptionally thin and light, there's no loss of strength. Chi takes real life in its stride, without missing a beat.
Picture Perfect
Experience beautifully-clear and bright images with T100 Chi's ASUS TruVivid display, engineered using direct bonding to reduce reflections and give sharper, more vivid colors under any lighting conditions. With Chi, images look so good you'll think they're real. And with IPS technology for super-wide viewing angles, Chi really is a feast for your eyes.
Immersive Audio
Chi banishes the idea that small size means small sound. Exclusive ASUS SonicMaster technology combined with powerful stereo speakers gives you crystal-clear audio with deep, rich bass. Now you can enjoy the ultimate sound experience - anywhere!
Processor
Intel® Quad-Core Atom® Bay Trail-T, Z3775 1.46GHz
Up to 2.39GHz
2M Cache
Memory
2GB On-board
Hard Drive
64GB eMMC
Optical Drive
None
Software
Operating System: Windows 8.1 (32bit) - with Bing for Tablet (AFO)
Microsoft® Office 365 Personal - 1 Year Subscription
Display
10.1" Touch Screen
Ultra-Slim
LED Backlit
Resolution: 1920 x 1200 (WUXGA)
Graphics
Intel HD Graphics Gen7
Audio
Built-in speaker
Built-in array microphone
Networking
802.11agn+Bluetooth 4.0 (Dual band)
Power Supply
10W AC Adapter
Output: 5V DC, 2A, 10W
Input: 100~240V AC, 50/60Hz universal
Dimensions
Width 256mm
Depth 174mm
Height 12.7mm
Weight 1.07kg
Interfaces
1 x Micro USB 2.0
1 x Micro USB 3.0
1 x Headphone-out & Audio-in Combo Jack
1 x micro HDMI
Micro SD Card Reader (SDXC)
Warranty/Miscellaneous
HD web camera + 5 Mega Pixel rear camera with Auto Focus
ASUS 255mm keyboard with 17.43mm key pitch
1 Year Manufacturer Warranty
Top comments
First, consider what you are getting for £129.99 - this is a very premium, metal tablet with chamfered edges and excellent build quality. It was clearly designed at a much higher price point and when docked is not dissimilar in size and thinness to a MacBook Air 11". Even the box screams 'premium'. Inside that box you also get:
- An active stylus. Metal bodied with rubberised grip, similar in weight and feel to a Wacom pen.
- A keyboard dock with half-decent trackpad. Again , the wrist rest/keyboard surround is metal with chamfered edges.
- 1 year of UNLIMITED cloud storage from Asus Webstorage.
- 1 year of Office 365 Personal. I've already sold my code on eBay as I have no need for it (effectively bringing the price down to £105).
It's clear that Asus intended for this to compete with the non-Pro entry Surface 3 (that, too, has 2Gb RAM and 64Gb storage). This doesn't have a kickstand, but you can flip it around and dock it 'backwards' on the keyboard for a viewing mode with multiple angles.
To get this level of spec with the Surface 3 you would be looking at around £500 - the 64Gb model can be picked up for around £350 new right now, but the keyboard and pen would be separate purchases. For basic email/web, office stuff and note taking, this Asus is fantastic. I even have Dragon NaturallySpeaking running on it flawlessly.
Some slight downsides - the bezels are pretty big. Not a deal breaker (and the screen itself is fantastic) but it's obviously been designed this way to keep symmetry with the keyboard dock and not make the keys too tiny. Secondly, this ships with Windows 8.1 and it's a little buggy out of the box. I downloaded the Windows 10 Upgrade Tool via the Accessibility site and it updated perfectly for free.
Again, there is a LOT here for the money. Bear in mind the floppy iPad Pro Smart Keyboard costs MORE than this entire device! If you need the pen (I do, for digital markup of PDFs), there is simply nothing better value that comes close.
No. Not possible as the keyboard is always 'attached' via Bluetooth (unless you switch it off). My Surface devices didn't do this either - at least not reliably.
TransformerForums T100Chi
W10 clean install...
