If you weren’t on the ground at Build 2011 in Anaheim last week, chances are you’re not holding onto a limited edition Samsung tablet running the Windows 8 Developer Preview right now. Want one? You can head on over to eBay and shell out a couple thousand bucks if you really want to pick one up.

…Or you could let common sense prevail and build your own Windows 8 tablet for a heck of a lot less money.

The hardware

Let’s start with the slab itself. The important thing to know is that any semi-current Windows 7 tablet will do (and yes, you need Windows 7), and there are several with very reasonable price tags: the Acer Iconia W500 or Asus Eee PC T101MT convertible (both around $600) or the HP Slate 500 (about $700). The Acer packs an AMD C-50 processor, 2GB of DDR3 RAM, and a 32GB SSD. The Asus offers an Intel Atom N450, 1GB of DDR2 RAM, and a 160GB HDD. The Slate 500 includes an Intel Atom MLZ540, 2GB of DDR2 RAM, a 64GB SSD, and an 8.9-inch panel. None of them are particularly fancy, nor do they measure up to the Samsung’s Core i5 processor with 4GB of RAM, but each will get the job done.

If you want to read about a hands-on experience, Geek.com tested out the relatively humble EXOPC with Windows 8.

Keep in mind that minimum requirements for Windows 8 Developer Preview are the same as those for Windows 7. So you’ll need at least a 1GHz processor, 1GB of RAM for a 32-bit system or 2GB for a 64-bit one, 16GB of space (20GB for 64-bit) and then support for DirectX 9. You’ll want support for a touchscreen too, but that won’t be an issue with a slate.

Get Windows 8

Once you’ve got your tablet, there are a couple ways to complete the transformation to a Build-esque Windows 8 Developer Preview tablet.

If you don’t have a copy of the .ISO and you want to install using the tablet only then you will need to download the Windows 8 Developer Preview .ISO from Microsoft. Make sure you download the version that corresponds to the factory-installed Windows 7 (the Iconia ships with 32-bit, for example).

If you already have a copy of the Windows 8 Developer Preview .ISO then simply head to the Microsoft store online and grab the Windows 7 USB/DVD download tool. Follow the instructions provided on the page and you’ll be set. Don’t worry about the fact that you’re not using a Windows 7 .ISO because the utility works just fine with Windows 8 Developer Preview.

The process is simple, just copy the files onto a spare USB flash drive or external hard drive. The drive will be formatted during the download process, so don’t grab one that has any vital information on it. Once the utility has finished copying files, unplug the drive and plug it into your frankentablet.

That’s not the only option: You can either install Windows 8 Developer Preview by simply running the setup.exe in the root directory of your newly-created install drive, or you can reboot and boot to that drive via your tablet’s boot menu (you’ll probably want a keyboard and mouse plugged in if you go this route).

Final steps towards Windows 8

Next, download and install an .ISO mounting utility like Virtual Clone Drive on your tablet. You may be prompted to reboot, but you probably don’t have to. Now open Explorer head to the folder where you saved your Windows 8 .ISO, right click it, and mount it. Navigate to the root folder of the virtual DVD drive, and double-click setup.exe to install (with some virtual drive apps, the autorun menu may appear and you can begin the setup there as well).

Follow the Windows 8 install prompts until the process completes, and you’re done. Your DIY developer preview tablet might not have the same chutzpah that the official Samsung from Build does, but it also isn’t going to drain your bank account and embarrass you on eBay.

Read more of our Windows 8 coverage