Unfortunately, most PCs don’t have touch screens — “yet,” says Microsoft, which insists that their time is coming. On the premise that Microsoft knows what it’s talking about, one company after another has been introducing new computers, mostly laptops, with built-in touch screens for Windows 8.
Many of these machines have screens that flip, twist, rotate or detach so that you can use them either as laptops or as tablets. The HP Envy x2, Lenovo Yoga, Lenovo Helix, Dell XPS 12, Asus Vivo Tab, Asus Transformer Book and the Acer Iconia W510 all fall into this category of acrobatic laptops. Most of those use a stripped-down, low-powered processor, though (the Intel Atom). They have enough juice for tablet apps, but you’ll find them slow for desktop PC tasks.
That’s not true of Microsoft’s own Surface Pro, which packs Intel’s powerful i5 processor. When I reviewed this sleek, attractive tablet/PC in February, I noted that it was an incredibly well-executed hybrid. It’s a half-inch-thin, two-pound tablet, but the kickstand in back and the keyboard/screen cover in front let you turn it into a real Windows desktop PC in seconds. Its limitations are a feeble battery, undersize keyboard and limited storage (only 23 gigabytes in the $900 model).
Which brings us to this piece of reader mail, which arrived shortly after that column was published: “How could you write about the Surface Pro without mentioning the Samsung Ativ PC Pro ($1,200)? It has the same Intel processor as the Surface Pro, but much better battery life, bigger screen, bigger keyboard, 1080p screen and more storage. Yet it’s still under two pounds.”
My jaw dropped. It’s obvious that Microsoft had put every droplet of engineering talent it had into the Surface Pro. It’s Microsoft’s shining golden boy, its proof that Windows 8 isn’t a tragic misfire. Could Samsung really have something better already?
Sadly, no. My reader was mistaken about a couple of things.
The full name of the machine he was describing is the Samsung ATIV Smart PC Pro 700T, which at 18 syllables sounds as if it were named by the federal government. It’s a laptop whose screen detaches, becoming a tablet, when you press a release button and tug. Awkwardly enough, in laptop mode, the detach button covers up the Windows button used to open Windows 8’s Start screen. In laptop mode, you have to use the Windows key on the keyboard instead.
Yes, the Samsung weighs less than two pounds (1.9, actually); but that’s the weight of the detached screen (the tablet) alone. With the keyboard attached, the whole thing weighs 3.5 pounds. So right off the bat, this machine isn’t comparable to the Surface Pro, which weighs two pounds for everything.
All of the Smart PC Pro’s guts — battery, processor, memory, cameras and so on — are in the screen. They make the top half of the laptop weirdly heavier and thicker than the bottom half, which contains only the keyboard. In other words, in laptop mode, the whole thing is top-heavy.
Some rival detachable-screen laptops are even more top-heavy — the screen portion flops away from you at the slightest touch. Then again, some of the Samsung’s competitors also incorporate a second battery in the keyboard base. That helps with both battery life and weight distribution.
When you detach the Samsung’s screen, the tablet in your hands feels off. It’s too thick, too heavy, too plasticky; the iPad and the Surface have spoiled us. And it’s a wide, thin rectangle that suits movies well but feels ridiculous when turned 90 degrees. You feel as if you’re holding a diving board.
The other unattractive aspect of this design is that both halves of the machine are, in effect, the ugly “bottom.” Both the underside of the keyboard and the back of the tablet bear the usual painted-on paragraph of F.C.C. notices and logos; the back of the tablet also bears an archipelago of unattractive flaps, vents and stickers. Where were the designers of Samsung’s gorgeous, thin, real laptops when this thing was sketched out?
The screen is crisp and bright; it offers 1080p resolution, the highest kind of high definition. It’s a touch screen, of course, intended for use with your fingers, but a plastic stylus is tucked away near a corner. You can use that pen for making handwritten notes and for navigating Samsung’s homegrown suite of Windows programs, like the baffling S-Note document-making app.
The “128-gigabyte” Smart PC offers only 60 gigabytes free for storing files, but there’s a microSD memory-card slot for expansion. There’s one USB 3.0 jack in the screen half, positioned awkwardly, almost uselessly, on the top edge in laptop mode. Fortunately, the keyboard half has two more USB jacks.
You can project the screen image to a TV or projector either through a cable (micro HAMID) or wirelessly, using WiDi. That’s a technology that, like Apple’s AirPlay, requires a $100 receiver connected to the TV or projector.
The speed of this machine is excellent; it’s about what you’d expect from a high-end ultrabook, or from Microsoft’s Surface Pro. And there’s no denying the pleasure and utility of being able to run real Windows software — your Photoshops, your Quickens, your iTuneses — on a touch-screen tablet. Of course, as a Windows 8 machine, this device also runs the new-style, full-screen TileWorld apps; the Samsung comes with several preinstalled, like Netflix and Amazon Kindle Reader.
Samsung says the Smart PC offers an eight-hour battery; in the real world, five hours is more like it. That’s better than the Surface Pro, but still nothing like the all-day life you’d get from a real laptop. You’d also get longer battery life, and pay hundreds less, for hybrids with Intel’s Atom processor instead. But that chip is much, much slower.
No question about it: the Samsung beats the Surface Pro in a few categories. You get a keyboard with more spacious keys and deeper travel. You get a bigger screen (11.6 inches versus 10.6). More storage. And you can adjust the screen angle; the built-in kickstand on the Surface has a fixed angle. That said, the Samsung’s hinge doesn’t permit as wide a screen angle as real laptops do.
Unfortunately, you’re also paying more (the “128-gigabyte” Surface Pro is $1,130 with the good keyboard cover) and getting a hybrid that’s much thicker, bulkier, heavier — and uglier.
Worse, you’re paying full laptop-plus-tablet price for a machine that’s not especially good at being either one. For the $1,200 you’d pay for this Samsung, you could get a very nice laptop that doesn’t leave out laptoppy features like an Ethernet jack and a full-size slot for your camera’s memory card.
Those compromises aren’t Samsung’s special achievement, by the way; just about all of the hybrid laptop/tablets have the same problem. Adding a touch screen and a detaching or hinging mechanism can’t help adding weight, bulk, complexity and price. Something’s gotta give.
Word on the street is that neither Windows 8 nor Microsoft’s Surface tablets are selling very well. It’s a safe bet that the Samsung ATIV Smart PC Pro 700T won’t turn that trend around. That goes triple for its lower-powered, less expensive sibling, the 500T.
In other words, it may be that computer shoppers aren’t especially interested in paying a steep price — in dollars, features and looks — for the ability to turn their laptops into tablets or vice versa. It wouldn’t be the first time that manufacturers were more excited about a category than their customers turned out to be. 

