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Buyer's Guide: The Best Monitors 
Duel: Apple MacBook Air 11.6-Inch vs Samsung Slate PC XE700
Alexandre Botella
Translator: Jack Sims
Published:
Translator: Jack Sims
Published:
| Ultra-light, robust, swish design, wide touchpad and backlit keyboard, that's what you get with the latest generation 11.6-inch MacBook Air, which reproduces everything that was good about the previous generation and adds more processing power. |
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Samsung has arrived on the notebook and tablet markets with a single product: the Slate PC XE700, an 11.6-inch touchscreen hybrid running on Windows 7 and with a low consumption Intel Core i5 processor, 64 GB of storage and accessories like the stylus, a Bluetooth keyboard and a charging dock equipped with additional connectors. |
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| 11.6 inches | | | 11.6 inches |
| 1 366 x 768 pixels | | | 1 366 x 768 pixels |
| Intel Core i5-2467M | | | Intel Core i5-2467M |
| Intel HD 3000 | | |
Intel HD 3000 |
| USB 2.0 port (x 2) + headpones socket + Thunderbolt | | | USB 2.0 (x 2) + HDMI + mini-HDMI + headphones and mic combo + Ethernet ... |
| THE BACKGROUND |
 While Apple has had the edge for a long time with its MacBook Air, the competition is getting tougher with the arrival of ultrabooks and hybrid products like today's adversary. |
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Although classed as a tablet, the Slate PC XE700 could entice fans of Windows 7 as it offers the best experience on the OS available on mobile touchscreen devices. It certainly stands up to scrutiny as a PC that you can transport between the office and home.| As is often the case on DigitalVersus, this duel started off with a simple question that came up over lunch: 'What product is both easily transportable and sufficiently powerful for work and/or amusement on public transport and at home and can provide an all-in-one solution that means you don't have to buy several different machines?' |
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DESIGN & HARDWARE: Samsung inside, Apple out |
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Look and finish: the unibody aluminium shell still impresses. The Slate PC may also be made of decent materials but the MacBook Air still has the advantage here. Keyboard and touchpad when on the road: in contrast to the Slate PC, the MacBook Air takes its touchpad and keyboard everywhere. A stylus and touchscreen are as yet less practical for tasks such as photo retouching and word processing. No mic socket: while the headphones out is of good quality on the MacBook Air, Apple has omitted the mic socket. Samsung offers a headphones socket on its charging stand and a combo jack on the tablet itself. Heat management: while both products run quite quietly, the Slate PC heats up less than the MacBook Air. |
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More complete connectivity on the charging stand: when charging the Slate PC has fuller connectivity than its competitor. The Ethernet socket means it doesn't have to sacrifice a USB port (via adaptor on the MacBook Air). It is therefore much easier to link up any accessories. A stylus (don't lose it!): equipped with a stylus, the Samsung tablet doesn't include anywhere to store it, which means you have to remember to stick it into your bag or pocket if you're planning on using it on the move. No mouse: Samsung delivers the Slate PC with a stylus and a Bluetooth keyboard, but without a mouse. For everyday use as a computer, a mouse is however indispensable and you therefore have to buy one on top, preferably a Bluetooth option so as not to block one of the USB ports. Standard HDMI out: the HDMI socket on the dock makes it easy to port sound and vision to a TV or PC screen. On the MacBook Air, you have to use the Thunderbolt port, which allows you to link up a series of storage peripherals and a screen on a single port. However it still isn't a very common connector and the devices that do incorporate it tend to be a little more expensive than average. |
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SCREEN: Samsung wins |
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Contraste and colour accuracy: Apple may count itself as one of the few laptop manufacturers to take care with the screens of its products but opposite the Slate PC (deltaE at 5.6 and contrast ratio of 790:1), the MacBook Air 11.6-inch (deltaE at 6 and contrast ratio of 611:1) suffers by comparison.
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Wider viewing angles: thnks to PLS technology Samsung does much better than Apple here, which uses a TN panel on the MacBook Air. |
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ALL ROUND USAGE: Apple wins |
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Processor: while both machines use the same processor, Samsung uses a restrained version, perhaps to limit temperatures. The MacBook Air is therefore faster than the Slate PC.
Speaker quality: Apple has always taken care to give decent sound on its MacBooks. Samsung however hasn't worked very hard on this here. The Slate PC speakers lack power and warp the sound whereas the MacBook Air is as good as you'll find. Gaming: gaming capacity is almost zero on both machines. |
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 A well-thought out touchscreen layer: at any moment you can turn the Slate PC into a tablet by clicking on the physical button. Windows 7 is then replaced by a myriad of large icons shared across several panels. RSS or multimedia player, photo-video camera, Twitter, recipes, YouTube or Internet Explorer are all there. This is very practical, particularly when there's little room to play with, such as on public transport. |
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BATTERY LIFE AND MOBILITY: A Draw |
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Portability: the Slate PC weighs 900 grammes compared to 1.1 Kg for the MacBook Air. The Apple machine makes up for this slight disadvantage however with a very slightly better battery life (4h20 video playback against 4h30 for the Slate). |
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VERDICT: Samsung for play, Apple for work |
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In the end both models satisfy a precise and perhaps slightly different need: With higher processing power the MacBook Air lends itself more to work... as long as you have a table to rest it on. |
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The Slate can also be used for work tasks but only if you've taken the charging stand along and aren't too demanding. When travelling it can handle any email checking, Internet browsing, films and little games such as Angry Birds that you might want to pass the time with, with the advantage that it can be used as a tablet. |
