The Asus Transformer Book T100HA ($299 as tested) is a well-rounded detachable-hybrid Windows tablet that offers a nice display, a 64-bit operating system, good battery life, and a wide range of features and port options, all for a modest price. The Acer Aspire Switch 10 E (SW3-013-11N8) ($313.99 at Office Depot® & OfficeMax®)  offers some of the same features and a slightly longer-lasting battery, but lacks a USB-C port and only has a 32-bit OS. To top it all off, the T100HA has a list price that's $50 less than the Aspire Switch 10 E (SW3-013-11N8). That, combined with its strong performance and versatility, earns the Transformer Book T100HA our Editors' Choice for entry-level detachable-hybrid tablets.

Design and Features

The T100HA( at Amazon) is a gray, aluminum-clad tablet (also available in blue, red, or white) that measures 0.4 by 10.3 by 6.7 inches (HWD) and weighs 1.2 pounds. Its plastic keyboard dock measures 0.5 by 10.3 by 6.7 inches and weighs 1 pound; together, the tablet and dock weigh 2.2 pounds and measure 0.9 inches thick total. The tablet locks into the dock at three connection points (two metal clips and a proprietary port), snapping in magnetically. Lining up the connectors can be a bit more finicky than with most detachable systems. The connection is sturdy, however, and the screen doesn't wobble around when you move, tap, or tilt the system.

The system is a bit top heavy, so it will lean back slightly if the display is tilted back too far. We saw the same issue when we reviewed the Aspire Switch 10 E (SW3-013-11N8). Unlike the Acer model, however, the T100HA's screen can't be attached to the dock backwards, which would allow you to view the display with the keyboard out of sight. Thus, the Transformer Book T100HA can only be used in a traditional Laptop mode when attached to the dock. The keys on the keyboard are small, but it's surprisingly easy to adapt to and type on, and the relatively roomy touchpad is smooth and responsive.

The 10.3-inch touch screen offers a 1,280-by-800 resolution, but it does use In-Plane Switching (IPS) technology for a sharper picture and wider viewing angles. Though shy of 1080p, the relatively small screen looks good and is solid for the price—both text and video are clear and vibrant. The resolution is identical to that of the Acer Aspire Switch 10 E (SW3-013-11N8) and the E-Fun Nextbook 10.1 ($100.00 at eBay) , and is better than the 1,366-by-768 resolution of the Asus Transformer Book T100TA ($448.00 at Amazon) .

On the right side, the tablet portion sports a micro-HDMI port, a micro-USB port that's used to charge the system, a headphone jack, and a microSD card slot. On the left are the volume rocker and a USB-C port, a nice bonus for a system of this kind. The keyboard dock offers just one USB 2.0 port on its right side, and does not include batteries or extra features. We would have preferred a USB 3.0 port to 2.0, but you can still take advantage of USB 3.0 devices with an adapter for the USB-C port. For wireless connectivity, there's Bluetooth 4.0 and dual-band 802.11 a/b/g/n Wi-Fi. Overall, this is definitely a nice set of connectivity options for a modestly-priced tablet.

The tablet's 64-bit Windows 10 OS, combined with its 64-bit CPU, is a big advantage over systems using a 32-bit operating system, as it allows the machine to make use of more memory (in this case, 4GB of RAM) for faster performance. Systems that can run a 64-bit OS have a much easier time handling image and video editing software, as well as any 3D rendering—32-bit systems are often unable to even run our tests in those areas.

The tablet also features 2-megapixel front and 5-megapixel rear cameras. The cameras are average at best—photos don't look any better than your typical smartphone pictures, and some were a bit blurry in testing. It'll do well enough in a pinch, but you won't be capturing any high-quality imagery with this tablet. There is 128GB of flash storage on board, which is decent for a tablet and more than the E-Fun Nextbook 10.1, but it falls short of the Acer Aspire Switch 10 E (SW3-013-11N8), which has a 64GB solid-state drive and an additional 500GB hard drive in its keyboard dock. There's very little bloatware on the system, just a few odds and ends like Asus Giftbox and iHeartRadio. Asus provides a one-year warranty for the system.

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Performance

The T100HA has a 1.4GHz Intel Atom (Cherry Trail) x5 X8500 quad-core processor, 4GB of memory, and integrated Intel graphics. The 4GB of memory is crucial for the 64-bit architecture on these tests, allowing the system to run them and generally resulting in better speeds. On PCMark 8 Work Conventional, it scored 1,698 points, which bests the Acer Aspire Switch 10 E (SW3-013-11N8) at 1,481 points and the Dell Venue 10 Pro Tablet 5000 Series ( at Amazon)  (1,310).

It also posted strong 3DMark CloudGate score of 1,972. The Acer Aspire Switch 10 E (SW3-013-11N8) only scored 1,176 and the Dell Venue 10 Pro scored 1,117. You won't be able to play 3D games on this tablet, given that it returned no more than 5 frames per second on the Heaven and Valley gaming tests, but that's typical for the category.

Multimedia results were solid, and unlike the Acer Aspire Switch 10 E (SW3-013-11N8) and the Dell Venue 10 Pro, the T100HA was actually able to run our CineBench, Photoshop, and Handbrake tests. It scored 108 points on CineBench and finished the Photoshop and Handbrake tests in 11 minutes 27 seconds and 6:26, respectively. The older Asus Transformer Book T200TA-C1-BL ($349.95 at Amazon)  was also able to run all of these tests, scoring 127 points on CineBench and posting times of 14:13 and 6:22 on Photoshop and Handbrake.

On our battery rundown test, the T100HA lasted a solid 10 hours 32 minutes, coming in a few hours under the Acer Aspire Switch 10 E's 13:30 and ahead of the Dell Venue 10 Pro Tablet 5000's 8:07. It also hung on for much longer than other more expensive systems, like the $899 Asus Transformer Book T300 Chi (5:54).

Conclusion

The Asus Transformer Book T100HA is an excellent value at $299, offering fast performance and a wide variety of feature and port options, like USB-C. It outperforms the Acer Aspire Switch 10 E (SW3-013-11N8), another top pick, with its superior 4GB of memory, faster processor, 64-bit operating system, and equally sharp display; it only really falls short on storage. Given that the Transformer Book T100HA costs $50 less, its features and performance make it worthy of being named our Editors' Choice for entry-level detachable-hybrid tablets.

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