Incoming - Samsung Series 7 Slate Tablet

Links: Official Website, Amazon 64GB (128GB) Asus Eee B121, Motion Computing CL900, Lenovo ThinkPad Tablet (64GB)

For the past few years I have followed convertible and slate tablets. Most of the Windows 7 slate tablets have been rather bulky and this is changing. The Samsung Series 7 Slate is in my opinion one of the most interesting tablets of the moment. I have placed an order for the Samsung Series 7 Slate. This will be my first slate only Windows 7 tablet. Why the Series 7 Slate? Specs Windows OS Touch + pen via Wacom Good battery life Bright screen Sleek looking Docking station Specs The slate tablet that comes closest to the the Series 7 slate is the Asus B121. The Series 7 has a i5-2467M while the B121 has a i5-470um. If you compare the numbers the Series 7 beats the B121 by .44 Ghz when running Intel Turbo Boost. Windows OS I did consider the ThinkPad Tablet which is an Android tablet, but I have to admit that most of the programs I use are Windows based. I enjoy Window's file management system and cannot see Android being able to do the same things as efficiently. Windows has fallen behind other more "touch friendly" operating systems. But Microsoft is pushing for touch apps in Windows 8. In my opinion the Windows 8 tablets will have the best of both worlds, touch friendliness and great desktop computing experience. As of right now the Series 7 ships with Windows 7, but this is something that can be upgraded later. Touch + Pen via Wacom All of the tablets that I considered have touch + pen input. The ThinkPad Tablet and Motion Computing CL900 are N-Trig based which in my tests seem accurate with the pointer, but it does produce "blockier" lines. Wacom pens are a bit more silent than N-Trig pens which is not huge concern. The Series 7 has an 11.6 inch screen that offers Wacom digitizer. Hopefully the accuracy is better than the Lenovo ThinkPad X220 Tablet. Good Battery Life The advertised times are 100 hours of standby and 7 hours of usage (some sites say 6.1 hours). This of course is probably BS and I can expect about 5 hours max. The Series 7's battery life should be an improvement over my Fujitsu Lifebook T580's 3 hour max battery life. The Motion Computing CL900 does have great numbers when it comes to battery life. It promises up to 8 hours of battery life, and a short charge time of 2 hours. These are better numbers than the Series 7. The problem with the CL900 is that it has an Atom processor which can handle 1080p playback and some 3D, but spec wise the Series 7 clobbers it. The CL900 would handle MS Onenote just fine, but at over $1,000 is too much for just simple tasks. The ThinkPad Tablet would be a less expensive system that could do notes. Bright Screen From what I have read the Series 7 has a screen that goes up to 400 nits brightness. Hopefully this is good enough to take around on many lighting conditions. The CL900 did come to my mind here because it's often used outdoors. We'll have to see if the Series 7 is good enough for outdoor use. Sleek Looking You have to admit that the Series 7 does look very sleek. It's something I can throw in my bag and it would be close to the thickness of a magazine. Docking Station The tablet does have it's own dedicated docking station which makes it convenient to connect to things like a keyboard, mouse, and an external display. Other bits I will have the tablet for a limited time. This is not a review unit sent to me by Samsung, I'm putting down the dollars myself. I did request a review unit via email, Twitter, Youtube, and Facebook but Samsung seems a bit slow to respond. PS. Tobi I'll be able to install the MS OneNote trial and do the video.