14 DAY TRIAL // Back at Computex 2014, ASUS had a few new interesting products to show us, among which we saw the brand new Transformer Book Flip, a laptop convertible that can be used as a tablet by virtue of flipping the touchscreen with 360 degrees.
ASUS said 13-inch and 15-inch models were going to be made available for customer pickup, and one month later the smaller one, the Transformer Book Flip TP300LA, has appeared in the Microsoft Store. The device sells for $799 / €587.
Obviously, the device doesn't come cheap so let’s see what you’ll be getting for this money. The 13.3-inch machine offers the better than average 1920 x 1080 pixel resolution.
Under the hood lies an Intel Core i5-4210U Haswell processor fitted with 8GB and backed up by a 500GB hard drive.
The device has Windows 8.1 64-bit software onboard and its touchscreen comes with support for 10-finger multi-touch input.
The Transformer Book Flip is relatively light weight, measuring 0.9 inches / 2.2 cm in thickness and weighing 3.7 lbs / 1.6 kg.
Adopters of the Book Flip will also be able to take advantage of Intel HD 4400 graphics, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, 2 USB 3.0 ports, 1 USB 2.0 ports, HDMI out and a SD card reader.
This is the first Transformer Book Flip model to make it out into the wild, but the ASUS official website suggests we will end up seeing other models arrive in the wild, as well. At some point, versions with Core i3, Core i7 processors, lower-res displays, larger hard drives or faster solid state drives might appear in shops.
As for the 15.6-inch model, ASUS is expected to offer it with NVIDIA graphics and an optional disc drive. But for the time being, you’re only getting the model outlined above. However, if you want to wait a little while, we’re pretty sure ASUS will make the larger model available soon.
At the same event (Computex 2014), ASUS also introduced the Transformer Book V which continues the company’s so far seemingly futile effort of offering dual OS on a device.
The Book V is a 2-in-1 laptop that arrives with a detachable Android phone. While the laptop/hybrid part runs Windows 8.1 out of the box, the phone component is equipped with Android 4.4. KitKat. And docking the phone will cause the Android interface to be displayed in Windows 8.
ASUS also rolled out the Transformer Book T300 Chi, which is one of the first hybrids to run on Intel’s new Broadwell architecture. If we’re lucky, we’re probably going to see the Chi arrive in retail in time for Christmas. But we have serious doubts this will be the case.
