Asus was one of the first companies to launch a 10 inch Windows tablet with an Intel Atom Bay Trail processor. But while rivals Acer, Dell, Lenovo, and Toshiba have smaller 8 inch models, Asus has yet to launch a smaller Windows tablet.

A listing on the Asus website suggests that could change soon.

Update: It looks like this tablet will be called the Asus VivoTab Note 8, and it will likely include an active digitizer, support for a digital pen, and a price tag of around $299.

asus m80ta
Asus.com

Tech2.hu noticed an unannounced product called the Asus M80TA. The name certainly suggests that this could be a smaller version of the 10 inch Asus Transformer Book T100TA.

Further evidence comes from a retail listing which seems to confirm that the M80TA is a Windows 8.1 tablet with 2GB of RAM, 32GB of storage, an Intel Atom Z3740 Bay Trail processor, and Microsoft Office 2013 Home & Student. Interestingly that retail product page suggests the 8 inch model might have a feature the larger Transformer Book lacks: support for a stylus.

What’s less clear is whether the 8 inch tablet will come with a keyboard dock like the one that comes with the 10 inch model.

Asus is scheduled to hold a press conference in Las Vegas on January 6th. Maybe that’s when we’ll learn more about the company’s plans for this 8 inch tablet, as well as the upcoming Asus Padfone X.

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11 replies on “Asus M80TA could be an 8 inch Windows tablet”

  1. The Game Changer and Differentiating Factor would be to include Wacom Tech. Note these flaky active pens like in the Dell Venue 8 Pro.

  2. Nice to see that Asus (my favorite brand) will jump to the 8-inch Windows 8 tablet bandwagon.

  3. I hope the back doesn’t have an ugly shiny gloss. I’d like a matte finish. Also, I’d like that stylus to be an active stylus and the tablet has a hole to hold it.

      1. dell venue pros stylus is a giant one with batteries inside and it doesnt even work properly.

  4. Competition is always good for consumers. Whatever they do, I hope they shore up the build quality vs. their T100. Asus had previously been known as a smaller maker of good quality products with a little something extra, but quality control may have been lost in an attempt to crank up their production volumes.

  5. Bring it on. Hope they price it as aggressively as T100.

    They should price it $249 for base model otherwise it will be a hard sell against Dell Venue 8 Pro which is now available for $249 and even less.

    1. True, but if it comes with a dockable keyboard with ports, it would be worth paying a little more.

      1. Not sure how usable a tiny keyboard that could fit on an 8 inch tablet would be though.

        1. ASUS could do what Acer did with the W3 and W4. The keyboard dock is the same size as if it were for a 10″ tablet. Although, it kind of makes the device less portable by making it have the same footprint as a 10″ device.

  6. Want dockable keyboard….
    Desktop mode is just soo much more usable with it.

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