By Notable tablets have been released lately great attention being given especially to Kindle Fire and the Nook. Well, even if the two do come with specs worthy of taking into account, there still are other devices from this category that deserve to be mentioned. Today, we’re talking about Samsung Series 7Slate 700T and its highs and lows.
Samsung has come up with Series 7 Slate 700T, a tablet that is powered by an Intel Core i5 processor which gives the device a plus and boosts the performance. One of the things that will make you reconsider your choices when you go for tablet shopping is the device’s price. The 124GB SSD drive version is no more no less than $1,349 and the 64GB version is $1,099.
Besides this, you will have to pay an extra $180 for the docking stand and Bluetooth keyboard which are kind of necessary if you want to get the best of Samsung Series 7 Slate 700T. There is another option if you necessarily want to get a 128GB SSD tablet that comes at a significantly lower price. I’m talking about Toshiba Portege Z835 which comes with the same 128GB but for $799. Here’s where Samsung Series 7 Slate 700T gets some real competitors.
Of course, you won’t get the Slate’s touch screen or the custom UI that is a combination of Android and Windows 8. The device brings a 1.6GHz Intel Core i5-2467M processor, Intel HD3000 graphics, 11.6″ screen and runs Windows 7 Home Premium (64-bit).
Samsung Series 7 Slate 700T weighs 1.9 pounds and comes with a design that resembles BlackBerry PlayBook and Samsung’s Galaxy Tab. For the bezel, Samsung opted for a glossy black plastic. The front surface of the Slate is edge-to-edge glass and the back is made of plastic which is what makes it feel like the two tablets mentioned earlier and which might be a downside for many of you.
Many users have stated that the back separated from the glass enough for the components to be seen through the gap. The light material used for the back was intended to keep the tablet thin and light. Its thinness has probably influenced the price significantly.
The twin HD cameras and the cooling vents have been integrated seamlessly. Still, the tablet is more-powerful, slimmer, lighter and better-looking than the Asus EP121 (practically, its real competitor).
The materials and the design used for Series 7 Slate 700T highlight the most important feature of the tablet: the big 11.6-inch display. The tablet cannot be held in a single hand for a greater period of time, though. On the left edge there’s the Micro-HDM, the headphone and the AC power and on the right edge we find the power and rotation lock buttons as well as the microSD card slot. The volume rocker and the docking connector are on the bottom edge and the mic inputs on the top edge.
If your budget is unlimited and you intend to go for the docking stand as well, then you will have to pay $99 but you’ll thus get headphone jacks, full-size HDMI and USB ports, another AC adapter and Ethernet. Overall the docking stand looks and feels better than the tablet itself.
For $80 you can get the Bluetooth keyboard that will give you enough connectivity besides making the tablet itself look and work like many thin ultrabook laptops. It is advisable to purchase the two extras if you don’t want to deal with the frustrating onscreen Swype typing. This is where the Slate gets a minus.
The Swype keyboard might not pop up each time you want to text something in online text fields. Moreover, the onscreen keyboard lag might get really annoying, so that’s why it is recommended to purchase the extras. You can opt for the Windows keyboard as well if it makes it easier for you to type. Just go to the Start menu and look for it in the systems menus.
One of the good parts of Series 7 Slate 700T is the touchscreen responsiveness. Large, beautiful and responsive, the touchscreen will make navigating through Windows 7 an easy process. You can activate the custom tablet UI by simply tapping the task bar icon. The most important applications and desktop icons will be pulled onto a series of screens that are not too different from what we get in iOS, Windows 8 and Android. The touch interface is probably the best feature of the tablet besides it big 11.6″ screen. It looks and feels impressive.
In comparison with other tablets, Samsung Series 7 Slate 700T seems to be ahead of the game. ULV Asus Eee PC EP121 and Acer Iconia Tab W500 are left behind if we take into account the processing power. The battery life of the Slate is also one of the good parts of the tablet. The Slate ran for 4 hours and 22 minutes on video playback battery drain test.
To sum up, Samsung Series 7 Slate 700T is the most decent and one of the most alluring Windows tablet available now. It would have been better if Samsung had merged the keyboard and the media dock into a single base and had thrown in an additional battery, too. Its processor makes it be a powerful tablet but is it worth paying this price?
Source: Cnet