Among the Windows 8 devices I have been very anxious to see are Samsung’s ATIV SmartPC line. There are two main versions, the 500T, powered by an Atom processor, and the 700T powered by a Core I5 processor (note there is also a Windows RT version of the ATIV).
In particular, I was really looking forward to seeing the 500T. With the Atom processor, it runs a full version of Windows 8, rather than running Windows RT. The Atom processor would also seem to give better battery life, and keeps the price more in line with what people want to pay for this type of device. And the kicker (for me, anyway) is the inclusion of the S-PEN and an active digitizer to support note-taking, a big bonus in my books.
Based reviews like this, I was pretty excited.
Well, now comes the problem…I live in Canada.
As in the US, there are two different SKUs for the 500T in Canada (XE500T1C-A01CA and XE500T1C-A02CA). The first does not include the keyboard dock, the second does.
But…
The versions being sold in the US (for slightly cheaper) both include the S-PEN/active digitizer. Not so for the versions in Canada. Samsung Canada has confirmed to me via Twitter that the Canadian versions do not have the pen, and reviews I have seen indicate that they will not even work with other Active Digitizer pens.
Others may not place quite as much important on the pen as I do, but this makes the device a non-starter for me.
I have received no justification from Samsung as to why Canadians should pay more for reduced capability. I would love to see their reasoning.
FredSpace 