Originally Posted by
IsleOfMan
Even though it's a tablet/hybrid, I thought I'd point out that the very capable Dell Venue 11 Pro 7140 (64gb/4gb/Core M) is on sale for $300 INCLUDING keyboard at A4C.com (coupon code TECH25). I'm actually considering this myself up against the less powerful Asus T100HA ($300, Cherry Trail Atom), but the lack of a true clamshell keyboard has me second-guessing (which is the main reason I ditched my Surface Pro and my original Surface sits on the kitchen counter 100% of the time (though it does still get a lot of use for casual email/text/security cam/epicurious)... there is at least a clamshell keyboard available for the Venue 11 Pro, but it's relatively pricey ($120 new, $60-$75 on eBay) and it does double the battery life to 15+ hours. If my new employer tries to saddle me with a heft laptop, I'll have to decide between the Venue 11 Pro or the Asus T100HA.
I have the one-generation older 7130, with 8gb (and an i5-4300Y processor an upgraded 512gb SSD) and the clamshell keyboard. I paid about $500 total between the two, and am very pleased with.
I don't get anywhere near 15 hours use, but the battery life on the 7130 is slightly worse to begin with and I'm a heavy user (and have terrible eyesight and tend to run my screen on the brighter side.)
The machine is a bit too chunky for real "tablet" use to any great extent, but it makes a great PDF reader, and as a second travel notebook it is just fast enough to be really useful, and just large enough to be really useful. It's a bit bulky for an 10.8" machine -- it could easily have an 11.6 and maybe even a 12" screen just by having narrower bezels --but the keyboard is by far the best I've used on a machine this small, and insanely better than the keyboards in el-cheapo 10.1" and 11.6" netbooks I tried out 6-7 years ago when those were a big thing.)
OTOH, as you note, it's a $120 keyboard, and the cheapest netbooks for under $200 for the whole system.