GIGABYTE S1185 Pro Reviews

A decent Windows 8 tablet, but its flimsy keyboard and brown chassis are likely to put people off

The Gigabyte S1185 knows how to please. It offers good system performance and has a great Full HD display (IPS). The attachable keyboard is also provided. If you need Internet on the road, you can install a 3G modem. We also liked the comparatively good maintainability of the tablet. You can replace, for instance, the SSD with a higher-capacity version. Gigabyte could offer a really good tablet if it was not for the poor battery runtimes. They are even shorter than many cheap notebooks because of the small battery capacity. This makes it quite hard to use the tablet on the road because you are constantly looking for a power socket. This problem could be easily solved with a larger battery and we hope Gigabyte will fix this when it comes to a potential successor. If you are looking for the best battery runtimes you should pick the Wortmann Terra Mobile Pad 1160 Pro. It also has a good keyboard and is equipped with a 3G module. Microsoft's Surface Pro is interesting if you are interested in a high-quality case. The tablet is also more compact than the rivals because of the smaller display.

In the crowded space that the current tablet market presents today, any device needs to offer something special to stand out against the crowd. With so many similar devices, users look for that unique feature or factors such as excellent design and built quality. The S1185 we believe does have a few unique features but doesn't immediately win you over in the looks department. You get a rather generic looking tablet with a dark grey rubberised plastic rear panel and a silver plastic bezel around the frame. The detachable keyboard follows this colour theme, although the silver base to the keys does help it to stand out. Then onto the size and weight and this tablet is exceptionally chunky and heavy. At 990g for just the tablet (keyboard is another 401g) it is far heavier than any of the competition and even beats our previous heaviest, the mighty 13.3" Asus Transformer Book TX300 at 978g. Quite why Gigabyte have made this so thick and heavy we have no idea.

There’s certainly room for improvement in the S1185’s battery life. However, its strong performance and unusual optical mouse sensor could appeal to professional users who need a mobile PC that they can hold in both hands and use on the move.