Incoming: 8in Win8 Pro Tablets

[fjtorres]

Originally Posted by WillysJeepMan

Sounds too good to be true.

Well, as the article points out, the info comes from an Amazon pre-order listing that went live early.
That has happened before, usually proving correct. Plus, "everybody" has been expecting smaller WinTabs ever since MS relaxed their minimum display resolution requirements.

So, unless Acer withdraws the tablet in a fit of pique over being outed prematurely, the thing *is* coming.

[evanft]

If the battery life and overall responsiveness are good, I might be interested. I might wait for 1080p screens, though.

[WillysJeepMan]

Originally Posted by fjtorres

Well, as the article points out, the info comes from an Amazon pre-order listing that went live early.
That has happened before, usually proving correct. Plus, "everybody" has been expecting smaller WinTabs ever since MS relaxed their minimum display resolution requirements.

So, unless Acer withdraws the tablet in a fit of pique over being outed prematurely, the thing *is* coming.

That may very well come true. But I've been in the industry long enough to know (perhaps too long) that "leaks" like that are often intentional... trial balloons to gauge interest and response.

For a 8" full Windows 8 tablet to be released, something fundamental will need to have happened with regard to Win8 licensing, breakthrough in hardware design/manufacturing, marketing (think: loss-leader), SOMETHING.

My suspicion is that Microsoft will be doing something to blur the lines between Win 8 RT and full-on Win 8.

Time will indeed tell.

[evanft]

Originally Posted by WillysJeepMan

That may very well come true. But I've been in the industry long enough to know (perhaps too long) that "leaks" like that are often intentional... trial balloons to gauge interest and response.

For a 8" full Windows 8 tablet to be released, something fundamental will need to have happened with regard to Win8 licensing, breakthrough in hardware design/manufacturing, marketing (think: loss-leader), SOMETHING.

My suspicion is that Microsoft will be doing something to blur the lines between Win 8 RT and full-on Win 8.

Time will indeed tell.

I'll have to dig up a source, but I believe MS has lowered licensing costs and made it possible to put Win8 on devices with lower resolutions. There wouldn't have to be any hardware breakthroughs. This looks to be an Atom-based device.

[fjtorres]

The Price is $379, hardly a loss leader.
The CPU is ATOM, and the screen resolution is 1280x800; hardly cutting edge tech.
And, as has been well documented since last month, MS relaxed the Win8 specs to encourage the development of smaller tablets.
I don't see what else is needed.

http://www.engadget.com/2013/03/29/m...solution-rule/

There is no such listing on Amazon now. If it ever was there it was probably an accidental posting. Personally I don't think a 32GB full Win8 tablet with Atom processor will allow for much hardcore work. It is basically an 8" netbook in tablet form. Nothing to get excited about. It will be slow running and require either external storage drive or SD Cards because you cannot install much on 32GB.

[mgmueller]

Originally Posted by din155

I have a question on windows tablets. Do the OEM add their own skins on top of windows 8? I am pretty sure they are not allowed by microsoft but havent seen one in action yet.

So far I've seen Windows 8 tablets from Microsoft, Dell, Samsung, Acer and Asus.
The OEMs add some bloatware, but not too much.
The interface/OS itself remains unmodified.
The only (kind of) problem I've faced:
On Android or iOS, you either update apps or the entire system.
You normally don't fiddle around, you just make the update.
On Windows, as we all know from former states (XP, 7 and so on), it's entirely different: You make updates for drivers, apps and stuff.
And here each OEM behaves differently.
Dell, on their support side, allows for all the downloads.
Asus on the other hand is using a proprietary software. Theoretically, this would be more convenient than downloading dozens of drivers separately. Unfortunately, this update software stopped working for me (and hundreds of others, as you easily find in numerous forums) after resetting the unit for the first time.
For now, of course both Microsoft tablets have the most convenient solution: All updates via Windows update, even for the firmware.

Anyway, coming back to your original question:
I haven't seen any OEM using "skins". All Windows 8 tablets look almost identical, with the exception of a handful of bloatware and OEM-specific apps.

[mgmueller]

Originally Posted by jswinden

...It will be slow running...

I'm not so sure about that.
In direct comparison, of course my Microsoft Surface Pro with its i5 processor beats my Dell Latitude 10 with its Atom processor.
But Latitude 10 still performs surprisingly well. Certainly not for hardcore games. But for the "usual" tasks, such as surfing, playing casual games, switching apps, ... to me its more than adequate.
I'd guess, all recent Atom units will be about the same.

[din155]

Originally Posted by mgmueller

So far I've seen Windows 8 tablets from Microsoft, Dell, Samsung, Acer and Asus....I haven't seen any OEM using "skins". All Windows 8 tablets look almost identical, with the exception of a handful of bloatware and OEM-specific apps.

Thanks for the reply mgmueller.

