Samsung Tab Pro S W700 - perfect travel companion

[Jeffrey O'Neill]

Though I'd share my experience over the last month with my new Samsung Win 10 Tab Pro S.

I'd say it's competing with the MS surface mostly, but also the ipad.

The main benefit of the Samsung is they include the keyboard, so there's nothing else to add really.

The only thing I've bought, mostly for convenience as I like to watch some stuff via the TV off my laptop when on holidays, was a usb c adaptor that has a USB 3 port, HDMI out and usb c port for power. It works pretty well. My USB thumb drive can be read at 175MBs and write at 75MBs.

All up the Samsung TPS weighs around 900G. The tablet itself is about 700G. I love that the charger is just a slightly larger version of a phone charger, and can be used to charge your phone as well.

The TPS is based on a low power intel core m3-6y30 which feels pretty zippy - boot up in < 10 seconds. 4GB RAM + 128GB SSD is a good compromise on usability and cost.

The screen is amazing. Samsung does AMOLED screens better than anyone else. Screen resolution is 2160 x 1440 and watching HD video on it just pops.

The keyboard is reasonable to type on. I have a fold-able laptop stand that helps to get an angle when typing as I find a flat keyboard for extended typing to be a bit uncomfortable. The keyboard acts as a stand. It only provides 2 positions to hold the screen. I've not really found that to be limiting, but some might not like being unable to get their screen to an exact angle.

The original cost last year was a bit unrealistic, but recent price reductions to under $750 makes it a pretty good choice if you want a 12" screen weighing under 1KG with around 8 to 9 hours of real use.

 

[Pleb Status]

I will add my thoughts to the above.

I purchased the SM-W708Y earlier this month (the 4G LTE version of the Samsung Galaxy TabPro S). It was ~$950 for an Australian model from an Australian supplier. I was looking to replace my Android powered Samsung Galaxy Tab S 10.5 LTE with something that had at least the same screen size (or slightly larger).

A built in 4G LTE modem was a must have requirement and therefore this ruled out the Microsoft Surface Pro 4 and a number of other Windows tablets.

Overall, the hardware is very good for the price but an increase in ram to 8GB would have been nice. The processor is a bit (or a lot) underpowered but generally a more powerful processor comes with substantially reduced battery life. In comparison, the most powerful Surface Pro 4 has only half the battery life of the Samsung. So this is a fine balance and dependant on what you are going to use the tablet for. My only other request would be a third intermediate position for the screen when using the included keyboard.

Windows 10 is still a long way from being a decent tablet/touch based operating system (when compared to Android). As I generally use the SM-W708Y as a tablet (sans keyboard), I found that the on screen keyboard cannot be customised and the use of third party keyboards (like Swiftkey) is not accommodated. Text predictions etc with the stock keyboard will not work with Chrome etc but will work with Edge (Microsoft bias?).

Not many useful touch optimised universal Apps are available for Windows 10. Google does not produce universal Apps for Windows 10 it would appear, leaving the less touch optimised websites for Google Maps, YouTube etc.

I have installed an Android emulator (AMIDuOS) which allows me to run Android exclusive apps (for Amex Local Champion etc) on the Windows tablet. This works pretty well for the limited number of Android apps I have installed.

Running the desktop versions of Excel and Word is a big positive, along with the ability to run other business orientated software. This makes dealing with Windows 10 worthwhile.

Pretty happy overall at the moment with the Galaxy TabPro S but it would be nice if Microsoft could make some usability and other improvements in the near future.

 

[yohy?!]

Just got one of these as well, the screen is just gorgeous. Ordered the pen as well as would like to take notes using ink to text in OneNote. Very happy so far in the first week with performance and battery life.