Samsung Series 9 (900X3B) review
The best Windows Ultrabook there is, and an Ultimate award winner
Specifications
13.3 in 1,600×900 display, 1.2kg, 1.6GHz Intel Core i5-2467M, 4.00GB RAM, 128GB disk, Windows 7 Home Premium 64-bit
The Series 9’s keyboard is superb. Each full-size key felt springy and responsive, so we were always sure that our key presses had registered. All the punctuation keys are in the right places and the function keys also double as multimedia shortcuts, but only if you hold the Fn key first.
We were also surprised by the multi-touch trackpad – although we don’t usually like all-in-one touchpads that lack physical buttons, the one on the Series 9 works reasonably well. Left clicks can be activated with a tap and right clicks with a two-finger tap, as well as physically clicking in the right corner of the touchpad. Multi-touch gestures were responsive and easy to perform, with none of the hit-and-miss activations of some multi-touch models.
We were hugely impressed by the high resolution screen, which is among the best we’ve seen from an Ultrabook– the 13.3in display looks fantastic at its native 1,600×900. Like Samsung’s other new laptops, it has a matt screen finish that helps diffuse light reflections and an incredibly bright 300-nit backlight. There’s not a huge amount of contrast, but colours were vibrant we were very impressed with the excellent viewing angles – there’s plenty of tilt, but you don’t always need to use it to achieve accurate colours.
This updated Series 9 feels like the version we should have got last year – it has vastly superior build quality, an improved screen and a more sensible chassis layout that makes it feel every inch the premium product it should be. It’s priced accordingly, at around £100 more than a 13-inch Apple MacBook Air and £200 more than Ultrabooks such as the Asus ZenBook UX31, but it’s still the best Windows Ultrabook there is.
Basic Specifications | |
---|---|
Rating | ***** |
Processor | Intel Core i5-2467M |
Processor clock speed | 1.6GHz |
Memory | 4.00GB |
Memory slots | 2 |
Memory slots free | 0 |
Maximum memory | 8GB |
Size | 17x328x227mm |
Weight | 1.2kg |
Sound | Realtek HD Audio |
Pointing device | touchpad |
Display | |
Viewable size | 13.3 in |
Native resolution | 1,600×900 |
Graphics Processor | Intel HD Graphics 3000 |
Graphics/video ports | mini DisplayPort, micro-HDMI |
Graphics Memory | 384MB |
Storage | |
Total storage capacity | 128GB |
Optical drive type | none |
Ports and Expansion | |
USB ports | 2 |
Bluetooth | yes |
Wired network ports | none |
Wireless networking support | 802.11n |
PC Card slots | none |
Supported memory cards | SDXC, MMC |
Other ports | minijack headset port, 1x USB 3.0 |
Miscellaneous | |
Carrying case | No |
Operating system | Windows 7 Home Premium 64-bit |
Operating system restore option | restore partition |
Software included | Microsoft Office 2010 Starter Edition |
Optional extras | none |
Buying Information | |
Warranty | two years RTB |
Price | £1,199 |
Details | www.samsung.co.uk |
Supplier | http://www.johnlewis.com |