Samsung ATIV Smart PC Pro review: a capable Windows 8 tablet with S Pen support

At this point we've seen countless Windows 8 devices -- Ultrabooks, convertibles and hybrids, oh my -- but to date there are only a few in the latter category running Ultrabook-grade processors. Exhibit A, of course, is Microsoft's long-awaited Surface Pro, but Samsung also has a horse in the race: the ATIV Smart PC Pro. This $1,200 machine packs a Core i5 CPU and includes a keyboard dock and an S Pen to appeal to productivity-minded users. We've spent some time with this 11.6-inch hybrid's Atom-powered sibling, the ATIV Smart PC, and walked away unimpressed. So does the Smart PC Pro's higher-end performance make for a more worthwhile product? Head past the break to find out.

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LOOK AND FEEL

The ATIV Smart PC Pro's design is almost identical to the ATIV Smart PC's; the only difference is the inclusion of vents to accommodate the Core i5 CPU, plus a different keyboard dock. It's clad in black plastic, with a subtle brushed texture on the back providing the only flourish. Accordingly, it doesn't feel very premium -- we thought the design looked too cheap for the $800 (off-contract) Smart PC, and the Smart PC Pro costs $400 more. At 1.89 pounds and 0.5 inch thick -- 3.5 pounds and 0.78 inch thick in clamshell mode -- this isn't the slimmest slate, but those dimensions do allow for a USB 3.0 port. Still, as we noted in our review of the ATIV Smart PC, an 11-inch tablet is on the large side, and it definitely feels more natural to use the PC Pro as an Ultrabook.

The black plastic design doesn't have a premium feel.

Connecting the tablet to the included dock is extremely easy and intuitive, as it should be: simply center the tablet over the keyboard and let the latch system work its magic. You won't have to feel around too much for the device to lock into place -- we had that issue with the HP Envy x2, and it definitely made switching from slate to laptop mode anything but seamless. When the slate is docked, its hardware Windows 8 button is mostly obscured, and the glossy finish surrounding the 11.6-inch display contrasts strongly with the matte plastic of the keyboard deck. It's not a sloppy look, per se, but it definitely feels a bit mismatched, like the keyboard dock could be from a third-party vendor.

Let's move on to the formal tour. The front of the tablet is relatively unadorned, save for the Samsung logo on top of the display, the aforementioned hardware Start button, a 2-megapixel front-facing camera and a long speaker grille along each edge. The volume rocker and a micro-HDMI port line the left edge, while the right edge is completely clean save for a slot for the included S Pen (more on that later). Lining the top are the 3.5mm headphone jack, the power button, a toggle for turning autorotate on and off, a full-size USB 3.0 port and a microSD card slot. The bottom edge sports the grooves for attaching the tablet to the keyboard dock, along with a power connector for charging the standalone slate. Flip the slate over, and you'll see the Samsung name etched in silver letters, along with four air vents and the 5MP rear shooter.

KEYBOARD AND TOUCHPAD

One of our biggest sticking points with hybrid devices is their tendency to sacrifice comfortable keyboards for thin designs. Luckily, the ATIV Smart PC Pro strikes a good balance between portability and ergonomics. The island-style keys on this layout offer plenty of travel, and they're well-spaced enough that you won't be hitting the wrong letter every two seconds. The chiclets themselves are also decently sized. We had no issues pounding out emails and made very few mistakes, even if our words-per-minute score on a typing test was a bit lower than usual. As we mentioned earlier, this keyboard isn't interchangeable with the ATIV Smart PC's, which may explain why we had a much worse experience with the other machine's dock.

The trackpad, located below the chiclet keyboard, is on the small side, and it provided quite the hit-or-miss experience throughout our hands-on time. Standard Windows 8 gestures like swiping from the right to reveal the Charms Bar work well, but pinch-to-zoom and other multi-finger movements occasionally didn't register on the first attempt.

S PEN

Samsung offers the S Pen as an alternative input option, and there's thankfully a small built-in slot for storing it. The Surface Pro doesn't include a slot for its pen, and while the device magnetically attaches to the power connector, it's still prone to coming loose in your bag. The Wacom-certified digitizer registers 1,024 degrees of pressure, which contributes to a great drawing and note-taking experience on the 11.6-inch display. This S Pen is shorter and stockier than the versions made for the Note I, II and 10.1, and it offers a very comfortable grip.

A number of pre-loaded programs tie in with the pen's functionality; essentially, the S Pen suite has been ported over to Windows 8. S Note includes several templates and handwriting recognition, while Mini S Note simply offers different pen options and a grid-style notepad. Fresh Paint, as usual with Win8 machines, is also pre-installed.

DISPLAY AND SOUND

The ATIV Smart PC Pro sports an 11.6-inch, 1080p display with a brightness of 400 nits. When we indulged in some West Wing episodes on Netflix, we found images to be extremely sharp, with accurate colors. There are a variety of display settings, including Movie and Sharp, that alter the panel's brightness and contrast, but we stuck with the default setting and had no issues. Viewing angles aren't exceptional -- this isn't an IPS panel -- and the display's glossy finish does kick back a lot of glare. This got in the way of us enjoying some YouTube clips at our desk, where this is strong overhead lighting, but we had no trouble viewing the screen when relaxing in our dimmer apartment.

The ATIV Smart PC Pro strikes a good balance between portability and ergonomics.

With just two smallish speakers, the ATIV Smart PC Pro can't really be expected to pump out high-caliber audio, and, well, it doesn't. Bass is negligible, and sound isn't especially crisp or rich. Still, volume at 100 percent is sufficiently loud, and we enjoyed listening to music and playing some casual games with headphones.

