Laptop Thoughts: Samsung Series 9: Another Serious MacBook Air Competitor

"Samsung has only been selling its laptops in North America for the last few years, and while those machines haven’t been bad, they haven’t been remarkable either. But with the Series 9, the company is putting forth a laptop that demands notice. From its sub–three pound, super-slim, and sexy chassis to its spare, sophisticated style, it looks like nothing so much as a MacBook Air. It’s a bold, high-profile move by a company that’s been firmly rooted in the mainstream."

It seems like the MacBook Air is a (somewhat stagnant) target for many vendors now, if you look at the newer (and arguably better) systems from Lenovo and ASUS, and, of course, Samsung's Series 9. With a similar physical footprint, the Series 9 offers what appears to be a more durable aluminum system, and better performance, courtesy of an Intel Sandy Bridge Core i5. At about $1650 for a system with 4GB of RAM, and a 128GB SSD, it has received some criticism for imposing a 'style penalty' (paying more for stylishness) on buyers. Impressive, but expensive.