What do you think of new Windows 8 tablets?

[davidbec]

I've seen the many many article and handson of the various Windows 8 tablets to be released this year and early next year. Some are pretty innovative like the Acer 700 with its docking system that lets you change the tablet from landscape to portrait.

Wired.com has a page up with most if not all of them on one page http://www.wired.com/gadgetlab/2012/06/windows-8-tablets-computex/

What I would say is that they are very good looking tablets, glossy, slim, extremely light and all the right curves to make them look really good.

The problem I would have with them is the majority are using the minimalist approach. Some have no USB ports on the tablet itself or "micro everything"; microusb, micro hdmi, microsd; micro... micro micro... So you are forced to use micro devices or travel with lots of adaptors.

Compared to the S1081. Personnaly I'd go with the S1081 still however just because of the availability of ports and because I know how to increase my resolution. Most of the tablets have 1366x768 and there is at least one with 1080p.

This brings my to my punch line.

If the S1081 had the 1366x768 resoution as I keep saying they should do. It would have no problems outshining the tablets on display today in Taiwan, due to their minimalist approach which makes them great ipad competitors only. For actually doing things they would pale significantly to the S1081 because of its ability to connect to any and everything all by itself. No added docks, weight or inconvenient keyboards to meddle with. No docking connectors to come off or get damaged by imporper docking.

However because it can only muster 1024x600. Gigabyte had best keep it under the tablet.

Come on Gigabyte, get with it!!! Please!!!

[Dark Mantis]

I am no expert on tablets or notebooks but as far as I have seen most every build has a downside that spoils it.  What I can never understand is why the manufacturere designs a great unit but spoils it by using one device or setting that just isn't good enough. It's almost as if they build in a fault so they can rectify it in the next revision. The same thing is there on most devices that  see for review. 

[davidbec]

Everyone expect Apple.. and that's why they run the show and everyone else is just playing the "me too". If you look at the tablets that came out, (if you omit the dock) they are so similar. Then again so many of them have the same keyboard docks. The S1081 is so unique and powerfully competent that the resolution omission is glaring.

Except for that omission I have started thinking of it as like a "+1" tablet while the others I call "me too" tablets. Cause it has everything they have and then some. While they are just "me too" similar size, ports, thickness, micro everything as the next guy.

[davidbec]

Just saw a short hands on by Sasha from Netbooknews. He found a Jeyway 10 inch tablet at Computex running Windows 7 and another running windows 8. He said that "what he really liked about it with was that the tablet had 2 full sized USB 2.0 ports. "

Please send him an S1081. 

[Dark Mantis]

Good idea but wrong place. This is just a forum even though it is backed by Gigabyte and so "official". You would need to contact Sales and Marketing for review samples.

[davidbec]

The Microsoft Windows 8 tablet looks really good. Very Premium build.

Notice that it is heavier than the S1080 and 81, and almost as thick. Now if these really were issues or "bad things" why would Microsoft, which is the real person behind Windows 8 build a tablet like this to push windows 8 sales?

Answer.....

Because they are not "bad things".

I would like an S1090 please. With upgraded versions of all the ports the S1081 has. So yeah, just as thick.

[Dark Mantis]

If they are doling them out I will have one too!  I agree that the full size connectors are best by far. These micro ports are a right pain in my eyes.

[johnbash]

I dont think win8 tabs would be able to stand against ipad and andoid tabs

[davidbec]

I don't think so either generally speaking and they really should stop trying. Windows 8 tablets are for work. Androids are for play. I have seen and heard that the Apple tablets are getting a lot of business apps that work extremely well so I'm going to switch here and say that the iPad is also a good business tablet, but only because of its apps, not its capabilities. Any attempt to market Windows 8 tablets for consumption or leisure alone will fail. Too many cheaper excellent Androids around.

The Windows 8 tablets have the capabilites and the apps. But they can never reach the price points that the Androids are sold at and they should not try to reach them either. Going against the iPad is a better bet. But should be done carefully, cause a lot of the people that buy apple buy it because of the brand, features (weight, appearance primarily) and familiarity, not becasue of the capabilities.  So it will take a tremendous amoung of marketing to move them away from apple. Gigabyte has a excellent capable tablet in the S1081. How many reviews have you seen on it by reputable hardware reviewers with industry influence? None. Who's talking about it? No one. The MSI and Acers are also fairly good, but again no ads, no reviews. Youtube does not count. Videos are short, the reviewer is sometimes biased, does not know certain things about the device and so is misleading, audio, or video or both are sometimes poor quality. Videos keep buffering. etc.

