Samsung Series 7 XE700T1A-A03US 11.6-Inch Slate (128 GB, Win 7 HP) - Dock and Keyboard Included
Samsung Series 7 XE700T1A-A03US 11.6-Inch Slate (128 GB, Win 7 HP) - Dock and Keyboard Included Reviews
I purchased this hoping that it could replace by my laptop PC and my iPad. It has done both of those items quite well. It's still not perfect, but it's a step forward. Here's my rundown: Replacing a Laptop: A- I liked the idea of exchanging my laptop for something that was lighter and nearly as powerful. For the most part, it did not disappoint. I have all the capabilities of my old laptop PC and a more portable package. The system is fast (because Samsung used an i5 processor rather than the less powerful Atom, which I've heard can be frustratingly slow). It's battery lasts nearly as long as my old laptop battery (Samsung claims 7 hours; I've gotten 4-5 hours without even activating any power saving features). The screen is large enough for laptop work and the docking station allows me to use an external monitor when I'm in the office or in my home office. Disappointments as a laptop replacement: * It came with Windows 7 Home, which does not allow you to join the laptop to a domain on a business network. Not a big deal for me because my business furnished a copy of Windows 7 Pro. * It's not quite as easy to just sit down, open this machine, and use it like a laptop. I sit in front of the TV and work on my laptop frequently, and this machine is actually a little more cumbersome to do that with than is a true laptop. Samsung really should have included a case with a built in "kick stand" to offset this issue (I've ordered one, but it has been on backorder since I got it over 2 weeks ago - Samsung did not do a good job of building out the add-ons market here before rolling out this machine). Perfect world: someone will roll out a case with an included keyboard and trackpad so it can be used exactly like a laptop when needed. * The front-facing camera is very low quality. I can skype better on my iPhone, old laptop or my wife's Mac. There's no good excuse for this - Samsung when cheap on the front camera. Replacing an iPad: B+ You should know that I was trying to replace my iPad as a "content creation" device primarily. If you spend (or intend to spend) a lot of time reading books and watching movies on a device, then the iPad is probably a better choice than the Samsung slate - simply because the Samsung is just too bulky to hold up in bed to read a book. On the other hand, I always felt like my iPad was too bulky for reading too (so I also purchased a Kindle Fire - which I've also reviewed and am very happy with). On the other hand, I wanted to be able to create content with my iPad, and I was never very happy with it for that purpose. With the Samsung, and no keyboard, I can create content just as easily as I could on my iPad (using the on-screen keyboard). The Samsung also has a built on "launcher" program, with it's own "touch friendly" apps. That program is hardly necessary, however. I've found that I can pretty easily use the touch interface to open applications in windows, scroll web pages, etc - all the same things I used to do on my iPad. I thought I would miss many of my old iPad apps a lot, and I do miss them, but I've found that I'm so much more productive on this machine, that it's not a very big factor. Using as a Slate/Tablet: A- One of the things that I was most excited about was using this as an entirely new device - doing things on it that I could neither do on my iPad nor on my tablet. It has not disappointed in that area (though it could use some improvements). Having the stylus as an option in addition to the touch (finger) interface, is a great improvement over my iPad. I had tried a few sytluses (stylii?) with my iPad, and none of them worked well - the machine was simply never made as something you could truly use like a "sheet of paper". I am very frequently in meetings and I want to be able to take notes, without pecking at a keyboard - but I don't want to have to transcribe those notes from a notepad to an electronic format. Using the Samsung with OneNote is the perfect solution. The additional capability to be able to record audio that is synched with those notes is even better. I've not even fully tapped into this capability yet, but so far am VERY happy with it. Handwriting recognition is also outstanding; I'm torn as to weather it is faster to use the on-screen keyboard or handwriting to quickly enter a web URL. The Samsung also has a "Widi" capability which is very nice when you're running a meeting using a projector - you can walk around the room (or pass the Samsung around for others to mark up) and the images can be projected wirelessly. One thing that is missing (as noted above) is a case for the machine - Samsung should have included at least a basic case with this machine (as Asus does with their slate). One other small downside I've noticed is that the casing doesn't seem entirely solid on this machine - if you apply a bit of pressure near the edges, you will hear a "creak" as the edge of the machine and the cover rub against one another (you'd expect iPad quality on a machine of this cost). A last downside: there is no button on the outside of the machine that duplicates the CTRL+ALT+DEL button; this is a downside if you're on a network that requires you to press that keyboard combination in order to log onto the machine (it took me a while to figure out how to bring up the on screen keyboard to do this and I briefly thought that I would only be able to login when using an external keyboard). Getting Ready for Windows 8: Grade B- This is an update on my original review: I installed the Win8 consumer preview on this machine. It appears to be the machine of choice (by Microsoft) for working with Win8 at this time. The experience of the Metro UI was great. However, it caused some issues on the machine (notably, the wired network connection driver went missing). Upon trying to update drivers, it caused a catastrphic failure and the machine would no longer boot. If you do decide to install Win8 on this machine, then do some web searches for pre-installation you should do on the Samsung Slate prior to going to Win8 (this looks like it would have saved me some headaches). Recommendation: if you can use this as a spare computer, then it is a great one for testing Win8 apps; but if it is your production computer, you should hold off for now. In reality, I mostly used the old Win7 apps anyway - which are pretty much exactly the same as using them in Win7. System Restore: D- Due to the above issue with Win8, I had to do a complete re-install of the OS (I could not use the system restore function on the hard drive). After installing Win7 from CD, I found that it did not include any of the drivers or installation software and had to download all of it from the Samsung website. Even after this, the touch screen and wired network connection no longer worked. After two days of trying tweaks, spending time on the phone with tech support, having our Microsoft certified person who works in our office work on it, I was instructed by Samsung to send it back to be reimaged because the issues could not be fixed on my end. It's nice that Samsung included a restore segment on the hard drive - but why couldn't they have also included this as a CD with the machine? I was then without my main machine for a week - and out some additional money since the reimaging is not covered under warranty. After receiving it back from their restore, there are still features that are no longer working (such as the WiDi connection and the system update software) that were working when I initially received the tablet. True - it is my fault for installing Win8 (which Samsung provided instructions for on one of their websites) - but they had so many failure points in the System Restore process that I've given them a D- for this (though it could have easily been an F). With that said, this would still be the tablet that I would choose to purchase at this time and I recommend it.. this is my Samsung Series 7 XE700T1A-A03US 11.6-Inch Slate (128 GB, Win 7 HP) - Dock and Keyboard Included reviews
Samsung Series 7 XE700T1A-A03US 11.6-Inch Slate (128 GB, Win 7 HP) - Dock and Keyboard Included Specs
- + +
- Price for all three: $1,685.55
- These items are shipped from and sold by different sellers. Buy the selected items together
- This item: Samsung Series 7 XE700T1A-A03US 11.6-Inch Slate (128 GB, Win 7 HP) - Dock and Keyboard Included by Samsung $1,599.99
- Samsung Series 7 Slate Stand Case by Samsung $50.79
- Samsung Electronics Slate PC Digitizer Pen (AA-DP0NE2B/US) by Samsung $34.77
Samsung Series 7 XE700T1A-A03US 11.6-Inch Slate (128 GB, Win 7 HP) - Dock and Keyboard Included Best buy
Samsung Series 7 XE700T1A-A03US 11.6-Inch Slate (128 GB, Win 7 HP) - Dock and Keyboard Included. Samsung Series 7 XE700T1A-A03US 11.6-Inch Slate (128 GB, Win 7 HP) - Dock and Keyboard Included will.. (Read More)
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