Gigabyte Launches S1082 Windows 8 Tablet

As we've known for months, Microsoft will officially introduce the Windows 8 operating system, and its ARM-compatible sibling, two days from now (October 26, 2012). In anticipation of that, Gigabyte has a treat.

The company has prepared a certain tablet, called S1082, which, rather than Windows RT, runs the full-fledged Windows 8 operating system.

Understandable of course, as, instead of an ARM chip, the slate uses an x85 processor from Intel, the dual-core Celeron 847 (1.10 GHz).

This is actually an unusual choice, not because of some shortcoming or other, but because of what Intel-powered tablets and notebooks used in the past.

We've seen lots of Atom slates, even based on the Clover Trail, the newest in the series. Likewise, we've seen our share of portable systems designed with Core Series CPUs.

At any rate, the Celeron 847 is backed by up to 8 GB of RAM (DDR3 obviously) and features the integrated HD 2000 graphics chip.

Storage space (320/500 GB) is provided by a hard drive, or an SSD (64/128/256 GB), while a pair of USB ports let external media be connected, or peripherals.

Speaking of which, there is a dedicated docking station that owners can also get. We aren't clear on whether it is included in the price or sold separately though.

At any rate, the tablet also has two video ports (HDMI and D-Sub), a 1.3-megapixel camera, a 5-in-1 card reader, Gigabit Ethernet, Bluetooth 4.0, Wi-Fi and 3.5G WWAN.

As for the 10.1-inch display, its resolution is of 1366 x 768 pixels (HD) and its touch panel can track multiple fingers at once.   When shipments begin (probably in a few days, or November at the latest), the price will be of $599-$799. According to exchange rates, that means 463 – 617 Euro, but it is more likely that European stores will choose the 599 – 799 range instead.