A Week With the Samsung ATIV smart PC

Simon and I have challenged one another to see which Windows 8 devices we fall in love with! We are both gadget lovers and so with Windows 8 consumer and business devices now available we are in our element.  We decided that tablets were the first thing to try as these are something new to many businesses and with touch there are many opportunities that aren’t necessarily that obvious.

Simon is going with his Windows 8 Slate and I’ve gone with the Samsung ATIV smart PC.  You may say that we are comparing apples to pears but actually they are both very usable in a business context and great for every day use.  So how did I get on with the Samsung then?

First things first we need to get down to the details… What was in the box!

When I first got this device one thing hit me… Where’s the keyboard… Out of the box this device doesn’t come with a keyboard and at first I was a bit put out.  After all Simon gets a nice flip cover keyboard! (Yes I got keyboard jealousy!)  Then I remembered I have my Arc Keyboard & Mouse… I don’t use the keyboard on my laptop at my desk anyway. In fact I pretty much use my laptop as a second screen when at my desk. 

I did feel that this device needed a stand of some sort to be able to use the screen when not on the go but once that was sorted it was all systems go with my wireless keyboard and mouse all set up and the screen plugged into my HD monitor via the HDMI port. The at desk experience was good for general office use.

What I would say is that I wouldn’t want to do anything too intensive on this.  Using Visual Studio or running VM’s is not what this machine was made for but for every day general use it was great.  It was fast, responsive and the screen is really clear.  For those considering security at work note that this device does have a TPM chip which means that if you are like and like to use direct access from home this device will meet your physical security requirements.

OK so that’s the on desk experience… So what happened when I took this device to my meetings?  Well actually it was a really interesting one.  Unplugged and away from the keyboard and mouse this device really does come into it’s own in a business environment.  I am going to admit something you probably never knew! I REALLY love OneNote!  In fact it’s one of my favourite Microsoft apps ever!  Why is this relevant… Well… When in meetings OneNote on a tablet really comes into it’s own.  For example when explaining how something works it’s much quicker to use the integrated pen that comes with the Samsung and draw a quick diagram for a colleague.  Even better than that I can even email that diagram to them and doodle some text around it and turn my scruffy handwriting into legible text with the convert to text functionality making me more productive.

There are 101 different ways that a tablet works better than a PC in the office and I’m pretty sure you don’t need me to tell you all the reasons, but to me the tablet is the future in the office for the general office worker. It provides flexibility, simplicity and the ability to be creative.

The Samsung ATIV SmartPC is definitely a contender if you are looking at tablets for your business and has the benefits of a fully functional PC.  At just under £700 this is a pretty nifty device and if you are looking for something that has even more power and oomph then the Samsung ATIV SmartPC Pro could be well worth a look.

How could you imagine this device being used in your office?