PERFORMANCE AND BATTERY LIFE

	PCMark7	3DMark06	3DMark11	ATTO (top disk speeds)
Samsung ATIV Smart PC Pro (1.7GHz Core i5-3317U, Intel HD 4000)	4,436	2,763	E1,037 / P567	535 MB/s (reads); 347 MB/s (writes)
Acer Iconia W700 (1.7GHz Core i5-3317U, Intel HD 4000)	4,580	3,548	E518 / P506	542 MB/s (reads); 524 MB/s (writes)
Lenovo IdeaPad Yoga 13 (1.7GHz Core i5-3317U, Intel HD 4000)	4,422	4,415	E917 / P572	278 MB/s (reads); 263 MB/s (writes)
Microsoft Surface with Windows Pro(1.7GHz Core i5-3317U, Intel HD 4000)	4,673	3,811	E1,019 / P552	526 MB/s (reads); 201 MB/s (writes)
Samsung Series 5 UltraTouch (1.7GHz Core i5-3317U, Intel HD 4000)	3,239	4,339	E1,062 / P573	115 MB/s (reads); 110 MB/s (writes)

The Smart PC Pro's Core i5-3317U processor turned in some respectable benchmark scores. In 3DMark 11, it slightly bested the Microsoft Surface Pro, and it came in right behind Redmond's slate in PCMark 7. When we ran the ATTO disk benchmark, the machine's 128GB SSD notched blazing max reads and writes of 535 and 347 MB/s, respectively.

Booting up takes just 10 seconds, which is in line with most Windows 8 systems we've tested. In everyday use, we didn't notice any glitches like lagging responsiveness or apps force-closing. After a half-hour of streaming Netflix, though, the Smart PC Pro felt quite warm -- not quite uncomfortably so, but enough to get our attention. For the record, we also noticed the fan kick up when we streamed full-screen video on the Surface Pro.

The Core i5 processor offers good everyday performance.

The ATIV Smart PC Pro packs Intel's integrated HD Graphics 4000, which typically allow for some light game playing and movie streaming but not much else. In our real-world gaming tests, the device turned in almost unplayable frame rates: we're talking a max of 15 fps in Mafia II. This system certainly isn't targeted at serious gamers, but it should be able to handle casual titles with more aplomb.

	Battery Life
Samsung ATIV Smart PC Pro	5:07
Acer Iconia W700	7:13
Samsung Series 9 (13-inch, 2012)	7:02
MacBook Air (13-inch, 2012)	6:34 (OS X) / 4:28 (Windows)
Dell XPS 14	6:18
Sony VAIO T13	5:39
Lenovo IdeaPad Yoga 13	5:32
Dell XPS 12	5:30
Samsung Series 5 UltraTouch	5:23
ASUS Zenbook Prime UX31A Touch	5:15
ASUS Zenbook Prime UX51Vz	5:15
Toshiba Satellite U845W	5:13
Toshiba Satellite U845	5:12
Acer Aspire Timeline Ultra M3	5:11
Toshiba Satellite U925t	5:10
Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Carbon	5:07
Acer Aspire Timeline Ultra M5	5:05
Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Carbon Touch	5:00
Sony VAIO Duo 11	4:47
Acer Aspire S5	4:35
ASUS Zenbook Prime UX21A	4:19
Acer Aspire S7 (13-inch)	4:18
Acer Aspire S3	4:11
Lenovo ThinkPad Twist	4:09
HP Spectre XT TouchSmart	4:00
Vizio Thin + Light (14-inch, 2012)	3:57
ASUS TAICHI 21	3:54
Microsoft Surface Pro	3:46

On our battery life test, which entails playing a locally stored video on loop with WiFi on and brightness set to 65 percent, the Smart PC Pro's four-cell lithium-polymer power pack held out for five hours and seven minutes. That's within Sammy's suggested runtime of four to seven hours, and while it's not stellar longevity, it's better than the Surface Pro's three hours and 46 minutes. That said, the Acer Iconia W700 with the same specs makes it into the seven-hour range.

CAMERAS

The ATIV Smart PC Pro features a 5MP rear camera that delivers decent shots for a tablet. When we snapped a few frames of a sunny park scene in lower Manhattan, autofocus worked well and we saw accurate colors. Straying into lower-lit areas, including a street with heavy shadows from surrounding buildings, resulted in more pixelation. Color balance was also thrown off in those situations: we got shots that were at times overly blue or way too yellow. Camera options include adjustable brightness and contrast along with manual and auto options for focus and exposure. We found that autofocus did a fine job, especially in well-lit areas, but switching to manual on a dimly lit subway platform resulted in a clearer image. The camera is also capable of shooting video in 720p. The built-in mic does a good job of capturing audio, but objects in our sample footage looked blurry.

Samsung ATIV Smart PC Pro sample shots

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A 2MP front-facing camera is also on board to accommodate any webinars that may be in your future. A few selfies shot in our brightly lit office displayed accurate colors but were quite pixelated.

SOFTWARE AND WARRANTY

Samsung loads the Smart PC Pro with no shortage of programs, including several proprietary apps. Chief among these are S Note and Mini S Note, which we discussed earlier. Other branded apps include AllShare, a QR code scanner and S Service for troubleshooting. Apart from the S Note apps, however, our favorite Samsung touch is the Quick Starter (also known as S Launcher) button on the desktop, which effectively brings back the Windows 7 Start Menu, complete with shortcuts to documents and the control panel, as well as a search bar. The desktop also features a settings menu, which provides easy access to audio, display and network options. Third-party software includes Adobe Reader, Evernote Touch, a 30-day trial of Merriam-Webster dictionary, Music Maker Jam, Netflix, Norton Internet Security and Skype.

The ATIV Smart PC Pro comes with a one-year parts and labor warranty.

CONFIGURATION OPTIONS AND THE COMPETITION

The ATIV Smart PC Pro 700T is only available in one configuration. For $1,200, you get a Core i5-3317U processor clocked at 1.7GHz with 4GB of RAM, a 128GB SSD, the bundled S Pen and the keyboard dock. If you don't need high-end performance, you could give the $750 ATIV Smart PC a look. The WiFi-only version includes an S Pen, but the screen resolution is lower, at 1,366 x 768. While the PC Pro runs an Ultrabook-grade chip, the cheaper Smart PC has a lower-power Atom CPU, so power users will want to look elsewhere.

