Win8.1 tablet $59.99 @ Microcenter B&M

[VirtualLarry]

credit to Alchemist42 on FW

http://www.microcenter.com/product/439773/7_Tablet

This is crazy-cheap, for a Win8.1 tablet.

(copied from FW thread)
Specs
- 7" tablet, Intel baytrail-t quad core processor 1.33 - 1.85ghz processor range
- 7" IPS display. 1280x800 resolution.
- Intel HD4000 based graphics (1/2 the cores of normal HD4000).
- 1gb Ram
- 16gb storage
- microSD, micro HDMI, micro USB/charge, full size USB 2.
- 12.5oz.
- Comes with office 365 personal.

So, kind of like an HP Stream 7, but with micro-HDMI, full-size USB2, and only 16GB eMMC storage (very small, 32GB is cramped enough). Said that after Windows Updates, onboard eMMC only had 2GB free, so a microSDHC is essential.

This could theoretically work as a PC for me. Plug in my wireless logitech keyboard + mouse reciever into the full-sized USB2.0, plug in the charging port and run it off of that (hopefully, it provides enough power to run it without dipping into the battery), and get the right micro-to-regular HDMI cable to plug into my HDMI switcher, and into my 24" HDTV 1920x1080 screen.

For only freaking $60 + tax!!! Crazy...

 

[Replay]

That would be a wild setup. Full size keyboard & 1080p monitor, running off a tiny tablet. Too bad only 1G ram.

This is cheaper than buying the OS (wonder if the license could be transferred to another rig?).

 

[M0oG0oGaiPan]

was about to pick up the 10.1 inch winbook open box for 160 but ended up ordering 2 of these for store pickup. will gift one and play around with the other.

 

[SunnyD]

Wow. Do want! Too bad MC is 4 hours away from me.

 

[M0oG0oGaiPan]

do you think this would be a good microSD for this tablet?

http://www.bestbuy.com/site/sandisk-...&skuId=7801144

 

[luv2liv]

can anyone confirm it will play 1080p files without stuttering???
might as well use it as a streaming device. throw the roku away

 

[BenJeremy]

can anyone confirm it will play 1080p files without stuttering???
might as well use it as a streaming device. throw the roku away

According to reviews I have read, people have had no issues playing videos while doing other things in the background (like downloading).

For $60, it's not going to be a high performance device, but it looks to be the same level of performance as the HP Stream 7. I picked one up yesterday (4 left when I got up, 2 left when I got to the store, and none left now - Detroit location - one guy had 20 ordered through the web), and it will do until I can afford a Surface Pro (I'm really looking for something with an active digitizer and higher resolution display, but that's going to be at least $500 for what I want)

I think this tablet is a no brainer, for what it is, though. If somebody offered a comparable NUC/mini desktop for the same price, with Windows 8.1 and Office 365 included, you'd be going crazy falling all over the deal, and this includes a touchscreen display!

 

[M0oG0oGaiPan]

i bought 3 yesterday. one for me and two for my sisters.

the screen is pretty small so it can be hard to use windows with touch. metro works awesome. web pages render with really tiny text. it doesn't scale like on a mobile device. so if you decide to browse in portrait mode, you will probably have vert and horiz scroll bars. browsing in landscape mode works fine and you only get the vert scroll bars.

screen is nice and crisp. my wireless network is kind of spotty so i was getting some weird issues when i was streaming some videos and doing in-home streaming with steam. (i was getting the bad network message). if my network was better I'm sure it would have been fine.

tablet is nice and light. compared to the galaxy tab it doesn't feel as fragile. it has a physical windows button, which is pretty convenient. the office 365 voucher is in the box (not pre-registered). I think i'll sell my code on ebay hopefully for ~$40. I'll let my sisters do whatever they want with theirs.

comes with micro usb cable with wall adapter. didn't test out the charge time. it was about 75% charged when I took it out of the box.

there was about 4gb space free, but i didn't run any updates yet. I picked up that 64gb sdxc from bb so I'll see if it works tonight if i get a chance.

 

[tracerbullet]

Argh, don't need this but it's an incredibly cheap toy that would be fun to attach to the TV in my basement. What a great way to grab and play files off my NAS - music and movies and such.

So I should be able to plug this into the wall for power, have the right terminals on my HDMI cable between it and the TV, attach the tablet to my NAS box wirelessly (the NAS is plugged into a wireless router), and... that's it, right? Dumb question but I've been out of the game for a few years and have no Windows 8 experience.

The music is mp3 and the movies are ripped DVD's that aren't bluray, if that matters. This tablet would primarily serve as my interface for that, with the bonus of being able to do other functions such as Netflix, operating as a tablet for travel, etc. I'm assuming it has Windows Media Player or I can grab an app that does basically the same thing.

 

[VirtualLarry]

I'm assuming it has Windows Media Player or I can grab an app that does basically the same thing.

Nope, no Windows Media Player. This comes with Windows 8.1 w/BING. You need Windows 8.1 PRO, and then you need to purchase Media Center for Windows 8.1 as an add-on on top of that.

Edit: I wonder how feasible it would be, to purchase a self-powered USB hub, with dedicated 2.1A/2.0A charging port(s) (non-data-ports), and then plug that into the wall, plug the micro-USB port on this tablet into the charging port, and then plug the upstream USB plug from the hub into the full-size USB2.0 port on the tablet, and then plug your keyboard / mouse / HDD / webcam into the hub's data ports? That sounds like a plan.

