Samsung's ATIV Smart PC 500T: An Atom-Based Windows 8 Tablet

Features
By Andrew Ku
published

Samsung takes Intel's Atom Z2760 SoC, the full version of Windows 8, and builds a tablet that begs to stay connected to its docking station. Is this the combination of freedom, performance, and battery life we've been waiting for, or are we left wanting?

Beyond IE10 And Multi-Monitor Browsing

The previous page's performance numbers didn't surprise us. We knew that the freedom to run whatever we want on a Windows 8-based tablet would be weighted down by anemic hardware. Still, the ATIV Smart PC 500T should be expected to handle more common tasks with grace. How does it do browsing around on the Web? How about hooked up to an external monitor?

In our Microsoft Surface review, we had little trouble bogging Nvidia's Tegra 3 down with tabbed browsing under IE10. The same workload is just as hard on Intel's Atom Z2760. Flash- and JavaScript-heavy sites bog the SoC down noticeably, animations stutter, and you'll see screen-tearing on YouTube as you scroll down the page.

Fortunately, Windows 8 isn't married to IE like Windows RT. As it turns out, getting Chrome onto the Smart PC 500T is a big improvement. The experience isn't a completely smooth one, but it's at least quite a bit better. Animations and videos don't stutter as severely. Switching around between tabs is much more responsive.

Using multiple monitors is a good way to help improve productivity, and Samsung's tablet offers a micro-HDMI output to accommodate an external screen. With another display attached, performance during basic tasks ranges from acceptable to marginal. Typing in Word while playing back a YouTube video in the background is usually OK, though frames tend to get skipped during motion-heavy sequences. In contrast, the Surface has a harder time keeping up, and playback suffers as a result.

Andrew Ku
42 Comments Comment from the forums
  • knowom
    Way overpriced would much rather just get a laptop.
    Reply
  • tanjo
    Too bad tablets can't get drunk and hook up; we'd love to see what the kids of Samsung's ATIV Smart PC 500T and Microsoft's Surface would look like.
    Don't know about the looks but they'd name it Samsoft.
    Reply
  • mayankleoboy1
    i wonder what a Surface with a Quad core Krait S4 would look like.
    Reply
  • DjEaZy
    ... An Atom-Based Windows 8 Tablet... two terrible things put together...
    Reply
  • hp79
    I got one of these from Staples for $600 when they first released it.
    The battery life is amazing for me. Probably due to that fact that I never blast the brightness because it'll hurt my eyes. I usually recharge the battery overnight, once in 1-3 days. It's like a cell phone (I actually charge my Galaxy Note every night), where it stays connected. Press the power button or standby in the Windows menu, and the screen turns off, but everything else is still going on in the background. I can listen to music and press the power button, and it's just like a smartphone. All this while sipping very little power.
    I can play movies on my 1080p TV using cheap hdmi cable, and after watching 4 hours of movies, it still has 60% battery left.

    I really like the digitizer too since I also use OneNote 2010 on my x230t, which gets synched on the xe500t's OneNote 2010.

    Because I don't have to worry about the battery life at all, sometimes I just keep it on, running a movie or something while working on my desktop or laptop.

    Now the bad things are obviously the slower CPU, and everywhere-glassy plastic feel.
    There are also bugs in the drivers where the touch interface often stops working, especially in Skype. There were several updates on the drivers and bios, but I think they better keep working on it.
    Reply
  • jonjonjon
    this is so ridiculous how bad ms screwed this up. windows 8 could not be more a disaster. why would you release a arm and intel x86 version of the same tablet? with that said why use arm at all. maybe i don't see ms's infinite wisdom. if i buy a windows tablet i'm expecting that i can run all my x86 programs on it. i would love to be in some ms management meetings i'm sure you could get some good laughs. poor ms i almost feel bad for them.
    Reply
  • demirci
    "72% of Nvidia's Tegra 3, and 92% of Qualcomm's S4 Pro"
    This is not correct according to the graph.
    Reply
  • JOSHSKORN
    Talk to me when a tablet can run Crysis 3 on its highest settings. Then, I'll buy one. Then, the Desktop PC will be dead.
    Reply
  • killerclick
    Windows Vista had 2.2% after two months on the market.
    Windows 8 market share after two months - 1.65%, meaning it gained only 0.6% Nov 26 - Dec 26
    At the same time Windows 7 gained 0.4% to just over 45%.

    Metro is dead, it should be obvious even to Microsoft now.

    Reply
  • killerclick
    JOSHSKORNTalk to me when a tablet can run Crysis 3 on its highest settings. Then, I'll buy one. Then, the Desktop PC will be dead.
    No problem, they'll make Crysis 3 for Windows tablets, so it'll run exactly the same on the PC. It's what Microsoft is expecting devs to do with their apps.
    Reply