14 DAY TRIAL // On the computer and consumer electronics market, the word “convertible” used to be applied only to laptops or tablets that could turn into the other, but this hasn't been the case for a while.
All-in-one computers that can lay flat on a table and act as tablets, or touch-based “tables,” are just one example of the more recent uses.
More importantly to our current topic, however, is the convertible design by way of which an all-in-one computer breaks off into two parts, a tablet and a dock.
The ASUS Transformer AiO P1801 is one such product, one that made an appearance at CeBIT 2013, but didn't start selling right away.
Now, though, US retailer B&H has listed the product as available for order, so we can't, in good conscience, pass it by.
The 18.4-inch system has a price of $1,259.23, which is about the same as 962.93 Euro according to exchange rates, though the EU price will probably come closer to €1,259.
The unusual thing about this computer is that it has two distinct hardware configurations.
The tablet segment, measuring the full 18.4 inches in diagonal, pairs an NVIDIA Tegra 3 SoC with the Android 4.1 Jelly Bean operating system.
When it is left in the dock/stand, however, the Tegra 3 becomes inactive, as does the Android OS for that matter.
In other words, the tablet becomes a normal display, drawing on the strength of the stronger, Windows 8 system hardware set.
An Intel Core i5 CPU is at the center of things, though a Core i7 can be used too, and is backed by 4 or 8 GB of DDR3 RAM, an NVIDIA GeForce GT 730M graphics card (laptop-type, 2 GB memory) and a hard disk drive of 1 TB.
A DVD-writer, various ports and plugs, a TV Tuner and a card reader can be found as well.
