Samsung Series 7 Slate PC review

All quiet at the Windows 7 tablet front? Well, no, but we’ve not exactly seen many shots fired lately. Sure, HP recently refreshed the Slate 500 with the Slate 2 , but for the main part, products like this were eclipsed by excitement around Windows 8. For sure, Redmond’s tablet-friendly OS won’t ship for an additional year, so for now tablet makers are releasing Windows slates with little fanfare. Not Samsung, though. While its mobile team has dug its heels into the buyer tablet market with devices just like the Galaxy Tabs 10.1, 8.9 and seven.0 Plus, its PC division is taking a distinct tack. The Series 7 Slate PC was built by a similar team behind the striking Series 9 laptop, making it among the slickest business tablets we’ve ever beheld. It rocks an 11.6-inch display that handily dwarfs mostly everything else available. It runs a Core i5, not Atom, processor, and is out there with a custom dock and Bluetooth keyboard. The Series 7 Slate is not only an extraordinary Windows 7 tablet; additionally it is essentially the mostsome of the most memorable. But are all of these things definitely worth the $1,099 starting price? Can be, but we will ponder a couple of caveats. Let us explain.

Hardware

When you were to take our previous few reviews of Samsung tablets and scoop out the paragraphs where we discuss design, they’d be kind of interchangeable. The Galaxy Tab 7.0 Plus looks just like the Galaxy Tab 8.9, which reminds us of the ten.1. Heck, we’ve even fallen right into a pattern describing Samsung’s phones: they’re plasticky, we are saying. Not premium-feeling, exactly, but lightweight and solidly built.

It looks like a cousin to most other tablets, not a member of an identical species.

However the Series 7 isn’t any Galaxy product. After all, it comes from a completely different division within Samsung: not the mobile group, however the team liable for the Series 9 and other laptops we’ve been ogling lately. Unsurprisingly, then, it feels more like a keyboard-less PC than the type of consumer tablet we have a tendency to review. That’s to assert, it is a serious-looking thing, with full-sized ports, a charcoal, brushed aluminum lid and 3 vents hinting on the powerful Core i5 CPU that lies beneath. It has style, to ensure, but additionally the type of gravitas that makes even the 0 Transformer Prime 0 appear to be a toy compared.

Here’s the article about gravitas, though: it connotes weight. Dignity, yes, and as a result, a dazzling 2.06 pounds (934.4g). It is not just that the Series 7 is heavy, or thick, at 0.51 inches (13mm): with an 11.6-inch, display, it’s simply outsized. Particularly by reason of that 16:9 screen orientation, it sounds like a cousin to most other tablets, not a member of an analogous species. That said, though, it isn’t as unwieldy as you’d think. It’s surprisingly easy to cradle in landscape mode — a lot more so, certainly, than the 1 Grid10 1 , another of the few 16:9 tablets we have seen. Samsung was also smart to place the vents toward the pinnacle of the back side, near the 3 megapixel rear camera; although the vent is quick to spew out warm air, it sits high enough that you are unlikely to graze it along with your fingers. Still, we tended to bypass using the tablet in portrait, because the weight distribution on the other end made it uncomfortable to carry up (viewing angles became a difficulty then, to boot).

We’d add that the 16:9 aspect ratio makes it easy to slide under your arm and carry hands-free. It also helps that the metal surface is blessedly scratch- and fingerprint-resistant (those wide bezels are another story). And as hefty because it is, we often slipped it right into a shoulder bag and toted it to and from the office with none real burden. Still, pile at the keyboard, dock, charger and a Bluetooth mouse and that journey will become a schlep.

