You all might remember when the Asus Transformer AiO was first introduced to us way back at CES. Well now it has been officially released in the US. Compared to what you may find in your average android tablet this thing is an absolute beast. It comes loaded 8GB of DDR3 RAM an Intel Core i5 processor comes stock, with an i7 available as an upgrade, and a pretty decent Nvidia Graphics card as well. Unfortunately that doesn’t power the tablet side of things as the aging, but still powerful, Tegra 3 is enlisted to run the largely stock version of android 4.1 installed alongside windows 8. Luckily the 1 TB of hard drive space is shared between the two, so if for some reason you need a terabyte of android storage Asus has you covered.
The monster actually has a switch for quick swapping between Android 4.1 and Windows 8. I’m glad they decided to include an easy to access hardware button, instead on forcing you to rely on potentially complex prompts to navigate between the two. In a nod to portability there is a built-in handle on the back, though carrying around a $1,300 computer by a handle most likely doesn’t qualify as a good time for many. While I don’t exactly love its humpback, overall I think ASUS built a fairly good-looking machine. In addition I am glad that they at least attempted to make switching between full-fledged desktop and semi-manageable tablet fairly doable.
Anyone looking to purchase this PC probably going to use it as just that, a PC. While its specifications are fairly good, the price is moderately inflated compared to other PCs that, minus the Android functionality, hit the same specifications on a checklist. However, if you are a huge fan of Android, and as a visitor to this website you most likely are, looking for a new all in one this might be the PC for you.
Does this new combination make sense? I could see someone using the Windows 8 side of things for general work purposes, then switching over to Android to play a few games, or to enjoy some of the services they prefer on mobile. For example, one could take a quick work break with fruit ninja, or watch a few videos on YouTube, then swap right back over to their work. Do you see any use for this sort of hybrid? If so let us know in the comment section below.