Samsung has been making waves with its range
of notebooks over the last year. In fact, it has released its own ultra-thin
range just a few months before Intel announced the availability of its Ivy
Bridge platform for notebooks and the introduction of the Ultrabook concept.
Not one to miss a beat with such a large
announcement, Samsung raced forward to rollout the updated versions of its thin
notebooks, adding on the elements of the Ultrabook and re-classifying them as
Premium Notebooks to show that it is at the forefront of Intel’s efforts to
revolutionise the notebook industry. One of its front liners, the Samsung
Series 9 Premium Notebook, has arrived at our labs for us to fiddle with.
1. Slim Pickings
Where most strive for either design or
functionality, Samsung decided to go for both with the Series 9, creating a
super refined chassis that is stylishly different from the usual crop of
designs that are in the market. Not only is it super-slim, it is also
one-of-a-kind as it looks nothing like the current Ultrabooks or ultra-slim
notebooks that have appeared thus far. Samsung certainly went all out with what
it tried to achieve in making the Series 9 a real head-turner.
2. Speedy System
Samsung
Series 9 Premium Notebook
When Samsung came up with the slogan
“Rethink the Laptop” it literally changed the entire concept of what a notebook
should be. This is partly thanks to Intel’s Ultrabook concept but from previous
iterations, it is clear Samsung is already on the path of change. Beyond
re-designing the chassis, Samsung also looked into the performance and went
with what they know best: producing exceptionally bright display panels and
improving the stability of the electronics within, specifically storage and
memory. This gave the Series 9 the performance boost it needs to complement the
overall look and feel the chassis exemplifies. What good is great looks when
the performance doesn’t match? At the very least, the boot time (10 seconds
from cold start) and data processing is top notch, thanks to the SSD storage,
8GB of RAM, and, most importantly, the Ivy Bridge CPU that it comes equipped
with.
3. Lightweight Champion
While 13.3-inch into a 14-inch bezel, it
makes no show of it, especially when it comes to the weight. Even with the
extras that came with it, such as backlit keyboard, large-size touchpad,
superbly tough alloy chassis, and webcam, the Series 9 doesn’t weight any more
than a soft drink can. Mind you, that is just an estimate by lifting it with
one hand. Indeed, it falls into the lightweight champion category even if it is
not in the same model category.
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Details
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Price: $1,630
·
Dimensions: (W X D X H) 313.8 x 218.5 x 12.9mm
·
Weight: 1.16 Kg
·
Processor: Intel Core i5-3317-U @ 1.7GHz
·
Memory: 4GB DDR3 System Memory at 1600MHz (4GB
x 1, DDP Type)
·
Storage: 128GB Solid state Drive
·
Display: 13.3” SuperBright 400nit HD+ LED
Display (1600 x 900), Anti-Reflective
·
Graphics: Integrated Intel HD Graphics 4000
·
Connectivity: 2x2 802.11 b/g/n WiFi (up to
300Mbps), Bluetooth 4.0, Wireless Display
·
Ports: VGA, micro-HDMI, headphone and
microphone jack, 1x USB 3.0, 1x USB 2.0, 4-in-1 flashcard reader
·
V: 8/10
F: 10/10
P: 10/10
D: 9/10
U: 9/10
Verdict: A real turnabout device that will spell of Samsung’s
success.
9.2/10 Score
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