[fjtorres]

Originally Posted by mgmueller

I'm not so sure about that.
In direct comparison, of course my Microsoft Surface Pro with its i5 processor beats my Dell Latitude 10 with its Atom processor.
But Latitude 10 still performs surprisingly well. Certainly not for hardcore games. But for the "usual" tasks, such as surfing, playing casual games, switching apps, ... to me its more than adequate.
I'd guess, all recent Atom units will be about the same.

Business productivity apps, especially the mobile ones, run fine even on old ATOM processors. That was the whole initial appeal of the netbook class, which is why Intel created Ultrabooks; they were losing too many corporate sales to netbooks. And why now that Ultrabooks are just a couple hundred dollars more than Netbooks, Netbooks are fading.

To say a $379 8in WinTab is a netbook in tablet form isn't a put-down; it is a recommendation.

[wodin]

Originally Posted by mgmueller

I'm not so sure about that.
In direct comparison, of course my Microsoft Surface Pro with its i5 processor beats my Dell Latitude 10 with its Atom processor.
But Latitude 10 still performs surprisingly well. Certainly not for hardcore games. But for the "usual" tasks, such as surfing, playing casual games, switching apps, ... to me its more than adequate.
I'd guess, all recent Atom units will be about the same.

Yes, the current crop of Atom (Clover Trail) chips are dual core, and I think they are multi threading. They perform much better than the old NetBook Atom chips.

The downside is that they are still 32 bit, and only address 2 GB of RAM; and of course the GPUs are largely inadequate for heavy duty gaming.

I read an article just last week that said next year's Atoms will be quad cores.

[fjtorres]

Originally Posted by wodin

Yes, the current crop of Atom (Clover Trail) chips are dual core, and I think they are multi threading. They perform much better than the old NetBook Atom chips.

The downside is that they are still 32 bit, and only address 2 GB of RAM; and of course the GPUs are largely inadequate for heavy duty gaming.

I read an article just last week that said next year's Atoms will be quad cores.

Starting late this year Intel will move ATOM chips to a new microarchitecture that will run up to 8 cores with lower power consumption than current ATOMs.

http://news.cnet.com/8301-1001_3-575...ocessor-cores/

Perlmutter was quick to point out that the two -- performance and power efficiency -- are not incompatible. A slide (below) showed Silvermont Atom performing at twice the level of the previous Atom but also cutting power consumption (which Intel calls "lower power" in the slide.)

And Silvermont won't skimp on processor cores, providing up to eight of them. The current Atom tops off at two cores. That said, the typical tablet using the "Bay Trail" chip -- the version of Silvermont aimed at tablets and hybrids -- will likely use two or four cores.

One of the key changes to Atom is a higher-performance out-of-order design, just like Intel's mainstream Core processors.

And the new architecture will tap the company's 22-nanometer 3D transistor design -- a first for an Intel chip that's designed for tablets and small devices.

The Silvermont design will spawn a variety of Atom chips, according to Intel:

•Bay Trail: The quad-core Bay Trail system-on-a-chip (SoC) is scheduled for holiday 2013 tablets and will more than double the compute performance of current-generation tablets using Intel chips. Variants of Bay Trail will also be used in entry-level laptop and desktop computers.

•Merrifield: The chip for smartphones is slated to ship by the end of this year. It will enable increased performance and battery life over the Atom used in smartphones today.

•Avoton: For servers and microservers. The 64-bit chip supports integrated network fabric interface, error code correction, and Intel virtualization technologies. Will be available in the second half of this year.

•Rangeley: A processor aimed at network equipment, specifically for entry-level to mid-range routers, switches and security appliances. It will also be available in the second half of this year.

[Barty]

A capacitive pen may be good for doing work on something that size.

Price is right. But I have a feeling they will have cut too many corners and it does not provide a really good user experience .

[fjtorres]

Originally Posted by Barty

A capacitive pen may be good for doing work on something that size.

Price is right. But I have a feeling they will have cut too many corners and it does not provide a really good user experience .

At a minimum, it will be a universal reader with access to full Acrobat and full Calibre. And a dockable desktop computer.

There is a *lot* of value in there but it will best fit people who are *not* best served by an iPad of android tablet.

If your are happy with the current media consumption tabets, a WinTab won't do it for you. Coming late to this particular party, MS has to grow their conga line to the deat of a different tune.

[hidari]

Maybe...I am wrong....and I hope M$ does well just to make the tablet market a bit more diversified....but seems too little too late. M$ lost me as a customer recently.... Updated to Win8 on my two 11.6 acers(my main computers)... will not buy another windows OS... Chromebook for me next time.. Now with My Nexus 10 do all my work with it and switch to the nexus 7 when at home. Had they released this in the Autumn of 2012...I would have bought an 8 inch Win8 product without question. Now....I made a personal seismic shift to Google and Android....and am not looking back....Give me an Win 8 for 200USD...then I will do a rethink....