I agree, it's terrible having to install all that bloat just for the drivers. Unfortunately that's what I had to do to get the drivers. I searched as much as I could through the Asus website but it kept pointing me to the full suite. So it seems Asus aren't supplying the drivers but themselves.
I'm not sure what dangers are involved with using the incorrect drivers, but the TF101 has the USB drivers, so that might work with the TF300.