One of the most obvious alternatives to the Smart PC Pro is the highest-profile Windows 8 tablet of them all: the Microsoft Surface Pro. A $999 configuration nets you 128GB of SSD storage and the same CPU as Samsung's device -- you'll have to shell out an additional $130 for the Type Cover. We liked the Surface Pro's build quality and strong performance, but poor battery life is a definite drawback. There's also the Acer Iconia W700, which boasts even better Core i5 performance and battery life for an aggressive starting price of $800. What's more, that price includes a keyboard and cradle. One downside, though, is the lack of pen support.

WRAP-UP

The ATIV Smart PC Pro is a well-executed Windows 8 hybrid, with capable Core i5 performance and a comfortable keyboard and S Pen to see you through both work and play. We'd be more enthusiastic if Samsung kept the price south of $1,000, especially considering that the Acer Iconia W700 offers superior battery life and a bundled keyboard for $800. The Smart PC Pro offers a more portable design and pen input, though, so you'll have to weigh your priorities.

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ASUS VivoTab Smart review: a good, inexpensive Windows 8 tablet

Today we're taking a look at the VivoTab Smart, a $499 tablet offered with an optional Bluetooth keyboard and a thin, magnetically attached cover that doubles as a stand. (Yes, with four different color options, it looks kind of like that Smart Cover.) But that's only part of the story: this is also shaping up to be a fantastic bargain for people who want a relatively inexpensive device running full Windows 8. Think about it: for $499 you get a device with 64GB of built-in storage (not 32, but 64), an IPS display, 9.7mm-thick design and an 8-megapixel rear camera capable of 1080p video. Not bad at all for a device at that price. So is it as nice in person as it is on paper? Mostly.We've been rather busy cranking out reviews lately, and we've got all the usual PC makers to thank. Similar to how we spent 2011 reviewing various Android tablets, we're now facing an onslaught of laptop / tablet hybrids, most of them running full Windows 8 and chugging along on low-powered Clover Trail processors promising epic battery life. So far, we've tested models from Acer, HP, Lenovo and Samsung. But our review cycle wouldn't be complete without ASUS -- after all, the company was selling its Transformer tablets before keyboard docks were even a thing.

ASUS VivoTab Smart review

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LOOK AND FEEL

The VivoTab Smart might be one of the most inexpensive Windows 8 tablets on the market, but it also happens to be one of the best-made. There's not much to it, really: the entire back shell is made of polycarbonate, with black and white being your two color choices. We got hands-on with the white model, and indeed, the review unit we took home was white too. So, we can't speak for the black model, but the white one, at least, does an excellent job of masking fingerprints. It's scratchproof too, so far as we can tell, which should apply to the black version as well, if that's the one you decide to get.

The VivoTab Smart is simple, solidly built and doesn't draw too much attention to itself.

And did we mention it's light? The tablet measures 9.7mm (0.38 inch) thick and weighs in at 580 grams (1.28 pounds), putting it on par with other lightweights like the Acer Iconia W510(1.27 pounds) and the Lenovo ThinkPad Tablet 2 (1.3 pounds). Holding it is generally comfortable, though the rounded-off edges aren't quite as round as they look: the sharp edges can dig into your palms if you're not careful.

All in all, it's perhaps not as premium-looking as ASUS' metal-clad Infinity tablet, but that doesn't mean we like it any less. The VivoTab Smart is simple, solidly built and doesn't draw too much attention to itself. In fact, it'd be nice to see ASUS extend this aesthetic to other devices; spun-metal lids are nice and all, but we enjoy what the company is doing here, and besides, a little shake-up in design could keep things interesting.

Taking a tour around the device, the VivoTab Smart has an NFC sensor built into the back. You can't miss it: there's even a sticker marking the spot. Though that's not exactly a rare feature, it's definitely something you're more likely to find on higher-end tablets than on budget models.

We were also a little surprised not to find a full-size USB port. Granted, not all low-powered Windows 8 tablets have this on the hardware itself, but if they don't, there's usually at least a USB port included on the keyboard dock. The VivoTab Smart is one of the only products where you won't find a full USB port on either the tablet or the keyboard. What you do get is a micro-USB socket, which you'll also use for recharging. Other than that, the rest of the list shouldn't surprise you: a 3.5mm headphone jack, a microSD slot, a volume rocker and a power / lock button. Pretty standard stuff.

DISPLAY AND SOUND

Like every other Atom-based tablet, the VivoTab Smart's 10.1-inch screen has a resolution of 1,366 x 768. It's also an IPS panel -- one rated for 350 nits of brightness, at that. In most situations (read: indoors) the viewing angles are quite wide: you can watch a movie with the tablet lying face-up on a table if you wanted to. That's particularly good news since the optional TranSleeve folds up in such a way that you can't adjust the viewing angle, but we'll talk about that in much more detail later. For now, suffice to say that if you're using the tablet on your couch, its display specifications should be more than adequate for streaming a little Netflix.

Outdoors, though, that IPS panel and 350 nits of brightness aren't enough to make the screen easily viewable. Even with the brightness cranked all the way up, we struggled to frame shots in the Camera app, though a little shade and some squinting should help you get by. Hardly a dealbreaker, but it would be nice if later generations of this tablet sported the same 600-nit Super IPS+ screens used on ASUS' highest-end Transformer tablets (and even the VivoTab RT!).

Audio quality on the VivoTab Smart feels like a bit of an afterthought, mostly because the single speaker doesn't get very loud, and is located on the backside where the sound is at risk of getting muffled. Indeed, you'll want to keep the tablet parked in the TranSleeve dock if you intend to listen for long periods; drop the tablet flat onto a couch or a bed and the sound instantly loses some of its bite. All that said, the quality itself isn't half-bad. We started streaming Grooveshark after listening in on a laptop, and didn't really notice a drop-off in quality. If anything, it was the volume that took a hit.

