Photo by: Laptop Mag. Wearing: Ministry of Style

Alas, my final tech review of 2015: The ASUS Transformer Book Flip TP200 

For someone who is constantly in a hurry (....to blog in between Netflix binges and selfies) and who doesn't like to be tied to a desk, I'm always on the lookout for an affordable, every day, 2-in-1 device that easily slips into my bag and seamlessly slips into my schedule. 

As of late, the ASUS Transformer Book Flip TP200 has ticked all the right boxes! So I'm excited to share with you today my pros and cons on this potential candidate for 'last minute gift idea'

For $349, the ASUS Transformer TP200 is definitely on the affordable end of the spectrum. But I guess price doesn't equate to much until you run through the pros and cons, so here they are!

Pros

• Lightweight and compact: The ASUS Transformer is a feather-light 1.2kg and size-wise it's smaller than an A4 paper. I've had no problems with slipping this straight into envelope clutch or propping this on top of my home gym bench to watch workout videos.
• Attractive Exterior: It comes with a beautiful brushed aluminium and scratch resistant exterior available in a la couture Dark Blue and Crystal Silver.

• 360 degree flexible hinge: This allows you to flip the tablet into tent mode to watch presentations, movies and videos and flip it back to tablet mode for the more heavy handed tasks.
• Great battery life: Battery life is usually the gripe that I have with most tablet and laptop devices but the ASUS Transformer can last 8 hours on a 38 watt-hour battery without a charger... pretty impressive!
• USB Type-C port: Along with the 2 standard USB ports, the ASUS Transformer is equipped with a USB Type-C port, the all-in-one connector everybody needs.
• Mini-HDMI
• MicroSD Card Reader
• Touchscreen: With 2 x sensitivity, 10 fingers multi-touch and it also recognises the difference between fingers and palms. The size of the touchpad is also noticeably larger than the standard tablet pad for ease of reach.

Cons

• No backlight: The keyboard can be a bit hard to navigate if you plan to use this in the dark. However, I'm quite a decent touch typer and I haven't had any issues using this in my room before hitting the hay.
• Brightness: The maximum brightness of the ASUS Transformer is 256 lux (the higher-end notebooks are at least 300 lux). Although, for the price of the ASUS Transformer, this is quite decent!
• Webcam quality: I haven't had a real need to use the webcam but I guess it's good to note that the quality of the camera is just standard for a tablet. Nothing high def but not bad at all. 

Conclusion: 

Overall, the ASUS Transformer TP200 packs a tonne of value for its size and cost. With it's super extended battery life, ease of portability and the amazing flip screen, it makes for a great travel companion and will last you through that dreaded 8 hour flight you have planned over the holidays. 

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ASUS MEMO Pad 8

MeMO Pad 8 by ASUS 

So for the past 2 weeks I've been trialling the brand new MeMO Pad 8 by ASUS. We've had a hell of a ride together and I'm here to tell you all about it!

I guess I'll start on the positives and give you the pros:

• Lightweight: I'm always a bit apprehensive to carry tablets in my handbag. I've had my fair share of broken bag handles due to heavy baggage but the MeMO Pad is extremely lightweight and only 7.45mm thin, I don't feel any added weight in my bag. It's like a weight has been lifted off my shoulders (pun intended).
• Battery life: After taking the MeMO Pad with me on a weekend camping trip, I experienced the 9 hour battery life first hand. Needless to say, I'm so excited to take this guy with me on my plan trip to China next month without worrying he will die on me mid flight.
• Durability: Sooo... when I first brought my cat home, one of our favourite pass times would be playing cat games (yes, there are games you can download for cats) on our tablet. Unfortunately this means I've unintentionally conditioned my furry friend to replace his scratch posts with tablets and yep, you guessed it, I left the MeMO Pad on the couch and he pounced at the opportunity (literally) and the pad fell to the floor. I haven't had time to grab any protective gear for the pad but was pleasantly surprised to see zero scratches and no screen cracks.
  
  ASUS x Corning Gorilla Glass 3 = Winning.
• Multi-tasking: I'm the type of person that always uses more than 1 device at a time with 10 windows open in each browser and the most irritating thing when multi tasking is lag. The MeMO Pad has a great dual app function that allows you to use two apps side by side without any lag..perfecto!
• Camera: The MeMO Pad features a 5-mega pixel rear facing autofocus camera for digital camera quality images and a 1.2 megapixel front facing camera for clear video chats and selfies -> extremely important of course.
• Image editing: I'm a self confessed filter fanatic and love editing my photos. Currently my favourite editing apps include: Snapseed, Phonto and Photowonder and the new addition to my list is *drumroll* the ASUS Gallery suite of tools that are standard for every MeMO Pad 8, here is just a sample of the built-in features: 

Amazing right? No need to download any extra editing apps! #ididnotwakeuplikethis 

• Music: If you haven't guessed from the my huge headphones, I love listening to music while I work or just frittering away watching music videos. The MeMO Pad features dual speakers for the ultimate video music experience, a delight to my eyes and ears! (P.S Have you heard Sam Smith's latest song, Lay Me Down? Just incredible)

Now for the cons: 

• Today was supposed to be an extremely efficient day dedicated to flat lays but as you can probably guess from the mess.. after shooting the MeMO Pad 8, we kind of became... inseparable. I binged on social media for the rest of the afternoon and as a result = very inefficient flat lay day. I only have the MeMO Pad to blame... 

So I hope you liked my review! I've been adding different types of blog posts into the mix and would love to hear what you think.

Would you like to see more review posts or should I stick to the outfit posts?

Let me know in the comments below and have a beautiful weekend!!!

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