Anyone Tried Samsung Slate 7?

[Kidane]

Temperature on the slate is not THAT hot. I hold it whilst painting and Ive NEVER EVER needed to remove my hand because of it being to warm. I've been drawing in Cafe's and Malls with the Slate on my lap and again..NEVER too hot.
Yes it's idle around 50c but that's not what is transmitted to the surface ...god no, that would be dangerous. It does not affect the performance nor does it affect painting workflow. Maybe andya147's slate had an issue or maybe you've been out in the sun with the slate

[darkmagistric]

I have to agree with Sam0s

Although it does get warm...it gets no where near hot enough where it interfers with its usage. I've had alot of tablet PCs and Laptops over the years

Lenovo x61t, Gateway C-120x, Asus Ep121, Ls800, Unibody Macbook Pro (core2duo), and many more.

The Series 7 Slate is much cooler then any other tablets/laptops I've used.

Even the Ipad and Andorid Tablets get warm over prolonged use...the Series 7 given how much power it packs in something the size of an Ipad....what mild warmth it gives off is fully acceptable.

Now if you want to see a tablet that gets so Hot it will turn off to save it self...try and find a Motion Computing Ls800. Great little tablet....now that thing gets HOT, the Series 7 Slate does Not.

[-Tragedy-]

Two against one... I'll conform and go with the crowd.

It probably was a defective unit, which is unfortunate to hear.

The Surface does look nice, but for the potential cost, I don't think I'd be able to afford one for another couple of months.

I was thinking of selling my Alienware M15X, get about $800-1000 for it and get a S7S... But I may wait and see what the surface offers and if it's really does support pressure sensitivity.

... Then eventually get around to building a desktop.

[darkmagistric]

Even if the Surface does have Pressure Sensativity...there's alot more to a pen digitzer then just that. The way the pen feels...sound of the pen....and most importantly program compatability and performance. I was one of the first adopters of the HP Slate 500 which used an N-trig Digitzer.

Although it had pressure (in some applications)....it was overall a pretty sucky pen experience compared to a tablet thats Wacom Penabled.

And as much as I love my Series 7 Slate....I would not recomend purchasing it at this time.

With Windows 8 right around the corner....there will be a slew of new Windows 8 Tablet PCs coming out. Samsung is going to essentially release an Ivy Bridge refresh of the Series 7 Slate in the next few months.

Unless you can snag a Series 7 dirt cheap off Ebay....I'd deffinitly hold off alittle longer.

[-Tragedy-]

Even if the Surface does have Pressure Sensativity...there's alot more to a pen digitzer then just that. The way the pen feels...sound of the pen....and most importantly program compatability and performance. I was one of the first adopters of the HP Slate 500 which used an N-trig Digitzer.

Although it had pressure (in some applications)....it was overall a pretty sucky pen experience compared to a tablet thats Wacom Penabled.

And as much as I love my Series 7 Slate....I would not recomend purchasing it at this time.

With Windows 8 right around the corner....there will be a slew of new Windows 8 Tablet PCs coming out. Samsung is going to essentially release an Ivy Bridge refresh of the Series 7 Slate in the next few months.

Unless you can snag a Series 7 dirt cheap off Ebay....I'd deffinitly hold off alittle longer.

Yeah, I understand where you're going.

The annoying thing is that they never have the pens available in-store to test out.
I've even contemplated buying a pen just to test the S7S out in-store, but even then, it would be difficult because I'd want to try it in PS and would have to download the drivers to get it all working properly.

I've seen them cheap on ebay, used. Around AUD $600-800, whereas they're AUD $1300-2000 new.

I'd only get a used one really.

What's your general overview of the S7S, darkmagistric?

I wouldn't be getting a slate until November/December, so hopefully there's some other gear out by then...

[darkmagistric]

My general overview of the S7S is that its the best current Tablet PC on the Market for Digital Art.

All Wacom Penabled Tablet PCs use the same decade old digitizer. So no matter what Tablet PC you use...you won't have tilt and only 256 levels of pressure. I also have an Intuos 4...and despite the drop in pressure....I can't tell the difference, and I don't really use tilt control. So for my art needs, a Tablet PC digitizer is more then adequate.

