NoypiGeeks was recently invited to Asus Philippines’ launch event for their first wave of Windows 8 devices. We’ve already covered their more traditional Windows 8 notebook lineup in a previous post. While they all featured capacitive touchscreens to take full advantage of the latest version of Windows, tablets present a more interesting option for users because of their portability and since Windows 8 has been specifically optimized for tablets.

ASUS VivoTab RT

The VivoTab RT is ASUS’ first ever Windows RT tablet and is one of the lightest 10.1″ tablets you can get in the market. You have the option to get it with a keyboard dock to expand the functionality of your VivoTab RT for better productivity and to boost battery life. The VivoTab RT also virtually eliminates any perceptible lag because of the NVIDIA Tegra 3 quad core CPU and the bloat-free OS so you end up getting better responsiveness and a better overall user experience, even just by navigating through Windows RT.

There certainly hasn’t been any compromise to the design either. The VivoTab RT features a slick metallic finish, and the “hidden hinge” design also lends quite a bit to the streamlined look when using it with the optional keyboard dock. You might be getting the same functionality and screen size as most netbooks that are already out there, however none of them will give you the sleekness of an 8.3mm profile with a weight of only 525g. And that high-definition Super IPS+ display is gorgeous!

It comes with 32Gb of onboard storage and is preloaded with Office Home and Student 2013 RT Preview. That way, you get to become productive as soon as you fire the tablet up, rather than have to purchase office productivity software later on. The VivoTab RT will become available in the Philippines this November with an suggested retail price of Php37,995.

ASUS VivoTab

While Windows RT allows VivoTab RT users to take full advantage of the same kind of functionality that they would get from a full version of Windows, you might still want to have that backwards compatibility with some older software you have lying around. The ASUS VivoTab provides just that by swapping out Windows RT and the 10.1″ screen for the full version of Windows 8 and an even bigger 11.6″ HD capacitive Super IPS+ display. It will be made available in both 32Gb and 64Gb configurations, but it has yet to be released locally.

ASUS VivoTab Smart

Last in the VivoTab series is the VivoTab Smart, which is sort of a cross between the VivoTab and VivoTab RT in terms of features and software.The VivoTab Smart is similar in size, shape, dimensions and weight to the VivoTab RT, but rather than coming with Windows RT, it comes preinstalled with the more full-featured Windows 8 instead. It also swaps out the Nvidia Tegra 3 processor with an Intel Atom chip.

Although the VivoTab and VivoTab RT take their design cues from the Android-based Transformer series, the VivoTab Smart appears to compete directly with Microsoft’s Surface. Rather than featuring an optional keyboard dock, the VivoTab Smart gives you the option of picking up a TranSleeve Keyboard cover, which is similar to the Microsoft’s own Touch Cover for the Surface. The TranSleeve Keyboard gives you the advantage of having a cover to protect the device while keeping the weight low despite featuring a keyboard of sorts. The downside though is that you’ll be losing out on the extra battery life that a keyboard dock would have given. No pricing available yet locally, but according to international pricing, it should be similar to the VivoTab RT.