Great deal on T100TAM should i get the T100HA instead?

[lorul2]

Ok quick story. STAPLES (in the U.S.) has a $100 off clearance tablets/PC coupon. I found a T100TAM on clearance (Floor model-good shape) cost me $211 with Tax. I 've been watching the T100 series for awhile and I saw the deal and jumped. I knew the T100HA was coming but I didn't want to miss the deal. So after a couple of days I love the tablet but there are a couple of things I'm concerned about.

1. The USB charger on my unit fits a little tight, every time I try to plug it in to charge its a little stiff. I had a problem with a broken micro usb before so I'm very sensitive about the charging port. Can I charge from the 3.0 USB on the Keyboard doc?

2. I went for a 30 day free trial of office before using the code that came with the laptop. I want to put Norton antivirus on, but as the hard drive fills up, will software slow down?

3. Didn't install an SD card yet, how is the performance running software directly from the card?

4. Windows 10 upgrade is preparing to download will it make the tablet better or worse?



I guess the real point of this post anyone have a recommendation on a $211 T100TAM or $424 T100HA (4GB RAM 64GB-HD), I don't have a lot of money just want some opinions with experience.

Thanks!

[rickscheller]

Sounds like you got a great deal. As for your questions;

1. No you can't charge from the USB connector on the dock. If the microSD connector is/gets jacked up, you'll be sending it for repair.
2. Your call but I'd avoid Norton like the plague. There are much lighter AV available.
3. Get a high quality as fast s you can afford 64GB microSD and you should be good. Note, not all software will run from the microSD.
4. That's such a subjective question, just give it a try. Just make sure you keep your restore path back to Win8.1 path so you can go back.

[fiat_lux]

It will all depend on how you want to use it. If it is a 32 gb model, I'd just go with the Windows Defender and Windows Firewall and keep the disk space. That is what I am doing. You may find the 32 gb restrictive if you want to load a lot of music/video on it or Store apps. Don't plan to have more than a couple of programs open at a time or tabs open on a browser. Two gb RAM is not a lot but sufficient for light to medium duty. You have to have reasonable expectations for it. As for Windows 10, the upgrade can be smooth or a headache. If you liked Windows 8.1, there is tablet mode, which is pretty much the old 8.1 Start screen. Sometimes, users are reporting problems out of the blue due to updates but my install has been pretty stable.

[pbekkerh]

Mine is a bit tight on the charge plug as well but when I insert it a bit from behind, it goes in easily.

[mondotone]

i love using sphinx's win10 firewall, malwarebytes and panda antivirus combos on my main systems for protection. also don't forget a little dielectric grease goes a long ways. i use that stuff on all my connectors, esp battery connectors. makes everything smooth like butter. btw you can used a 128g microsd card. dont know if the 256g works. dont want to fork over the premium for that size yet. when it comes down to say the cost of 2 x 128g then that's when i'll pick one up to test it.

[mdwh]

2. I stick with Windows 8/10's built in anti-virus, but I've never heard good things about Norton.
3. The microSD on the T100 is limited to USB 2 speeds I believe, so it's not going to be superfast, but it's still good enough to run many applications, I'd only worry if it was going to be something disk-intensive.
4. There are plenty of topics on these forums about this; one significant improvement is the ~7GB of disk space freed up (once you've cleaned up the Windows 8 files).

[janner43]

Windows Defender is not enough - not unless you only want minimal protection. Just read the malware related thread for the T100.

[zeo]

I guess the real point of this post anyone have a recommendation on a $211 T100TAM or $424 T100HA (4GB RAM 64GB-HD), I don't have a lot of money just want some opinions with experience.

Thanks!

Where are you seeing the T100HA for $424? It's too high for that model, someone is either likely taking advantage of low availability or importing it... While it's not even out in the states yet, not until at least early October...

The extra 2GB of RAM and up to 128GB of eMMC storage, combined with better graphical performance could be a reason to consider the T100HA but that depends on how you intend to use the system as the CPU performance will be pretty close to the same... If you're fine with the performance of the T100TAM then it's probably not enough reason to consider the T100HA but the starting price is suppose to be about $270 for the 2GB with 32GB model but it'll come with Windows 10 and unless you like Windows 10 then that may be enough of a issue for you to stick to the T100TAM...

Windows 10 is still a work in progress, it's getting a partial update in October with the Threshold2 update and then a bigger update next year with the Redstone update... So it may be preferable to wait if you want something you're more familiar with now and don't have to worry about early bugs, etc. of a new release...

[mdwh]

I use malwarebytes too, but have Windows Defender as the anti-virus. I have read the malware thread, there are various opinions as to how much protection it provides, or what's best. I still wouldn't recommend Norton. Yes, the OP should read that thread ( The Transformer T100 Antivirus & Malware MEGA thread. ALL related posts here, please. ) to see the range of options available.

[helpifIcan]

My T100 charge port was tight but after a few months it was fine. FYI it is sensitive to the angle of insertion.

Also welcome to the forum.