The Asus Chromebook family includes a range of laptops featuring different screen sizes, processors, and price points. Some are convertibles with touchscreen displays and 360-degree hinges, while others are clamshell-style notebooks.
But it’s been a few years since Asus offered a straight-up Chrome OS tablet designed to be used with or without a keyboard.
Now it looks like the company is returning to the Chrome OS tablet space with a new model called the Asus Chromebook CM3000.
The new tablet looks a lot like it’s the Asus answer to Lenovo’s Chromebook Duet. It has the same processor, memory, and storage but a slightly larger display.
Asus hasn’t issued a press release or added a page for the new Chrome OS tablet to its website yet. But Chrome Unboxed recently noticed that it’s started showing up in listings at online retailers like Saturn, Mediamarkt, and Arkphire.
Here are some key specs, gleaned from those listings:
| Display | 10.5 inch, 1920 x 1200 pixels |
| Processor | MediaTek Helio P60 (MT8183) |
| GPU | ARM Mali G-72 MP3 |
| RAM | 4GB |
| Storage | 64GB or 128GB eMMC |
| Ports | USB 2.0 Type-C 3.5mm audio |
| Wireless | WiFi 5 Bluetooth 4.2 |
| Battery | 27 Wh |
| Cameras | 8MP (rear) 2MP (front) |
| Dimensions | 10.1″ x 6.6″ x 0.3″ |
| Weight | 1.2 pounds |
The tablet also has a set of pogo pins along the bottom where the detachable keyboard connects and works with a stylus that can be inserted into a slot in the tablet itself when you’re not using it.
German retailers are showing a list price of €449 ($545 US) for the tablet, which would make it substantially pricier than the Lenovo Chromebook Duet, which sells for about €329 ($399) in that country. But Lenovo’s tablet has been on the market longer, allowing the price to drop a bit. I wouldn’t be surprised if the Asus Chromebook CM3000 saw a similar price drop in the future, and it’ll almost certainly be priced lower in the United States, where Lenovo’s Chrome OS tablet is currently selling for about $250.
OK, is it just me, or it really has an unusably narrow screen? It’s 10.5″ diagonal, the same as the Surface Go 2, but that has a 3:2 aspect ratio while this is 16:10. The Surface Go 2 is also borderline to narrow for my taste. A good screen in a similar form factor is the rumored
Coach tablet with a 11″, 3:2 aspect ratio screen. That’s what I call a usable form factor.
This looks interesting and it has good specs. Maybe ok for some, but not for me. My preference is for a traditional clam shell design with a built in (non detatchable) keyboard and no kickstand, like my other Chromebooks. The kickstand looks kind of fragile. The clam shell design seems more durable.
As for tablets, I prefer one one with no moving parts (kickstand), and no detachable keyboard to break and no stylus to lose. I also prefer thick protective bumper cases on my tablets, like the Kid Proof Case on my Kindle Fire HD 10, or the MoKo cases on my kid’s iPad Minis. It might not be possible to install a similar protective bumper case on the CM3000 because of the kickstand.
It might not be possible to install a similar protective bumper case on the CM3000 because of the kickstand.
Sure you can install a bumper case. You just lose the kickstand-functionality. In your case it just adds some excess weight.
If you look closely you’ll see that the kickstand seems to be a magnetic back panel which allows landscape and portrait kickstand use but there are also pictures of the naked tablet.
Wow, a stowable stylus is a great feature.
The only thing that prevented me from buying the Lenovo Duet was their Type-C connector couldn’t support video.
I guess the USB 2.0 on this one isn’t going to either.
That was the main thing that kept me from the Duet also. Hopefully they did something different on the video output on this one.
If this device does indeed have only USB 2.0, then I don’t think it’s likely to offer Displayport support.
However, the only sources that are suggesting USB 2.0 right now are some German retailers.
While not as ideal as direct-to-video, ChromeOS should have the DisplayLink drivers built in for video via some USB docks.
Chrome OS does support Displaylink, but unfortunately I don’t believe any Displaylink adapters can support 3440×1440 over USB 2.0. The models that do support USB 2.0 appear to only offer up to 1920×1080 resolution.