The S7S uses a Ultra low voltage Sandy Bridge Core i5 that runs Photoshop CS5 beautifully. And I'm a layer hog....the S7S has no problem running my 100+ layer photoshop files with next to no lag. The only Lag is when I'm using complex brushes at extremely High Sizes...or the Smudge Tool at really high sizes (triple digit sized brushes)

To Compare, I also have the Asus Ep121 that uses an older 1st gen ultra low voltage Core i5. While better then an Atom CPU.....it ran Photoshop pretty poorly. The Sandy Bridge Refresh in the S7S was a godsend. The performance increase was like night and day.

The S7S also has a fantastic Amoled Screen. 400 nits of brightness and an excellent color gamut.

With my previous tablet PCs....specifically the Lenovo x61t and the Asus Ep121...I always had issues with the screens. Either the screen was too dim, the colors were crap, or the viewing angles were horrid. The S7S has been utterly perfect in this regard. While I still proof my work on multiple monitors....the S7S has the best screen out of all my tablets, laptops, and monitors.

So it has great performance, a great screen.....all in a nice and thin package essentially Ipad sized.

The Battery life....yeah kind of is disappointing...Roughly 2 hours using Full Screen Brightness and running Photoshop CS5..as well as near 2-hours of nonstop use of the pen (the digitizer does add to the battery drain). However given how great the Screen and Performance is in such a tiny package...the 2 hours is more then forgivable in my eyes.

Windows 8 Should also help. I installed the Consumer Preview on my Ep121...that when running Windows 7....the battery barley lasted more then 1 hour, is now getting close to 2 hours on Windows 8.

[-Tragedy-]

My general overview of the S7S is that its the best current Tablet PC on the Market for Digital Art.

All Wacom Penabled Tablet PCs use the same decade old digitizer. So no matter what Tablet PC you use...you won't have tilt and only 256 levels of pressure. I also have an Intuos 4...and despite the drop in pressure....I can't tell the difference, and I don't really use tilt control. So for my art needs, a Tablet PC digitizer is more then adequate.

The S7S uses a Ultra low voltage Sandy Bridge Core i5 that runs Photoshop CS5 beautifully. And I'm a layer hog....the S7S has no problem running my 100+ layer photoshop files with next to no lag. The only Lag is when I'm using complex brushes at extremely High Sizes...or the Smudge Tool at really high sizes (triple digit sized brushes)

To Compare, I also have the Asus Ep121 that uses an older 1st gen ultra low voltage Core i5. While better then an Atom CPU.....it ran Photoshop pretty poorly. The Sandy Bridge Refresh in the S7S was a godsend. The performance increase was like night and day.

The S7S also has a fantastic Amoled Screen. 400 nits of brightness and an excellent color gamut.

With my previous tablet PCs....specifically the Lenovo x61t and the Asus Ep121...I always had issues with the screens. Either the screen was too dim, the colors were crap, or the viewing angles were horrid. The S7S has been utterly perfect in this regard. While I still proof my work on multiple monitors....the S7S has the best screen out of all my tablets, laptops, and monitors.

So it has great performance, a great screen.....all in a nice and thin package essentially Ipad sized.

The Battery life....yeah kind of is disappointing...Roughly 2 hours using Full Screen Brightness and running Photoshop CS5..as well as near 2-hours of nonstop use of the pen (the digitizer does add to the battery drain). However given how great the Screen and Performance is in such a tiny package...the 2 hours is more then forgivable in my eyes.

Windows 8 Should also help. I installed the Consumer Preview on my Ep121...that when running Windows 7....the battery barley lasted more then 1 hour, is now getting close to 2 hours on Windows 8.

So I can be safe to assume that the Win 8 tablet PC's probably won't have different digitizers?

Tilt control doesn't bother me, I have no need for it really and from what Nim has shown, it's not all that much of an issue.
You and I are both layer hogs then. XD

The EP121 is still an option, simply because of how cheap it is, used. However I'd prefer an S7S.

I assumed there'd be lag, I have it on every computer.