As it’s possible you’ll expect from a Windows tablet, the Series 7 is easily-stocked with ports and another time, Samsung arranged them in pretty intuitive way. Imagine for a minute that you are holding it in landscape mode. At the bottom, all you can find is the docking connector that enables it to work with the accompanying dock (more on that during a bit of). At the right edge, toward the tip, there is a power / lock button, that you would be able to press lightly to show off the screen, and hold to force a shut-down. Next to that, there is a button for locking the screen orientation. As with the rear camera, we appreciate that Samsung put these in a spot where you’re unlikely to hit them by chance in either landscape or portrait mode. Moving directly to the left side, you will find a USB 2.0 port up top, at the side of twin volume buttons that sit within sight of where your fingers will be. Also in this side is a micro-HDMI socket and a three.5mm headphone jack. Finally, at the top edge you can find a microSD slot, hidden behind a sliding door.

The single thing we would like it had is a whole-sized SD slot, just like the kind you will find at the ThinkPad Tablet. Notwithstanding Samsung couldn’t fit it at the tablet itself, perhaps it can have squeezed it into the dock, as ASUS did with both generations of its Transformer keyboard.

And, to not be confused with an iPad or Android slate, the Series 7 has a button at the lower bezel that could seem like a Start button — in spite of everything, it bears an analogous logo because the one for your PC. Ironically, though, the button acts as a shortcut for Samsung’s Touch Launcher — a proprietary skin that makes the tablet feel rather less like a Windows tablet. There is a good reason behind having this finger-friendly UI, needless to say (Windows 7 is better used with a pen or keyboard-mouse combo), but before we get sooner than ourselves, let’s continue talking in regards to the hardware.

Accessories

Reckoning on the configuration you decide, your Series 7 may or won’t include Samsung’s accessories, such as a Bluetooth keyboard ($100) and dock ($80). Because it seems, our top-shelf configuration did, but everything else comes with just the pen.

If you were wondering why the tablet has only 1 USB port and no full-sized HDMI socket, fear not: all of that and more sits at the back fringe of the dock. In total, you will discover an Ethernet jack, an additional headphone port, together with USB 2.0 and HDMI. The dock itself has a flap on top that opens to expose the docking connector, and against which you’ll rest the tablet to prop it up. Close the flap, though, and the dock becomes a pocketable slab, decked out within the same brushed metal because the tablet. We especially appreciate that it has a soft, rubbery finish at the bottom, making it difficult to incidentally slide it misplaced for your desk.

As for the keyboard, what you will get is far more generously sized than what yow will discover at the Transformer Prime dock, that is to claim each of the major keys (Enter, etc.) are plenty large. The keys themselves are easy to press, albeit a little bit gummy. We do like that the module at the back holding the 2 AAA batteries gives the keyboard a pleasant lift, which makes for some comfortable typing. All told, it’s no match in your laptop keyboard, but it’s certainly an improvement over what you’d get while you went with the Prime. And, for sure, you are not limited to Samsung’s Bluetooth keyboard: in the event you do not like it, you’re able to sub on your own.

Some thing Samsung isn’t selling alongside the Series 7 is a mouse, so be prepared to bring your personal in the event you plan on making good use of the keyboard. For our part, we used Microsoft’s Touch Mouse, and had no problem connecting it using the small USB dongle that came with it.

Display

The tablet’s expansive, 11.6-inch, PLS display has a 1366 x 768 pixel count, which we see regularly on small- to mid-sized laptops, but rarely on tablets. Indeed, it’s crisp enough for comfortable web surfing and dealing with some windows open. But mostly, the display shines on account on its vibrant, punchy colors. This can be a 400-nit panel, applying Samsung’s SuperBright Plus technology — like the screen inside the Series 9 laptop, except with a glossy, not matte, finish. As sunny because it is, though, we were hesitant to crank the brightness when using it outdoors, simply because the battery life is so skimpy (spoiler!).

Often, we were quite happy with the style the display responded to finger input. Whether we were working in Windows 7 or Samsung’s more finger-friendly overlay, the tablet reacted precisely and nimbly to our various taps and swipes. Notably, it offers solid palm rejection; you shouldn’t have any problem carrying it around one-handed along with your fingers grazing the screen. The only time this failed us was after we happened to have a note-taking app open; on this particular scenario, your finger-presses may occur as virtual scribbles.

