Asus introduced the world to their dual-booting Transformer All-in-One at last year's Computex trade show in Taipei, Taiwan. Details were soft at the time and we had no idea when the company planned to launch the computer or at what price. That's all changed today as Asus has announced final hardware specifications as well as pricing and a ballpark date on when we can expect to see it hit retail shelves.
It all starts with the 18.4-inch LED-backlit display featuring a 16:9 aspect ratio and operating at 1,920 x 1,080 with 10-finger Multi Touch support. From here, however, things get interesting as the Transformer AiO leads two very different lives depending on whether or not the system is docked.
In tablet mode, you'll be using an Nvidia Tegra 3 processor, 2GB of DDR3 memory, 32GB of flash memory, 802.11 a/b/g/n Wi-Fi, Bluetooth V3.0 EDR and a 1-megapixel camera. Connections on the tablet include a 3.5mm audio / headphone jack, a docking port, a MicroSD card reader, a mini USB 2.0 port, power connector and a Kensington lock slot. The system will run Android 4.1 in tablet mode.
Add in the PC Station and it's a totally different ballgame. Customers will have their choice of an Intel Core i3, i5 or i7 processor, up to 8GB of RAM, up to 2TB of additional hard drive space, Bluetooth V4.0, four USB 3.0 ports, one USB 2.0 port, a 3-in-1 card reader and dedicated headphone and microphone jacks. When in PC Station mode, users will be working with a full copy of Windows 8.
It's tough to get a read on how successful the Transformer AiO might be as there really isn't anything else like it on the market. Either way, expect to see the massive hybrid hit stores later this spring starting at $1,299 for a Core i3 processor, 4GB of RAM and a 1TB hard drive on the Windows side of the fence.