Samsung Takes on Microsoft Surface with Galaxy Book Tablets

Megalith

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Samsung has just unveiled a bunch of new tablets at Mobile World Congress. I don’t think the Tab S3 is anything to get excited about, since it is rather similar to the last model (aside from HDR and nicer speakers). The Book 10 and 12, however, are pretty sweet because they run full Windows. The latter, aside from the beefier hardware, is definitely going on my list because of its AMOLED screen.

Last year, Samsung launched the Galaxy TabPro S, a Windows 10 tablet that borrowed and improved upon many of the ideas put forth by Microsoft’s Surface line. Now it’s launching two new tablets that feature even more improvements on the productivity tablet idea. The new Galaxy Book 10 and Galaxy Book 12 both run Windows 10 and come with styli and keyboard cases. They both have slim, aluminum designs and will be available in both Wi-Fi and LTE models. The Book 10 has a 10.6-inch, 1920 x 1280 pixel LCD display and an Intel Core m3 processor, while the higher-end Book 12 is equipped with a 12-inch Super AMOLED HDR display and Intel’s fanless Core i5 processor.
 
Watched the video, seems somewhat interesting... made a mistake in the original post and pooched it so this is the edit as referenced in post #4 below. I think I'd still go with a Surface of some kind (actual x86-based) instead of the Samsung Windows-based tablets demonstrated here but that's just me.
 
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Watched the video, seems somewhat interesting... but then it shows the larger Windows-based tablets with glass backs and, well, nope, ain't happening.

Where did you see that about the larger Windows devices? The only mention of the glass backs was on the Tab S I saw.
 
Yeah, yeah, I suppose I misunderstood that - I didn't finish watching the video past that point. :D Edited the post above to remove that aspect of it, but yeah I jumped the gun on that, my bad.
 
samsung has shitty support for their tabs after 18 months, surface every time for me
 
samsung has shitty support for their tabs after 18 months, surface every time for me

Definitely shitty support for Android tablets. I bought a Samsung Tab Pro 8.4. Samsung never offered an Android update. It was stranded on Kit Kat. Everyone should think twice before buying a Samsung Android tablet.

Windows tablets should get Windows updates, though.
 
samsung has shitty support for their tabs after 18 months, surface every time for me
That's the great thing about windows, they don't care if your OEM forgot about your device, they will still patch it.

With that said I have zero interest in this as I'm sure Samsung has cut quality corners somewhere.
 
That's the great thing about windows, they don't care if your OEM forgot about your device, they will still patch it.

With that said I have zero interest in this as I'm sure Samsung has cut quality corners somewhere.

Yeah and what you driver updates? Windows wont natively support them...
 
Yeah and what you driver updates? Windows wont natively support them...
Is that going to be an issue though? Does Samsung have some piece of hardware they make the Windows drivers for themselves?

I honestly don't know the last time I went to the device manufacture like asus for drivers. I go straight to nvidia for the gpu, gigabyte for my mother board etc. So as long Samsung isnt using some crazy in-house proprietary hardware drivers won't be an issue
 
Yeah and what you driver updates? Windows wont natively support them...

You have a much better chance up upgrading an orphaned Windows laptop/tablet than an Android one.

Now days most windows devices use standard off-the-shelf parts, so drivers are usually not much of a problem.
I've loaded Windows 10 on a number of older laptops and most had no driver issues.
Even my generic Windows 8 tablet upgraded to Windows 10 without a problem.

With Android, you are limited to the vendor, and you are usually out of luck if they abandoned the device.
If you have a popular device, and you can root it, someone might release a newer Android build you can use.
I did this with my old Transformer tablet which was stuck at 4.2. Currently running version 6 :D
 
The digitizer is a good start, usually bespoke for that model and could break with a new version of windows.

I haven't heard of a digitizer breaking on win10, would be pretty hard to break a driver these days on an update.
 
The android model comes with an ass pen!

Seriously, though. Android tablets can die in a fire. I'd be interested in the Windows models if they come with unlocked bootloaders (ha ha ha)
 
The android model comes with an ass pen!

Seriously, though. Android tablets can die in a fire. I'd be interested in the Windows models if they come with unlocked bootloaders (ha ha ha)
I enjoyed my Transformers for a very short while.
 
Definitely shitty support for Android tablets. I bought a Samsung Tab Pro 8.4. Samsung never offered an Android update. It was stranded on Kit Kat. Everyone should think twice before buying a Samsung Android tablet.

Windows tablets should get Windows updates, though.

I dunno if that is just a Samsung thing, but an android thing. I had an LG phone and that thing was still on Froyo years later. Then again some devices like S7's get upped regularly, like Nougat last week.
 
With did you enjoy about it?
The battery life and free Remote Desktop software from Asus (when there was no good RDP stuff for free) lol.

Edit: it's unfair to not mention the media playback at the time too. It had its bugs but it was great for 720p media at the time.
 
I like my S2 tablet, it's a great alternative when I don't feel like sitting at my PC.

While I don't plan to upgrade anytime soon, I'm glad to see Samsung still releasing tablets.
 
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