Samsung ATIV Smart PC 500T Windows 8 Tablet Review

As we noted earlier, we have already put the Samsung ATIV Smart PC 500T through our benchmark lineup. By and large, the 500T stayed in the top half of systems we compared it to, and it took top honors in SunSpider.

SunSpider Browser Testing

This benchmark measures the device’s ability to handle Javascript processing via Web browsing with a timed run in milliseconds, so don’t let the “low” score throw you off. In SunSpider, lower is better.

The SunSpider scores speak well for the 500T’s Atom Z2760, but lest you mistake this tablet for a system that can go toe-to-toe with a full-fledged laptop, consider the tablet’s score of 1275 in PCMark 7. PCMark puts the system through tasks similar to those it will run in a typical workday at a typical office, from video playback and Web browsing to operating office applications.

PCMark 7 General Compute and Multimedia Testing

Our comparison data will improve as we test more tablets, but for now, our take is that the score is strong among tablets but obviously a little weak in comparison to laptops and ultrabooks. That makes sense, given that even low-end laptops are generally running Core i3 processors and above. Of course, they’re much thicker and heavier, too.

HD Video Playback Performance Playback of 1080p AVCHD Content

To test Clover Trail's video decode performance we chose two rather strenuous 1080p HD video file formats to play back on the Windows 8 desktop.  Our first video file of choice was a 1080p AVCHD video file shot from a Canon Vixia HD camcorder.


Here we can see that Clover Trail and the ATIV are barely breaking a sweat, playing back HD video with only about 25% CPU utilization.

BatteryEater Pro and Web Browser Test Battery Performance

You can use a tablet while it's charging, but it's inconvenient, to say the least. Put your notebook on a desk and you can forget that the power adapter is plugged in, but when you're holding a tablet, a power cord really is a leash. So, battery life is a big deal and it can be a make-or-break factor in the buying decision. BatteryEater Pro, on the other hand, gives the tablet a heavier workload, putting more strain on the battery, exercising graphics, memory, storage and its processor. Because everything you do with your tablet affects its battery life, your experience will be different from our benchmarks, but they provide good, consistent data points for comparison with other tablets and ultrabooks on the market.

We set out to test the Samsung ATIV Smart PC 500T with two battery benchmarks. The first is our own light-duty web browsing test, which refreshes a webpage regularly. It's meant to give you a feel for battery performance under light use.

Before running these tests, we set the display brightness to 50% and disabled screensaver, hibernate, and similar power-conserving settings so we could see how the tablet performs under constant use. Wi-Fi is on so the tablet can connect to the Internet.
The ATIV lasted surprisingly long in our battery benchmark, providing more than 11 hours of web surfing time. Beyond that, the ATIV lasted over 5.5 hours in Battery Eater Pro, which is a very respectable result from a tablet for this worst-case test.  In fact, it's comparable Ultrabook performance in this area.  Regardless, how long the battery lasts for you depends on how you use the ATIV, but this is likely a tablet that will get you through the day pretty easily.