The Samsung Series 9 2nd Gen (SS9) is a beautifully crafted piece of machinery. This system is presented gorgeously straight right out of the box in its packaging and presentation. So far, I have no regrets on my purchase although it is quite a pricey system. Considering many people are familiar with the Macbook Air 13.3" (MBA), I will frequently compare the SS9 for the rest of the review to it. Also, I did not purchase this system through Amazon but through a local Comp USA who was selling the system at $1299.00.Display
The display is 400 nits of brightness with a matte finish. It can easily be used in any environment whether it be dark in a room or outside on a patio in near direct sunlight. The MBA has a reflective screen with an anti-glare finish that still offers glare. The SS9 also comes with a higher resolution screen at 1600 X 900 compared to the MBA's 1440 X 900. Honestly, higher resolution isn't always better because it becomes more difficult to read text at higher resolutions. The display colors appear natural, bright and vivid. This is the nicest screen I've ever seen on any system. I do prefer this screen over any and that of the MBA.
Sound
The sound is loud and crisp with a little bass to it. The MBA has a little more bass, but doesn't go as loud. The sound is great for watching any streaming media and ok for listening to music. It's a way better experience with audio watching movies on the SS9 than the MBA. The sound is seems more directional.
Keyboard
The keys are shallow, square and flat. They're not overally shallow like the Toshiba Portege, but I would say it has an acquired feel to it. Typing is smooth, quick, responsive and natural. Typing on this machine is different than the MBA. The MBA has more curvature and give to the keys. The back-lighting to the back-lit keyboard is the first of its kind. It projects an aqua-marine green color. I'm not a fan of it, but it gets the job done for those late nights. Also, the color prevents interfering with night vision. Although neat and interesting, I still prefer the white back-lit keyboard of the MBA over the SS9.
Trac-pad
This system must have the most responsive and best trac-pad to date on any windows based system. My favorite feature is the two finger tap because I do not like to physically click the trac-pad out of personal preference. It is right on par with the MBA and responds nearly without flaw. I prefer using the trac-pad over a mouse on this system; most other laptops its the other way around. The trac-pad is glass covered with a black finish.
Connectivity
Wireless (Wifi) works great. I don't have anything to really put into perspective with this system other than my wife's Toshiba laptop. My wife has three bars of signal on the opposite end of our home away from the router while this system still maintains a full signal. This is a huge improvement over the original SS9. Ports, you can check the specs. They're nothing spectacular and I prefer the MBA's multi-display port over the SS9 proprietary VGA dongle port that isn't included with this system. This system does include a micro-HDMI port that I prefer to use with external monitors over the propriety SS9 VGA dongle. The proprietary ethernet dongle is included with this system so you do not need to use a USB based ethernet dongle to take up a USB port. There is an SD card reader under the chassis on the right side of the computer under a discrete flap.
Performance
I have yet to hear the two fans kick on with this system (Yes, this system has two separately controlled fans). I have actually been able to look at the fans running independently at the bottom of the chassis, but I have yet to see both on at one time if they even come on at all. This system is also the most quiet and cool laptop/computer I have ever used. I'm shocked at how cool it runs. The only way for you to fully understand this is to see/experience for yourself. The fans hardly ever come on when running full screen video after an extended period of time. I would be concerned about a defect if it weren't for the fact that I have seen both fans run before and the system puts off little to no heat which baffles my mind in such a slim form factor; this is one of the most unique things about this system. The responsiveness of this system is lighting quick for basic computing tasks, boot up and start up from standby. I believe the MBA comes with the 1.7Ghz ULV processor while the SS9 comes with the 1.6Ghz ULV processor. Either processor is preference and one is not much more powerful than the other; I prefer lower Ghz for longer battery life and cooler performance. I prefer the 1.6Ghz for heat dissipation and I didn't purchase the SS9 for heavy computing like compiling video. I purchased it for school to type up papers and putting together presentations, writing/responding to email and a little media consumption. The MBA is nothing in comparison for noise or heat. The MBA puts off significant heat and fan-noise under loads, while it does run fairly quite under regular to light use. Again to emphasize the point, you really need to experience the ability of this system (SS9) to run cool and quite under most any computing task. Also, when running video on the SS9 it remains cool and quite while the MBA gets pretty noisy and hot to the touch when the fan spins up.
Battery
The battery gets anywhere from 6.5 to 7.5 hours as advertised. Also, the system comes with a thousand cycle battery in case you are the type of individual concerned about the life of the battery or needing to change it out. The MBA uses the same type of long-life battery.
Build
The build is rock solid and gorgeous. This system attracts little to no fingerprints with its matte blue-metal finish. There is also an eye-catching silver edge on this system and around the edge of the trac-pad. The SS9 is only .5"s in depth and super light. The charging port is nothing spectacular; I prefer the MBA magnetic charging adapter tip over the SS9's, while the charging adapter/block is very nice; nicer than the MBA. The charging block has the windows 7 OS license on it like the Asus Zenbook with a slim and square profile and rectangular cool-blue power light. This is the nicest charging block I've seen with any system and I have experienced every ultrabook to date to exclude the Lenovo U300 and X1.
Overall this system performs flawlessly with beauty; I'm very pleased. The most important and unique features I feel this system has to offer is its ability to run super-cool, an amazing screen and a beautiful and light high quality chassis. I will be looking forward to having this system around for the next year, two or even three...
