Asus Transformer Book T302CA - successor to the T300 Chi

After the leaks of the past weeks, Asus has now made the Transformer Book T302CA official:

Main Specs (complete list at the end):

• 16:9 12.5" 2560x1440 or 1920x1080 Screen with 72% NTSC Gamut
  
• up to 15 hr battery life (two 38Wh batteries in tablet and keyboard each)
• 750 g light (Tablet only, plus 700g for the dock)
  
• 8.05 mm thin (Tablet only, plus 10.5 mm for the dock)
• Skylake Intel Core m3-6Y30 or m7-6Y75 CPU
  
• 4GB or 8GB Ram
• up to 512GB m.2 SATA SSD
  
• Ports on Tablet: 2x USB-C 3.1 Gen 1 (5 Gb/s, no Thunderbolt 3), 3.5mm jack
  
• Ports on Keyboard dock: 1x USB-A 2.0, 1x USB-A 3.0
• keyboard with 1.5 mm travel distance, optional backlit keyboard
  
• most likely Synaptics Pen
• looks like no LTE option

http://www.asus.com/2-in-1-PCs/T302CA/specifications/








Complete Specifications:


· Processor
Intel® Core™ M 6Y30/6Y75 Processor,

· Operating System
Windows 10 Home
Windows 10 Pro

· Chipset
Integrated Intel® CPU

· Memory
4 GB LPDDR3 1600MHz SDRAM Onboard Memory, up to 8 GB SDRAM

· Display
12.5" (16:9) LED backlit WQHD (2560x1440) Glare Touchscreen with 72% NTSC
12.5" (16:9) LED backlit FHD (1920x1080) Glare Touchscreen with 72% NTSC
Support ASUS Splendid Technology

· Graphic
Integrated Intel HD Graphics 515

· Storage
Solid State Drives:
128GB/256GB/512GB SATA3 M.2 SSD

· Keyboard
Chicklet keyboard
Optional Illuminated Chiclet Keyboard is available

· Card Reader
Multi-format card reader (SD/SDHC/SDXC)

· WebCam
Tablet : Front 720p HD camera

· Networking
Wi-Fi
Integrated 802.11a/b/g/n/ac(2x2) (WIDI Support)
10/100/1000 Base T
Bluetooth
Built-in Bluetooth V4.1

· Interface
1 x Microphone-in/Headphone-out jack
2 x USB-C Gen 1 (up to 5 Gbps)
1 x SD card reader

· Audio
Support Windows 10 Cortana
ASUS SonicMaster Technology

· Battery
2 Cells 38 Whrs Polymer Battery
Up to 8 Hours movie playback
Up to 8 Hours web browsing

· Power Adapter
Plug Type :USB TYPE C
Output :
20 V DC, 2.25 A, 45 W
Input :
100 -240 V AC, 50/60 Hz universal

· Dimensions
Tablet:
317.8 x 191.6 x 8.05 mm (WxDxH) (w/ 2cell battery)
Dock: (Mobile Dock)
317.8 x 191.6 x 3.5 ~10.5 mm (WxDxH) (w/ 2cell battery)

· Weight
Tablet:
750 g with Battery
Dock: (Mobile Dock)
700 g with Battery

 

Asus needs to abandon 16:9 aspect.

 

I do like the double battery both tablet + keyboard,but.

1. 16:9 aspect.
2. Core M SkyLake.
3. Synaptic pen
4. Huge bezels.
5. No USB C 3.1 thunderbolt support.

All of that is deal breaker.


Sent from my iPad Air 2

 

Perhaps the Transformer 3 made this is a moot point? I would get the Transformer 3 over the Transformer Book T302CA for the form factor and pricing. I just cannot go back to 16:9 given its awkwardly tall and slender presentation after getting so pampered by the paper-like, golden ratio inspired fit and finish in my Surface 3. The Transformer 3's entry level price of $799 supplies the user with 256 GB of storage and 4 GB of RAM, which is much more than the T300 CHI's price proposition and probably the best price per GB for a Core M device to date on the market.

The Transformer 3 also promises a screen with a near DCI-P3/iPad Pro 9.7" color gamut and a full Thunderbolt 3 connector. Do not forget that, come its winter release date, it will have Kaby Lake Core M under the hood that should have a nice boost in graphics and general processing. With more and better all around, I now see nothing appealing about the T302CA except if I personally preferred its 16:9 and the included mechanical keyboard.

I myself am not planning to upgrade until Cannonlake in late 2017 when Core M and the premium Windows tablet has stabilized and hopefully a 10-inch Core M tablet is released. Since Atom has bowed out and Windows tablet partners evidently are upping their game against iPad Pro, I naturally expect that to be the hey day of premium Windows tablets in my target $600 to $800 price range.

 

I'm having the same thought.
Probably I will skip Kaby Lake and wait until second half of 2017 with the new 10nm architecture and hope MS and Intel meet the expectations 100% without compromising.

I hope also that current power management issue of Core M is totally resolved with the future generations of both Windows 10 and Intel new fanless CPU series.

But also I'm looking the evolving of ARM platform because I'm not really trust both MS and Intel.



Sent from my iPad Air 2

 

Gorgeous as ever! I wish they offered the same piano black for the transformer 3.

 

I've been using a T300 Chi for a few months now, and this refresh of the concept actually might appeal to me down the road for two reasons: 1) I really like the clamshell option, and 2) I would really like the option of having a back up battery in the kb dock.
The announcement of the Transformer 3, which is a beautiful machine, makes me think that this T302CA may end up going the way of vapor-ware. I would love to see a clamshell keyboard dock with battery available for purchase with the Transformer 3. That would be a real winner.

As for the choice of pen (which appears to still be-surprisingly-Asus' Synaptics pen for both this T302 and the Transformer 3), I would have preferred Wacom AES, but can live with Synaptics. As I only use my pen for non-pressure sensitive note taking, the Synaptics pen seems to work fine for me, with the major caveat being that the Dell Active pen is cheaply made. When it works it works fine. But put it in your pocket and it's likely to crack or get wonky. Good thing you can pick them up on Amazon for $15.