ASUS Taichi21 Intel Core i5 3317U(1.70GHz) 4GB 128GB SSD HDD 11.6" FHD Touchscreen 2-in-1 Ultrabook/Tablet (Taichi21-DH51)

Pros: Absolutely a revolutionary, next generation of computing device. This thing bridges the gap between mobility, usability, functionality, power, form and finesse. Sure, two screens are a bit redundant, but it allows for a sturdy, seamless design and unflinching conversion from laptop mode to tablet mode. Sexy form factor. Love the convertible factor from laptop to tablet. Absolutely the highest resolution displays that I know of (maybe excluding Apple's retina displays, but I don't know the specs on those). The displays are very clear, very high quality. Internal screen is matte finish, and the external touch-screen is a high gloss finish. The touch screen is very responsive, up to 10 point multi-touch, but it appears to be plastic... would love to see some gorilla glass on this mug, but I suppose that drives weight and cost up. Very capable processing power packed into an 11.6" form factor. Minimal bloatware (there's a little, but not much). Comes with a pen device. Overall, the machine is a serious contender to a-type-of-fruit's dominance of the tablet market. Oh, a <PAD>? How cute. Mine is a full fledged quad-core i5 COMPUTER capable of running anything a desktop can run. Oh, <PAD>, you can browse apps? Cute. I can run MatLab simulations. Oh, your <PAD> is locked into running "authorized" apps from the APP store? Oh, mine is a full-fledged OS, complete with Linux dual boot. I can do whatever the hell I want to do with my mobile device, when I want, where I want. OWNAGE.

Cons: Early adopters of technology always expect kinks. I've waited for months for this device, because Battery life isn't that great. For a laptop its about normal - I'd say 2-4 hours max. But for a tablet type device, its a bit short. Because of the complex screen setup, the Intel 4000 graphics drivers seem to have trouble acknowledging an external display has been connected (there are 3 displays under this setup), and most annoyingly is that I have to reconfigure the layout each time I want to use my external display (e.g., my display is on the left of my laptop, not on the right which seems to be the default). My model seems to have come with a broken headphone jack. It will not recognize and switch audio output from the internal speakers to the headphones. I assume there is something mechanically wrong with the jack (usually they have built in tabs to detect when headphones are plugged in), there seems to be something wrong with that mechanism. This is a great problem since as a mobile device, I need to have access to entertainment. Speaking of audio, the internal speakers seem poorly oriented for sound stage. When in tablet mode (lid closed), the sound seems to be muffled due to the orientation of the speakers. Consider one of the major pad competitors and their sound quality. Asus needs to strive towards that type of audio quality. If I move my hands behind the speakers to reflect the sound towards my face, it sounds about 100% better and clear. As is, it is a very muffled experience. Bluetooth... sigh. Something is clearly wrong with either the Bluetooth, or the antenna in this setup. I have various Bluetooth audio receivers, some of these receivers work nearly 30-40 feet from other Bluetooth devices such as my phone (e.g., I can walk into other rooms and still pick up signal). When I pair these exact same receivers to the ASUS machine, I get broken reception at just 10 inches away. Something is horribly wrong with the Bluetooth setup here. Sure, this can more than likely be remedied with an external nano USB Bluetooth receiver, but for a $1300 laptop, you expect the Bluetooth to function flawlessly without the need for redundancy using up precious 1 out of 2 USB ports. Very decent keyboard layout, but I really would prefer having true End/Home/PageUP/PageDown keys. (Yes, I understand the size constraints). Integrated touch-pad mouse buttons, oh how I LOATHE thee. Give me discreet buttons ANY DAY. No middle click function on the touch pad. Sigh.

