If you’re a Samsung fan, listen up! The new Samsung ATIV One5 Stylus is something you might want to think about adding to your technology arsenal. With the sleek design of the Samsung Galaxy S4, this computer is just as easy on the eyes as it is on the brain to work. What makes this computer special is the Samsung SideSync software that allows you to sync up your Samsung devices with the PC. You can even view the screen of your Samsung phone on your PC for easy file transferring and typing.
If you’re a klutz like me, you will need a second set of hands to take it out of the box. Once you get the PC out of the box, you will find a wireless mouse, keyboard, and power cables. The bezel does move with the right amount of push so you can adjust the monitor to the right angle.
The AMD A6-5200 processor makes it a force to be reckoned with when it comes to speed and reliability, and with the AMD Radeon HD 8400 graphics card on top of that, you are all set for an amazing PC experience.
This particular model comes with a 21.5″ LED-back lit, high-definition, widescreen with 10-point capacitive multi-touch and built-in webcam. To break that down for you: multi-touch means you can touch the screen with more than one finger and it will respond. The capacitive part means if you try to touch the screen with gloves on, it won’t respond. The more points a screen has, the better the accuracy (10-points = more accuracy than a screen with 5-points).
The screen is really bright, and I love how my pictures look and video plays on it. I could definitely tell a difference between this display and my old monitor that was practically begging to be retired.
The all-in-one design has a plus and a minus. The plus side is that it takes up less space on my desk since I don’t have a tower. Another plus is the two 4-watt built-in speakers. The one thing I was more than ready to get rid of when I got my new computer were my speakers (they were old to say the least). Now that I don’t have to worry about my speakers clogging up my desk, I can put more important things in their place…like action figures (because we all could use a few more of those on our desks, right?)
A minus is that it’s an all-in-one and if something breaks, it’s not as easy as 1-2-3 to fix. I’ve had this PC for 3 weeks now and I’ve yet to figure out how to take the back off to work on it or upgrade the 4 GB of memory to the expandable 8 GB of memory.
Another thing some people might find to be a downside is the lacking in a CD-ROM drive. This doesn’t bug me so much because I have an external CD-ROM I plug-in on the rare occasion I need one for burning music.
As for ports, this baby packs two USB 2.0 ports, 2 USB 3.0 ports, a 3-in-1 media reader, and one HDMI port. Since the hard drive is only a 1TB and my music alone takes up about 90% of that, I use one of the USB 3.0 ports to plug-in an external drive for my pictures and such. I prefer it this way, because if my computer dies, I can get my music back from the cloud. I can’t say the same thing about my pictures (I still have a backup in place to cover my bases though).
If you need a few more USB ports, come to the dark side with this awesome Darth Vader hub.
In terms of network connections, it has an Ethernet RJ45 port, Wireless LAN, and Bluetooth 4.0.
Now we get to the part of the review where it’s important to talk about the operating system.
You can’t fault the makers for putting Windows 8.1 on the PC. It’s the most current operating system after all, and while some people find it annoying (a touch screen computer like this one) I’m really enjoying it.
If you plan on letting your kids use the touchscreen instead of the mouse to navigate, make sure you keep some screen cleaner handy (I might start buying it in bulk myself).
Something else I’m enjoying is the parental controls on my 8-year old’s log in. I’m still working out the kinks, but so far I’m happy with the limitations I’ve set and the weekly report it emails me tells me almost everything I need to know about his computer usage. The key is making sure he logs off when he’s done and my husband doesn’t play games or surf the internet while on my son’s log in.
Compared to my old computer, the Samsung ATIV One5 Style is a nice step up. The all-in-one allowed me to clean up our already crowded desk area and free up some space. My son loves the touchscreen capability and the 21.5″ screen when playing Minecraft and LEGO games. My husband is happy with the look and lacking of wires compared to our old computer. Me? I’m looking forward to upgrading the memory to match our old PC and learning how to use the webcam to make video posts.
The Samsung ATIV One5 Stylus pc retails for $799 and can be found at Best Buy stores.
GeekMom received this item for review purposes.