Etc.

No surprise here, however the sound coming from the speaker has a metallic, hollow feel to it, and the quantity in all fairness tame, even if pushed to the utmost setting. We won’t say we’ve ever been shocked by the audio on tablets, but it’s worth mentioning since this thing starts at $1,100. For that sort of cash, laptops offer sound quality that’s, well, not quite as tinny as this.

Pen input

And what would a Windows 7 tablet be with out a little pen action? The Wacom-compatible pen comes included (unlike with some tablets), but oddly, there isn’t any place on that thick hunker of a tablet to essentially store it.

What good is a tablet this bulky if it can’t justify its heft with generous runtime?

But what a pleasure it’s to make use of. From the beginning, writing at the screen felt buttery smooth, even when we pressed lightly at the pen. In what probably can be our favourite design touch, it has what appears like a classic, rubber eraser on top (except product of black plastic), and you may rub it against the screen to take away any markings. Also intuitive: in case you press and hold the button after which tap the screen you’ll increase your entire options you’ll have in the event you right-clicked. Similarly, if you are in Windows Journal, the included notepad app, hold the button after which circle text for options corresponding to changing the changing text color.

The difficulty is, not every app supports pen input. Windows Journal does, after all, and you’ll use the pen to tap menus and shortcuts throughout Windows 7. But even the included “Notes” app (also portion of Samsung’s finger-friendly UI) doesn’t accept pen input; just typed words. You furthermore mght can’t use the pen to mark up webpages or email attachments. There is no native strategy to grab screenshots, except for the Printscreen function for your keyboard. Out of the box, at the least, the pen is obviously meant for scribbling notes and navigating the OS, though you could bet any business buying this already has some pen-optimized, industry-specific apps in mind.

Battery life

Tablet	Battery Life
Samsung Series 7 Slate PC	3:33
Apple iPad 2	10:26
ASUS Eee Pad Transformer Prime	10:17
Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1	9:55
Apple iPad	9:33
Motorola Xoom 2	8:57
HP TouchPad	8:33
Lenovo IdeaPad K1	8:20
Motorola Xoom	8:20
T-Mobile G-Slate	8:18
Samsung Galaxy Tab 7.0 Plus	8:09
Lenovo ThinkPad Tablet	8:00
Archos 101	7:20
Archos 80 G9	7:06
RIM BlackBerry PlayBook	7:01
Acer Iconia Tab A500	6:55
T-Mobile Springboard (Huawei MediaPad)	6:34
Toshiba Thrive	6:25
Samsung Galaxy Tab	6:09
Motorola Xyboard 8.2	5:25
Velocity Micro Cruz T408	5:10
Acer Iconia Tab A100	4:54

And this, friends, is why a tablet running Windows 7 on a Core i5 processor may not be any such fantastic idea. Though the tablet promises as much as seven hours of battery life, in our rundown test (movie looping, WiFi on) it managed just three hours and 33 minutes. As always, we’ll add the caveat that that’s a more taxing routine than simply surfing the internet, but it’s still not much of an excuse — in spite of everything, the Transformer Prime lasted 10 hours and 17 minutes at the same test, and that was without the battery-extending dock.

We all know, we all know: this is not an apples-to-apples comparison; we are not accustomed to any Windows 7 tablet able to 10-plus-hour battery life. But really, what good is a tablet this bulky if it can’t justify its heft with generous runtime? At least, any such pitifully short battery life should make you observed twice about how much you would like Windows 7 in tablet form. If all you will have is to stream video, check email and surf the internet, you are able to do that on any tablet, even adding a Bluetooth keyboard in the event you so choose. And reckoning on how much you’re willing to accept a lighter feature set, you’ll also find various office suites, photo editors etc for iOS and Android. In the event you require certain Windows apps, fair enough, but even then, you will have other options corresponding to the brand new HP Slate 2 to think about. We just do not buy the concept in case you are dead-set on Windows you’ll need accept that little endurance.