Buy Samsung Series 9 NP900X3B-A01US 13.3-Inch Laptop (Titan Silver) Now
I won't go into the detail that some of the other posters have gone into, but will make this one short. This is the best Windows ultraportable available. It may be the best light notebook period (only Macbook air is close), but I won't ignite a flame war by declaring a winner. If you are into the Apple ecosystem, then get the Air, but if not this second generation Samsung is what you've been waiting for.The pros: ultrafast boot, good battery life, high resolution and high quality screen, backlit keyboard
The cons: trackpad can be a bit glitchy at times, battery life may be less than advertised, small and nonupgradeable hard drive
The trackpad issue seems to improve with each iteration of the driver (although you have to redownload 100+ MB to upgrade it). The battery is still good enough that I can get light use for a week without plugging it in. Otherwise, the hard drive can be a bit tight, but just put your media on an external drive, USB stick, or SD card and you'll be fine.
If you've been ogling the Macbook Air for a while but wanted a windows pc for whatever reason, get this computer.
Read Best Reviews of Samsung Series 9 NP900X3B-A01US 13.3-Inch Laptop (Titan Silver) Here
This is the coolest fastest lightest machine out there. I see mac users being jealous of this gorgeous design. But what is the best for me is the speed with which it starts up. No more ten minute boot times! it is like an ipadright back there on the internet when you wake it from its slumberbut so much more functional for work. The touchpad scroll feature is also nice once you learn to use it. And it is easy to blow stuff up with the elan multitouchwhich is good because the default font is pretty tinythough quite sharp. The external bluetooth mouse works great. The sound is okaythough not brilliantbut fine for listening to while working.All in all, well worth the $1400. So,so much better than my Thinkpad!
I have now had this machine four months and I am still delighted with it. The wireless mouse I bought separately solves all trackpad problems (I kind of hate trackpads anyway; that's the main reason I bought Thinkpads for the last decade), the wireless reception has always been faultless, and it still boots quickly. My only reservation is that the battery life is nowhere near advertisedI would say four hours. And you can't add accessory batteries or swap them out. SO not great for overseas travel unless there is juice available, which alas my budget seats do not provide. I do not need the extra hard disk storage others complain about, but if I did, I would just get an external drive.
Want Samsung Series 9 NP900X3B-A01US 13.3-Inch Laptop (Titan Silver) Discount?
I was really excited about this computer but after having it for a few days I realize that it is not worth the premium price and here is why?Pros:
1. Better build quality than last years model.
2. Better display, but still not as bright as the ASUS Zenbooks. good viewing angles.
3. Very light for a 13" system.
4. Quick charging.
Cons:
1. Terrible keyboard, very loud and plasticky keys. Not great for a touch typist and keys don't always register a press.
2. Poor video performance. It has the Intel HD 3000 graphics but still stutters when playing video compared to other computers I have with he same specs.
3. Due to matte screen, text looks fuzzier than with a glossy or semi-gloss display. Even with he 1600x900 resolution. My ASUS UX31 has a much crisper display.
4. Poorly designed SD card slot. You can't fully insert an SD card to leave in he computer s extra storage because it sticks out halfway. If you tried to leave it in it would break off. What were they thinking?
5. Very cheap, plasticky power button.
6. Poor trackpad. Not very precise, even after a driver update. Click areas are very loud. Pinch to zoom is slow.
7. Finger print magnet on this color. The silver is much better but his darker color is not.
8. Poor battery life. You will never get close to the 7 hours that Samsung claims. The best I could get was about 4:30 on % 30 screen brightness and power save mode running WiFi. This battery life is worse than most of the competitor products.
9. Very cheap charging port and power adapter. The tiny pot adapter does not fit tightly in he port and will easily bend or break off if bumped even slightly.
10. Small storage capacity with no option to increase the storage through SD. If you buy one of these please wait until they have a 256GB version, but the cost will be over $1600 for that version.
11. Only an i5 processor option and no 8GB RAM option like the 5 inch version.
12. Oddball, hard to find VGA dongle port.
As you can see there are many more cons than pros. If this system was selling for $999 I would recommend it even with these cons. At $1399 it I way over priced. If it had a 256GB SSD, an i7 processor and over 6 hour battery life it would be worth the price. It is better than the first model, but does not beat out the MacBook Air or the ASUS Zenbooks.
UPDATE: 4/7/2012-After using for a few more days I am starting to like this more and more. There are a lot of Cons for me, but I am willing to put up with them because this display is awesome! The viewing angles are second to none and the size and weight are just right. The battery life is not great for a 13", but this recharges so fast (about 80% in 30 minutes) that I can plug it in for a quick charge and be ready for more work. These Samsung systems have the quickest recharging of any loptop I have owned. The trackpad is getting better. It is not the best in this class, but is probably in the top three. The sound is good and the video issues I was having have worked themselves out. Watching Netflix or HBOGO on this is amazing with the 1600x900 display. The keyboard is similar to the MacBook Air, only not quite as firm. I am a touch typist and can't reach my usual WPM, but with this thin of a system it will be hard to find the perfect keyboard. There is a Function key lock so that you can adjust settings from the top row keys without hitting Fn. It does still show fingerprints but they wipe off pretty easy with a microfiber cloth.
The bottom line is after trying all of the Windows Ultrabooks I have decided to keep this one. Is it perfect? Far from it, but I believe it is probably the top system right now as a whole. It will be more complete with a 256GB SSD and Core i7 option. I would now recommend this system to anyone over what is available right now.
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