Friday, July 8, 2011
Unboxing the Samsung Series 9 Laptop: Is This a Macbook Air Killer?
Posted by Jason Dunn in "Samsung Laptops & Netbooks" @ 07:00 AM
This is a three-part unboxing and first impressions video of the Samsung Series 9 laptop; the 900X3A-A02CA model to be precise. It's on loan to me from Samsung Canada for a couple of weeks, so I'm putting it through its paces. This is a thin and light laptop that goes head to head with the Macbook Air, though it costs a pretty penny doing so. Is it worth the extreme price premium? It's unusual to talk about Apple having a less expensive product than the competition, but you can't escape the numbers: a maxed out Macbook Air 13 in Canada with a 256 GB SSD, 2.13 Ghz Intel Core 2 Duo, 4 GB of RAM, and the Ethernet dongle, would cost me $1878. This Series 9 with a 256 GB SSD, a 1.4 Ghz Core i5 second-gen (Sandry Bridge) CPU, 8 GB of RAM, and the Ethernet dongle included, rings in at $2399. That's a 28% price premium. Yes, the Series 9 comes with twice the RAM and a better CPU, but the Air has a better GPU.
Click on the video title to go to YouTube and watch it in 1080p full-screen.
Spec-wise, this version of the Series 9 features an Intel Core i5 2537M CPU at 1.4 Ghz (3 MB cache), 8 GB of DDR3 RAM, a 256 GB SSD, and an Intel GMA HD GPU. The 13.3 inch screen is matte and 1366 x 768 in resolution. There are two 3 watt speakers and SRS 3D sound. The webcam is 1.3 megapixels, and there's a single microphone under the screen. In addition to 802.11a/b/g/n and Bluetooth 3.0, there's a dongle that, when attached to the side, adds Gigabit Ethernet. Video output is solely mini HDMI (no adaptor is included in the box unfortunately), and in addition to a microphone/headphone jack, there one USB 3.0 port and one USB 2.0 port (one is an always-on charging port).
Click on the video title to go to YouTube and watch it in 1080p full-screen.
Samsung made the interesting - and wrong in my opinion - decision to go with a microSD card slot rather than a full-sized Secure Digital (SD) card slot. I know that they were gunning for a thin design, but they might as well have put in a XD card slot for all the good this microSD card slot is going to do. For most people, this means having to carry a USB SD adaptor, which is a pain.
The laptop has an internal, non-removable 6 cell (40 wHR) battery. The laptop is 2.88 pounds (1.31 kg) and measures 12.9" wide, 8.9" deep, and between 0.62" and 0.64" thick from front to back.
Click on the video title to go to YouTube and watch it in 1080p full-screen.
Got questions? Let me know - I have the laptop for a few more days while I do the review.
Want to buy one? There are a few different variations in our Amazon.com store.
Jason Dunn owns and operates Thoughts Media Inc., a company dedicated to creating the best in online communities. He enjoys photography, mobile devices, blogging, digital media content creation/editing, and pretty much all technology. He lives in Calgary, Alberta, Canada with his lovely wife, his wonderful son Logan, and his sometimes obedient dog. He's glad someone's stepping up to battle Apple in the hardware design space.
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