Archos has officially unveiled a budget-friendly Windows 8.1 tablet called the 80 Cesium, aiming to deliver portable productivity on the cheap.

Not too long ago, Microsoft decided to be more indulgent when it comes to putting its Windows OS on devices with small form factors. Ever since, various budget-friendly Windows tablets have popped up on the market, including the 7-inch HP Stream 7 and Toshiba Encore Mini, or E-FUN's 8-inch Nextbook.

Archos, meanwhile, has so far made a name for itself by offering budget options running Android, but this time the company is targeting the same segment of the market with a Windows alternative.

The new Archos 80 Cesium is a Windows 8.1 tablet with an Intel processor under the hood, aiming to offer productivity and portability on a budget. The slate will not deliver stellar performance or top-notch specs, but should nonetheless be sufficient for basic tasks.

In terms of specifications, the Archos 80 Cesium packs an Intel Atom Z3735G quad-core processor under the hood, clocked at 1.8GHz and paired with 1GB of RAM. The slate further features 16GB of internal storage capacity, but has microSD support for additional memory of up to 128GB.

With Windows 8.1 on board, the tablet will provide access to both the "Modern" apps on the Windows Store, as well as the popular desktop apps, and come with a full-year Office 365 subscription. The fact that it has only 1GB of RAM, however, means that users will not be able to run too many apps at once, or enjoy more demanding tasks or gaming. The Archos 80 Cesium comes with Intel HD graphics, which should make it quite nice to watch movies and videos on the slate's 8-inch 1280 x 800 IPS display.

"Whatever you're doing, the ARCHOS 80 Cesium gives you the performance that you need to do it the way you want with its super-fast, quad-core Intel Atom processor with Intel HD graphics. Its slim compact design means that you can enjoy the full functionality of Windows 8.1 wherever you are," Archos touts on the 80 Cesium product page.

"If you need more space for your content simply insert a micro-SD card (up to 128GB). Then take that content onto a big screen through a Micro-HDMI cable, or connect a Bluetooth mouse and keyboard as well as external storage to the micro-USB port (USB host cable sold separately) to transform your tablet to a true desktop PC."

Archos has yet to offer pricing and availability details for its new 80 Cesium Windows 8.1 tablet, but the slate is expected to become available soon at a budget-friendly price point. We'll keep you up to date as soon as more information becomes available, so stay tuned.