WARNING: This is my first review so it may not contain the typical items you may find in some other reviews.
At work we have had a push to try and utilize tablet devices a little more. Our main focus has been on using the iPad 2. It has worked out pretty well. There has been a little bit of a learning curve though and we have had to adapt some of things we do so they would work on the iPad. Overall though, it has been a good experience. However, I wouldn’t be a good technician if I didn’t look at other devices and/or technology as well. So with Microsoft working on it’s new Windows 8 OS, which sounds like it will be very tablet friendly, I thought we should get a Windows-based tablet that we could try out.
I did some searching trying to find a tablet that I thought would give us a good comparison. Along the way I found out that Microsoft was handing out copies of Windows 8 Customer Preview on a Samsung Series 7 Slate PC. I thought if that is good enough for Microsoft to demo their latest OS it was good enough for me to play around with and test out as well. So I found out where I could purchase one of these Slate PC’s and put in the request with my boss. A few weeks later he walks into my office and hands me the new tablet.
There are several different variations of this tablet so here are the specs of the one we got.
Product: Samsung Series 7 Slate PC
Model: XE700T1A-A02US
OS: Windows 7 Home Premium (64-bit)
CPU: Intel Core i5 2467M (1.60GHz)
LCD: 11.6″ LED HD (400nit)
VRAM: Shared
Memory: 4GB
HDD: SSD 128GB
Communication: Intel 802.11abgn(2×2) + BT3.0HS
The first thing I did once I opened it was to grab my fresh new download of Windows 8 Customer Preview and started the install. I wiped the Windows 7 install off the tablet and was going to relay completely on Windows 8. The install went well and I was surprised to see that even while in the setup screens of Windows 8 the stylus that came with the tablet worked just fine (this will be important later). I installed pretty much every software package we use here at work and was again surprised to see that everything I tried seemed to work and work very well on the tablet and Windows 8. I used this configuration for a couple of days and ended up getting a little frustrated at Windows 8’s new interface and the fact that somethings seem to have moved or gone away (something I think Microsoft likes to do every couple of releases). Anyway this isn’t a Windows 8 review so I will leave the frustrations for another potential review.
I decided to wipe Samsung Slate clean and start fresh with a copy of Windows 7 Enterprise (64-bit). One to keep in mind is that this Slate PC only has one (1) USB port. This is one thing that I find pretty disappointing (and this will be come very clear in a moment). I grabbed my Windows 7 DVD and plugged in an external DVD drive into the only USB port. I turned on the tablet and it detected the DVD drive and booted off of the DVD. Once the Welcome screen come up I discovered that both the touchscreen and the stylus did not work! I was a little surprised, but thought no problem I’ll just grab my USB hub and plug the DVD drive add a keyboard into it. Now I couldn’t get the tablet to recognize the DVD drive and boot. I tried multiple USB hubs and a couple different kinds of external DVD drives. Nothing would work. I thought I was going to be stuck. In the end, I created a bootable USB drive to install Windows 7 and was able to get that working through the USB hub along with the keyboard.
After my initial setup problems, I got Windows 7 installed without any problems. As soon as it booted for the first time, the touchscreen and the stylus began working as expected. I proceeded to install all of our work applications. Then I began to start testing things out.
The tablet boots very quickly and all of the applications start up in a few seconds. I’m sure this has to do with the SSD that comes with the tablet. I’ve gotten use to running Windows 7 with 8GB+ of memory, but the 4GB that is installed handles all of the applications I keep running very well.
One of the things I really like about this tablet is the ability to take hand written notes within Microsoft OneNote 2010. This is something I have been looking for for awhile. I’ve demoed several Windows tablets in the past and have never had a good experience with hand written notes. In the past the screen was either to small or you was to sensitive and would place marks on the “page” when you rest your hand on the screen. That is not the case with the Samsung Slate PC. I have found that if I get the stylus close to the screen before I rest my hand on it, the stylus will be what “marks” on the screen and not my hand. This tablet is wide enough that I can comfortably rest my hand on the screen and take notes without it sliding off the side and making writing difficult.
There are few problems that I see with this tablet though. They are the fact that it only has one USB port as I’ve mentioned. Another is that there is not a fingerprint reader. I’ve gotten used to logging in like that on my laptop and would love to see that option on this tablet as well. Finally, the battery life of this tablet is about the same as my Dell laptop with an extended battery. It lasts between 5 – 6 hours of continuous use. It will last longer of course if it is in Sleep Mode while not using it. However, this still doesn’t come close to what we can get out of an iPad.
So in conclusion, I have to say I really like the Samsung Series 7 Slate PC. I have started leaving my laptop at the office and started just carrying this home with me. I’m continued to be amazed by how technology changes and things continue to become smaller and more powerful.
I hope you have found my first attempt at a review to be some what helpful.
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