Overall Review: I'm a student and I need tablet mode to read textbooks while on the go, and then I need laptop mode when I'm sitting down to work. I need full processing power too, to run applications like MatLab, to CAD, to development packages like Python or c++. For that purpose, the convertible designs are a perfect compromise. First experience with Win 8 gripes: I have to say Windows 8 also needs serious refinement to be considered an effective tablet/touch OS. To be FAIR: It's on the right track, but there are some serious annoyances to GUI redesign of the desktop/menu system. Did they not do any usability studies? User Acceptance Testing? None of these people could see these problems? Anyway, No start menu? STUPID. Only map a network drive from one context? (My computer, no where else--STUPID). Commonly used menu items hidden/buried/arcane knowledge required to find them again? STUPID. What's with the "Quick Access Toolbar" in explorer, with all of maybe 5 functions? STUPID and a waste of space. Close apps you drag them off screen, but from what I understand that doesn't close some of them, it simply puts them in a queue to be closed. Really? Stupid. The desktop, needs to incorporate more touch friendly customizations, like the ability to resize icons/text/menus without it looking like garbage. Yes, I've modified DPI settings, etc... but it doesn't look very nice. That's my point.

Pros: It does in fact work. And when I say work, I mean operate. Forget actually taking it to work. Sleek design.

Cons: OK. Where I stated "taking it to work", here's what I mean. The size of this thing is nice when mobile. In the office... you may want an additional monitor or two, Ethernet, etc.. Well you can get a dock. ASUS makes one.. but as soon as you commit to this thing, you cannot upgrade to Windows 8.1 you are now quite literally stuck with what you got. And I got 3 of these childish things. with Windows 8.1 and having the dock driver installed, the Taichi21's most famous feature (tablet mode) no longer works correctly. While tediously working with ASUS support this is the final outcome... Direct from ASUS Support; "TAICHI21, it does not support any dock station, it means there is a compatibility issue between the TAICHi21 and the HZ-1 dock, so it is not only a driver issue. You had better not connect the dock to the TAICHI21 for usage. And our engineer won't develop any new driver for this issue. Sorry if any inconvenience this case." Great... $3600.00 (3 total) down the drain.

Overall Review: Early adopter.... sometimes bites you

Pros: I already left a review but wasn't sure how edit it. I was hit by a car, I'm OK but my outer screen cracked and the inner screen had lines running through it. Sent my unit back under the one year accidental warranty that comes with these and two weeks later they ended up send me a whole new unit. They probably could have fixed the original but maybe parts weren't available? Anyway it did take about two weeks but yesterday they overnighted the package and to my surprise it contained a brand new unit, accessories and everything (now I have double). A+ for Asus customer service.

Cons: Not without its flaws but I'm thoroughly happy with my experiance

Pros: The release of Windows 8 has caused an avalanche of touch screen Ultra books to come to market but the Asus Taichi21 is the first to actually have two screens (1080p IPS display in the front and 1080p IPS touch screen in the back) in one package. It’s an interesting concept and quite useful in certain situations. The Taichi21is incredibly thin and light at just 2.76 lbs plus it looks good with a brushed aluminum chassis and illuminated Asus logo. It also comes with a stylus for added precision control while using the Taichi in tablet mode.

Cons: Asus promotes this ultrabook as a premium product but there are quality control issues. There is noticeable back light bleed on both the front and back IPS displays. The aluminum cover on the bottom doesn’t fit correctly. The left back corner bows in and out when squeezed. I’ve done searches on the internet and have found that these issues seem to be common among Taichi21 owners. The battery life is a disappointment. A fully charged battery gets around 3 ½ hours of use or less depending on your activities. This model comes with a 128GB SSD but after Windows 8, the recovery partition and Asus bloat-ware you end up with about 70GB free. There’s also the issue of the preparatory Asus software that controls the multi-gesture touchpad and the dual screen switching. The software is buggy and at times causes problems that can only be solved by rebooting the ultrabook.

Overall Review: Asus has created a very interesting and unique product here but they have to focus on increasing the quality/fit and finish of this ultrabook before they can compete with the premium portables on the market today.

