Windows 8 Developer Preview Tablets Hit eBay

Can't wait to hold Windows 8 in your hands? Fortunately you can, thanks to eBay, just as long as you have deep pockets.

At Microsoft's Build conference last week, the company distributed Samsung tablets running Microsoft's new operating system, Windows 8, to each of the 5,000 attendees. Now, users are bidding more than $3,000 on eBay to get their hands on the first-ever public versions of Windows 8.

The tablet itself is nothing too special, despite its minimum selling price of $2,000. Samsung opted to upload the developer previews of Windows 8 to Samsung's Series 7 tablets, which are expected to go on sale in October for around $1,099.

The tablets feature good touch resolution, front and rear cameras, and operate on a low-power Core i5 system with 4 GB of RAM and 64 GB SDD. However, the main attraction of the tablets is the Windows 8 operating system, which sports Microsoft's brand-new Metro-style design with its tile layout of applications, as well as preview versions of studio and design tools.

The number of different devices packed into Samsung's slim slate is extraordinary. There's a GPS, a magnetometer, and an accelerometer, and thanks to Windows 8's new API, all three of the sensors work in tandem, which makes it easier for developers to write applications with precise positioning information.

The tablet also is built with a Bluetooth chip, a gyroscope, an ambient light sensor, a near-field communications chip, and option chips for phone, Wi-Fi, and General Packet Radio Service connectivity. Samsung also equipped each tablet with a Unified Extensible Firmware Interface BIOS, which can cut boot-up and restart times nearly in half.

For good measure, Microsoft also threw in a 12-month GB-per-month data plan from AT&T.

While spending more than $2,000 on a bare bones Windows tablet is steep, people have demonstrated they will go to many lengths to be the first on their block with new technology. Last month, Rob Shoesmith, a marketing executive, decided he would camp outside the Covent Garden Apple Store in London until the release of the iPhone 5. Companies have donated gadgets, deodorant, meals, chargers, socks, and other supplies and forms of entertainment to Shoesmith in his months-long experiment. He's still camping out.

The average going price of a Windows 8 developer preview tablet on eBay is roughly $2,460.