Sleek Samsung all-in-one a solid Windows 8 entry point

Hi. I'm Rich Brown for CNET. And today, we're gonna take a look at the new Samsung Series 7 All-in-one Desktop. So, this is the Samsung's new Windows 8 PC. This model comes in around $1099, so it's actually a pretty affordable 23-inch Windows 8 system. It does have 10-point touch input here in the screen and it's pretty responsive. The screen is nice and glossy. So, you don't actually get that much resistance like we've seen in some other all-in-ones. Samsung also paid some pretty good attention to the design in the system. You can see it's got this nice trembling the edge here and is sort of a unique stand. The screen tilts back about 30-degree, so it doesn't have that full reclining that you get in some other all-in-ones but it's still not bad if you wanna just go up to it and use it like a Ti-Style system. Now, because it's 1099, the system isn't the most fully featured that we've seen. It has a Core i5 CPU that's laptop style, so it means it's a little bit slower than you might get otherwise. With only 6 gigs or RAM, usually you see about 8. It's also Terabyte hard drive, as well as Intel integrated graphics. Now, all of them is perfectly fine for browsing around using basic touchups, also playing some light-duty games. But if you wanna get into media editing or other intensive programs, you're not gonna have much luck with this PC. It also has some of the usual things we expect to see as far as ports, there is USB 3 and has the card input, HDMI in and out, so that's useful for saying adding a second monitor for the system or plugging in a console or some other home video source and using this as a stand-alone display. Somewhat unique to this PC, though, is its gesture-based input system. Now, that doesn't mean it's successful only that it's sort of unique. We've seen it in one other PC and all-in-one from Acer. So, to help you get acclimated to the gesture input, Samsung has included this handy stand here that has some of the basic gestures. So, put this stand next to your system and all of a sudden it looks like you're on a trade show or in electronic store. So, the problem with the gesture input is that it's a little bit awkward and it's not all that responsive. So, you put your head in front of the screen and you get some feedback that it's recognizing your input but it slowly respond and some of the gesture are just awkward. They want you to make a fist and then drag down to switch between this dark screen and the traditional Windows desktop, and that's something that I haven't been able to get work at all yet. So, from my point of view, the gesture input isn't really that successful. It's not responsive, it's a little bit awkward to use and in general it just doesn't feel quite right. Concerning the price and the other features in the system, though, Samsung doesn't appear to be charging a big premium for the gesture input. So, you really don't lose a lot by having it here. So, now, this is a pretty decent looking, relatively affordable Windows 8 all-in-one. It has a nice big 23.6-inch screen and it has all the features and performance that you more or less expect to find in a PC in this price range. So, for anybody looking for a basic mainstream all-in-one, I can certainly recommend the Samsung Series 7. I just wouldn't get too excited about the gesture controls. So, I'm Rich Brown, this is the Samsung Series 7 All-in-one.