Asus spiffs up Transformer, FonePad, Memo Pad lines

The Transformer Book T300, the Memo Pads 8 and 10, and the FonePad 7 2014 Edition were unveiled at the company's IFA event in Berlin.

Joan E. Solsman Former Senior Reporter

Joan E. Solsman was CNET's senior media reporter, covering the intersection of entertainment and technology. She's reported from locations spanning from Disneyland to Serbian refugee camps, and she previously wrote for Dow Jones Newswires and The Wall Street Journal. She bikes to get almost everywhere and has been doored only once.

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Joan E. Solsman

Sept. 4, 2013 9:21 a.m. PT

2 min read

Asus, at its press event at the technology trade show IFA in Berlin, trotted out a trio (well, a trio and a half) of new products. The Transformer Book T300 is a hybrid that becomes a tablet by unclipping the screen of the laptop; a FonePad 7 2014 Edition quickly follows up the debut of the original phone/tablet in February; and duo of Memo Pad budget slates in expanded 8- and 10-inch screen sizes.

More from IFA:

"Asus has been around for 24 years. ... Our success in the past two decades has been from responding quickly to innovation," Eric Chen, Asus vice president, said at the event.

"Back in 2007, we revolutionized the industry with the Eee PC," he said. "In 2010 we launched the Transformer, the first detachable PC. In 2012, we launched the PadFone."

Now it's taking those and the Memo Pad to new territory.

With the Asus Transformer Book T300, what appears at first blush to be an ultraportable laptop becomes a 13.3-inch tablet with the push of a concealed button, which unclips the screen. The combination gives you full keyboard with the portability of a slate. The screen is 1080P full high-definition screen with 10-point touch multi-touch, working to the advantages -- such that they are -- of Windows 8. Read our hands-on take of the Asus Transformer Book T300 here.

The first child always gets shunted to the side when the next one comes along, but usually there's a longer time for it to shine. The original FonePad debuted in February, but Asus already has its next-generation Asus FonePad 7 2014 Edition ready to take over the limelight. About the size of a DVD case, the FonePad is what it claims to be: a tablet and a phone in one. The new version improves specs for about the same price. Read our hands-on take of the Asus FonePad 7 here.

With Memo Pad 8 and Memo Pad 10, Asus is giving its customers for affordable tablets more options in size and shape. The slates measure 8 inches and 10 inches, respectively, and expand the Memo Pad line from the 7-inch version that came before. Both come in grey, white, or hot pink frames, and they also share 1,280 x 800 screens, quad-core processors and microSD card storage. Read our reviews of the Asus Memo Pad 10 and the Asus Memo Pad 8.