Software and warranty
It has never been a good sign when you need
to shoot not only one but 2 screenshots to illustrate how many software is
preinstalled on the laptop. It’s clear that Samsung worked ardently here,
bringing in a separate program mix as well as some third-party apps. We have Netflix,
Evernote Touch, Kindle, Merriam-Webster, S Camera, S Player, S Gallery, Samsung
Signature Store, Samsung SW Update, Intel AppUp store, Music Maker Jam,
StumbleUpon, Bitcase, Jamie Oliver’s Recipes, rara.com, 7digital, Slacker,
Pandora, ChatOn, Photo Editor, Skitch, Fresh Paint, The Treasures of Montezuna,
WeatherBug, AccuWeather.com, Music Hub of Samsung, Box.com, Nook and TuneIn. Samsung
has also included some Xbox Live game (Pinball FX, Adera, Shark Dash,
Microsoft Mahjong, Microsoft Solitaire Collection, Wordament, Cut the Rope and
Minesweeper), along with a game for Plants vs Zoombies which
actually is a link to buy it.
It’s
clear that Samsung worked ardently here, bringing in a separate program mix as
well as some third-party apps.
That’s the strangely long list full of the
redundancies, like you can see (now many weather and music streaming apps a
person need?). worse, there’re still more: we didn’t even mention the desktop
apps. Aside from everything we mentioned today, Samsung also includes the free
trial version of Norton Internet Security and dedicated Kies file file-transferring
software. In short, you will find the first-party apps of Samsung to share the
phone screen.
ATIV Book 7 has 1-year warranty, like most
of the other PCs that you may be interest.
Configuration options
ATIV Book 7 is available in only 1 configuration
in America: $1,060 model we have checked, with Core i5 Ivy Bridge processor,
4GB RAM and 128GB SSD. Samsung will no longer debate whether it has a computer
upgrade to Haswell or add the additional configuration options, like a Core i7
CPU or 256GB SSD. Fortunately, Samsung has a proven history about refreshing
its premium laptop as well as introducing the additional configuration options
later then. so don’t lose all of your hope.
Rivals
It’s hard to compare ATIV Book 7 with the
rest of the market, when lots of its obvious rivals (Lenovo Yoga 13, Acer
Aspire S7, Dell XPS 12) all will be refresh. Especially, with Intel being about
to release officially the next-generation Haswell, we can see some completely
new design. Unless you’re hopeless, we recommend you to delay buying anything
until all the big companies have shown their card.
However, slowly but surely, we’re getting
closer to understand how the Ultrabook land will be like in the next months.
Until now, we have seen Toshiba Kirabook, starting at supreme price of $1,600 with
Core i5 processor, 256GB capacity and 2,560x1,440 screen (no touch, at least in
the basic model). For sure that it will have vibrant screen, but the viewing
angles are limited and as we’ve seen with the Retina screen MacBook line,
there’re not enough apps that are optimized to take advantage of that high res.
Though the laptop is lightweight, its fan is one of the largest we’ve ever
seen. Of course pricing is still one of the problems, which is very expensive
even when you calculate 2-year warranty and the rich software pack (the
full-copy version of Adobe Photoshop Elements/Premiere Elements and 2-year Norton
subscription).
Meanwhile, HP has just introduced Envy
TouchSmart 14 Ultrabook, which will hit the shelf at the end of this summer
with 3,200x1,800 screen option. However, unfortunately, we don’t know much
about the other technical specs, and it’s unclear how much that screen update
will cost.
Conclusion
Until now, it seems that $1,060 for a
laptop with Core i5 processor, 1,080p touch screen and 128GB SSD is a good
bargain, except for having no Haswell. And we’re not only talking about the
technical specs, though of course it creates good initial impression. ATIV Book
7 has the best touchpad we’ve ever used on a Windows laptop for a long time.
that SSD offers faster reading speed than most of the competitive Ultrabook.
The laptop runs cool and quiet. The screen is sharper than Yoga 13, though they
have the equivalent price, and provides wide viewing angle.
Until
now, it seems that $1,060 for a laptop with Core i5 processor, 1,080p touch
screen and 128GB SSD is a good bargain
Indeed, the largest compromise is that it’s
heavier than other 13 inch Ultrabook while providing the same battery life, if
not a little shorter. The keyboard are flat, but can still be used. Finally,
there’re lots of floating software here. Despite of that, none of them seems to
be a huge problem, at least at this price. Naturally, we still recommend you
waiting for Haswell upgrade, at the same time looking at what other PC makers
release in the next few weeks. However, ATIV Book 7 seems to be a stable choice
– just hope that Samsung will finally decide to add more configuration options.
Info
·
Price: $1,060
Advantages
·
Nice 1,080p screen
·
Fast transferring speed, running cool and smooth
·
Amazing trackpad
·
Good sound quality
Disadvantages
·
Heavy for a touch screen Ultrabook
·
Flat keyboard
·
No Core i7 or 256GB SSD option
·
Lots of floating software
Key point
·
ATIV Book 7 is a good value among the touch
screen Ultrabook, with reliable trackpad, fast SSD and cute screen. The main
compromises are the shallow keyboard and pretty heavy laptop.
ATIV
Book 7 is a good value among the touch screen Ultrabook.
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Technical
specs
·
Battery life: Up to 8 hours
·
Weight: 3.22 lbs
·
Dimensions: 12.8” x 8.8” x 0.7”
·
Screen size and resolution: 13.3", 1,920
X 1,080
·
Touch: Yes
·
Hard Drive size: 256 GB SSD
·
RAM: Up to 16 GB
·
Processor: Intel 3rd-gen Core i5/i7
·
Graphics: AMD Radeon HD8550M to HD8570M
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