Asus MeMO Pad 7 Tablet Is Displayed
Asus MeMO Pad 7 tablet is displayed during the 2014 Computex exhibition Reuters/Pichi Chuang

Asus unleashes the Transformer Book T300 Chi, the company's newest Windows-enabled tablet and laptop hybrid. The hybrid laptop was launched alongside 2 other members of the Transformer Book Chi family: the T100 Chi and the T90 Chi.

The release of the Chi T300 is Asus' way of rivaling Apple's more famous and pricier MacBook Air. According to Techno Buffalo, the hybrid device can take the form of a tablet or a regular full-sized laptop when the separate keyboard is attached. It might not be something new from the Taiwanese tech company, but it is good to note some vital additions to the hybrid device like Intel's Core M processor and Windows 8.1 as its platform.

This 12.5-inch T300 sports an all-aluminum body and Intel's latest Broadwell Core processor allows the device to have a fanless design. The WQHD (2,560 x 1,440) IPS screen option on top of the 1080p base configuration will provide perfect screen viewing plus a 128GB iSSD which will provide smoother performance for the hybrid.

The hydrid device is 16.5mm or 0.65 inch thick when docked to the keyboard and is 7.6mm or 0.3 inch thick when detached from its base. Its measurement when docked still is thinner than the MacBook Air by 0.5mm. Asus chairman Jonney Shih called it the Chi T300 as the "ultimate dream machine" and showed-off how the 12.5-inch model was thinner than the MacBook Air.

Based on CNET's review, the convertible device sports a 12.5-inch display which comes in two screen options: the 1920x1080 and the 2560x1440 screen resolution which cost US$699 and US$799, respectively. In comparison, Lenovo's hybrid is much more affordable than Lenovo's Yoga 3 Pro which costs US$1,199.

On the other hand, the other devices under the Transformer Book Chi line are the T100 Chi (10.1-inch, 1,920 x 1,200 IPS) and the T90 Chi (8.9-inch, 1,280 x 800 IPS). Both models are boosted by Intel's Atom Z3775 processor and have 32GB or 64GB of eMMC storage. The T90 when docked is just as thick as the T300, but the T100 is even thinner by 3.3mm. The T100 Chi weighs 1.06kg while the T90 weighs 0.75kg.

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