[GUIDE] How to Clean Install Windows 10 and Install Drivers
Latest comments (71)
I've given the calibrate process another chance this morning and will try again later (when the battery is fully charged again). Before shutting down, I also uninstalled the ACPI battery driver (as recommended in another thread).
But I have a feeling that my battery may be faulty. If it means I have to be without it for a few days whilst its off at the service centre, then I'll still be happy (providing it comes back fixed of course :-) )
I contacted Asus and received this reply:
"In order to find a solution to this issue, we may first perform a power discharge, so as to refresh the circuits on the motherboard. This can be done as explained below:
- turn off the machine (if it is switched on);
- disconnect the AC adapter;
- press and hold down the power button for 30 seconds (to discharge the components);
- plug the AC adapter;
- turn on the unit.
In case the above troubleshooting steps do not solve the issue, I am afraid that this indicates a possible hardware failure and in that situation we have two possibilities: you may consider either booking the unit for a repair with our repair centre or contacting the re-seller to see if the unit is stil within the return policy."
If you Google for Asus T100 Chi and battery issues, then there's a number of people with problems. Don't know what to do really. I have a suspicion that I'm getting what you'd expect from the battery, and it may actually be the reporting (in Windows) of remaining battery life that is wrong. So I could waste time sending it back to Asus, and it might be no better when I get it back.
You're right though... cracking bit of kit (other than this problem!).
I am also experiencing odd battery life
From a claimed 10 hour battery life...the most I can get is six
This can fluctuate from day to day even when I am doing the same tasks
Worried about returns in the same way that you are
Was going to contact Asus too
Please update if you get anywhere with this
Battery aside...it really is a cracking bit of kit...esp for the price...as long as you understand it's limitations:-))
I thought something was up with mine from day one, so I installed a battery monitoring app to check.
The battery discharges fine to about 35% - 40%, then suddenly Windows reports (within seconds) that it's down to ~ 5%. Also, when I charge it, although Windows thinks its fully charged - if you shut Windows down and go by the BIOS level on-screen charging meter (quick push on the power button, and it shows a battery meter on the screen briefly), it never seems to charge beyond 80% - even if I leave it plugged in all night.
I had a Google, and it seems I'm not the only one who's experienced this problem. I don't really want to send it back for a refund (knowing that eBuyer don't seem to have any left now), because other than this - its a great bit of kit.
I'm going to contact Asus tech support, but just wondered if anyone else had noticed similar behaviour? Worried eBuyer have had them sat in a warehouse for some time, and the battery has decayed.
Saved me £130
On the good side I have finally done a clean install of windows 10. That includes deleting the original partitions and everything that Asus put on. Windows media creation tool wouldn't let me do that on the T300 and I could not change the boot order in the bios to boot the windows 10 iso file from usb because usb boot was not there. I used the 'Rufus' software to create a bootable usb drive using the windows 10 iso file and I could then run that file from the settings and recovery menu. Seems very zippy to how it was.
Good to hear it comes with a stylus, and also that you managed to update to Windows 10 with no issues. I plan to do the same, as my Lenovo is running 10, and the Anniversary update was a big improvement.
I wrote a Windows service for the Lenovo that did the automatic tablet/laptop mode switching based on it detecting the attachment (and disconnection) of the keyboard dock. So I might look at the feasibility of doing the same here.
First, consider what you are getting for £129.99 - this is a very premium, metal tablet with chamfered edges and excellent build quality. It was clearly designed at a much higher price point and when docked is not dissimilar in size and thinness to a MacBook Air 11". Even the box screams 'premium'. Inside that box you also get:
- An active stylus. Metal bodied with rubberised grip, similar in weight and feel to a Wacom pen.
- A keyboard dock with half-decent trackpad. Again , the wrist rest/keyboard surround is metal with chamfered edges.
- 1 year of UNLIMITED cloud storage from Asus Webstorage.
- 1 year of Office 365 Personal. I've already sold my code on eBay as I have no need for it (effectively bringing the price down to £105).