KEYBOARD

When the VivoTab Smart was first announced, there were some tech bloggers (even some Engadget editors) who suggested it came with a Surface-style keyboard. That's not strictly true. Yes, that thin TranSleeve cover snaps on in a manner similar to a Type Cover, but there are no keys attached there. What you get instead is a standalone Bluetooth keyboard -- a thin little thing that you can easily shove into a carry-on. As you might expect, a slim profile means the buttons themselves are pretty flat. In fact, though, they're surprisingly easy to type on. Sure, it's not as comfy as the ThinkPad Tablet 2's keyboard (nothing is), but we had few issues using it to type out a chunk of this very review.

When the VivoTab Smart was first announced, there were some tech bloggers who suggested it came with a Surface-style keyboard. That's not strictly true.

Above all, we have to commend ASUS for maintaining a respectable amount of space between the keys. Even with that island-style arrangement, there aren't many undersized buttons here -- the Enter, Shift, Backspace and Caps Lock keys are all full-sized, and easy to hit without looking away from the screen. All told, it's a much less cramped -- less netbook-ish -- experience than what you'll get on the Iconia W510. To be clear, the buttons here are still closer together than on your typical laptop keyboard, and the flimsy panel flexes under the stress of more furious typing. Our point is: of all the hybrid keyboards we've seen, this is one of the better ones.

The trackpad is also superior to what you'll find on most other tablet keyboards. Yes, it's as small as you'd expect it to be, which means it's usually a better idea to left click with a tap instead of trying to squeeze your thumb and index finger on there. But, it handles tracking pretty well, and even supports Windows 8 gestures, which isn't true of every keyboard we've tested. Certainly, the Acer Iconia W510 can't do that.

Finally, one last thing we like about the keyboard: you never have to worry about swapping in fresh batteries. Instead, it makes use of a rechargeable battery, which you can top off using the on-board micro-USB socket. That's the same charging standard that the tablet uses, so in theory you could travel with just one cable and switch off as needed. It should go without saying, too, that you can use it while charging. The only downside there is that because the charging port sits on the top edge of the keyboard, the cord curls up against the propped up tablet, partially obstructing your view of the screen.

TRANSLEEVE

What's nice is that once you fold the cover up, magnets keep the makeshift dock in place so that it doesn't flop around. Mostly, anyway.

It doesn't seem like a coincidence that the VivoTab Smart's thin cover is similar in design to that other Smart Cover, the one designed for the iPad. Like Apple's offering, the TranSleeve attaches not through a physical latch, but through magnets, which hook onto the bottom edge of the tablet. Here, too, the cover is lined with a soft material on the side that's meant to lie against the screen; the outer shell is a bit tougher, a bit more rubbery. All told, it stands up quite well to scratches and fingerprints and generally works as promised, at least as far as protecting the tablet goes. Just make sure you don't lose it: it costs $50 in addition to the tablet, which seems steep for what it is. (Psst: try and see if you can find this for $39 or so before ponying up the full $50.)

Now for the best part: in addition to protecting the screen, the cover can be folded up so that it doubles as a stand. We'll admit we fumbled a bit with this the first time we saw the VivoTab in person back at CES. But even if you struggle the first time, you're not likely to make the same mistake again. You see, the cover has indentations in the spots where you're supposed to fold it; not unlike a paper map with crease lines. Unlike a map, though, you couldn't fold this thing the wrong way even if you tried. There's only one correct way to transform this into a dock, so whatever you do, all roads eventually lead to right.

What's nice is that once you fold the cover up, magnets keep the makeshift dock in place so that it doesn't flop around. Mostly, anyway. We noticed in our testing that one side of the dock often held more tightly than the other. And while the cover itself is easy enough to set up, it can be challenging to make the tablet stay put. Even after living with the VivoTab for more than a week, it still routinely takes us two or three tries to make the tablet sit in its dock without toppling the whole thing over. It would seem that has less to do with the sturdiness of the dock, and more to do with the TranSleeve's tenuous magnetic connection (while we're on the subject, you definitely want to avoid picking the tablet up by its cover). In any case, once you get it right, though, it's easy to move the thing around on your desk without having to set it up all over again.

PERFORMANCE AND BATTERY LIFE

	PCMark7	3DMark06	ATTO (top disk speeds)
ASUS VivoTab Smart (1.8GHz Intel Atom Z2760, Intel HD)	1,400	372	83 MB/s (reads); 35 MB/s (writes)
Lenovo ThinkPad Tablet 2 (1.8GHz Intel Atom Z2760, Intel HD)	1,423	460	83 MB/s (reads); 35 MB/s (writes)
HP Envy x2 (1.8GHz Intel Atom Z2760, Intel HD)	1,425	N/A	83 MB/s (reads); 34 MB/s (writes)
Samsung ATIV Smart PC (1.8GHz Intel Atom Z2760, Intel HD)	N/A	374	82 MB/s (reads); 36 MB/s (writes)
Acer Iconia W510 (1.8GHz Intel Atom Z2760, Intel HD)	1,297	N/A	81 MB/s (reads); 28 MB/s (writes)

You might be used to seeing a little variation in specs when we review smartphones, but low-powered Windows tablets are a different beast. Every (and we mean every) model we've tested has the same Intel Atom Z2760 processor, clocked at 1.8GHz, along with Intel HD graphics and 2GB of RAM. So, what'dya know, the VivoTab Smart performs identically to its peers in synthetic benchmarks, with max read speeds of 83 MB/s, peak write rates of 35 MB/s and a boot-up time of 15 seconds or so.

So what does this mean in terms of everyday use? Well, if our anecdotes are of any use, we had no problem composing this review in Word while intermittently flipping back into other applications like IE10, Netflix and the native Photos application. As we've said before, Intel's Clover Trail platform is more than adequate for doing things tablets are supposed to be good at, things like playing back movies, displaying photos, loading webpages. We had no problem opening apps, or switching between them when we had a bunch open at once. Heat management was fine too -- the backside got a little warm after we spent some time streaming music through Grooveshark, but the device never got hot or uncomfortable to hold.

We did notice, though, that the screen's palm rejection couldn't always keep up with us. Case in point: we ended up with a handful of junk camera shots because the tablet couldn't tell we were just holding the tablet, and not actively tapping the screen to release the shutter. That's not a quirk we've noticed on every Windows 8 tablet we've tested.

