Asus Transformer Book Chi preorder open, $400 price set

John Cusack

March 30, 2015

The Asus Transformer Book Chi, the latest line-up of convertible devices from the company, is now live, meaning that preorders are open and it seems Asus is keeping their traditional affordable price tags afloat. According to the company, you can now pre-order the Asus Transformer Book Chi for as little as $400, and as much as $500, which is rather affordable for a convertible device. The Asus Transformer Book Chi series is the successor of the previous line-up of convertibles, which were also very affordable and compact.

The new convertibles have the advantage of being sold with their keyboard docks included, which means that paying $400 for a tablet equipped with Windows 8.1 and a keyboard dock, not to mention a smorgasbord of ports and outpots is a really good deal in my opinion. The Asus Transformer Book Chi line-up can offer an excellent, low-cost alternative to Microsoft’s own Surface Pro convertible line-up, and although you won’t get the same performance, you will get a similar portability and good use out of these tablets/convertibles.

Asus has done well with the Transformer Book Chi line-up, especially when it comes to design. They’ve replaced the plastic that was representative of the Asus Transformer Book T100, another $400 10 inch convertible, and replaced it with a premium design that is made up of metal. The magnetic hinge that they’ve attached also comes in handy with four different usage modes, as seen on the Lenovo Yoga line-up: tent, flipped, laptop and tablet modes. The new Transformer Book Chi line-up also boasts with very thin design, which is admirable because all of the hardware necessary is packed into the tablet itself, none of it going into the keyboard dock, for maximum portability.

The fanelss design also makes the Transformer Book Chi T100 the thinnest Windows tablet on the market right now. The IPS display within these convertibles has also been upgraded, as the gaps between the display layers have been eliminated, resulting in a rather immersive viewing experience, similar to what we can see with Apple products. Although the IPS display isn’t top notch, it does come with great viewing angles and outdoor visibility. The Transformer Book Chi preorders have started today and you can get either the Transformer Book Chi T100 or Transformer Book Chi T300 on Asus’ website or select retailers.