viliv S10 Blade now available for pre-order at Dynamism.com

Dynamism.com is taking orders for the S10, which is 'coming soon' and starts at $699

The viliv S10 Blade starts at $699

Windows 7 is required before using multi-touch features

Integrated webcam and microphone for VoIP

Yukyung demonstrated the viliv S10 Blade at this year's CES, since then, reports of its impending release surfaced; and now the 10.1” convertible tablet PC has become available for pre-order at Dynamism.com, and starts at $699. The S10 has a 3-point resistive 10.1” HD (1366 x 768), multi-touch LCD. However, purchasers of the entry level SKU will not be able to utilise multi-touch features under the supplied OS: Windows XP. Dynamism offers different SKUs that feature a few useful upgrade options, with Windows 7 Home Premium as a common feature amongst all of them. It's not clear why the entry-level S10 comes with Windows XP, and the cost of upgrading to the next SKU is still unknown, although Dynamism.com allows visitors to sign up for email notifications once more pricing details are announced.

The entry-level S10 contains a 1.6GHz Intel Atom Z530 processor, and this can be upgraded to a 2GHz Intel Atom Z550. Based upon these processor configurations, the S10 should be equipped with an Intel System Controller Hub US15L or US15W chipset, both of which feature Intel's GMA 500 GPU. All SKUs contain 1GB of DDR2 533MHz SDRAM, which can (in theory) be upgraded to a maximum of 2GB. The entry-level S10 has a rather small hard drive with a capacity of 60GB. The other SKUs feature either a 32GB or 64GB SSD. The S10 has an integrated webcam and microphone, which should be sufficient for VoIP communication. In terms of networking, all SKUs support WLAN 802.11 b/g and Bluetooth v2.0 + EDR, with some models containing a built-in 3G HSPA modem.

One promising feature of the S10 is its quoted battery life of up to 10 hours. Yukyung also claims that the S10 will run for up to 7 hours during video playback when set at 80% brightness. Its build quality has also been heralded by many, and this is in line with Yukyung's reputation for sturdy and ergonomic designs. It's a slim device, measuring only an inch thick; and its weight of 1.21kg ensures that the S10 is a highly portable tablet PC. One positive extra is that Dynamism.com promises to supply every S10 customer with 'personalized unlimited toll-free technical support', details of which are listed here.

However, despite several positive features, the S10's relatively high price will not have escaped netbook and tablet PC connoisseurs. The entry level SKU is not a viable purchase, due to the poor choice of OS. Therefore, customers will need to go straight for an upgraded SKU to start using the tablet PC properly, and will probably have to pay quite a bit more than $699 for what is essentially a poorly configured computer. The quoted battery life is a redeeming feature, but without any reviews to refer to, we'll have to wait to see just how well it performs and for how long. Other retailers may be able to lower prices in time, at which point the S10 will probably be worth another look. Dynamism.com doesn't have a shipping date for the device as yet, and the S10's status is listed as 'coming soon'.

Specifications