Windows 8 systems	Battery life
ASUS VivoTab Smart	7:30
ThinkPad Tablet 2	10:27
Acer Iconia W510	8:19 (tablet only) / 14:17 (with the dock)
HP Envy x2	7:53 (tablet only) / 12:30 (with the dock)
Acer Iconia W700	7:13
Samsung ATIV Smart PC (AT&T)	7:04 (WiFi only) / 6:43 (LTE)

Under the best conditions, the tablet's 25Wh battery is rated for 8.5 hours of runtime. With light use, you may well approach the nine-hour mark but obviously, we got a little less juice when we really put it through its paces. In our grueling rundown test, which consists of looping a movie with WiFi on and the display brightness fixed at a constant level, we got exactly seven and a half hours of battery life.

That's not bad for a tablet with an x86 processor inside, but we've also seen Atom-based slates that last longer than this. The HP Envy x2 lasts nearly eight hours for instance, while the Acer Iconia W510 is capable of nearly eight and a half. And let's not forget the Lenovo ThinkPad Tablet 2, which managed a whopping 10 and a half hours on the same test. What's more, many of these tablets (the x2, the W510) can be used with a keyboard dock that has a second battery built in. The VivoTab Smart doesn't have that, so it was especially important that the tablet itself offer best-in-class runtime. Best in class it's not, but for some, 7.5 hours might still be enough.

CAMERA

We think we can all agree that tablet cameras are crude compared to what even a mid-range smartphone can offer, with slower shot-to-shot speeds and poor macro performance. Even so, we had high hopes for the 8-megapixel shooter on the VivoTab: after all, ASUS' Android tablets already cream the competition as far as image quality is concerned. Heck, ASUS even managed to do a fine job on the VivoTab RT, which is notable since the native camera application in Windows 8 / Windows RT doesn't offer any of the amenities you'd normally expect (tap-to-focus, HDR, scene modes, etc.). So we figured if any device could rise above all the other Windows 8 tablets we've been testing, it would be this.

ASUS VivoTab Smart sample shots

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And it generally does. Even in low-light conditions (a dimly lit lobby, for instance) the main 8MP camera focuses quickly and accurately. (Take a look at that shot of the lamp with the see-through stand; we half-expected the tablet to home in on the background instead.) We'd also add that most of our photos were free of blur, which is a bit surprising, just because we always felt keenly aware of a little shutter lag. That is, it would take an extra second before we were totally, without-a-doubt sure that the photo had processed and that we could move on. Oftentimes, we moved too quickly after snapping a pic, and were sure the shot had been ruined; it never was. Even a shot I took of my shadow while walking turned out okay. Basically, then, the camera might feel a bit slow, but if these samples are any indication, it's not actually that hard to end up with a pristine shot.

As for the photos themselves, most colors look pleasant, though there was an instance or two when whatever it is we were trying to shoot came out much darker than in real life (take a look at that surreal navy sky in our sample gallery -- that was a daytime shot!). Our 1080p video, too, looked crisp, though it wasn't totally free of ghosting once we brought some fast-moving subjects into the mix.

SOFTWARE AND WARRANTY

ASUS actually didn't go overboard with the bloatware here: you've got a few added apps like Netflix, Skype and Kindle, and then a bunch of proprietary programs created by ASUS itself. These include ASUS Camera, MyLibrary, MyDictionary, ASUS WebStorage and LiveUpdate (they're all exactly what you think they are). There's also the same SuperNote application you'll find on the TAICHI 21 Ultrabook, which is strange because this particular device doesn't support pen input for jotting down notes. Finally, ASUS bundled a handful of Xbox Live games, including Pinball FX2, Microsoft Mahjong, Taptiles and Microsoft Solitaire Collection. See, that wasn't so bad, was it?

No surprises here, but the VivoTab Smart comes with one year of warranty coverage. Pretty standard for consumer electronics, unless, perhaps, you just bought a high-end laptop.

CONFIGURATION OPTIONS

Normally, when we talk about different tablet configurations, we're giving you the choice between 32 gigs and 64; WiFi-only or 4G. Here, the only decision you have to make is whether you prefer black or white. The tablet will be available in those two colors; either way, it costs $499 with 64GB of built-in storage. (ASUS is expecting the street pricing to hit $479 in some places, for what that's worth.) If you want the whole enchilada -- both the sleeve and the keyboard -- they're being sold as a bundle for $130. If all you want is the cover, though, you can purchase that by itself for $50.

THE COMPETITION

We'll just spoil the punch line right here: the ASUS VivoTab Smart offers fantastic value for the money. It might not be our favorite in every respect, but it's a compelling product in its own right, and it's even greater when you consider the price. Let us repeat: this starts at $499 with 64GB of storage. For the same price, the Acer Iconia W510 has just 32 gigs -- and the typing experience with the optional dock isn't as good, either.

And as much as we love the Lenovo ThinkPad Tablet 2, it ain't cheap: it starts at $579 for 32GB of storage, and that's without pen support. All told, it offers the best battery life in its class, along with the best keyboard (that sells separately for $120, so you at least make up $10 on the price gap, what with this keyboard being cheaper than ASUS'). If pen support is important to you, we suggest you bite the bullet and pay the premium for a model that has a dual digitizer (don't bother with the HP Envy x2 -- that has pen support, but the battery life and typing aren't as good as on Lenovo's tablet). The Samsung ATIV Smart PC has pen support too, but only if you choose the WiFi-only model (the LTE version on AT&T only accepts finger input). Even then, we weren't fans of the Smart PC's keyboard dock, and we experienced glitches on multiple review units, too.

If pen input isn't a necessity, though, you've got a choice to make: you could decide to pay extra for the ThinkPad Tablet 2 on the grounds that it's the absolute best tablet in this class. Or you could pay less for the VivoTab Smart and get more built-in storage, along with a perfectly serviceable typing experience and good-enough battery life. We can't say we'd blame you if you chose the latter.

