14 DAY TRIAL // Microsoft presented the new Windows 8.1 with Bing in late May, promising that thanks to this new SKU its partners would be capable of bringing much more affordable devices to the market that would in the end challenge Android in a way that Windows never did before.
This moment has arrived, as Emdoor presented at the Computex show this week its own Windows 8.1 tablet that's priced at only $100 (€73) and comes with pretty decent hardware specs to run Microsoft's modern operating system.
As my colleague Alexandra Arici told you yesterday, the Emdoor 18080 features an 8-inch IPS display with a resolution of 1280x800 px, a quad-core Intel Atom Z3735E processor (Bay Trail), 1 GB of RAM and 16 GB of internal storage. The CPU runs at normal speeds of 1.33 GHz, while reaching 1.83 GHz in turbo mode.
Of course, what you pay is what you get, so the device does come with the same fit and finish quality as the Surface, for example, but it still helps you get the job done using Windows 8.1.
That's exactly what Microsoft hoped for when it announced Windows 8.1 with Bing. The company explains that it wants its modern operating system to be available to as many users as possible, promising to bring cheaper devices to the market boasting the same feature lineup as their more expensive counterparts that are already up for grabs.
All these devices are specifically optimized for Windows 8.1, so you shouldn't notice any performance issue when launching the built-in apps, but a somewhat drop might be experienced in the case of more complex solutions.
“The end result is that more people—across consumer and commercial—will have access to an even broader selection of new devices with all the awesomeness that Windows 8.1 provides, and get Office too, all at a really affordable price. Additionally, as reach expands, the opportunity for developers and their apps also increases,” Microsoft said when it announced the new Windows 8.1 SKU.
Windows 8.1 with Bing comes with Bing as the default search engine in Internet Explorer and OEMs are not allowed to change this default configuration. On the other hand, users can always pick Google or any other search engine, but only after they buy the device. Windows 8.1 with Bing is offered free of charge or at very low prices to Microsoft's partners building tablets and PCs capable of running this OS version.