ASUS Transformer Book T200TA Pro Reviews

If you are looking for a combination of Windows laptop and tablet, the Asus Transformer Book T200 is a very appealing option that offers a fair amount for only $539 (around £349, or AU$690). Whilst personally I would have liked to see a higher resolution screen, and a thinner body, these compromises were clearly made in order to make an affordable convertible that is considerably cheaper than buying a separate laptop and tablet. As long as you aren't planning on doing any intensive video, music or photo editing and will survive without installing the latest edition of Crysis, the T200 has plenty of power and a long enough battery life to get by with ease. For those with a little more cash to splash, the Surface Pro 3 is a very appealing option that offers similar functionality in a slimmer form, and with much more power. Otherwise, if you are looking for something a little larger, Asus' own 13-inch Transformer Book TX300 packs an i7 processor and a full-HD screen.

The Asus Transformer Book T200TA-C1-BL is a good detachable-hybrid tablet for just under $500. While most of its drawbacks are minor nits, there are other systems that give you more storage space and battery life, for the same price or less.

Overall, the Asus Transformer Book T200 does an admirable job of bringing value to the consumer at its $499 price point. As long as you don't expect it to have the performance of a workstation or gaming system—i.e., use it for the everyday tasks for which it was designed—it's one of the few hybrid devices that works equally as well as a traditional notebook or as a dedicated tablet. We especially appreciated the tablet's ergonomics.Other positives include good build quality and connectivity, the handy storage upgrade bay in the keyboard dock, and decent display quality. On the downside, we wish the touch pad had quieter clicks, the screen resolution were higher, and the display tilted back further in notebook mode. But these nitpicks don't dissuade us from calling the T200 a worthy successor to the landmark Transformer Book T100. We're happy to recommend it to anyone looking for a device that gives the best of both the laptop and tablet worlds.

Asus works some low-cost magic and serves up a capable 11.6in Windows 8.1 hybrid for £350