WRAP-UP

In absolute terms, the VivoTab Smart isn't our favorite low-powered hybrid (that would be the Lenovo ThinkPad Tablet 2). But it's close. Hands down, this offers more bang for your buck than anything else you might be considering, what with its attractive design, relatively low price point and generous storage. We're also pretty keen on the optional Bluetooth keyboard, as its thin shape makes it easy to pack in a bag, and the buttons are well-spaced enough for touch typists.

Folks who want pen input are better off splurging on the ThinkPad, as that's one feature you're not going to get here. We'd also hope that ASUS squeezes out a little more runtime on the next-gen model, especially since the keyboard doesn't have a built-in battery of its own. In fact, if spectacular endurance is what you're looking for, you might want to take a look at the Acer Iconia W510, but even then we'll warn you that it has a cramped keyboard and less built-in storage for the same price. These caveats aside, the VivoTab Smart is a great buy, and it's your best bet if you want the full Windows 8 experience on the cheap.

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Chromebook Pixel review: another impractical marvel from Google

We've had a bit of a love / hate relationship with the Google Chromebook since the first one crossed our laps back in 2011 -- the Samsung Series 5. We loved the concept, but hated the very limited functionality provided by your $500 investment. Since then, the series of barebones laptops has progressed, and so too has the barebones OS they run, leading to our current favorite of the bunch: the2012 Samsung Chromebook.

In that laptop's review, we concluded that "$249 seems like an appropriate price for this sort of device." So, then, imagine our chagrin when Google unveiled a verysimilar sort of device, but one that comes with a premium. A very hefty premium. It's a high-end, halo sort of product with incredible build quality, an incredible screen and an incredible price. Is a Chromebook that starts at more than five times the cost of its strongest competition even worth considering? Let's do the math.

Chromebook Pixel review

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HARDWARE

If you'll forgive us just one cliche, Google has gone from zero to hero with the Pixel. It's truly something to behold.

Wow. This is certainly a departure. If you're going to charge an obscene premium for a laptop with an incredibly limited OS, you'd better produce something that is incredibly well-made. In that regard, the Chromebook Pixel is a complete success. If you'll forgive us just one cliche, Google has gone from zero to hero with the Pixel. It's truly something to behold.

First impressions are of a laptop with surprising density. Apple's MacBook Pros, with their precisely hewn aluminum exteriors, have long been the benchmark against which other laptops were held in when it comes to a sense of solidity. In its first attempt, Google has managed to match that feeling of innate integrity with the Pixel, and in some ways go beyond it.

It's all machined aluminum, anodized in a dark, almost gunmetal color that successfully bridges the gap between sophisticated and cool. Everything is very angular; vertical sides terminate abruptly at the horizontal plane that makes up the typing surface. In fact, the only thing not bridged by right angles is the cylindrical hinge running nearly the entire width of the machine, but thankfully the edges of the entire laptop are just rounded enough to keep it from digging into your wrists uncomfortably. Battle scars received while typing have become a bit of an annoyance in many modern, aluminum-bodied machines.

The torsional rigidity is impressive for a machine that is as thin, and as light, as this.

A good, quick test of a laptop's rigidity is to open it up, grab it on both sides of the keyboard and try to twist. On a flimsy product you'll hear some uncomfortable-sounding noises coming from beneath the keys and, if you're really unlucky, you might send a letter or two flying. Not so with the Pixel. The torsional rigidity is impressive for a machine that is as thin, and as light, as this.

To put some numbers on that, the laptop measures 16mm (0.62 inch) in thickness and 3.35 pounds (1.52kg) in heft. That compares very favorably to the 13-inch MacBook Pro with Retina, the one that we would most closely pit this against, which is 19mm (0.75 inch) thick and weighs 3.57 pounds (1.62kg). So it's thinner and lighter, and with a very similar 12.85-inch, 2,560 x 1,700 display (which we'll thoroughly discuss momentarily), but with lower performance. It is, however, on par with the 13-inch MacBook Air when it comes to speed, and is only slightly thicker (0.06 inch) and heavier (0.39 pound).

A dual-core Intel 1.8GHz Core i5 chip is the one and only processor on offer here, paired with 4GB of DDR3 RAM and generally providing more than enough oomph to drive the very minimalist operating system, which is installed on either a 32 or 64GB SSD. The larger option is only available if you opt for the $1,449 laptop, which also adds Verizon-compatible LTE to the mix (along with GPS). Either model sports dual-band MIMO 802.11a/b/g/n along with Bluetooth 3.0. For those who like to keep it physical, there are two USB ports on the left (sadly just 2.0) situated next to a Mini DisplayPort and a 3.5mm headphone jack. On the right is an SD card reader, along with the SIM card tray -- assuming you paid for the WWAN upgrade.

For those who aren't interested in making use of that headphone jack, there are what Google calls "powerful speakers" built in here -- though they're hard to spot. They're integrated somewhere below the keyboard and, believe it or not, that "powerful" description is quite apt. You won't be giving your neighbors anything to complain about if these are cranked to maximum volume, nor do you need to concern yourself about cracking the masonry thanks to the bass, but the output here is respectably loud and good-sounding. These speakers are at least on par with your average mid-range Bluetooth unit, meaning you'll have one less thing to pack.

Google has integrated an array of microphones throughout the machine to help with active noise cancellation.

For the receiving end, Google has also integrated an array of microphones throughout the machine to help with active noise cancellation, including one positioned to detect (and eliminate) keyboard clatter when you're typing whilst in a Hangout or the like. Without the ability to selectively disable this microphone we can't be sure how great an effect it had, but we can say that plenty of QWERTY-based noise got through in our test calls. Google, though, has indicated it will continue to refine the behavior of that mic, so there's hope for improvement.

Integrated in the bezel is a webcam situated in the center-top of the bezel, next to a small status LED to let you know when Big Brother is watching. One final piece is the power plug, a largish wall wart that takes a cue from Apple by including a removable section. Here you can slot in either a flip-out, two-prong end or a longer, three-prong cable. The inspiration is obvious, but we're not complaining. This lets you have both a short, easy-to-pack version when you're traveling light and a longer but rather more clunky version for those times when you need a bit more reach.

