Android and Windows 8.1 play nice on ASUS' Transformer Book Duet TD300 convertible

There were lots of great products unveiled Monday at CES 2014, but ASUS announced a real game-changer with the world’s first quad-core, dual operating system tablet/notebook convertible, the Transformer Book Duet TD300.

What makes this device so interesting is that it can be either an Android tablet or laptop, or a Windows tablet or laptop, so you essentially get four devices in one.

Now you may remember a discontinued device that came out a few years ago that also ran both Android and Windows 7, the Viewsonic ViewPad 10, but this device is different. With that tablet, you had to restart the device to get to your desired OS. On the Transformer Book Duet, all you have to do is press a button and you can instantly change to the other OS. It also saves your state, so if you want to switch back, you can pick up right where you left off.

ASUS’ new device starts at $599 and packs Windows 8.1 Standard, Android 4.2.2 Jelly Bean, a 13.3-inch 1366 x 768 display and an Intel Core i3 processor, but you can get an upgraded version for $100 more with a 1080p display and an Intel Core i7 processor.

Other specs include 4GB DDR3L 1600 RAM, up to 128 GB SSD in tablet and up to 1 TB HDD in dock, 38WHr battery that has an estimated battery life around 5 hours in Windows 8.1 and 6 hours in Android 4.2.2, 802.11ac Wi-Fi, Bluetooth 4.0 + EDR, MicroSD card slot, headphone jack, DC jack and the keyboard dock includes a USB 3.0 port, two USB 2.0 ports, 10/100Mbit/s LAN, HDMI 1.4, audio combo jack and DC jack.

An update to Android 4.4 KitKat would make this device an even better deal, but hopefully it sees an update to at least Android 4.3. If ASUS’ newest monster of a device has you excited, look for it in Europe and Asia this quarter and in the U.S. in Q2.

Source: ASUS, Via: AndroidGuys