So even if Microsoft's tablet is great. If no one is talking about it, not one is advertising it. There will be no movement from the iPad to it. Even if it is superior.

[davidbec]

And you know what pisses me off.

Sometimes these manufacturers kill perfectly good hardware (which they refused to advertise) and say no one was interested.

[davidbec]

Was bored today so I spent some time watching youtube videos of the Microsoft tablet. It's pretty impressive in many ways. A lot of care and attention certainly went into designing it.You can hear the presenters excitement and passion when he speaks.

Microsoft said the RT version is going to cost around what a similar android tablet cost. The Windows 8 Pro version is going to cost around what a Ultra book will cost.

Going to be a tough call for a lot of people deciding on the Surface vs a new Gigabyte S10xx. The Microsoft one is definitely going to be more expensive, but when you think of the quality and attention to detail they went through, the microSDXC and USB3 ports and of course that 1920x1080 screen. Then there is the whole "mindshare" of owning a beautifully crafted Microsoft tablet.

Gigabyte is going to have to come real good this time around. But they can make it happen if they really wanted to.


If only I could work there......

[Ray!]

I certainly don't begrudge the lower resolution of the S1080. I have a Fujitsu P1610, which has an 8.9", 1280x768 resolution screen, and I find it almost impossible to use with my normal reading glasses, because the text etc is so small. To that end, I can see exactly the same issues with a 10" tablet running very high resolution screens. And if you try to do any scaling, it can distort things, which makes it less than optimal.

I think one of the reasons that the S1080 and it's conterparts haven't done well in the marketplace, and especially with reviewers, is because most are enarmoured by the simple things that Android and Apple provides, cheezy apps etc. Most of those tablets are sold as playthings and reviewers etc are always loking for the next best plaything with new bells and whistles, not always practical tools.

The other reason is that Windows 7 isn't considered as a serious OS contender in the tablet market, and especially because the 'app' store is so bereft of fun things to download. That's one aspect of the marketplace that Windows 8 in the RT version is trying to capture, but retain the business end with the Pro version; though I still have my reservations about the 'not now called Metro' interface, I prefer the desktop.

One reason why I investigated the S1080 to a greater degree than I would normally have done, was due to the bagging it received, despite clearly having more functional features than any other tablet. After handling one in the flesh, it was a no-brainer for me. All I really think that the S1080 future should hold is a more (energy efficient processor, more RAM capacity - seems like the S1081 has that) and a more flexible BIOS. Mind you, I still think the S1080 is a better overall device than many of the newer tablets.

[davidbec]

I bought my S1080 mostly because of the ports it had. I fell inlove with it after it was delivered.

The resolution is ok. But higher resolution is a must for me. There are phones with 4 or 5 inch screens having higher resloution than the S1080/81 and most people I think, are ok with the smallness of the text or they zoom in. On a 10 inch screen they should be ok. In most, if not all of the reviews I have read about tablets, the reviewer gives high praise to the higher resoloution tablets and they bragg about how good things look. So this is something that I believe the general public wants to see.

For me it would allow the odd one or two dialogue boxes to fit. And allow for more of the page in MS Word or the spreadhseet in excel to be seen. I actually use mine in 1152x864 with 10 or 15% scaling about 98% of the time.

[Ray!]

I run dual dual 23" desktop monitors that are 1680x1050, which give a pretty close relationship withn the S1080 at 1024x600 (1.6 vs 1.7 ratio). A lot of reviewers praise higher resolution because they are into video, photos, games etc, where text and the like are somewhat irrelevant, so higher resolution is a plus. Also, they are usually younger and don't have the visual issues associated with 40+ year olds. Just wait until they get a tad older.

What has to be recognised is that the generation/s that have grown up with technology are getting older and their physical senses will deteriorate, while their mental functions will remain. How frustrating to look at a screen designed for a 14 year old with perfect vision, when you're 50+ and mentally more adroit than the 14 year old. Nokia has been in this state for the last 30 years.

[Ray!]

For those who might want to use Windows 8, but would prefer the desktop interface rather than the tiled one, here's a solution: http://retroui.com/. And at $4.95 for three devices, it's pretty good value, until someone cracks the system for free, or Microsoft relents.

My only reservation about Windows 8 at the moment is whether all the necessary device drivers etc will be available for the devices that I have.

Cheers

Ray