Edit: Something like this, from OWC, for $25:
http://eshop.macsales.com/item/NewerTech/USB2HB7PRO/

Product spec page:
http://www.newertech.com/products/7_port_powered_usb2_hub.php
"Compatibility Note: Not compatible with Seagate USB 3.0 enclosures"

 

[Justinbaileyman]

Damn this is a sweet deal to bad no MC near me

 

[BenJeremy]

Nope, no Windows Media Player. This comes with Windows 8.1 w/BING. You need Windows 8.1 PRO, and then you need to purchase Media Center for Windows 8.1 as an add-on on top of that.

Windows Media Player has always seemed pretty weak to me anyway, particularly with DLNA served media. XBMC/Kodi is probably a better choice for many, many reasons, and VLC always works better and on more media any way.

 

[Justinbaileyman]

do you think this would be a good microSD for this tablet?

http://www.bestbuy.com/site/sandisk-...&skuId=7801144

Yes this is a great Micro SD card and I have that very one in my ouya and have never had a single problem out of it. files transfer nice and fast and media plays off of it nicely. only issue I noticed is it get a bit hot but no biggie..

 

[droban]

do you think this would be a good microSD for this tablet?

http://www.bestbuy.com/site/sandisk-...&skuId=7801144

I would not buy a microSD card that costs more than the tablet itself (shows 69.99 for me).

Just get the Samsung EVO for $24.99 http://www.amazon.com/Samsung-Class-.../dp/B00IVPU7AO

 

[M0oG0oGaiPan]

I would not buy a microSD card that costs more than the tablet itself (shows 69.99 for me).

Just get the Samsung EVO for $24.99 http://www.amazon.com/Samsung-Class-.../dp/B00IVPU7AO

it was sale as the dotd for $35. seemed like a fair price for the specs. i haven't tried it yet though, so hopefully it works lol.

 

[drinkmorejava]

I purchased the 8 inch 32gb 2gb ram version, tw801, a few days ago. I'm liking it a lot. I'd recommend everyone look at getting an open box one for $112. I was looking to spend $100, but I think the larger screen is necessary for non-metro functions (just tried the 7 inch today and it was a complete pain) and another gig of ram is a good choice.

Tablet is pretty zippy. 1080p video from my cellphone plays fine.

Also, keep in mind that the SD reader is not usb 3, so you're pretty limited on speed. Internal drive reads at around 70mb/s.

 

[VirtualLarry]

Just a quick note. I went to MC in MA today and picked up three of the $59.99 +tax models. They had 107 of them, even though the web site said they were OOS.

It's not true that they were OOS!

Now I'm looking for a cheap micro-HDMI to HDMI female cable. Newegg has a Tripp-Lite model for $15.

 

[drinkmorejava]

Now I'm looking for a cheap micro-HDMI to HDMI female cable. Newegg has a Tripp-Lite model for $15.

First result on amazon. Two pack for $9 shipped.
http://www.amazon.com/Cable-Matters-...hdmi+to+female

 

[VirtualLarry]

First result on amazon. Two pack for $9 shipped.
http://www.amazon.com/Cable-Matters-...hdmi+to+female

Thanks!

 

[luv2liv]

showed OOS online in philadelphia. but when i called, he said there are 200 in stock! wow
i grabbed 2. thanks

 

[Jawadali]

It looks like the website has been updated to indicate that these are now in stock (at least at some locations).

Definitely interested to hear more feedback on their performance and usability, especially with the "makeshift desktop" scenario a few folks described earlier.

Also, it looks like Micro Center has a tech support forum for these tablets here:

http://www.mctsol.com/phpBB3/viewforum.php?f=55

At $60, it would more than make up its value even if it could only web browse, watch YouTube, and Skype.

 

[BenJeremy]

Back in stock at the Detroit store - showing 10+.

Looks like they are restocking before Black friday sales.

 

[sxr7171]

I have a Stream 7 and while it's a nice tablet, as a main PC connected to a monitor and keyboard/mouse I'd find it a bit on the slow side.

 

[luv2liv]

the tablet is great! the office 365 license can definitely be sold on ebay. sweet
i was able to stream 1080p mkv files with no issues. ordering the microHDMI cable now so i can connect the tablet to a projector. cant believe how awesome this tablet is!!!

 

[VirtualLarry]

Well, this tablet is certainly giving me some problems.

Unlike the HP Stream 7, and both of my Android tablets (Iview 700, and Digiland 701Q), this tablet does not rotate the front camera image when you rotate the tablet.

However, it DOES rotate the HDMI output when you rotate the tablet.

Which is interesting, because the youtube review of the supposed same tablet (although the one in the review has a capacitive button for the Windows button), showed the tablet sitting in landscape mode, driving an HDTV and looking normal.

I hooked mine up to a USB3.0 hub with a powered charging port, and a micro-HDMI adapter to an HDMI cable, to my 24" HDTV / monitor.

If I put the front camera at the top (portrait mode), the HDMI out looks normal, but the webcam is sideways. If I put it in landscape mode with the front cam on the left, then the webcam looks normal to the person on the other end, but the screen over the HDMI output is rotated sideways.

So unless there are some sort of software updates or fixes to this problem, then I am going to say that it is impossible to use this tablet hooked up to an HDTV, and still use the tablet's cameras for video chat. I had to plug a separate USB Logitech webcam into the hub, to be able to Skype.

All in all, I think that my idea to use this tablet like a desktop was a pretty lousy idea. I might even return the two other tablets.

Edit: I just discovered a solution, if you right-click on the Desktop, go to Screen Resolution, there a little box there that is by default checked, titled "Allow auto-rotate". Uncheck that, and then you can rotate the tablet as you see fit.