We frequently come across people who want a tablet computer for either business or personal reasons but whom hate Apple. And while there are quite a few tablets available on the market now… some are light years ahead of the rest in terms of practicality and functionality.
The Gigabyte S1080 tablet is our pick of the best ‘non-Apple tablets’ around. It has a 10.1” screen and runs Windows 7 Home Premium (also available in Pro). So for those of you already familiar with Win 7, it can be a good choice.
The S1080 takes advantage of the touchscreen capabilities of Windows 7 – but expect these to improve vastly with the release of Windows 8 (mid to late 2012)
For those wanting to use it for work, it also features a wide variety of ports, including a USB 2.0 and even a faster USB 3.0 one. There's also Gigabit Ethernet, an SD card reader, a SIM card slot, a VGA port and a slot for an additional battery. It only has one front mounted camera, but has there’s a pair of speakers, an in-built microphone and Wi-Fi and Bluetooth 3.0 connectivity. It’s a bit too heavy to be comfortable by tablet standards, but the sheer amount of functionality still makes this a very worthwhile tablet.
It also comes with a 320GB hard disk drive which is massive by tablet standards, but it does contribute to the S1080's weight of 895 grams.
The S1080 can also be purchased with a Keyboard Kit which includes a portable keyboard and carry case. This is designed to transform the tablet into a mobile workstation – and this it does very well.
