Microsoft has previously said that Windows 8 was built to scale on all kinds of form factors, yet we had only seen it on devices 10-inches and above, until now.
At Computex 2013 Acer unveiled the brand new Iconia W3, an 8.1-inch tablet running the full version of Windows 8 — not Windows RT.
The Iconia W3 isn’t the most feature-rich Windows 8 tablet we’ve seen, but that’s to be expected with a tablet of this size running an operating system as hungry as Windows 8.
That said, the Iconia W3 comes with a 1280 x 800 display capable of 720p playback, so like the Liquid S1 not full HD, the latest Intel dual-core 1.8GHz Atom Z2760 processor, 2GB RAM and a micro HDMI port. Acer has also packed in a front and rear camera, but both are only 2MP — so don’t go expecting great results. There is a micro USB port but no sign of any USB 3.0 — which for many could be a deal breaker.
Acer promises around 8 hours of battery life, but that will be entirely dependent on what you’re using the device for and whether or not you have its on-board Bluetooth 4.0 constantly on.
Included with the tablet is a full-sized keyboard dock and Office pre-installed — which in itself makes this tablet a steal for only â¬329 ( £280/$427) for the 32GB model or â¬379 ( £325/$492) for the 64GB model.
The full-sized keyboard dock looks awkward to type on with such a small screen, but we’ll reserve judgement for when we get our hands on it.
The device is scheduled to go on sale in June, with pre-orders going live tomorrow.