Battery life is really... Bad... How bright do you have the screen. I was hoping to get around 3 - 4 hours.
but alas...

How do you find the over build quality of the case?

Thanks for the detailed info.

[andya147]

The S7S also has a fantastic Amoled Screen..it doesnt use Amoled if it did it would cost a lot more.11.6" HD LED Display (1366 x 768)
so not the best resolution .when the new slate 7 is out october 26th will be 1920-by-1080 so plenty of room to move about..as for the heat i dont care what anyone says 50 to 60 c idle is high and being in such a small enclosure ,my ideal tab is cold to touch quality ips panel nice cool running ive bridge 128gb ssd and 8 gig ram the new samsung slate 5 and 7 will be the ones to go for ,amoled at 11.6 in size will cost to much to produce and after all its all about profit with these companys iphone 5 a good example lol

[darkmagistric]

The S7S also has a fantastic Amoled Screen..it doesnt use Amoled if it did it would cost a lot more.11.6" HD LED Display (1366 x 768)
so not the best resolution .when the new slate 7 is out october 26th will be 1920-by-1080 so plenty of room to move about..as for the heat i dont care what anyone says 50 to 60 c idle is high and being in such a small enclosure ,my ideal tab is cold to touch quality ips panel nice cool running ive bridge 128gb ssd and 8 gig ram the new samsung slate 5 and 7 will be the ones to go for ,amoled at 11.6 in size will cost to much to produce and after all its all about profit with these companys iphone 5 a good example lol

Interesting....you may be right with that. All of Samsungs current specificiations on their site don't mention Amoled with the Series 7. However when they first annouced the Series 7 and when it was initially released...they did advertize it as having an Amoled Screen. Wouldn't be the first time a vendor did a little bait and switch. When Asus annoucned the Ep121, they initially advertised it was going to have an IPS screen when it ended up having a Boe-Hydis screen instead.

Regardless...the S7S Screen is still Fantastic

[darkmagistric]

So I can be safe to assume that the Win 8 tablet PC's probably won't have different digitizers?


The EP121 is still an option, simply because of how cheap it is, used. However I'd prefer an S7S.

I assumed there'd be lag, I have it on every computer.

Battery life is really... Bad... How bright do you have the screen. I was hoping to get around 3 - 4 hours.
but alas...

How do you find the over build quality of the case?

Thanks for the detailed info.

As much as every Tablet PC user would be esatic if Wacom finally updated their Penabled Digitzer....it would be highly unlikely. Aside from adding Multi-touch and driver updates....they haven't done jack in over a decade to the actual pen experiecnce.

I suspect the primary reason is to not to drive businness away from their Cintiq Sales.....but it will be highly unlikely that Windows 8 will bring about such a change.

And the Lag I'm refering to is a performance lag. Technically with Tablet PCs and Cintiqs there will always be a slight lag...but when using Photoshop on the Ep121...the cursor/brush lag is extremely more aparant. Conversely Paint Tool Sai or Art Rage don't lag at all on the ep121. The 1st gen ULV Core i5 and Photoshop just don't get along too well.

for most of my uses of the S7S...I have the brightness all the way up to the full 400 nits. If you lower it you should be able to get better battery life. However truthfully.....you'd be hard to pressed to find any Tablet PC with more then 2-3 hours. All estimates are with screen brightness at like 20% with wi-fi turned off...and not using photoshop.

The only Tablet PCs that would be able to go past the 4 hour mark with my ideal working conditions (Full brightness, using Photoshop, and constant Wacom pen use) would be the HP EliteBook Series as well as some Fujitstu Models (all convertible tablet PCs, no slates). And that would only be with the add on battery Base the Elitebook series has or the add on secondary modular battery the fujitus ones have.

And although IVY Bridge will be an improvment....any Battery Life increase will be marginal.

To note, HP will be putting out a Windows 8 Transformer Tablet PC that will be Wacom Penabled.....however with a main drawback of using an Atom Proccessor. As Sucky as Atom is for Photoshop....the next gen of Atoms are supposed to be nearing Core2Duo levels of performance...which might make it viable. And with Atom...the Battery Life should deffinitly be good.

