Windows 8 Tablet – Review: Gigabyte S1080 Tablet

With  CES starting we are likely to start hearing about many new tablets, ultrabooks, and more that are on their way out this year.

Still, if you are looking for a tablet that runs Windows 7 now and can upgrade to Windows 8 (beta or full) later, this is as good of a time as any to begin your search.

Today we take a look at Gigabyte’s S1080 10.1-inch tablet and what it has to offer in a semi-reasonably priced sub-$700 package.

To get started, let’s dive right into the system’s specs:

• 10.1-inch capacitive Multi-Touch 1024×600 LED backlight display with mouse-like navigation buttons and on-screen hot keys.
• Intel Atom N570 1.66GHz processor
• 2GB DDR 2 RAM
• 320 GB HDD
• USB 3.0
• Media Card Reader
• Wifi and Bluetooth
• Weight: 1.97 pounds
• Dimensions: 10.63×6.81×0.59-inches

No Windows 7 tablet is perfect, thanks to the lack of reasonable touch optimization. Still, there are a few models that stick out better than others.

So where does the Gigabyte tablet stand in all of this? Somewhere in the middle, perhaps. The S1080 is awfully bulky compared to many other tablets, which is in part thanks to its Gigabit Ethernet port.

The tablet is reasonable looking as a business machine , but far from what I’d call ‘beautiful’.

The positive side is that Gigabyte did include a few welcome options that make navigating Windows 7 a little easier, such as its pointer/button device on the right of the screen that that combined with the left/right mouse buttons on the lef of the screen help overcome a little bit of the navigation problems you would encounter.

Still, if you are planning on loading Windows 8 Beta or Final, the hardware and look/feel are likely the deciding factor. While looks are nothing special and the ‘feel’ is too bulky, the hardware is exceptable for basic functions.

Personally if I’m going to buy an x86 tablet that costs over $600, I honestly don’t want an Atom processor.

Unfortunately, the Gigabyte tablet does feature an Atom, although combined with 2GB of RAM it does handle basic to moderate tasks with relative ease.

It almost seems waste to have such a large 320GB HDD when you have a low-end processor like the Atom though.

Additionally, if you like the idea of powerful cameras in your laptops and tablets, the Gigabyte model is lacking with its basic 1.3MP camera.

Long story short this isn’t a bad tablet, but unless you manage to find it used or at a steep discount somewhere that puts it at the sub-$500 range, I just feel that there are stronger choices out there.

For those that still think they might want to give this model a try, it is available from Amazon for $665.