Asus Transformer Mini

[mdwh]

To be fair, eMMC in the T100 is a limitation of Atom, for full SSDs you need Intel Core (which I'm guessing is easier to put into a larger device - at least, we never seem to see Intel Core in anything less than 11.6"). So the Atom-based Transformer Mini will have to have eMMC also.

I would hope the Intel Core based Transformer 3s have SSDs (the Pro version at least is listed as having PCIe SSD). (Did the older T300 also have an SSD or eMMC?)

Still, I'd gladly take eMMC over the traditional spinning drives that some laptops/desktops still sell with.

[zeo]

however, for the price of the transformer book 3, i would like to know if it's a crappy eMMC module or a true SSD (hoping SSD for performance reasons)

The T3 and T3 Pro both use SSDs... The Mini is the one that uses eMMC...

That said, they didn't mention specifics like performance yet but capacities are up to 512GB for the T3...

To be fair, eMMC in the T100 is a limitation of Atom, for full SSDs you need Intel Core (which I'm guessing is easier to put into a larger device - at least, we never seem to see Intel Core in anything less than 11.6"). So the Atom-based Transformer Mini will have to have eMMC also.

Yes and no, eMMC is a limitation of mobile SoCs because mobile SoCs are limited to mobile hardware... If they had used a higher range ATOM sold under the Celeron/Pentium branding then it can support SSDs under SATA connections. Some may even be able to configure a PCIe SSD via the limited 4 free lanes available on ATOM SoCs if they can avoid using them for the usual other stuff...

So, if they update the Mini later to Apollo Lake then they can also switch to a SSD, and is not something that specifically requires a Core product...

However, SSDs aren't ideal for small devices as they're larger, multi-chip, devices... While a eMMC is a tiny single chip design that has more in common with a SD Card but is ideal for being put in small mobile devices.

Though, single chip SoC like SSDs are coming out by next year... Will likely be premium priced solution but could be a nice compromise between eMMC and traditional SSDs by putting all of the multiple chips of a SSD into a single chip with capacities up to 512GB...

The main limitation of eMMC is all the performance has to come from a single memory chip instead of having the work load shared among multiple chips... Despite this they have significantly improved eMMC performance over the years... They're just still years behind SSD performance but the latest eMMC drives are getting around SATA 2 range SSD performance and like you noted they easily outperform HDDs...

It's just that modern SSDs are SATA 3 or faster now and more powerful systems also tend to have a lot more RAM and the combination allows for a lot more performance... Though, if they at least increase the RAM to 4GB for these low end devices then that should be enough RAM to not make the eMMC performance much of a issue anymore...

[mdwh]

That's true - I meant the Atoms branded as Atoms, not the Atoms branded as Celeron/Pentium, though yes I'd forgotten about those as an option. I don't know why those aren't chosen for 2-in-1s - whether it's price, or battery life, or what.

Since Intel is phasing out the branded Atoms, with lower power Apollo Lake intended to be the replacement for lower end 2-in-1s, it'll be interesting to see what devices we see, particularly to replace 10" devices like the T100.

[zeo]

I don't know why those aren't chosen for 2-in-1s - whether it's price, or battery life, or what.

All of the above, the mobile ATOM SoCs were subsidized to allow competition with the even lower priced ARM SoCs and had to be limited to mobile power ranges for competitive battery life as well...

The Celeron/Pentium range ATOMs aren't subsidized and operate at higher TDP, which allows for a bit more performance but doesn't make them ideal to go into small, fan-less, tablet designs...

However, Apollo Lake is expected to be up to 15% more energy efficient than Braswell was but still provide 30% more performance in both GPU and CPU performance (this from the latest leaked slide from a China presentation and what could be translated)...

apollo-lake-680x397.jpg

There's also a leaked benchmark comparing SR AMD APU to a Apollo Lake Pentium N4200, which is apparently clocked at only 1.1GHz but still has the following Geekbench 3 score...

https://browser.primatelabs.com/geek...seline=6720213

Single = 1306

Multi = 2650

Mind, the A9-9410 is actually rated a lot higher than 1.75GHz... So those are probably just base clocks and don't count the Burst/Turbo clocks and the AMD is a higher TDP that's closer to 15W... While Lenovo has had issues with insufficiently cooled devices that result in throttling, which would explain why the multi-core score isn't any higher than Braswell...

But it's well before final release and those numbers may change and of course there will be higher end and lower range options that we don't know about yet.

Mind, Intel specifically said they not only intend to still go after the 2 in 1 market but will also offer Apollo Lake to OEMs to cover Tablets... So they're going to take over some products that would previously have gone to Broxton instead... This could mean a bit higher prices for those products but performance should be still improved over Cherry Trail...

[Swipe]

Asus uploaded this video October 26/2016 about the new Transformer Mini :





Asus page on the Transformer Mini:

https://www.asus.com/2-in-1-PCs/ASUS...r-Mini-T102HA/

[Swipe]

Earlier questions on whether these devices will be available led to one member stating the T90 was not released...

The T90...I was looking forward to this.

ah but it was released.

Just to clear up any confusion about this model : it was released. Available in Japan according to some research. So no cigar. Why develop and announce a device then not make it available somewhere?

You may still be able to order a T90 via Japanese retailers.

[Swipe]

The chances of them bringing two to market (mini & T101) seem extremely unlikely to the point of vapourware...

My Transformer Mini arrived a few days ago. I like it.

Announcement page regarding the T101 :

https://www.asus.com/News/cpj670sKhziqH73z

[Rocket_Scientist]

Asus Transformer Mini T102HA has a new link:
ASUS Transformer Mini T102HA | 2-in-1 PCs | ASUS USA

There are now 2 categories of Transformer Books:
Convertibles & Detachables; the T102HA is a convertible, the T100's are detachables, even all have detachable keyboards.

Both are are a subset of 2-in-1 PC's

Maybe the forum categories should be reorganized to reflect this?

[AFX]

Earlier questions on whether these devices will be available led to one member stating the T90 was not released...




ah but it was released.

Just to clear up any confusion about this model : it was released. Available in Japan according to some research. So no cigar. Why develop and announce a device then not make it available somewhere?

You may still be able to order a T90 via Japanese retailers.

sorry, i was aware that it was released in japan but nowhere else, and wasnt about to import one either.

i have some questions about the t102. how does it perform in comparison to the original t100ta? how much storage does yours have? how fast is the internal eMMC? can you also do an SDXC read/write test/benchmark? the t305ca hasnt been released yet but this seems like a nice little upgrade. i would much prefer the t305ca but if that never comes to north america, i may have to substitute for the t102 instead.

[Swipe]

. i already did my research and found nothing.

http://bfy.tw/8vXR

http://www.ultrabookreview.com/12908...r-mini-t102ha/