
ASUS is being rather tight-lipped about the release date and pricing of its new Chromebook Detachable CM3 tablet. While we may have to wait a bit longer to hear it from horse’s mouth, a little birdy told us that the highly-anticipated rival to Lenovo’s Chromebook Duet should be arriving on Costco’s shelves in the relatively near future. No hard date has been shared but we do know that the wholesale club is slated to get a large number of the ASUS CM3s and it could possibly be as soon as next week.
What we know
When ASUS launched the landing page for its new MediaTek-powered detachable, two variations were listed. Like the Lenovo Duet, you can choose between 64GB or 128GB and that’s about it apart from two RAM options. Before you get too excited, both of those options are 4GB but one is LDDR4 while the other is the less power-hungry LDDR4X that features higher clock speeds. Which one comes with each storage configuration is still a mystery. It may simply be a matter of which RAM is available at the time of manufacturing. Either way, you probably won’t notice a difference between the two.
As I mentioned, ASUS hasn’t officially announced a price tag for the CM3 but thanks to our anonymous tip, we know that the 64GB model will be selling at Costco for $369.99. So long as this particular model comes with the versatile stand cover, keyboard, and stylus, this is right in the price range that we expected for the ASUS. Performance should be no different than the Lenovo Duet (perhaps a slight edge if you get the LDDR4X RAM) but you get a slightly larger display at 10.5″ and a garaged, rechargeable USI stylus. Our fingers are crossed that ASUS won’t price the 128GB model out of contention. If it retails for $399 and occasionally goes on sale, it could be a serious thorn for Lenovo’s Chromebook Duet that frequently goes on sale for $249.
We’ll keep a sharp eye on Costco.com to let you know when the ASUS CM3 arrives. If you happen to be in Canada, PC Canada has its listing up for the ASUS as well. It is currently listed as “back-ordered” but you can go ahead and place your order and get in line to get your hands on it.
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