The Samsung ATIV Tab 3 is pretty close to being a Galaxy Tab 10.1, except it runs a full Windows 8 OS. Yes, that does mean it includes Samsung’s popular S-Pen, along with (presumably) great S-Pen integration, making it one of the more versatile Windows 8 tabs out-of-the-box. Unlike the Microsoft Surface the ATIV Tab 3 also includes its own case that triples as keyboard, kickstand and cover for no added cost. Take that, Microsoft.
The 10.1 inch, 1366×768 display is pretty good, if not super impressive. It should provide clear images and, if we know Samsung, great colors, but we’ll admit we were hoping for a few more pixels to be crammed in there.
The 8.2mm profile is definitely appreciated, as is the impressive 550g weight, though the keyboard/cover/kickstand does add a few extra grams.
The rear camera is capable of shooting 720p video, leading us to believe it’ll be either 5MP or 8MP. There’s a front-facing camera, too, but no word yet on its capabilities.
Under the hood we find Intel’s ATOM Z2760 CPU, one of Intel’s low-powered processors for tablets. That CPU according to Intel’s site is a dual-core 1.8GHz model with 4 threads. It’s not the most powerful CPU chip on the market, but being made by Intel and with its 1.8GHz clock speed it should definitely pack a serious punch. This is especially so considering that it’s backed up by 2GB of RAM.
Internal storage is a great 64GB with a MicroSD slot for a further 64GB of expansion if necessary.
One great and unexpected cherry on top is a free version of Microsoft Office. Granted, Office is not as expensive as it once was, but it’s still an unnecessary addition that can only add to the overall functionality.
The price of all this? US$699. That’s very competitive considering the included keyboard/kickstand/cover, the S-pen, the 64GB of storage and the inclusion of Office. Samsung could definitely be delivering a much needed breath of life to the Windows tablet market here. So far we’ve seen generally satisfactory but unimpressive offerings from Win8 tablet manufacturers, with tablets being either underpowered, under-storaged (Windows takes up a lot of storage space), overpriced or running the lesser Windows RT OS. Once again Samsung could be showing the competition how things are done in the big leagues and the Windows tablet market can only be better off for the lesson.