And as far as the Build Quality of the S7S....my Current one is very good. However the early models of the S7S were plaqued by a problem where the lower portion of the screen would lift up. It didn't effect the Slates Function, but it did make it more suspecitable to moisture or dirt getting in it (or at least the nagging fear of such). My first S7S had this problem. I still was in the 1-month warrenty period so I had it shipped back and they replaced it with a new one...that to this day has been perfect. No screen lift at all.

[-Tragedy-]

As much as every Tablet PC user would be esatic if Wacom finally updated their Penabled Digitzer....it would be highly unlikely. Aside from adding Multi-touch and driver updates....they haven't done jack in over a decade to the actual pen experiecnce.

I suspect the primary reason is to not to drive businness away from their Cintiq Sales.....but it will be highly unlikely that Windows 8 will bring about such a change.

And the Lag I'm refering to is a performance lag. Technically with Tablet PCs and Cintiqs there will always be a slight lag...but when using Photoshop on the Ep121...the cursor/brush lag is extremely more aparant. Conversely Paint Tool Sai or Art Rage don't lag at all on the ep121. The 1st gen ULV Core i5 and Photoshop just don't get along too well.

for most of my uses of the S7S...I have the brightness all the way up to the full 400 nits. If you lower it you should be able to get better battery life. However truthfully.....you'd be hard to pressed to find any Tablet PC with more then 2-3 hours. All estimates are with screen brightness at like 20% with wi-fi turned off...and not using photoshop.

The only Tablet PCs that would be able to go past the 4 hour mark with my ideal working conditions (Full brightness, using Photoshop, and constant Wacom pen use) would be the HP EliteBook Series as well as some Fujitstu Models (all convertible tablet PCs, no slates). And that would only be with the add on battery Base the Elitebook series has or the add on secondary modular battery the fujitus ones have.

And although IVY Bridge will be an improvment....any Battery Life increase will be marginal.

To note, HP will be putting out a Windows 8 Transformer Tablet PC that will be Wacom Penabled.....however with a main drawback of using an Atom Proccessor. As Sucky as Atom is for Photoshop....the next gen of Atoms are supposed to be nearing Core2Duo levels of performance...which might make it viable. And with Atom...the Battery Life should deffinitly be good.

And as far as the Build Quality of the S7S....my Current one is very good. However the early models of the S7S were plaqued by a problem where the lower portion of the screen would lift up. It didn't effect the Slates Function, but it did make it more suspecitable to moisture or dirt getting in it (or at least the nagging fear of such). My first S7S had this problem. I still was in the 1-month warrenty period so I had it shipped back and they replaced it with a new one...that to this day has been perfect. No screen lift at all.

Wow, thanks man.

I'm thinking that I'll go with either S7S, most likely the older one due to price, I'll assume it'll go down in price slightly over the summer... However I doubt it.
The slight changes of the reviewed version seem so tiny that it won't really be worth the extra price tag.

I'll sell my M15x and get one of these for my on the go kinda thing, I'll jest need to get a decent case, preferably with a keyboard.

I think I'll be able to squeeze 3-4 hours of life out of it on the go... I'll check out the HP Transformer though too.

Again, I'm planning on buying a used one as the 128GB model isn't available in Australia in stores.
Hopefully I'll be able to find a nicely cared after one eBay around the $700 mark...

Again, thanks for all the information on it.

I appreciate it.

[Griffonnage]

Hello, I'm following the thread and waiting for the very soon release of the new samsung 7. After reading everything here, I'm really considerating to buy Samsung 7 instead of a 22HD/21UX cintiq. I know cintiq is far better for drawing than a tablet PC, but I'm searching for something I can take with me from house to work and travel with. Reason is mainly : what if you get used to one device and can't use it everywhere ? I don't want to feel dependant to cintiq if I can't use it everywhere !

Tablet PC Wacom penabled are just what I need, as I can use Zbrush and Photoshop on it, but they currently lack pression a little, I hope next generations will get better, even if Wacom will probably not allow it. I read some article about the next S-pen which would be 1024 pp, but honestly I can't really believe it, looks like more to an advertising than reality.

