The naming convention used by various Samsung marketing departments around the world has left us confused for quite some time but it looks like everything is slotting into line today with Samsung giving details on final branding and pricing for their touch-enabled Ultrabook and ATIV dockables. The Ativ SmartPC Pro 700T , the Ativ SmartPC 500T and Samsung Ultra Touch are the new touchscreen models. There’s a marketing twist being introduced now though as the ‘SmartPC’ name is used. Actually the name fits well, we wonder whether it might catch on faster than Ultrabook! [We’ve just picked up smartpcnews.com, just in case !]
Product information including notes, links and videos:
Samsung Ativ Smart PC 500t (XE500T1C) was Slate 5 previously. Click for full product page (UMPCPortal)
Samsung Ativ Smart PC Pro 700T (XE700T1C) was slate 7 previously. Click for full product page.
Samsung Series 5 Touch NP540U4C Click for full product page.
Note that the Ativ SmartPC 500t is an Intel Atom based product which will offer you much lower idle and in-use battery drain but won’t be a true desktop-capable device. It’s the more mobile of the two SmartPCs though.
Pricing is interesting. The fully-capable 700T will cost $1199. The laptop-only Series 5 Ultra Touch only $860 for the same CPU platform and more ports and battery capacity. The Atom-based Ativ SmartPC 500T will cost $750 with keyboard dock.
There’s an outstanding question on the docking keyboard. Although it includes two USB ports and a charging port, does it include a battery and a backlight?
On the slate part, we would like to know If the S-Pen using a digitiser layer on the 700T (as was the case on the older Series 7 Slate.)
We have queries out to Samsung on these two.
We’re quite excited about the dockable tablet category. Yes, prices are going to be high but it’s an excellent category for those looking for flexibility and mobility across work and home scenarios. Select ‘Dockable Tablet’ in the interactive database page to see the current models. We’re checking regularly for Surface Pro info too!
Via: Venturebeat / Samsung USA
The Samsung’s Series 7 Tablet was so promising as a desktop replacement but did not have a mobile keyboard dock like Ativ SmartPC does. However it is baffling that Ativ SmartPC does not have the desktop charging/port dock accessory or at least they haven’t announced any or if it is compatible with the current Series 7 desktop dock.
So far, only Dell ThinkPad Tablet 2 and HP ElitePad seem to over the desktop docking solution I want. I’ll be curious if Surface Pro has a desktop charging/port solution.
Has anyone tried to pair the old Series 7 Slate with the new Ativ keyboard? The center port looks similar but the new Slate has additional slots on the bottom. Are those used in mating to the keyboard? Other reasons it won’t work?