We do, however, wish Google had also taken inspiration from Apple and Microsoft and included some sort of magnetic power connector. We found that the small plug, with its traditional, single-prong-style connector, had a tendency to slowly work its way out of the laptop when the cable had any tension from the left. Thankfully, a bright glowing light on the connector lets you know when the laptop is charged or charging -- and thus when the thing has slid out far enough to lose connection.

KEYBOARD AND TRACKPAD

Typing on this machine is a joy.

Island-style keyboards continue to be all the rage and, for the most part, Google makes no exception for its latest Chromebook. The primary keys float in a slightly recessed area, comfortably sized and comfortably spaced. Each has great feel and great resistance. Typing on this machine is a joy.

However, the row of function keys that rest atop the number keys, discrete buttons for adjusting volume and brightness and the like, is a different story. These are flush with each other and far stiffer than the normal keys. This isn't much of a bother, since you won't be using them nearly as frequently as the rest, but butting them right up against each other makes them difficult to find by touch. Thankfully, all are backlit, so locating them in the dark is no problem.

We also wished for dedicated Home and End keys, after finding the Chrome OS alternative of Ctrl + Alt + Up or Down to be a bit of a handful. Regardless, you'll quickly learn to type around these relatively minor shortcomings and enjoy the great keyboard. Thankfully, the trackpad is equally good.

It's a glass unit, darkly colored and positioned in the center of the wrist rest, which makes it slightly shifted to the right compared to the space bar. It has a matte coating but still feels quite smooth, resulting in a very nice swiping sensation indeed. Of course, with a 12.85-inch touch-sensitive display, you may find yourself using it less frequently than you think.

DISPLAY

Again, up top is a 12.85-inch, 2,560 x 1,700 IPS LCD panel that we can't look at without thinking of the very similar 13.3-inch, 2,560 x 1,600 panel on the 13-inch MacBook Pro with Retina display. It's smaller but packs an extra 100 pixels vertically, giving it a slightly higher pixel density of 239 ppi. Naturally, that's far from the full story here, and those who are really into proportions will know that resolution equates to a 3:2 aspect ratio. In other words: it's rather tall.

A 16:9 aspect ratio (or something close to it) is the prevailing trend among non-Macs these days, but even when acknowledging that, this one feels particularly tall. Still, we didn't exactly mind it. As mentioned above, the keyboard is plenty roomy, and given that Chrome OS isn't particularly friendly to multi-window multi-tasking (manually justifying windows is a real chore) we were rarely left wanting a wider display.

That was, really, our only minor reservation about this panel. Otherwise we have nothing but love for the thing. It is, of course, a ridiculously high resolution, which makes pixels basically disappear. Indeed the simple, clean and stark Chrome OS looks great when rendered with such clarity, but we couldn't help but lament the occasional excess of white space that's becoming common across many of Google's web apps. For a display with a pixel density this high, it feels somewhat under-utilized.

That is until, of course, you boot up the 4K sample footage Google thoughtfully pre-installed on the machine, which looks properly mind-blowing -- even if it is only being rendered at slightly higher than half its native resolution.

This is a glossy panel, tucked behind a pane of Gorilla Glass, so glare may be a bit of a problem if your work setup has bright lights positioned behind you. Still, reflectivity seemed to be on par with the latest, optically bonded panels -- that is to say, far from the "mirror, mirror" effect provided by many of the earlier gloss displays. Contrast is quite good from all angles, though the color accuracy drops off if you look at it from too high or low, with everything quickly getting a bit pink. Slightly pretty.

And, finally, this is indeed a touch-enabled panel, something we didn't know we needed on a Chromebook -- and frankly we're still not sure we do. We'll discuss that in more detail in the software section below.

PERFORMANCE AND BATTERY LIFE

It's no barnstormer, but the Chromebook Pixel runs a browser with aplomb.

Again we're dealing with a 1.8GHz Intel Core i5 processor here, a bit on the mild side compared to most higher-end laptops. Still, it proves to be more than enough to run the lightweight Chrome OS. That's paired with 4GB of DDR3 RAM and, predictably, integrated graphics courtesy of Intel's HD 4000 chipset.

It's no barnstormer, but it runs a browser with aplomb. And, really, that's about all it's likely to do with the limited selection of apps available for Chrome. Everything we threw at it ran fine, though after extended sessions we did notice heavier websites started to get a little bit stuttery. It's nothing that rebooting the browser didn't fix.

High-def videos play smoothly, though when pushing the pixels (or running games), the machine does get fairly warm. The fan vents are below the hinge; a thin sliver of an opening that thankfully doesn't seem to dump a lot of hot air into your lap. It's noticeable, but it isn't particularly loud or annoying and again, since you likely won't be doing too much taxing stuff here, don't expect to hear it all that often.

When it comes to battery life, Google estimates the 59Wh battery will provide "up to" five hours of continuous use. And, indeed it may. On our standard battery run-down test, which loops a video at fixed brightness, the machine clocked in at four hours and eight minutes for the WiFi model. The LTE model, with its LTE antenna on, came in about 30 minutes shorter at 3:34.

These numbers are rather poor, unfortunately. The 13-inch MacBook Pro with Retina clocks in at more than six hours on the same battery test, while both the 13-inch MacBook Air and the latest Samsung Chromebook score about 30 minutes more even than that.

CONNECTIVITY

As mentioned above, both Chromebook Pixel models include dual-band MIMO 802.11a/b/g/n, which means you'll be sucking down bits at an optimal rate more or less regardless of what sort of router you're connecting to.

Stepping up to the $1,449 LTE version of course means you can walk away from those routers. That machine includes a Qualcomm MDM9600 chipset to receive on LTE band 13, intended for Verizon in the US only. So, then, we tested it in the US in two different LTE markets on both coasts. Speeds varied widely from location to location, but in general matched or exceeded the speeds we saw from other Verizon-compatible mobile devices.

