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Asus Vivo Tab RT

Asus' Vivo Tab series covers quite a lot of ground — however, the first to market will be its Tegra 3-powered, Windows RT product.

Craig Simms Special to CNET News
Craig was sucked into the endless vortex of tech at an early age, only to be spat back out babbling things like "phase-locked-loop crystal oscillators!". Mostly this receives a pat on the head from the listener, followed closely by a question about what laptop they should buy.
Craig Simms

There are three tablets in the Vivo Tab series. The first, and likely the only one to definitely arrive before Christmas, is the Vivo Tab RT.

It's a 10.1-inch tablet, and, as you can guess by the name, it comes with Windows RT. We're still not sold on Windows RT, especially considering the device prices — but we're keeping an open mind for someone to wow us.

Featuring an IPS, 1366x768 screen, it's a Tegra 3 device with 2GB of RAM. There'll be multiple SKUs, offering either 32GB or 64GB capacity, and by the end of the year Asus hopes to have a 3G version in the market, too. For the moment, only the 32GB Wi-Fi edition (TF600) has been priced at AU$749, and is expected in mid-November.

Asus is throwing in Office Home and Student 2013 with the bundle, although it seems as though the Transformer-esque keyboard dock will be an optional accessory.

The 11.6-inch Vivo Tab Smart is next up the rung, run by a Clover Trail Atom processor on Windows 8, and it has an optional detachable bluetooth keyboard, and a foldable smart-cover-style case that can act as a stand. The top-of-the-line Vivo Tab TF810 differs through its Wacom stylus, and the fact that it comes with Windows 8 Pro. Both of the higher-end models have yet to have their RRP confirmed, and are slated for either the end of the year or the beginning of 2013.