Acer announced on Tuesday, Oct. 9, that its new Windows 8 tablet, the Acer Iconia W510, will go on sale on Nov. 9 in the U.S. and Canada, with a $500 starting price.

Announced back in July at Computex, the Acer Iconia W510 sports a 10.1-inch display and runs Windows 8 on Intel's 1.5 dual-core Atom Z2760 "Clover Trail" processor, not the Ivy Bridge i3/i5 found on the more expensive Iconia W700.

The Iconia W510 is optimized for Microsoft's latest operating system, and sports a convertible design that allows it to function both as a standalone tablet and as a notebook, due to its detachable keyboard.

The tablet itself sports a 10.1-inch HD screen with a maximum resolution of 1,366 x 768, 10-point touch capacity, and a built-in IPS panel. The screen is also coated in Gorilla Glass 2 protection for extra scratch-resistance. The device weighs in at 1.32 pounds, and has a slim profile measuring 0.35 inches. Other features include a 2-megapixel front-camera for video chats, an 8-megapixel rear-facing camera, a micro HDMI port, a micro USB 2.0 port, and a micro SD card reader.

With the keyboard dock, the Acer Iconia W510 weighs in at 2.63 pounds. The keyboard dock adds a full-size USB 2.0 port, and can be rotated back and used as a stand for the tablet. When it comes to battery life, the tablet itself reportedly lasts for up to nine hours, but the keyboard dock doubles that time to a total of 18 hours.

The Iconia W510 is available in three options, all of which include the same 1.5GHz Intel Atom Z2760 processor and 2GB of RAM. The starting price of $499 is for the 32GB model, while the 64GB version will go up to $599. The third model comes in at $749, features the same specs as the 64GB model, but includes the keyboard dock as well. Acer will also offer an $800 Windows 8 Pro model, the Iconia W510P, for corporate customers. In addition to the keyboard dock, this more expensive model will also come with an extended two-year warranty.

Acer's Iconia W510 Windows 8 tablet is the first slate to go head to head with Apple's market-leading iPad on price.