All-in-one desktop systems are usually a great way to save table space since it usually does away with the need for a bulky CPU case, and if you’re in the market for a new AIO system, ASUS has announced the Transformer AiO desktop system.
Considering that ASUS is using the Transformer name for this particular product, you’ve guessed it right if you thought that this would be some sort of hybrid system where tablet meets desktop. The display of the Transformer AiO when unplugged from the PC Station transforms the device into a fully functioning Android tablet, albeit a rather large tablet at 18.4”. Probably not bag or pocket friendly, but it should come in handy if you want to make presentations at the offices of clients.
On the tablet front, it will be powered by an NVIDIA Tegra 3 quad-core chipset with Android 4.1 Jelly Bean running the show. It will feature an 18.4” Full HD 1920×1080 display with IPS technology and 10-point multi-touch. It will come with a 1MP front-facing camera which we expect will double up as a webcam either in tablet or PC-mode, 2GB of DDR3 RAM and a 32Whr Li-ion battery which according to ASUS, should provide around 5 hours of use.
Looking at it from the PC angle, the Transformer AIO will run on a 3rd gen Intel Core i5-3350P chipset and with Windows 8 (64-bit) preinstalled. The PC version will come with 8GB of DDR3 RAM, a 1TB SATA HDD and a SuperMulti DVD Drive. NVIDIA will also make another appearance in the Transformer AIO, this time in its GPU with a GeForce GT 730M with 2GB of VRAM. It will come with the usual assortment of connectivity options such as USB 3.0 ports, audio jacks, HDMI-out, WiFi, Gigabit Ethernet ports and so on.
The ASUS Transformer AiO is expected to go on sale in North America come Q2 2013 and surprisingly given its capabilities, it will be priced at $1,299 which to be honest doesn’t seem overly expensive.