It's clear that Asus intended for this to compete with the non-Pro entry Surface 3 (that, too, has 2Gb RAM and 64Gb storage). This doesn't have a kickstand, but you can flip it around and dock it 'backwards' on the keyboard for a viewing mode with multiple angles.
To get this level of spec with the Surface 3 you would be looking at around £500 - the 64Gb model can be picked up for around £350 new right now, but the keyboard and pen would be separate purchases. For basic email/web, office stuff and note taking, this Asus is fantastic. I even have Dragon NaturallySpeaking running on it flawlessly.
Some slight downsides - the bezels are pretty big. Not a deal breaker (and the screen itself is fantastic) but it's obviously been designed this way to keep symmetry with the keyboard dock and not make the keys too tiny. Secondly, this ships with Windows 8.1 and it's a little buggy out of the box. I downloaded the Windows 10 Upgrade Tool via the Accessibility site and it updated perfectly for free.
Again, there is a LOT here for the money. Bear in mind the floppy iPad Pro Smart Keyboard costs MORE than this entire device! If you need the pen (I do, for digital markup of PDFs), there is simply nothing better value that comes close.
No. Not possible as the keyboard is always 'attached' via Bluetooth (unless you switch it off). My Surface devices didn't do this either - at least not reliably.
I have just sold my Miix 3 which is a shame really. The screen is really nice to watch videos on and owning the t300 and the Miix 3 with the same resolution as the T100chi I doubt many will be disappointed with the screen quality of the t100chi. At this price it represents excellent value. However one thing that may P you off is the micro-b usb 3 port. Why Asus did this is ridiculous for the sake of maybe saving 1 to 2mm in product thickness. My t300chi came with a little converter hub but it's so tight trying to put a memory stick in it I am worried I am going to break something. I bought another converter lead of ebay as well as some OTG leads. You can use a normal micro-b (android phone lead) which plugs into the micro-b3 port. I got mine from kenable and they are fairly cheap.
The t100chi has a benchmark pass of 1256 which is quite respectable for this size of laptop. I didn't really have any issues with general surfing and scrolling through the menus on the Miix 3 which has a slower processor than the t100. I also have a Lenovo Yoga 300 which has 4gb ram and a 1965 passmark yet in some respects the Miix is faster and better.
Also a very nice design and high-res screen for this price point.
Wrt the keyboard Bluetooth: it's a bit of a pointless design choice by Asus certainly, doesn't seem to serve any purpose. However, the battery on the keyboard part lasts forever on standby, so it's not really a negative.
There are some visible signs of lag, but that's mainly if Windows Defender is kicking in, or you've got a lot of Chrome tabs open.
don`t want 8 or 10
Nice to see another person giving the finger to Windows 10. I hate the way MS have forced the update through, and how it's all about data mining, and cloud BS, and updates you can't turn off. It's bad enough that google and social media are making money off every shred of info about me, but now an entire OS is doing that aswell.
pretty weak & useless
I stuck a 128gb sdxc card in mine and stuck my OneDrive account on there and all Win10 apps so plenty of storage space. I was dubious about the keyboard but since it's first charge I haven't had to charge it! The keyboard really isn't an issue and just use a smart phone charger is you need to charge that at the same time as the tablet.
I use mine for when away from home and out in the garden and have it sat in the kitchen when at home mainly for web browsing and emails and it's perfect for light use. Also got games installed like GTA San Andreas and Asphalt 8 just don't expect it to play Forza!
That being said, Windows devices are very flexible, and you can probably achieve everything you want with it. But is it worth the effort?
I'd rather have a Chromebook - but for the majority who are wedded to Windows, other than the 2gb RAM, I doubt you'll find anything better for the price. I'm no Asus sycophant , I can assure you, but this is cheap for what you are getting.
Average cpu 1256
not totally useless for the money but not any good for anything much other than email & simple surfing
TransformerForums T100Chi
W10 clean install...
[GUIDE] How to Clean Install Windows 10 and Install Drivers
Also, Poundland have excellent cases for these at the moment - see HERE for pics (not listed online)