[Q] Windows 8 on Samsung XE700t1a

I have decided to buy a Samsung XE700t1a for my birthday to replace my aging original Acer Aspire One netbook. I know the Samsung comes with Windows 7 and it is possible to install the developers test version of Windows 8 on it. I do however have a few questions and as there is no forum section for the Samsung XE700t1a, ill have to ask here!

1) As Windows 8 hasnt officially been released yet, If I install it, will I be missing drivers/functions? Is it better to use Win7 until Win8 is released?

2) Does anyone know if its possible to replaces the 64GB/128GB SSD harddrive in the Samsung XE700t1a with something bigger in the future?

3) Is it possible to buy HDMI --> VGA adaptors? (the samsung comes with HDMI, but my university uses VGA cables for projectors) and will Win8 support this at the moment or will I have to wait?

4) Have I been a complete n00b and is there a better tablet out there? (was going for the acer Iconia, but the hardware in the Samsung is just better! I want it to last a good few years like my netbook has)

I cant wait to use Win8 as i have been using WP7 on my HD2 since it first came out! Cant wait to have a tablet that looks like my phone!

twisticles:

Thanks for you quick reply!

1) I was using W7 and WP7 well before they were released, im happy to put up with bugs and glitches

2) Thanks for the link, Im hoping to buy the 64GB version and put something alot bigger in it

3) Google doesnt work in China, so thanks for checking for me. I dont need to watch movies, just show my powerpoints

4) Thanks for the heads up with the Transformer Prime Infinity, It looks really nice! I think I prefer the idea of a whole PC inside a slate and as the Samsung is upgradable it should last for another 5 years like my netbook did!

jasonkruys: I saw in your signature that you have the Samsung that im looking at. How have you found it? W8 problems? Office 2010 problems? Tested any games?

Many Thanks guys

The netbook i use while teaching at university, ive had since 2009 (it was 2nd hand then) I use it for Access and Excel with all the students info and scores. etc. I use powerpoint for my presentations, Media player for showing the students videos etc. Im running win7 ultimate on it with 1.5GB RAM. I love my netbook and the wife and I take it on holidays for net surfing and saving/uploading pictures from her camera, but Its getting a bit old, the hinges are getting little loose, the charging jack when plugged in, doesnt always make a charging contact.

So Im going to retire the little beast and give it to my wife as she will use it less. As I already have 8 computers scattered around the house, I would like something powerful that will last as long/longer than the netbook. I need it to do all of the above and more! I also would like it for surfing and playing at home and as a bit of a show-off-y gaget thats better than an iPad, as most people here in China only buy Apple products and Im very anti-Apple!

I liked the look of the samsung, the reviews were good, the specs will seem to last for a few years and win8 can be used as a "normal" OS for excel editting, but also as a tablet OS for showing off and "gaget-ing!"

Ive been using WP7 on my HTC HD2 for over a year now and have fallen completely in love with the idea for that on a tablet! I have also fallen in love with a tablet that can be upgraded to 8GB RAM, thats half of the RAM I got in my gaming rig here!

My birthday is still 2 months away, so wont be using the wifes credit card just yet!

So I did buy the Samsung XE700T1A. It arrived last week with Windows 7 which I quickly got rid of for Windows 8 CP x64 Version. Here is my thoughts:

1) Installing on USB via the Windows 7 USB-DVD tool was simple and quick. Windows 8 asked for my hotmail account and by the time the metro UI loaded, everything had been sync, like my WP7 phone

2) Windows 8 took me a day to get used to. I had to keep googling things, but a week later, I feel like an ol' pro. Its so easy and simple to use. I actually prefer it to Windows 7, but as none of my other machines have touch capability, I wont be swapping them over just yet!

3) All programs/games I used on Win7 went on to Win8 with no problems and run fine with two exceptions so far: Firefox isnt very touch friendly. When I try to copy a link from the address bar, I hold my finger down for right click, then press copy and instead of the address being copied, the right click menu disappears without saving the address. There are to work-arounds though; Use IE or the pen that comes with the slate! The other program was actually a game. Left For Dead 2 gives me a fatal error after the intro movie during the loading screen, but I have had that on friends Win7 laptops, so I dont think that is Win8 related.

4)Wifi power seems way more powerful. I live in an apartment complex and my old netbook would see 5 or 6 other wifi signals, my slate sees around 20-25 including signals that are across the road!

5) I fully charged the battery, then let is completely drain a few times and now im getting 9-10 hours (while playing civ5 over wifi) before I need to recharge it. Totally blow away by this.

6) The heat from the machine when playing games seems to be no more than my mates laptops. I recommend using the dock when playing games so the heat can rise vertically out of the top though.

7) Ive checked and its fully upgradeble. The shop offered to put 8GB RAM into it for me instead of the standard 4GB. They also said when the warrenty runs out, they will be happy to put a bigger SSD into it too, and as the CPU seems to be a quad-core (Aida 64, CPU-z and even win8 task manager show 4 seperate cores) this should last me for a good few years!

Here are some pics of it in action:
http://www.quiba.co.uk/pc/images/xe7001.jpg
http://www.quiba.co.uk/pc/images/xe7002.jpg
http://www.quiba.co.uk/pc/images/xe7003.jpg
http://www.quiba.co.uk/pc/images/xe7004.jpg
http://www.quiba.co.uk/pc/images/xe7005.jpg
http://www.quiba.co.uk/pc/images/xe7006.jpg

All in all, definatly worth buying and even with this Beta version of Windows 8, things can only get better. At this point I feel win8 is safe enough to use on a day-to-day basis at work and from next week, I will stop taking my netbook. I really feel that using Windows 8 without a touch screen is wasting alot of the advantages and power that win8 has. Maybe thats why alot of people still havent been taken by it yet?

I didnt mean this post to turn into a mini review and I am biased towards it, so sorry for that!

derpotato said:

Hey, the Samsung XE700T1A, how long did it last?
is there any difference in battery life from W7 to W8?

Click to expand...

Click to collapse

Read point 5... playing high graphic games, i get about 6-9 hours. Wifi/internet browsing, im getting around 15-18hours

Zukunft said:

the Maximum of battery life are around 5-6 h. when you play games you will have only 2-3 h left.

Click to expand...

Click to collapse

Zukunft said:

and the cpu is not a quard core. it´s a normal Intel i5 (2nd generation i5-2467M) you got 2 cores (4 is the number of Threads)

Click to expand...

Click to collapse

Thanks for the clearing up over the core thing, I was confused by the four "cores" shown in AIDA 64, CPU-z and task manager, however that makes sense now.

As for the battery, I cant explain it to you. Saturday I was at the In-laws house and as they dont speak English, normally I am left to my own devises. I played Civ 5 for more than 6 hours, then after we went home, I was watching the England cricket on it via wifi, then finally played Plants vs Zombies on it and had to turn it off around 2am as it was warning me that the battery was at 10%.

I have learn from running my computer business here in China that, if you correctly "setup" a new battery they last a lot longer. I did what Samsung suggest in their manuals and charged it to full, then played until it turned its self off. After repeating 3 times, It will last a really long time. Let me fully charge it and Ill up load a screen shot later.

Thanks for the help with the cores though!