Bests & Worsts Reviews from Amazon

I purchased this wonderful little 2-in-1 two weeks ago at Microcenter and found that it meets all my needs and expectations, but not without a few quirks. This is not a Microsoft Surface, and it is definitely not the only laptop you should have if you do anything other than surf the web or do light word processing. This little machine does fill some niche purposes very well. Personally, I use it to do work on my 45 minute to hour long train ride commute. Its also great for couch web surfing and even some (very light) gaming. The 4 star rating is based on a complete understanding that this is a sub $300 tablet with included keyboard ($280 at the time of this writing), so I have tempered my expectations accordingly and come away impressed. PROS: -Specs - price for performance - This is a sub $300 tablet that has an included keyboard, 4gb of ram and 64GB of storage. Hard to beat those specs for that price. Sure, the screen is only 1280x800 pixels, and its an Atom processor (though it is the newer Cherry Trail version), but this little machine works really well for day to day tasks. Those cheaper machines with only 2GB of RAM, 32GB of storage and a previous generation Bay Trail processor pale in comparison. Spend about $100 more to get this machine compared to those others and you will get better performance, and still save $300 compared a similarly specced Microsoft Surface 3 (not the Pro; the Surface 3 base model also has a Cherry Trail processor, only 2gb of ram, and 64GB of storage) plus its $120 keyboard (which is not included in the Surface 3 base price) and you'll be really happy. Note that you'd have about 35gb of usable storage space when you first turn the laptop on. -Form Factor - This little machine can fit (awkwardly) in my winter coat pocket. I'm pretty sure there are some cargo pockets this would fit into. Not that you would ever transport it that way, but the point is this thing is really compact. It's a bit heavy, but that is really related to ensuring proper balance on your lap or on a table when you have the keyboard attached, so the weight it forgivable. Some people will complain about the weight, but I don't see it as an issue. The tablet secures easily to the keyboard with magnets (no button to push or anything). The connection is secure enough that you can lift it by the tablet portion and the keyboard remains securely attached. Minimal effort is needed to separate the two parts. Also, unlike a Surface 3, the Asus T100 can easily be used as a laptop. The Surface 3, which does not have a hinge connecting the tablet and keyboard portion, does not do that as well. Not an issue if you are using them on tables, but definitely a consideration for couch surfing and working on the train. -Straight Performance - The Asus T100HA is a workhorse for its size - remember this is essentially a tablet with a keyboard and not a true laptop. Internet Explorer, Chrome and other regular Windows applications open quickly and run well. Since it has 4GB RAM I can run lots of programs at one time without an issue. I even installed a recent 3D game (Divinity: Original Sin) just to see if it would run and found that the game was smooth enough to play on this *sub $300 tablet with keyboard.* Blows my mind really. Middle of the Road - items that are neither good nor bad, but should be noted -Keyboard - There's not a lot Asus can do with the keyboard to make it really great at this size and price. I've used a netbook before (a really sturdy Acer Aspire One that served me well) so I knew what to expect. Its serviceable, but feels a little bit flimsy and hollow. Typing on it is just fine for me. I'm typing on it right now actually with minimal errors or issues. I wouldn't want to write a thesis on this, but emails, short documents, etc., will work just fine. If this is a concern, I'd go out to a store and check it out since it is definitely a preference thing. But again, if you come into this purchase with the right mindset (this is a sub $300 tablet with included keyboard) you really shouldn't be disappointed. -Camera - its just okay. Nothing amazing, and definitely not something to rely on to take important photos. I don't know why they even put a camera on this machine except to list it as a feature. Just about any phone is going to have a better camera, so just use that. -Speakers - they produce sound, but not sound you want to rely on for much. Again though, what would you really expect at $300? They work for Youtube videos and minor stuff, but I wouldn't rely on them to play music at a party. -Wifi speed - The wifi is not slow by any means, but I will note that it is not capable of maxing out my 50mbs (essentially 7MBs) internet even on the 5ghz channel. Instead of 6.9MBs on downloads, I seemed to top out at 4.5 to 4.9MBs. Not a deal breaker by any means, but something to note. But really, with only 64GB of storage, you can't be downloading too many large files anyway, so something to note, but not a negative. -Screen - serviceable, but unremarkable. Some backlight bleed, generally low contrast ratios, and low resolution will be complaints some people have. Not an issue in my use since I'm not buying this machine because of the pretty screen. I'm buying it because it a super portable machine with enough power to do what I need it to do. Cons: Some wonkiness -Onscreen keyboard - Occasionally the tablet won't pull up and onscreen keyboard which leads to an inability to do any typing unless I either restarted the tablet or attached the keyboard. Annoying, but hopefully something that can be fixed with a software update. When the onscreen keyboard does pop up, it works just as you would expect it to and just like any other tablet. -Portrait Mode - This is maybe a bit nitpicky, but the tablet doesn't really know what to do when you are looking at the desktop in portrait mode. Rather than put black bars at the top and bottom to keep the proportions right for your desktop image, by default it stretches and distorts the image to fit the screen. I'll have to search in options to see if that can be easily fixed (guessing it can), but stretching shouldn't be the default setting. -Switching between landscape and portrait is not always the smoothest transition, and it has gotten stuck a few times. Not a deal breaker, but definitely something that should be noted. Most times the tablet figured the problem out, one time it completely failed and I had to restart it. Overall, I took off one star for some scattered wonkiness, but this is really a solid value at sub $300. Use it for the things it is good at - couch web surfing, portable productivity, extremely light gaming - and I don't think the T100HA will disappoint you for the price. If you need a more refined experience, definitely check out the Surface 3. If you really need a pretty reliable, portable, web surfer and word processor on the cheap, I really think the T100HA is hard to beat. Please drop any questions you have into the comments and I'll try to answer them!