Are they other people following the next Asus/Samsung/Microsoft/HP release ? Do you plan on buying one of these ? What do you think about using a samsung 7 as travel-tool ?

[nim]

I'm going to chip in one comment on that: the cintiq can be propped up properly and even attached to one of those pull-it-around multy-joint-mechanical-arms whatever they're called... whereas something knee/hand-held like a slate tablet may be a bit of a neck/back-pain if you plan on using it as your main workstation unless you find a cradle/stand for it that really works for you.
Bringing it with you is awesome compared to bringing a laptop and an intuos but when at your workstation doing daily work... you get my point. do consider it.

[Griffonnage]

You're definitly right, I didn't consider that point before... I suppose it will depend if the tablet PC is more for travel or on site work, I don't think it would be a main workstation (a tablet pc may not be powerfull enough for some 3D works), it will be used to make faster the early stages, but the 11' screen is too little for details (in my opinion). I can be wrong, I never used such a device but I'm really looking for something that can help me in my daily training and work.
I will think at it a little longer, but I have to admit it's something that bother me because I just can't make a decision, both devices are quite expensive, choose between a cintiq and a tablet PC isn't something you do lightly.

Thanks for your opinion !

[Arshes Nei]

Just a note that there will be a Macbook Air with 512 levels of pressure sensitivity...

http://www.macrumors.com/2012/06/28/...in-early-fall/

[DagMX]

Hello, I'm following the thread and waiting for the very soon release of the new samsung 7. After reading everything here, I'm really considerating to buy Samsung 7 instead of a 22HD/21UX cintiq. I know cintiq is far better for drawing than a tablet PC, but I'm searching for something I can take with me from house to work and travel with. Reason is mainly : what if you get used to one device and can't use it everywhere ? I don't want to feel dependant to cintiq if I can't use it everywhere !

Tablet PC Wacom penabled are just what I need, as I can use Zbrush and Photoshop on it, but they currently lack pression a little, I hope next generations will get better, even if Wacom will probably not allow it. I read some article about the next S-pen which would be 1024 pp, but honestly I can't really believe it, looks like more to an advertising than reality.

Are they other people following the next Asus/Samsung/Microsoft/HP release ? Do you plan on buying one of these ? What do you think about using a samsung 7 as travel-tool ?

The new Series 7 looks like a pretty killer tablet. Most of the new windows 8 tablets (from Dell/Asus/Samsung) seem to have 1,024 pressure levels using a new wacom digitizer. The Series 7 (Ativ Smart PC Pro) look to be the most powerful out of them too.

I know the animation director at work carries an old series 7 around with him to sketch on. Seems like a really portable sketchpad. Not as portable as an iPad but I think I'll be picking up the new one once it's out and has some reviews

[darkmagistric]

Just a note that there will be a Macbook Air with 512 levels of pressure sensitivity...

http://www.macrumors.com/2012/06/28/...in-early-fall/

oh god...the New Modbook Pro....Its been Priced at an isane $3500

http://www.engadget.com/2012/10/03/m...-orders-begin/

Granted it more powerful then any Tablet PC on the market since it uses a more full voltage processor....but for that price, your better off getting a Tablet PC and a Cintiq. Also the Modbook Pro does not have Touch and still has a 1280x800 res.

[darkmagistric]

Tablet PC Wacom penabled are just what I need, as I can use Zbrush and Photoshop on it, but they currently lack pression a little, I hope next generations will get better, even if Wacom will probably not allow it. I read some article about the next S-pen which would be 1024 pp, but honestly I can't really believe it, looks like more to an advertising than reality.
Are they other people following the next Asus/Samsung/Microsoft/HP release ? Do you plan on buying one of these ? What do you think about using a samsung 7 as travel-tool ?

Acctually....Tablet PCs are just as Accurate as Cintiqs, Precision won't be an issue. Its really just the lower pressure levels and lack of tilt control. And despite what Samsung may advertise....1024 is bull. Its using the exact same digitizer. I highly doubt we'll ever see a Wacom Penabled Tablet PC with that much pressure.

