Preview: The first Windows 8 tablet by Samsung

Windows 8 appears to be shaping up, and what better way to demonstrate the power of Windows 8 tablet UI focal point, then to bring out a tablet.

Microsoft and Samsung have teamed up with engineers and designers to create the world’s first Windows 8 tablet. Neowin has a preview of the first tablet to run Windows 8.

Hardware:

The Samsung 700T tablet comes with a Intel i5 1.60Ghz dual-core processor, 4GB of DDR3 RAM, 64GB SSD, WiFi and 3G capabilities. The tablet uses a Samsung super PLS 1366x768 resolution inside of a 11.6” diagonal screen, weighing in at 909g and is only 12.9mm thick. The tablet includes a Bluetooth keyboard, a pen/stylus, a docking station that contains a USB port, HDMI and Ethernet connection. The Windows 8 tablet includes a number of sensors for detecting movement and orientation.

The Samsung 700T includes stereo speakers along the bottom of the device, along with the docking port. The left-hand side of the tablet comes equipped with a charging port, if you aren’t connecting it to the docking station, a microHDMI port, up and down volume toggles, headphone jack and a microUSB port.

The opposite side includes a SIM card slot, orientation lock and power button. The topside of the tablet comes with two pinhole microphones and a MicroSD card slot.

The polished backside has a number of vents across the top, sides and middle, which appear to just be for air circulation. The rear of the device includes a camera, which is optional, according to the instruction manual, which could mean Samsung plans on releasing a high and low end model of this device.

The front of the tablet includes has a front facing camera, windows home button and light sensors.

Performance:

The Windows 8 Samsung 700T tablet is very responsive and fast enough to run Windows 8, in its current state. The Samsung 700T is more than enough for a tablet to perform well, but because of the early build of the operating system that it is running, the hardware is at times, unstable.

The hardware is more than powerful enough to run the tablet Metro interface and Windows 8 all at the same time.

Peripherals:

The Samsung tablet comes with some additional, and very useful, peripherals. Including in the package is a power brick, a lightweight standard QWERTY Bluetooth keyboard, a digitizer pen for drawing, writing and general browsing on the tablet, and a dock. The docking station is a nice addition, as it keeps the tablet in an upright position, great for watching videos or just browsing, which has a USB, Ethernet, HDMI and headphone jack on the rear. The dock acts seamlessly with Windows 8, making it seem like the tablet comes with a full USB port. The HDMI port out is a great way to show off HD videos on your HDTV to your friends.

Conclusion:

Because the tablet is really only a preview device, but will eventually go on sale to the public when Windows 8 is finalized, the device is basically a sample of great things to come. The hardware on the device is great, but no price has been announced yet, nor if Samsung will offer a lower end model with stripped down features.