Asus is introducing a new ultraportable Windows 8 computer that you can use 3 different ways. It’s a tablet, a notebook, and a desktop.

There’s an 11.6 inch tablet and a matching keyboard. Connect them together and you’ve got a portable Windows 8 notebook. Detach them and you’ve got an Android tablet.

But since the guts of the Windows PC are in the keyboard dock, you can also use it as a desktop PC — just add a monitor.

Asus Tranformer Book Trio

The keyboard features an Intel Haswell processor with support for up to a Core i7 chip, Intel HD 4400 graphics, 4GB of RAM, and up to 1 TB hard drive. It features 802.11ac WiFi, Bluetooth 4.0 and has 2 USB 3.0 ports, a mini DisplayPort, micro HDMI port, and headset jack.

There are also stereo speakers in the PC Station base and a 33Whr battery.

Meanwhile the tablet/display features an 11.6 inch, 1920 x 1080 pixel IPS display with a capacitive 10-point multitouch touchscreen. It has an Intel Atom Clover Trail+ processor, 2GB of RAM, between 16GB and 64GB of storage, a 4MP rear camera, and a 720p front-facing camera.

transformer trio_02

The tablet features 802.11n WiFi, Bluetooth 3.0, a micro USB port, headset jack, and microSD card slot. It has a 19Whr battery.

Used together, you should be able to get up to 13 hours of battery life when running Android, or about 5 hours with Windows 8.

The tablet measures 0.4 inches thick and weighs 1.5 pounds, while the PC Station is half an inch thick and 2.2 pounds.

Asus first showed off the Transformer Book Trio in June, but the company’s updated the specs a bit in time for the IFA show in Berlin this week.

Asus hasn’t yet announced US pricing or availability.

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10 replies on “Asus Transformer Book Trio is an 11.6 inch, 3-in-one Windows 8 PC”

  1. Really nice concept, I really like the idea of having 2 OS in one device, but it seems quite long with that wide black edge on the screen, no illuminated keyboard and the lack of a S-pen is a dealbreaker for me, I’ll wait for the next version.

  2. Any way to use the same Windows 8 installation but switch between the Atom and Core i? I have no use for Android on an 11.6″ screened device.

    1. MS does have a patent for switching between processors and still running the same OS but I don’t think they implemented support yet in Windows, maybe for the 8.2 update in another year…

      For now, it depends on how Asus configures it… the tablet could for example function as a wireless display for the keyboard dock… or at the very least you could use a remote desktop app to access the keyboard dock from Android…

      It’s also possible Asus could change the specs before release, it can be quite awhile yet before we actually see this come to market and Asus has been known to change products right up to nearly the last minute before final release.

      Right now, choices are limited because the present ATOM only comes in two flavors… The Z2760 is specifically the version that supports running Windows 8, which is why I don’t think that’s what this system is using. Since only the Medfield and Clover Trail+ support running Android, being specially optimized with a Binary Translation layer to help with Android native app compatibility that were originally optimized for running on ARM SoCs.

      Original spec release actually stated it was a Z2560 1.6GHz Clover Trail+ ATOM SoC… So, if that’s still the case then it has to switch between OS between devices… but the upcoming Bay Trail should be able to support both…

      While, there’s also the option of running Android on Windows that this and other similar products could opt for instead…

    2. As I was reading this article, I was all ready to put this into my list of possible notebooks to buy until I read Android. Pass. I was hesitant about getting a huge 11.6″ tablet but the Android part definitely killed it for me.

  3. So if the “guts” are in the keyboard, could the tablet potentially be used as a 10 point touch screen for another Windows 8 computer? Probably a long shot but interesting to think about. Definitely a feature I would be interested in.

  4. For this to really rock, it needs to work with the screen flipped around, so it can be used as a tablet WITH the keyboard attached for longer battery, AND it needs software to pass info between windows and android.

    I think it would be quite nice if there were software permitting both to read/write to a shared location, possibly on the tablet, pass info via clipboard, and pass certain info from windows to android similar to sharing between apps in android.

    No reason why both can’t run at the same time either, turning the keyboard and screen into a “KVM” switch of sorts.

      1. That is awesome. I have next to no interest in Windows on this but if you could switch between two Linux installs… 😀

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