ASUS VivoTab RT and VivoTab Smart Hands-on Pictures and Video

The VivoTab line from ASUS features small, light Windows 8 tablets that, when coupled with keyboards, act just like full laptops. The VivoTab RT and VivoTab Smart each have compelling features, but the differences are revealing, too. Which VivoTab do you think is better?

The VivoTab RT is an 11.6-inch tablet with a 1366 x 768 screen resolution. It’s designed to dock with a keyboard and work just like a laptop, just as with the Transformer series. The dock adds ports and longer battery life plus a keyboard and touchpad.

Another nice (optional) accessory is a Wacom digital pen. Unfortunately, there’s no place to store the pen in the VivoTab or dock itself, so it doesn’t feel like an integrated solution the way it does on Samsung’s ATIV SmartPCs.

This tablet runs on an Nvidia Tegra 3 chip, thus it runs the Windows RT version of Microsoft’s new operating system. This means long battery life and speedy performance, though limits users to programs created specifically for this version of Windows.

Inside it has 2GB of RAM and a 32GB or 64GB SSD. Pricing starts at $599 for the tablet and dock. Watch our hands-on video:

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The VivoTab Smart is less expensive than the VivoTab RT, starting at just $499. This model has a 10.1-inch display and a 1366 x 768 resolution.

With this one you don’t get a dock that turns it into a laptop, though ASUS does make a Bluetooth keyboard to match it. The keyboard is extremely light, as is the tablet, and they make a good combo. ASUS will also sell a smart cover that doubles as a stand.

The most important distinction between the bigger VivoTab and this smaller one is that the Smart runs fill Windows 8 due to the Intel Atom Z2760 Clover Trail processor. This means you can run any Windows-compatible program on it. Essentially, this is a netbook without a keyboard.

Check it out in our hands-on video:

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