Advice please?

[Bballbenb]

Is there any solid windows tablets out right now that are below 400 or should I just wait for windows 8 ones? Any clue when windows 8 tablets will be hitting the market? thanks

 

[freestaterocker]

Wish I could help but I'm not really into the tablet scene... Hopefully somebody that is will come along.

 

[sinlessearth]

Acer Iconia w500

A tablet that is out right now is the Acer Iconia w500. It was made to run windows 7 however runs windows 8 CP with no problem. You can find a refurbished one for less than $400 at cheetahdeals.com I would not wait for windows 8 to come out because you will still most likely pay over $500 for one then. Plus maybe if you run Windows 8 CP the upgrade to the official may come free???

 

[DanSmithKY]

You will not get any production version of Windows 8 for free, regardless of which preview version(s) you may run. The final preview version that MS releases before the production versions come out will likely still run for six months or so after Windows 8 is released to retailers assuming MS follows past precedents. You may, however be able to preorder Windows 8 for about half price this summer. I ran all of the "preview" builds of Windows 7 and decided to preorder on day one. I believe I got the Premier upgrade SKU though Amazon for about $50 bucks. Amazon didn't charge me until it shipped months later either, so it's not like your money is held up or anything.

As far as the OP goes, are you looking for a tablet like the iPad, or more like a fully functional PC in tablet (slate) form? ARM based tablets purchased now may not be able to be upgraded to Windows 8. MS has stated that the ARM version of Windows 8 (Windows RT) will not be sold on its own, it will only be availble pre-loaded on devices. Other options such as the previously mentioned Acer or the Samsung Series 7 Slate (Which I have running Windows 8, but is somewhat expensive) are out there which will be able to run the standard (though just as much touch-centric) versions of Windows 8. Many more options will surely be available once the OS releases as well.