Asus Transformer Pro (T304UA) Released In The US – $700 Cheaper Surface Pro Alternative With Intel Core i7, USB C
The Asus Transformer Pro T304UA have been released in the US, with the Intel Core i7 “Kaby Lake” powered model launching for around $1000, which is over $700 less than a similarly powered Microsoft Surface Pro: https://www.amazon.com/ASUS-Transformer-T304UA
The Asus Transformer Pro (T304UA) is sold with the keyboard included, making it a real 2-in-1. The new Surface Pro meanwhile ships without the keyboard, so just a Surface Pro by itself costs $1599, while the cheapest Surface keyboard costs $129, bringing the total to $1728 for a Surface Pro with Intel Core i7, 8GB of RAM, and 256GB of SSD storage, which is the main hardware of the Asus Transformer Pro now on sale. And while everyone may not be equally interested in a pen, the pen is included from Asus, but not from Microsoft, another $100 difference.
Asus Transformer Pro also features a USB Type-C port, a feature also lacking in the latest Surface Pro, to the disbelief of a lot of otherwise happy Surface fans. The actual screen size is also just over 2 inches larger on the Tranformer Pro, compared to the 12.3-inch Surface Pro, though the display resolution is 2160 x 1440, also featuring blue light reduction technology.
Asus Transformer Pro has all the tablet technologies a user could ask for in a powerful Windows 10 2-in-1 tablet in 2017. It has secure login through a choice of either using the fingerprint reader or face recognition from the IR camera on the front. It also has a regular 2MP front camera and a 8MP rear camera.
It has stereo speakers on the sides, and a microSD card slot and 3.5mm audio jack on the left side, with additional USB 3.0, USB 3.1 Type-C, HDMI, and DC charging ports on the right side. And if that's not enough, Asus have assembled a optional Universal Dock for it should you want even more ports, like a RJ45 LAN, VGA, or SD card reader. Or you could of course just buy cheaper individual USB adapters to all of these things for a fraction of the price.
Obviously a Windows tablet of this caliber has complete Wi-Fi support, with 2×2 dual-band and dual-antenna 802.11 a/b/g/n/ac Wi-Fi cover and Bluetooth 4.1. The battery life is measured as 8 hours long.
The tablet is wrapped in a aluminum-magnesium alloy case, making it sturdy and modern looking, as well as 8.85mm thick. The weight for this tablet with built-in kickstand is 839 grams.
The keyboard is backlit and features a glass-covered precision touchpad with support for touch gestures, while the pen is a 22 grams 1024 pressure levels sensitive active digitizer with clip-on and buttons that can be used as mouse buttons, eraser, highlighter, or app activation buttons.
– Tom Bowen
Jim's passion for Apple products ignited in 2007 when Steve Jobs introduced the first iPhone. This was a canon event in his life. Noticing a lack of iPad-focused content that is easy to understand even for “tech-noob”, he decided to create Tabletmonkeys in 2011.
Jim continues to share his expertise and passion for tablets, helping his audience as much as he can with his motto “One Swipe at a Time!”