14 DAY TRIAL // One would think ASUS would do all it can to deliver a revolutionary product to consumers as fast as possible, but the company either feels different or has been encountering more than the usual share of obstacles when making and marketing the Taichi ultrathin laptop.
ASUS Taichi is an odd piece of work because not only is it very thin, for high-end laptops at least, but it also has two screens.
While the normal laptop LCD is present, another one is on the other side of the lid, essentially permitting the notebook to become a tablet just by closing it.
The second screen also lets two people enjoy the system at the same time, although there will obviously be limitations to what the second person can do. Nevertheless, the possibilities of multiplayer and collaborative work are considerable.
ASUS was supposed to start shipping the Taichi on October 26, 2012, but the item ended up being delayed, repeatedly. In fact, the delay appears to be indefinite at this point.
Some list December 1 as the expected release date, but there is no guarantee for availability to finally arrive even then.
Meanwhile, Amazon.com and Newegg have both stopped accepting orders altogether.
ASUS Taichi is a convertible ultrabook, of sorts, which measures 11.6 inches in diagonal. It is this model that, people hope, will sell form December 1 onwards (Taichi 21).
The Taichi 31, however, with a screen size of 13.3 inches, is implied to be scheduled for January 30, 2013. Some still hope it will arrive next month, like the other one, but not many.
We do not know what has been keeping the dual-screen laptop from shipping. The Full HD displays (1920 x 1080 pixels), Core i7 CPUs, 4 GB RAM and SSDs aren't really all that unusual as far as hardware goes.
At this point, the only reason there aren't more people disgruntled over this state of affairs is the pricing: $1299 to 1599 / 1005-1299 to 1237-1599 Euro.