Acer's Iconia W3 makes another apperance on the company's Finnish website
Windows 8 tablets and convertibles offer a lot in terms of productivity. They allow users to run nearly all Windows 7 programs, as well as the apps from the new Windows Store. And yet they haven't caught on to the degree that Microsoft might have hoped.
The problem with these devices is that they fall into one of two categories: either they are expensive and run on old Intel Atom processors that offer fairly sluggish performance, or they are more expensive and run on very fast Intel Core i3-i7 processors but offer sub-par battery life.
Intel's new Clover Trail CPUs may have changed all that. Acer's Iconia W3 will be more portable, have better battery life, and be far cheaper than any Windows 8 tablet or convertible we've seen to date from a major manufacturer. The W3 has an 8.1-inch display, can run 720p video for a full 8 hours, and is expected to sell for around US$380.
Keeping the emphasis on productivity, Acer is pairing the W3 with a dock that features a full sized keyboard, and it will ship with both Windows 8 Pro and Microsoft Office.
Other features include 64GB internal memory, an Intel Graphics Media Accelerator 3650, 2GB RAM, 802.11 b/g/n wifi, Bluetooth 4.0, a Micro-HDMI port, and a Micro-USB 2.0 port.
Further details are not yet available, but rumors of a 1280 x 800 display, and 2MP front and back cameras have been seen online.