Asus has delayed U.S. shipments for its dual-screen, Windows 8 Taichi ultrabook hybrids for the second time, but gave no reason for the delay.
Taichi ultrabooks were available for order from various retail sites such as Amazon, Newegg, and TigerDirect, but now several U.S-based retailers have stopped taking pre-orders for the device.
The Asus Taichi has an innovative design with two displays, adorning the front and back of a display panel. At first glance, the device looks like a laptop with an 11.6-inch touch screen. Closing the laptop, however, activates the second 11.6-inch touch screen on the back of the panel, turning the device into a tablet.
Taichi grabbed the spotlight when first announced back in June at the Computex trade show. The device was initially expected to ship in November, after Windows 8 became available for PCs and tablets in late October.
Following this second delay, an Asus spokesperson told PCWorld via e-mail that U.S. shipments will likely start in December, but could be pushed back even further than that. The spokesperson did not give any specific reasons for the delay, and did not offer information regarding the worldwide shipping status of the Taichi hybrid.
The tablet/ultrabook Windows 8 hybrid device comes in two models. The first one, the Taichi 21 DH51, packs an Intel Core i5 processor and 128GB solid state drive (SSD) storage, and originally came with an $1,299 price tag on Amazon, Newegg and TigerDirect.
The second model, the Taichi 21 DH71, packs a faster Intel core i7 processor and 256GB SSD storage. Amazon priced it at $1,299 (it has since withdrawn the price), while Newegg and TigerDirect offered it at $1,599.
Both Taichi models sport high-resolution, 1,920 x 1,080-pixel Full HD screens (only one of which is a touch screen), weigh 2.64 pounds, and pack 4GB of RAM. Other features include a 5-megapixel autofocus camera with 1080p Full HD video recording, a second 720p HD video camera with a noise-suppressing array microphone, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, and two USB 3.0 ports. The device also features a stylus for better precision
As the retail sites have stopped taking orders for the product, the Asus Taichi is now listed as either out of stock or discontinued.