In terms of more practical connectivity concerns, it's worth noting that the modem takes about 30 seconds to reconnect after the laptop resumes from its suspended state, which is a bit annoying but certainly no slower than your average LTE USB modem. Also, Verizon is kindly including 100MB of data each month for free for your first two years of Chromebook ownership, but after that you'll be stuck paying up for one of Verizon's tiered data plans.

Oh, and the Pixel lacks an Ethernet port, and does not include an adapter. We tried a few standard USB Ethernet adapters and all worked without a hitch.

SOFTWARE

As we concluded in our review of the most recent version, Chrome OS has come a long, long way since that first Chromebook crossed our laps. What we have now is a far more sophisticated and comprehensive experience than we did a few years ago, but it's still incredibly limited compared to the broader world of desktop operating systems.

Simple tasks like file management can be a real chore if you're doing anything other than moving a file into a subdirectory. And while the OS itself has a refreshingly simple visual style, it's also very stark and, frankly, a somewhat wasteful design. Not to keep harping on the file explorer, but each file in a list is separated by a sea of white big enough to basically double the effective height. When you're skimming through a big 'ol list of files in a directory, it takes a lot more scrolling than should be necessary given the resolution of this display.

At least Google made the scrolling easy. As mentioned above, the trackpad is quite good and very responsive. Multi-finger gestures are responsive, so good that you might not be inclined to reach up to that touch panel. But, you should, because the experience is generally good as well, though you'll rarely be doing anything more than scrolling webpages or documents. There's not really a whole lot more Chrome OS can do, but even in games like Cut the Rope and Angry Birds, touch was just as good as... well, as it is on an Android tablet.

It's disappointing that Google didn't introduce any gestures to the OS to match its newfound touch compatibilities.

That said, it's disappointing that Google didn't introduce any gestures to the OS to match its newfound touch compatibilities. In fact, you can't even pinch-zoom in the image viewer or even on most pages in the Chrome browser -- only in specifically pinch-friendly websites (like Google Maps). There are no three- or four-finger gestures for switching apps, and swiping in from the bezels does nothing. Except, that is, for a swipe up from the bottom, which alternatively shows or hides the launcher bar.

Again, we won't restate the entire review of Chrome OS, but it's important to note at least briefly that functionality here is still very minimal. There are built-in apps for viewing photos and videos, for browsing files, for taking photos from the integrated webcam, an app for taking notes and... the web browser. That, of course, is the most important part. Suffice to say, if you can't do all your work from inside of an instance of Chrome on some other platform (like Windows or Mac), you probably won't be able to do it here, either.

Still, we did want to point out one important part of the software, and that is it's easily replaceable. The bootloader is not locked and we've already seen the thing rocking Linux -- and looking quite good while doing it. So, if you happen to be looking for an incredibly well-designed laptop to run that most noble of open-source operating systems, this could be it.

PRICING AND COMPETITION

We can keep the pricing bit short, because there are only two options here. For $1,299, you can get yourself the WiFi model with 32GB of local SSD storage. For $1,449 you step up to the LTE model, which throws in 64GB of storage in a bid to sweeten the deal.

Should that still be too bitter for your tastes -- and we're thinking there's a very good chance it will be -- Google has included plenty of other incentives that are at least mildly saccharine. First among these are 12 free Gogo passes for in-flight connectivity, each one worth about $14 for a total of $168. The other, rather more compelling add-in, is 1TB of online storage free for three years.

That, believe it or not, is worth a whopping $1,800, which of course means that if you were looking to rent that much data for a period of three years you'd actually be better off just buying a Pixel. It would, effectively, just be a nice, free toy.

For everyone not interested in storing copious quantities of stuff in the cloud, both price points are rather dear to put it mildly. As ever, it's difficult to compare a Chromebook to other laptops on the market thanks to the limited functionality provided by the OS. So, we'll focus primarily on hardware comparisons, and as we mentioned above, we find ourselves inclined to compare this to the 13-inch MacBook Pro with Retina display.

Chromebook Pixel vs. 13-inch MacBook Pro with Retina

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That machine, with a full operating system and a faster, 2.5GHz Core i5 processor, starts at $1,499. That, though, has a 128GB of SSD, twice that of the biggest Pixel. We could also see many comparing this against the 13-inch MacBook Air, which offers the same CPU, integrated graphics and 4GB of RAM for the same $1,199. It's lacking the high-res screen but it perhaps makes up for that with, again, 128GB of storage.

On the PC side of things, that resolution is unmatched, but the other specs certainly aren't. We recently had reasonably good feelings about Samsung's Series 5 UltraTouch, a 13-incher packing a similar Core i5 CPU, 4GB of RAM, but again a 500GB platter-based hard disk. An SSD isn't an option, but the $849 price is certainly more palatable.

Again, none of these is an apples-to-apples comparison, as the Pixel offers a touchscreen, something all the Macs lack, and offers LTE connectivity, thus making it even more of a rare bird on the laptop scene. Whether these unique attributes, plus the various goodies Google is throwing in, turn this into a compelling proposition compared to the competition is something you'll have to decide for yourself.

WRAP-UP

Again we reach the dreaded wrap-up section on a Chromebook review. It's simply never easy to classify these machines. In some regards, the Pixel is even harder to pigeonhole than its predecessors. The level of quality and attention to detail here is quite remarkable for what is, we'll again remind you, Google's first swing at building a laptop. Boot-ups are quick, performance is generally good and, of course, there's that display.

But, with one single statistic, Google has made the Chromebook Pixel even easier to write off than any of its quirky predecessors: price. For an MSRP that is on par with some of the best laptops in the world, the Pixel doesn't provide anywhere near as much potential when it comes to functionality. It embraces a world where everyone is always connected and everything is done on the web -- a world that few people currently live in.

The Chromebook Pixel, then, is a lot like the Nexus Q: it's a piece of gorgeous hardware providing limited functionality at a price that eclipses the (often more powerful) competition. It's a lovely thing that everyone should try to experience but, sadly, few should seriously consider buying.

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