Performance

Our test unit (the top-end configuration sold within the US) came loaded with a 1.6GHz Core i5-2467M processor, 4GB of RAM, a 128GB Samsung-made solid-state drive, integrated Intel HD 3000 graphics and Windows 7 Professional. In comparison to an Ultrabook with similar components, its score of four,195 at the benchmark PCMark Vantage isn’t impressive, though it’s real-world performance will likely be on par with what we have seen from ultraportable laptops. Equivalent to an Ultrabook with a Core i5 CPU and SSD, it boots in an insane 19 seconds, while its read / write speeds peak at 250 MB/s and 200 MB/s, receptively. The fact is, we probably spent more time using the Series 7 as a laptop replacement than we did as a standalone tablet. Between the big-enough screen, laptop-grade components, included keyboard and matching dock, there’s little reason to not use this as you could a working laptop or computer. And if it weren’t for the fleeting battery life (and the effort of transporting a dock, keyboard and mouse), it’ll feel much more versatile.

Software

Though the Series 7 was running an early version of Windows 8 in 2 one in every of our first 2 two outings with it, it’s currently shipping with Windows 7 Home Premium and Professional. As we have seen with other business-focused machines, the bloatware load is light, though hardly spartan. These programs include: CyberLink’s YouCam software, an ordeal of Microsoft Office 2010, Norton Internet Security and Norton Online Backup, Skype 4.2 and Windows Live Essentials 2011. Mostly benign stuff, except Norton, which pops as much as say hello once you boot up the tablet for the 1st time.

Until Windows 8 gets the ultimate seal of approval, likely sometime in 2012, companies like Samsung must make do with Windows 7, which as everyone knows, isn’t nearly as easy to navigate with fingertips because it is a mouse-and-keyboard or pen. So, Samsung leaned on its 3 TouchWiz 3 know-how and whipped up a more finger-friendly UI, dubbed the Touch Launcher.

As we said, to launch the Launcher (sorry, guys), you simply press the beginning button at the front side of the tablet. Now, if this is not relating to TouchWiz, we do not know what’s: the interface contains two home screens with grids of huge, candy-colored shortcuts, identical to what you can find on any of Sammy’s Galaxy phones or tablets. To maneuver from one home screen to the alternative, just swipe. If you are so inclined, you’ll be able to organize apps into groups, in addition to add a shortcut to a desktop program.

With us up to now? Okay, then. Always — whether you are looking on the homescreen or among the many 24 touch apps — you will see the Windows Taskbar on the bottom of the screen, so you’ll never be too far faraway from any programs you’ve pinned down there. That still makes it easy to dive back right into a full-fledged Windows app you’ve had open. Throughout, the Touch Launcher shows a major “X” within the upper right corner for closing apps or returning to the classic desktop, though you’re able to just as easily try this by clicking the “show desktop” button on the end of the Taskbar.

At the left side of the house screen, there is a pane that slides out to show a bit glanceable information: the elements, battery status and any items you’ve got outstanding within the native ToDo app.

It’s altogether a distinct experience than in the event you were to put in Windows 8 Developer Preview on here, where you’d move to and fro between the classic desktop and Windows Phone-inspired tiles — a jarring experience, in case you are not used to it. Here, you can also make use of both Windows and this more touch-friendly UI, but it’s also possible to quarantine the dumbed-down Touch Launcher and open it only while you need it.

Besides ToDo, the nearly two dozen pre-installed apps include: Photos, Videos, Music, Bing Map, Notes, Yahoo Finance, Social Dashboard, Recipe, Clock, Weather, Internet Explorer, Windows Journal, Twitter, RSS Reader, Calendar, Camera and Amazon’s Kindle reader. There’s also an icon for YouTube, but that’s only a browser shortcut.

It’s altogether one other experience than in case you were to put in Windows 8 Developer Preview on here.

