KingSing have taken advantage of the new Windows licensing rules and have launched the KingSing W8, an 8 inch Windows tablet for less than $100.
The KingSing W8 is the first tablet from the phone maker and the first device from them which runs Windows OS rather than Android. The tablet is simple and fuss free in design manufactured from a mix of glass, plastic and textured alloy.
A KingSing logo on the rear is nice and understated and the only branding on the front of the device is the Windows logo (which is not a home button).
Judging by the thickness of the W8 and the depth of the display behind the glass front, it looks like this is the main area where KingSing have managed to drop the dollars to produces a fully fledged Windows device for a bargain price.
It is good to see that features which we have come to enjoy on Android tablet have made the transition to the KingSing W8, and the tablet boasts a couple of camera, micro SD card readers, 3.5mm head phone jack, USB, HDMI our and a single external speaker.
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The thick alloy/plastic body is needed to conceal a 4500mAh battery, Intel Atom processor and 1GB RAM. Connectivity is limited to Bluetooth, WIFI, and you could alway add a dongle to the USB for 3G or 4G connections.
KingSing W8 first impressions
Not being a Windows user, and also not being to experienced with the tablet based Metro UI is the latest challenge for me when using the KingSing W8, but once I got use to how things work I have been quite surprised with the speed and agility of this bargain tablet.
The tablet doesn’t have the sort of power to handle serious gaming, but browsing the web, chatting on Skype and general media consumption is well within your grasps with the little W8.
However it is the versatility of the tablet which gets me. Hooking the KingSing W8 to a TV quickly converts the tablet in to a portable media center. I’m going to try and install XBMC on it so I can use it around the house as a portable media device, and plug it in to the TV for movie nights.
While hooked up to a TV you also have the option of setting it up with a Bluetooth Keyboard and mouse turning the $99 tablet in to a makeshift mini PC. Again, not hugely powerful, but a great back up and cheap to boot.
We can also imagine a few Linux using picking one up to play around with, building their own Linux tablets on a budget. So as you can see the W8 is quite the versatile device with a ton of potential.
A full review of the KingSing W8 will be put together in the coming weeks.
[ KingSing ]
If they open firmware and allow intel linix drivers this crap of hardware would outperform 3 times more expensive devices.
I agree, I’d love to have something like Mint on my T100 but Baytrail support is minimal…
If only it didn’t run Windows…
I currently have a Asus T100 as my mail laptop/tablet which has the same CPU but with 2GB RAM and I crave it to have 4GB ram as it hits the disk quite often, especially with a external monitor.
I’d hate to think what 1GB would be limited to. But the CPU is a pretty decent performer, if you ignored desktop mode and stuck to Metro you might be OK.
And 16GB would be a tight squeeze, not sure how much space would be left after doing Windows updates… I have 64GB and that could be seen as a struggle.
Where do I get one of these?
2GB is the minimum amount of ram to run windows.
I think you can better pay $40 more for a tablet with a gorgeous design and 2 GB’s of ram. Yes you can run Windows 8 with 1 GB ram, but is isn’t smoothly and it needs 2 GB’s of ram mare than any other os on a tablet (iOS, Android)
Stop spreading misinformation. Android with 1gb of RAM is a damned frustrating experience that is only somewhat relieved by KitKat. Even with a tegra 4 my android tablet suffers greatly from just 1gb of ram.
Funny how the iPhone 6 and 6+ still have 1gb ram…and they are expected to outperfom 3gb android phones…
in what world did this happen?
The only thing they will outperform 3gb Android phones is in the bend test. Apple was revolutionary in allowing you to have a straight phone or a curved phone with a just a little bit of effort…
What is the make of your tablet and what OS is it running? Is it running stock android or a forked version? I have the original Nexus 7 with 1gb of Ram and it runs perfectly.
HP Slate 8 Pro. Stock Android.
Where did you get it?
If any Americans that live near a microcenter is reading this you can get the Winbook TW801 that’s a little bit better for $40 more. It has a 3.0 USB slot and 2GB of ram.
It has some pretty decent reviews :/
http://www.microcenter.com/product/437499/TW801_Tablet_-_Black
Where can you actually buy one for $99? They are always priced at $140
Please tell me where to buy this tablet ??
Yv got two but they’re are a bit different from your review,
The back camera is a 5 mega-pixy, and the windows button
Is working, sadly y preferred not,. In an 8 inch tablet y end up
On it’s all the time.
Y edit the registry to force install all apps on the sd card.
Whit 64 gig sd card, this is relive for the puny 4 gig free.
For the 1 gig memory, y did not seen any problem to date
1 month usage… but y am alergique to games. The suposly speed
Of 1.8 mhz is a ploy, every test y trid, end up to 1.33mhz
But this tablet is definitively not a slouch!
Everything run smoothly , not a single complain to date
Even the puny batteries run easily for 6 hrs running time,
More than two days in sleeping time, for a total
Sd card include on less than 200$ Canadian. If only y find
A proper case for it`s y trid more than 40 model not one fit
Sadly.
…as tablet go.…. I`s a hit
(for where iv got mine http://www.everbuying.com
An online china store) . They advertise fast air shipping
So y trid them…despite y ave to paid by paypal, y dislike
Royally… sic!
Since Yv got the mini tablet my Asus vivo tab (10.1 inch)
stay at home Unused…
this is totally unreadable… I’m not a native speaker but this is terrible…
Yes, exactly my thoughts, however, I did read it and I kind of understood everything that person was saying :)!