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The Asus Vivo Tab RT - A Surprisingly Slender And Light Device (Part 1)

7/16/2013 6:30:28 PM

The Asus Vivo Tab RT is a feature-packed and highly portable device with plenty of power and an excellent keyboard dock. The Windows 8 RT OS is slick in some areas but needs work in others

ASUS’ tablets have fast become our favorites, even surpassing Apple’s mighty iPad thanks to their quality construction and excellent features. Now Asus has taken its superb Transformer Prime design (which features a detachable keyboard dock), and transferred it to the wonderful world of Windows. The result is the Asus Vivo Tab RT, a quad-core Windows 8 tablet that is marvelous for work and play.

The Asus Vivo Tab RT

Look and feel

In tablet form, the Asus Vivo Tab RT is a surprisingly slender and light device. It’s only a tad thicker than the likes of the Apple iPad mini, and at half a kilo is a lot lighter than the New iPad. There’s a tiny bit of flex when you pull on the edges, but nothing to worry about beyond a little creaking. Overall, this is a solid, durable device.

The rear of the Vivo Tab RT is part brushed metal, part textured plastic. The textured section helps to stop it from skidding around when you’re using it on a work surface, and provides extra grip. On the edges of the Vivo Tab RT you’ll find volume and power buttons as well as a 3.5mm audio jack and a covered slot for a microSD card, so you can expand the very generous 64GB of built-in storage.

In tablet form, the Asus Vivo Tab RT is a surprisingly slender and light device. It’s only a tad thicker than the likes of the Apple iPad mini, and at half a kilo is a lot lighter than the New iPad

Windows 8 (RT)

If you’re new to Windows 8 RT, this touch-based interface has a similar appearance to Windows Phone, using ‘live tiles’ as shortcuts to your apps. These tiles are similar to Android widgets, updating with fresh information on the fly - so you know when you receive a new message or your stocks have plummeted, for instance. You can pin your favorite apps to the Start screen and resize them based on importance, while sharing your files and favorite web finds is a quick and simple process.

Windows 8 is far more refined for touchscreen devices than Windows 7, thanks to its lack of tiny menus and other fiddly sections. All of the menus and tiles are big and bold, and easy to prod without worrying about pinpoint accuracy. Of course this also makes for a more simplified experience that can occasionally prove frustrating.

We had a few little gripes, such as the way it seems to be impossible to check the exact percentage of battery life remaining or change how long the screen stays on before it times out. There are also some inconsistencies in navigation, which led to some initial confusion.

We had a few little gripes, such as the way it seems to be impossible to check the exact percentage of battery life remaining or change how long the screen stays on before it times out

With its 1366x768 pixel resolution, the 10-inch screen is a great way to enjoy movies on the go. We kicked back and enjoyed a handful of HD videos, which looked impressively crisp - we could see every wrinkle, spot and mole on the actors’ faces. Just one glance at the Start screen and it’s immediately obvious how bright and vibrant the panel is. We had no trouble watching movies even with our harsh office lighting glaring down, while the excellent viewing angles mean you can stay entertained with buddies without cramming your heads together.

That screen makes the Vivo Tab RT a great web surfing device too. It’s spacious and sharp enough to cope with the most jam-packed websites, while the touch controls are perfectly responsive to every prod and swipe. The sensitive touch-screen is also well suited to apps and games, particularly those that require precision input.

Boasting a quad-core Nvidia Tegra 3 processor and a mighty 2GB of RAM, this is one of the most powerful tablets we’ve clutched in our sweaty little mitts. It handles everything available on the Windows Store with ease, whether it’s fast-paced games or business software. We also had no problem streaming HD media.

Battery life is one of the Vivo Tab RT’s other strong suits. By itself, the tablet can last all day with moderate use or for around five hours if streaming video. However, hook up the dock with its built-in second battery and you can effectively double the Vivo Tab RT’s battery life.

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