As far as the other offerings, from Asus, Microsoft, HP, Dell, lenovo, etc......The Digitizer is the key. With all these new Windows 8 Tablet PCs, only some will have a Wacom digitzer, some will use N-trig, some will use other 3rd party pen soultions, and some will be touch only and not be penabled at all.

While N-trig newest digitizer is supposed to be better.....given the financial investment...I have to recommned holding off on anything that isn't a sure bet. Wacom's penabled digitizer works and is proven to be good for art. Comparativly, N-trigs prior offerings....were not good for art creation.

Once you narrorwed down the selection to the Wacom offerings....the next big area of difference is weither to go for an Atom Processor or a Core i5 series. With Samsung, they are offering The ATIV Smart PC, and the ATIV Smart PC Pro. The regualar Smart PC will use a next gen Atom Processor, and the Pro will use an Ivy Trail Core i5. (HP will offer a simmilar Atom/i5 offering)

Although they are touting the Ivy Trail i5's as having 7-8 hours of battery life...under ideal working conditions, I'd expect 3-4 hours honestly. Thats where the newer Atom Processor offeringa are kind of appealing because they should deffinitly be able to make their 10 hour battery claims. But I doubt Zbrush or Photoshop would be that good on Atom...even with the Clovertrail refresh.

And a final thing to consider....the Resolution......pretty much all the Windows 8 Tablet PCs coming out have more or less the same resolutions as the current crop of tablet PCs.

The only one that really stands out is the Samsung Smart PC Pro....which will pack a 1920 x 1080 pixels res in the 11.6 inch display. Comparativly....the Cintiq 24HD res is only 1920 x 1200.

[Parhelion]

Really interested in tablets/slates/hybrids. For ultimate solution i need i5-i7, wacom and as big screen size as possible. And what is sadly that looks like new Samsung Ativ Smart PC Pro is only one proper machine that already announced. It sounds great but alternatives its always good. Screen size bother me little. 11,6 may be too small for real work. Asus have Transformer Book series with great performance and 11,6, 13, 14 screens but seem like this mthfckrs forget to put wacom inside. Also isnt 1920x1080 is too much for 11,6? Some interfaces will be too small to be workable?

And question to S7S owners. Is 11,6 screen really enough for Photoshop and ZBrush?

[-Tragedy-]

Really interested in tablets/slates/hybrids. For ultimate solution i need i5-i7, wacom and as big screen size as possible. And what is sadly that looks like new Samsung Ativ Smart PC Pro is only one proper machine that already announced. It sounds great but alternatives its always good. Screen size bother me little. 11,6 may be too small for real work. Asus have Transformer Book series with great performance and 11,6, 13, 14 screens but seem like this mthfckrs forget to put wacom inside. Also isnt 1920x1080 is too much for 11,6? Some interfaces will be too small to be workable?

And question to S7S owners. Is 11,6 screen really enough for Photoshop and ZBrush?

Now I don't have an S7S, I plan to, but other financial needs have taken over,

However, I have an Alienware M11x as my run around machine and that has an 11.6" screen and I manage fine with it for ZBrush/PS/AE/Flash/Maya; basically all software... I'm really not fussy and can manage just fine with the 1366x768 resolution.
I always finish work on a 1080p screen to check for problems, but I find it's usually okay.

Depends on what you're used to and your needs.

[Parhelion]

my needs is
- concept art/illustration in 4000x4000 canvas maximum
- zbrush sculpting for 10kk vertices

[3dway]

Has anyone seen, or touched the C variant of the series 7 yet? xe700t1c?
I would have bitten on the last iteration, except for the reports of build quality issues.
This one looks like the perfect tablet solution for me. Interested in hearing any quality and performance reports.

[andya147]

Samsung Ativ Smart PC Pro does seem like a good idea ,nice ivy bridge cpu .but one big problem that i can see and that is the ram is soldered to the motherboard..now if you can live with 4gb that will be your best bet,not able to upgrade and for the artwork i do 8gb is min..

[3dway]

what are your specs that demand 8 GB? I have an LE 1600 now. Its a bit Laggy. Just want to do line drawing some beginner painting maybe.

[andya147]

mainly large layers and brushes in photoshop and zbrush ..