HP ENVY x2: Part Laptop, Part Tablet, All-Awesome.

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The aptly-named ENVY x2 is going to make a lot of laptops jealous. At first blush, it looks like a thin, brushed-metal machine. But when you flip a slick magnetic toggle and lift out the 11.6-inch display, you suddenly get it – this Hybrid PC packs all the important guts you need behind the screen. Are you the kinda guy that’s constantly debating whether to take a laptop, tablet (or both!) for the day? Here's your next PC.

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Since I already put it out there…that base? It has a small connector interface that plugs into the tablet portion…and two additional magnetic struts lock it all into place. As a test, I lifted the ENVY x2 by the screen and it kept everything secure and together. When you have that screen plugged in, just think of this hybrid as you would an awesome-looking super-svelte portable.  In that respect, it’s got everything you’d expect, coming complete with ports, keyboard, ImagePad….and extra battery life when you need it. (Unfortunately, I don’t have battery life scores to share quite yet…but when I do, I’ll update this story and let you know about it!) As for the on-board ports you get an SD card slot, micro SD, HDMI a couple USB ports…oh, yeah, and the whole thing – keyboard and display together? It weighs 3.1 pounds. That’s it.

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Now, with the display lifted out, I started eyeballing the screen/ 1.5-pound tablet portion on its own merits. Looking around the edges, I spotted the Beats Audio logo…so, yep, quality sound experience on the ENVY x2. If you need me to go into that more, just check out this primer on Beats Audio in our computers. On the back, embedded in the brushed metal, you’ll spot an 8-megapixel camera facing outwards for when you want to snap pictures or capture video. A button on the back toggles the quick sleep function (think of the idle state like your smartphone) while a metal button-strip lets you adjust volume. Lurking somewhere under that lid is also an NFC chip – so you’ll be able to share URLs, photos, files….with a tap. Otherwise, just flip this over and check out that display.

The 11.6-inch screen looks crisp and has a native resolution of 1366 by 768 on the 400nit, IPS panel. While I didn’t get a chance to make off with one for my own testing, it should look good indoors and out. And, as you may have guessed, as a tablet it supports touch. It has multi-touch recognition…or you could go for the optional stylus if you wanted my precise on-screen input.

Powering the ENVY x2 is an Intel System-on-Chip (aka SOC) – that’s all we are able to say right now on that front. I also can’t tell you about the price quite yet, but you can definitely expect to hear more about this guy before he shows up this holiday season.

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Speaking of hearing more, I had a chance to sneak into HP’s design studio to chat more with Stacy Wolff about the design process and how the ENVY x2 came to be made. For example, I was curious about why we chose to put the power button and volume controls on the back of the lid as opposed to around the edges like many tablets. Stacy explained to me that in part was to prevent accidental button presses that usually occur when you hold a tablet along its edges. He then went on to tell me that, "The volume buttons are like shift paddles on a sports car and the power button is press-and-hold....more phone-like. I even got the chance to check out some of the ENVY x2 prototypes that were created along the way. Keep your eyes peeled for a video interview series - and a whole lot more - from my recent trip, soon!


I’m not gonna lie. I can totally see this as my next PC. I’m saying this as a Spectre user….and I currently have technolust in my eyes after playing with it. OK, fine, I work for HP – you may think I’m supposed to say that, but just go back to the features I just listed (and pictures I’ve posted) and you tell me what you think.