Seton Hall University Adopts Windows Tablet, Phone

Seton Hall University in South Orange, N.J. Monday announced that many incoming freshmen will receive a Samsung Slate PC running Windows 8 as part of the university's mobile technology program.

Students in the science or honors program will receive a Samsung Slate PC running Windows 8. Other students will receive a Samsung Series 5 ultrabook with Windows 7 and "similar access to Windows 8." Juniors in the same disciplines upgrade to Samsung tablets and ultrabooks this fall.

All incoming freshmen also will receive a Nokia Lumia 900 smartphone running the Windows Phone operating system. There will be no charge for voice, text, or data through the end of 2012.

The Wall Street Journal's CIO Journal interviewed Seton Hall CIO Stephen Landry about the new program. Landry said that "... he chose Windows 8 tablets over Apple iPads and Google Android tablets for 450 incoming freshman and existing faculty because the portable computers are easier to manage and provide easy access to Microsoft's productivity applications."

BYTE's Boonsri Dickinson tested the Samsung Slate with Office 2013 at a Microsoft event. Click here for her impressions, including video.

The Samsung Slate with Windows 8 will come with a tablet, dock, keyboard, and external DVD player, and cost $300 less than the systems the university has been offering for the last few years, which were primarily ThinkPads. Students pay $650 a semester to use any computing equipment the university supplies them. This mobile computing charge is itemized on their tuition bill.