It’s now pretty difficult to find an Intel Bay Trail Z3740 or Z3770 running anything else than Windows 8.x, and even if you just want to try running a Linux distribution or Android on the device, you’d still have to pay around $60 for the Windows license. There’s now a solution thanks to Geekbuying which sells Live F3C tablet with Windows 8.1 for $382.99, and with “MS-DOS”, probably FreeDOS, for just $323.99.
Livefan F3C specifications:
- SoC – Intel Baytrail-T Z3740D quad core processor @ 1.33 GHz (Turbo freq. : 1.8GHz)
- System Memory – 2GB DDR3
- Storage – 32 GB NAND Flash + microSD card slot
- Display – 10.1″ IPS Capacitive touch screen (1280×800)
- Video Output – mini HDMI
- Audio – Built in stereo speakers and microphone. 3.5 mm earphone jack
- Camera – Dual Camera, 2.0MP+2.0MP
- Connectivity – Wi-Fi 802.11 b/g/n, and Bluetooth 4.0. 3G via USB dongle.
- USB – micro USB OTG port
- Sensors – G-Sensor
- Battery – ~8000mAh Li-ion battery]
- Power Supply – DC 9V 2A (2.5mm jack)
- Dimensions – 256.5 x 172.8 x (6.3 to 9.8) mm
- Weight – 595g
I understand there’s no hardware difference between the Windows 8.1 and “MS-DOS” version. The tablet is sold with a micro USB cable, a 9V/2A power adapter and a user’s manual. If you’d like a keyboard with Livefan F3C tablet, Geekbuying sells one with a leather case for $57.99.
I understand Livefan F3C will work with a standard Windows 8.1, so you could install it on the MS-DOS version provided you have a license, but if you plan to install alternative operating systems such as Android or Ubuntu, some parts are unlikely to work out of the box, e.g. Wi-Fi, touch screen…, if it can boot at all.
Jean-Luc started CNX Software in 2010 as a part-time endeavor, before quitting his job as a software engineering manager, and starting to write daily news, and reviews full time later in 2011.
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I’m sure it can boot just fine and it might even be that everything will work out of the box in linux. Linux is doing pretty well these days as far as drivers are concerned.
It might need a few hacks though.
@Marius
I’m also wondering about the “Secure Boot” option. Can it be disabled in any UEFI BIOS?
I guess the option is present here to turn it on and off, or people would not be able to install Windows 8.1 from “MS-DOS”.
@Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft)
It’s probably not even UEFI at all, MS-DOS can’t run on UEFI, it really needs BIOS interrupts and stuff. It might be UEFI but with BIOS emulation.
This is all if it does indeed run DOS.
How come this (good thing!) is happening? I thought M$ had some way to force manufacturers to preload Windows on all their devices…
Maybe now people will understand what a hefty chunk of the total cost of their gear is the Windows license…
@onebir The Chinese don’t really have a history of paying for Windows or respecting software licenses ( think about how many times they violate the GPL ) so I’m not surprised by this. The manufacturer is allowing people to just pirate Windows because unfortunately few will bother porting Linux, Android or Jolla. People will just buy the DOS version and put their own pirated copy of Windows 8.1 so voila, you have a cheaper product that people are just fine with. Most of the times the device seller will probably do this himself. So there you have it a cheaper… Read more »
@Marius Ah, not such a good thing then 🙁
But as I understand it, people don’t really get sued for violating GPL. Whereas if a manufacturer has a deal with M$ to load all devices with Windows, or pay more for each Windows license, & fails to do it, M$ is quite likely to sue… So I still don’t quite get how this is happening!
but the fundamental question remains, “so why do you need that particular tablet/processor/cpu whatever?”
what mega fraction of difference will it actually make to your daily computer use?
just sidestep it and life will in fact continue unabated. must be for those fixated with things they cant have or they have to beat their head against the wall to get for it to be desirable. sorry not me.
@onebir
It’s easy, the manufacturer doesn’t do it himself , it just lets sellers and customers pirate Windows easily and they do it.
200 Euro tablet with Windows 8:
http://www.computeruniverse.net/products/90515277/acer-iconia-tablet-w3-810.asp
Interesting. I have seen this model in a design house of my friend. They said they need to pay the license to Microsoft. And also he asked me how difficult to get Ubuntu running on this platform.
@Tom Cubie Exactly Tom: AFAIK to get good pricing for Windows licenses, manufacturers have to promise to distribute it with every unit sold. 反正好久不见！
I believe UEFI Secure Boot can be disabled in all x86 systems out there so far and that is a requirement for the Windows 8 certification (unlike on ARM where it is required that you cannot disable it). I wouldn’t worry at all about UEFI Secure Boot in itself, just about braindead UEFI implementations in general (like some braindead bios implementations) such as the Lenovo beauty that bricks your laptop if you disconnect the drive, which you need to do to make it unbootable and force the firmware into setup mode if you have a device shipping with Windows 8… Read more »
@Tom Cubie
@onebir
I’ve asked Geekbuying if they could give it a try following the instruction for Asus Tranformer Book T100. We’ll see.
@Ministry of Truth
Thanks for the info, and the correction.