Asus Transformer Book T100 Chi Convertible Tablet Review

[Redaktion]

Stylishly affordable... The latest Chi convertible from ASUS might not satisfy those with heavy computing needs, but it seems a compelling proposition for those in the market for an inexpensive 2-in-1. Can this lower-end alternative to Microsoft's Surface line make a splash?

http://www.notebookcheck.net/Asus-Transformer-Book-T100-Chi-Convertible-Tablet-Review.140913.0.html

[IpaqMan]

I appreciated your review of the Asus T100 Chi.  I have the 64GB eMMC storage version of the T100 Chi and my PCMark 7 and disk benchmarks are different.

Here is what I got:

PCMark 7 score 2772

64 GB eMMC Flash
Sequential Read: 177.6 MB/s
Sequential Write: 72.0 MB/s
512K Read: 164.8 MB/s
512K Write: 49.01 MB/s
4K Read: 15.10 MB/s
4K Write: 14.44 MB/s
4K QD32 Read: 28.46 MB/s
4K QD32 Write: 16.47 MB/s

The 177.6 / 72 read/write speed is among the best of eMMC drives that I have benchmarked.  This is faster than the Surface 3 eMMC disk benchmark.

I did not read in your review about the T100 Chi active stylus support.  I have a Dell Active stylus revA03 which works great with my Dell Venue 8 Pro and the T100 Chi.
An added benefit is that it makes it easier to do menu selections in Windows.  The stylus support may also make the T100 Chi an alternative to the new Surface 3.

[Garry Clark]

That is awesome news about the read write speeds on the 64GB version if give me hope that it will be a great device. I am currently testing a Lenovo Yoga 2 10" Windows. I have not done a read write speed on the eMMC yet but I will get on it right now and see how it compares.
Have you used the Yoga 2 at all and if so how did oyu find it compared?

[Adam F]

It's so frustrating that a 4GB RAM model is not offered. The z3775 certainly supports it (unlike the z3735/6Fs used in many other sub-US$500 tablets). With an extra 2GB, it could multitask properly and replace my ageing Core 2 Duo notebook as well as my Android tablet.

Yes, there's always the 4GB/128GB SKU Surface 3, but in Australia that will cost over $1000 with a keyboard. At that price, I'd prefer the T300 Chi, if only it didn't have a 16:9 screen, which is horrible in portrait reading mode.

Surely it can't be engineering reasons not to produce an Atom tablet with decent screen aspect ratio and resolution + 4GB RAM. The Fujitsu Q584, HP Elitepad 1000 and Surface 3 seem to be the only ones so far, and they're just too close in price to a premium ultrabook....

[Adam F]

OK so I got carried away with complaining and forgot about the Lenovo Thinkpad 10 and HP Pro Tablet 610 G1. The former retails here in 4GB/128GB spec for $1049, but the latter has recently been marked down hugely from $899 RRP to about $420 at some stores. It appears to be even cheaper than in the US. With x64 Win 8.1 Pro and 4GB of RAM, that is probably the best Bay Trail option for work under $500.

[M.Tarr]

My Asus T100 Chi came with a Stylus! What do you guys think about the weight? I am thinking of returning it and getting a budget Acer ES1 11.6" Laptop and upgrading the ram to 8GB. I can't make up my mind.

My first T100 Chi had a dead pixel I currently have a replacement.

[Mandy]

I quite my Asus T100 chi other than the Keyboard connectivity.
It continually loses bluetooth connection and the only way I can reconnect is by forgetting the device and then pairing again and even this doesn't work everytime.
If anyone has any tips they would be greatly appreciated.

[khushroo mistree]

My transformer t100chi was not charging after 2 months of use, the service centre says that motherboard has to be changed as usb port is connected directly and the price they have quoted as it is a damage not covered by warranty is more than the price of the purchase price.

[nickwinney]

THis device is a big FAIL in my opinion for the simple reason of the power issues that it has.
Firstly the two parts of the device need to be charged separately, but you only get one charger. For a week or so I was sure it was broken because I only charged the keyboard. The keyboard runs down faster than the tablet screen. The usb ports for charging are so close together that charging it up is cumbersome. The usb sockets are poorly placed and design so that it is easy to damage and bend the cable connector if the tablet slips or moves.
AND WORST OF ALL if you ever let it run totally down, by leaving it on by mistake, for example, then it will simply never charge up again. DEAD AS A DODO.  and dozens and dozens of people have this same experience.
AVOID AT ALL COSTS

[IpaqMan]

This is an update to my previous comments concerning the T100 Chi's CrystalDiskmark scores.  I had tested with the encrypt OFF setting.  Since there is no dedicated encryption chip, read and write operations on the CHI are slower due to decrypt/encrypt computations.

By the way, I returned the T100 CHI last year due to frequent bluescreens and now have the T100 CHI 32 GB version with Windows 10 pre-installed for $199 new from the Microsoft Store.  The 32 GB version comes with 20 GB available space.  The Windows 10 is pre 1511 version.  With the 1511 update, Hibernate is available.

[George]

Dear all, if you read this, please do not buy this product. T100 Chi is extremely poorly made. I purchased mine in July 2015 and by Jan 2016, i encountered problems with the USB port, power button and various issues.

The USB port no longer connect snuggly with the charging cable and sometimes, it would not even charge unless you jiggle the cable. The power button is messed up. At times when you press it, the device starts up fine and at the other times, the screen displays the battery life without turning on the device; it is a complete mystery and guess work to switch it on: is it press twice to switch on? or is it press once, then hold? Nobody knows. 

As of now, April, new issues arise. A ghost seems to be constantly pressing the power button and the volumn buttons. I am even unable to switch the damned thing on.

So hear me out, if you think that Asus legendary quality in making labtops bleeds over to making tablets, you are dead wrong. It doesn't. Asus is horrid in making tablets. I, for one, will never ever buy a tablet from Asus every again.

BTW, the battery life is laughable. Really, really laughable. Even on battery saver mode with most of the functions turn off, you can at most squeeze 1.5 hours out of it typing on Words. 

In conclusion, AVOID ASUS TABLETS AT ALLLLLL COST. They might be slightly cheaper but at the end of the day, for the frustration and anger it causes you, that hundred dollar saved is TOTALLY NOT WORTH IT.