Pros: Great boot times, extremely responsive, the dual screens when you're showing things to people in the room are really convenient.

Cons: Weaker processor, small SSD, only Intel HD graphics, and the part that upsets me the most is the RANDOM STREAK of SUPER BRIGHT pixels that curves diagonally on the touchscreen side of the laptop, will be looking to exchange for another, hopefully, but no response from the manufacturer. Guess, I could try to negotiate with newegg.

Overall Review: The pixels are really bright, they show the color, but it's just really bright. A nice large streak resembling a cut. Unnoticeable when the screen is off or the colors are dark.

Pros: Unique features, good to use as a tablet, great to use as an ultrabook, classy and futuristic design, nice pouch, Wacom pen, bright screen, backlit keyboard, lightweight, portable, good technical support team, responsive touchscreen.

Cons: I'm an Asus fanboy and use Asus for all PC hardware, and that's why I have to be critical. The screen surface SUCKS. Its not Gorilla. Its some flexible and cheap feeling. They didn't even bother putting any anti-reflective coating found on flagship smartphones starting with a S. As a result, this thing is an oil magnet. But worst of all, no matter what I wipe the screen with, it leaves permanent swirl marks. I used the highest quality clothes and eyeglass cleaning solutions, still more permanent swirls. The included cleaning cloth was even worse, it caused the most swirls. Its becoming a cloudy and swirly mess. Did I get a dud? I would like to hear from Asus on how to clean this screen. The ultrabook wakes up from sleep very quickly but the touchscreen does not. It flashes 3 times very very slowly and then stays on. As a result, the total amount of time to be able to use it from sleep is a long time. My Acer Aspire S3 wakes up much faster than that. This thing gets very hot in tablet mode because the designer thought it was a good idea to put the vents underneath the screen when closed so it can barely breathe. Lastly I'll nitpick about how wide the border is and how terrible windows 8 is for touchscreen in 1080p 11.6" everything in desktop mode is so tiny. Metro mode is decent but lacking in so many areas compared to Android.

Overall Review: Asus, just tell me how to get rid of these permanent swirls. They won't go away.

Pros: I wrote a comment earlier, it works great. I have an important discover for those who like bright screens (Read other thoughts). This computer does a great job

Cons: Still the space on the SSD is an issue although there is cloud computing.. and no 3.0 USB? The SSD only has 93GB - 30 between ASUS & Windows 8.. so your down to 60 GB if that. I only installed Chrome, and Office 2013 and I am at 40 GB. No other documents, programs or anything.

Overall Review: Brightness. I said in my other comment that it did not stay bright enough.. Well press FN+ A. This turns of the Autosensor and like magic you can adjust your brightness to be brighter! It is bright and vibrant. Check my other post for additional information in regards to performance and ect.

Pros: Build feels pretty solid. I don't have any of the quality issues the previous reviewer had. The aluminum case feels strong and snug. A very small amount of light bleed on the inside screen on par with other IPS screens I've seen and none I can see on the outer screen. Both look great. The key board is very comfortable and track pad works well with the gestures needed to navigate windows 8. Having a matte screen with a full keyboard is awesome for doing real work. I dont mind that the inside screen isn't touch because it stays fingerprint free. Being able to use a stylus to draw and take notes is awesome. The app store in Windows 8 is still lacking but download Bluestacks and you can run Android apps on your pc. Most I've tired work flawlessly, no tot mention many apps that are paid in the Windows store are free on Android.

Cons: Too heavy to hold up as a tablet but I kind of knew that going in. Some of the Asus software is wonky. The live update utility messed up some of my drivers. The recovery partition does take up a lot of space and with no SD card slot it won't be easy to expand storage in the future. That said, being able to "refresh" windows from the recovery partition is useful, like when a utility messes up drivers. At this high of resolution on a 11.6 screen buttons are are small and hard to tap in desktop mode so I have to either use the touchpad or the stylus.