We can’t exhaust you with a run-down of each single app, but suffice to claim, there’s promising stuff here, but in addition room for improvement. Some highlights: the calendar app syncs along with your various Gmail calendars within seconds, even preserving the colours you had originally assigned them. Social Feed allows you to cherry pick people whose updates you really need to read, after which cobbles those together right into a patchwork of tiles.

Still, we wonder why Samsung didn’t include a dash-friendly email app, especially because the software can already go as far as to drag in data from Google Calendar. And though which you can swipe between home screens, you can not try this inside apps. For example, if you have got five pages worth of recipes calling for turkey sausage, you will want to tap an onscreen arrow to head through them. Ditto that will jump to a different week in your calendar. If this special interface is designed specifically for finger input, why not allow us to really touch it?

We also noticed the occasional hiccup in these touch apps, particularly with Social Feed, which regularly froze as we looked for friends to feature to our update list.

Camera

In actual fact that despite the fact that the first camera in this guy had higher resolution, we would still have had an issue with it; in the end, tablet cameras haven’t exactly been carving out a name for his or her sterling optics. Nonetheless it may need helped. Our 3-MP stills concerned about the rear lens are blurry in some areas, with a great deal of detail stripped out. Predictably, too, it suffers in low light — let alone twilight, harsh backlight or even dull light. On reflection, we should not have been surprised, though once we tested the camera around town we found it was relatively quick to focus and the photographs at the very least looked crisp on that smaller, 1366 x 768 display. Maybe they’re best left there — everything goes down hill should you offload them to the cloud and download them on some device with more viewing space. Ditto for the video: we had a difficult time fully making out faces just a few feet far from us, they were so blurry.

Configuration options

The Series 7 Slate is memorable, compelling and, ultimately, a gap product.

The Series 7 tablet is sold worldwide, with different configurations offered in each region. Within the US, no less than, there are four pre-built models ranging in price from $1,099 to $1,349.

Around the board, it comes with that very same Core i5-2467M processor and 4GB of RAM, and are rated for as much as seven hours of battery life. Other details, similar to the 802.11 b/g/n radio, Intel HD 3000 graphics card and 1366 x 768 resolution also are non-negotiable.

Starting with the bottom model, $1,099 gets you a 64GB SSD and Windows 7 Home Premium. For an additional hundred bucks, you may get an analogous model, but with Windows 7 Professional (from here on out, all of them run this version of the OS). Any other two models graduate to a 128GB solid-state drive, though one runs Home Premium and springs with the Bluetooth keyboard and dock, while the alternative has Windows 7 Professional installed and doesn’t include any accessories. To be clear, our unit came with the accessories and ran Windows 7 Professional, which implies it is not a configuration you can find in US stores.

Wrap-up

There’s nothing quite just like the Series 7 slate. Windows 7 tablets, yes, but they’re mostly still chugging along on weaker Atom processors. Serious Android ones that accept pen input? Point, 6 Lenovo 6 . Tablets that easily morph right into a dumbed-down laptop replacement attributable to a custom dock or case? There’s the ThinkPad Tablet (again), along side the Transformer Prime. But it’s rare to determine a Windows tablet with enough power to check a laptop, and the type of screen real estate and ergonomic accessories had to transform it right into a desktop-dwelling machine. For most of these reasons, the Series 7 Slate is memorable, compelling and, ultimately, a spot product.

Greater than anything, it is the battery that dampened our enthusiasm. Up to this guy succeeds as a laptop replacement, even a travel one, it fails where standalone tablets are meant to succeed: it doesn’t even last four hours on a charge. Between that and the unusually high price, any business considering this has to wish Windows, specifically — not Android or iOS, but Windows. Particularly, they should be running apps that require a pen, Core i5 muscle and, possibly, a keyboard. Because if even a type of caveats doesn’t apply, you could surely find something low-cost and longer-lasting, whether it’s another Windows 7 slate or perhaps an Android tablet with a pen and keyboard dock.

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