Gadgetory

hey how's it going guys this is Dave TD and this is my review of the T 300 G so this is the latest iteration of the transformer line from Asus and that's their line of two and one hybrid devices that like the tablet and notebook combined into one thing and the truth is I've yet to find a hybrid device that I really love like something that hits on all notes but the T 300 has a really unique design let's see how it does we have the classic Asus block box lift the lid and the notebook is sitting there underneath the notebook is a storage area where they put all the accessories and they've included an AC adapter a micro USB cable a micro USB 2.0 adapter some pamphlets and an AC use cleaning cloth pretty standard AC stuff nothing crazy the top surface of the notebook is a really dark blue in fact the whole notebook has this blue color it's a smooth aluminum finish and combined with that dark color it shows fingerprints like it's the new hotness the bottom of the notebook is the same finish and the same color and it also shows fingerprints and smudges the same way there are four rubber feet here and because I was curious I remove the screws to have a peek inside the bottom part but I couldn't pry it apart even with the screws off the t300 comes in two parts the first is a PC tablet running a complete version of Windows 8.1 and just look at those smudges I was going to wipe it and refilm but then I thought I should leave it in just to show you how real this punch struggle is the second part is a wireless bluetooth keyboard and you can combine these two parts to make a notebook in terms of ports and buttons on the left side we have a volume rocker windows button one of the two speakers and a power plug there's also a micro USB socket for charge of the keyboard but we'll get into that later and on the right side we have a combo headphone microphone jack a mini HDMI port micro USB 3 port and the second speaker I forgot to film this while I was outside but there is a microSD slot on the bottom of the tablet that fits the cards flush this is a really important port just because storage is otherwise pretty limited for specs the unit here is rocking an Intel Core M running at 800 megahertz a 12.5 inch IPS touchscreen integrated Intel graphics 128 gigs of SSD 8 gigs of RAM all for about 7 800 bucks depending on where and when you buy the tablet part ways a little bit over one and a half pounds not a superlight tablet but it's still very comfortable to hold in terms of weight the keyboard weighs around the same as the tablet component so when you combine them together to make a notebook it comes in around 3.2 pounds it's so really comfortable to hold one-handed and in case you're wondering like I was it's not particularly well balanced or spinning mostly because of that wide screen speaking of that screen it's a 12.5 inch IPS touch panel and this has a resolution of 2560 by 1440 there is a lower res version but this is the one I have colors are pretty good brightness isn't great which doesn't help with that glossy screen and the viewing angles are kind of mediocre for an IPS panel now it's a pretty good looking screen when you're using it by yourself but if you're using it outdoors and you're sharing with friends or something it becomes less good a spider says that has a 99% srgb and a 76% Adobe RGB gamut it's not the best for color reproduction or accuracy but it's screen has a 16 to 9 aspect ratio so when use it as a tablet viewing web pages often feels a little squashed with too much space on the left on the right using it vertically also feels clumsy it's a little long for me to hold comfortably and websites look pretty narrow on the other hand a wide screen like this is good for being multi window features of 8.1 so you can watch things like YouTube while you're browsing something else on the web I will say though that watching movies and TV shows on a wide screen like this is pretty nice the screen was built with that in mind and you can get full screen videos with no black bars the speakers on the t300 are kind of weak they're quiet and the lower frequencies are almost totally lost but there are speakers on both sides so you get stereo sound here's what the sounds like there's a 2 megapixel webcam up top here's what it looks like the inside of the keyboard has the same color and finish as the rest of the device smooth blue aluminum keys feel good one and a half millimeter travel good spacing and it's very comfortable to type on we use it to type most of my emails this past week and it's really easy to get used to the directional keys are also in that nice T shape that I like it's a pretty good keyboard overall the trackpad at the bottom is a different story it's kind of small and it's not amazing I noticed a little bit of lag not sure if the legs from the Bluetooth connection or the trackpad itself resides on that the tracking is pretty smooth and the buttons work fun I've definitely used worse trackpad that their the keyboard connects wirelessly over Bluetooth there's no electrical connection to the tablet component for other user inputs or more on that later but the Bluetooth connection is pretty easy you turn it on when you want to use it and connect the tablet of the keyboard connect at this hinge here it's two magnetic tabs that stick out from the keyboard and when you bring the tablet component over it slots in securely and you're good to go something I did notice though if you look closely here you can see some kind of felt material so it's there to prevent the two components from scratching each other when they connect but the felt material seems to show wear really quickly it's probably not a big deal but I can't tell in terms of long-term durability the connection is really good though it's a strong magnet and you can carry it using just the screen using it as a notebook is enjoyable the keyboard is great for typing and it's comfortable to use in any of the situation I used it in the screen has a bit of a wobble to it when you're poking at it for the touchscreen but it doesn't really bother me much performance is pretty good for work and just regular web use despite just having an 800 megahertz chip and the drive speeds come in at 480 Reed 300 writes so pretty respectable there's a power button at the top of the tablet with an LED light that lights up orange when it's charging and white when it's done the adapter it comes with is pretty small 33 watt adapter with a super long cord I think it's something like 9 feet or something charge on the tablet is pretty simple just plug it in but charging the keyboard is a little different remember there's no wired connection between the tablet and the keyboard so if you want to charge it with one power source you have to use this micro USB adapter and then connect a micro USB cable to this adapter and then plug that cable into the key word so in the end you have something like this it works but there's wires running all over the place and it's just not a very elegant solution if you want to plug up a mouse to the notebook you have to use that same adapter so I did this when I was playing some games and as expected games don't run that well we're looking at like 20 frames per second for dota 2 with everything turned down and counter-strike go is a little bit better 35 40 frames per second began with everything turned off battery life isn't great it's a small battery 32 watt hour and I got around five and a half hours a regular web browsing youtubing and some work and this was with the screen at almost max brightness gaming I got around two and a half hours again with screen and Max brightness you see core M processors are low-voltage in all but the battery in this tablet is so small and the battery in the keyboard isn't shared so this is just what you get if you take a look at the thermals here there's no fan on this device and when it's running Full Tilt for a while it can get pretty warm it's like 45 degrees Celsius at the warmest spots probably right where that core M chip is I really like the idea of hybrid devices I mean table to have a notebook and a tablet in one device is really cool on paper because that's just last year and I really like the idea of having less stuff but when manufacturers make hybrid devices they often kind of compromise on either the tablet or the notebook or in some cases they have kind of crappy versions of both but the t300 actually feels a little different when you use it as a notebook because of the rigid keyboard you can basically use it as an ultrabook you can use it on your lap you can use it on your table and basically anywhere you would normally use an ultrabook you can use this device the only thing that's not great about it is the fact that you have to charge the keyboard separately I don't love that but that's really the only compromise that you have to make when you're using it as a notebook when you use it as a tablet though it's pretty good for watching movies and TV shows just because of how wide that screen is but it's not a perfect of heist for just regular web browsing the aspect ratio does make the top/bottom feel a little cramped it's not a perfect device I would consider it one of the better hybrid devices out there but it's still not something I would openly recommend to out there now if I did have to recommend someone it would be for students just because the ultra wide screen and that rigid keyboard is really conducive for a student work in just student life I think it's a pretty good option for you guys out there that's the end of the review hope you guys liked it questions comments type below if you liked it give me some thumbs if you loved it give me some subs it's been nice I'll see you guys next time