Setting aside the HP Stream 7 as unsuitable for my current project, we reach the final piece of x86 Windows hardware in my pile of unused devices: the Samsung 500T. I guess 500T was a shorthand for its full designation XE500T1C, though I don't think it made the name roll off the tongue much easier.

This device has a 11.6 inch diagonal touchscreen. It was designed for Windows 8 and launched at around the same time. Its primary focus is on tablet workloads, but can become a convertible tablet/laptop like the HP Split X2 with purchase of an optional keyboard base. Since the keyboard is optional, the 500T has more peripherals packed along its edges. Not just the microSD expansion slot like the HP but also a full-size type A USB and micro HDMI connectors. HP delegated the latter tasks to its included base, which has two type A USB ports and a full sized HDMI connector.

As a piece of Windows 8 hardware like HP Split X2 and HP Stream 7, the 500T has a Windows license in embedded hardware. Thus I was also able to install Windows 10 erasing the existing installation of Windows 8 which was protected by a password I no longer remember. Once device drivers were installed, all features functioned as expected including the ability to run on plug-in power and charge its battery.

That capability was inexplicably nonfunctional in my HP Stream 7. Which meant unlike the HP Stream 7, I could run this display continuously on wired power around the clock. And showing the ESA HTML live space station tracker might be the best way to make use of this hardware. It would be a better end than collecting dust, as my past experience of this tablet has failed to live up to its potential and generally soured me on buying any more computers from Samsung.