Samsung Series 9 reviewed: can it take on the MacBook Air?

by  Sasha Muller  |  Friday 5 August 2011
Samsung Series 9 reviewed: can it take on the MacBook Air?
Rating
Overall:

Samsung takes on Apple, but the Samsung Series 9’s slender physique comes at a serious cost. Read our review.

Performance:
4
Features & Design:
5
Value for Money:
4
Price
Price: $2499
> Pricing info
Specs
Price 2499
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Benchmarks

How we test

Displayed below are all the benchmarks for this product. Select a benchmark below to jump straight to it:

General Benchmarks

Graph key:
 A-List product  Samsung Series 9  Related product
Overall
Asus Zenbook UX31 (A-List Product)
0.62
Maximum Screen Brightness
Asus Zenbook UX31 (A-List Product)
506cd/m²

Battery Life

Graph key:
 A-List product  Samsung Series 9  Related product
Heavy Use
Asus Zenbook UX31 (A-List Product)
03:08:00
Light Use
Asus Zenbook UX31 (A-List Product)
08:53:00
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See more about:  samsung  |  series  |  laptops  |  mobilecomputing  |  apple  |  air  |  review
 
 

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Comments: 4
petergaskin
9 August 2011
 it doesnt really matter how good the build and quality of a pc or notebook is, if you want an apple product, then u can really only get the apple experience with the apple os.
Also - there is a sort of allure to showing other people that you have an apple logo on your computer - most computers on tv have which logo? - an apple logo. take a look next time you are watching tv.


Comment made about the PC & Tech Authority article:
Samsung Series 9 reviewed: can it take on the MacBook Air??
Samsung takes on Apple, but the Samsung Series 9’s slender physique comes at a serious cost. Read our review.

What do you think? Join the discussion.
amcmo
10 August 2011
 Series 9 $2499 for a 1.4 i5 128GB vs Macbook Air 13" 1.7 i5 128G, slimmer and arguably sexier, at $1499. I don't believe there is any ground to seriously suggest the Samsung as an alternative. Just an overpriced (pretty) looking notebook.

Oh yes, it runs Windows, I'd suggest if you really needed Windows run it under Parallels on the Air and you'd have similar performance and greater flexibility.

Then the Killer - 1.7 i5 Air 256G SSD is still only $1799. The Samsung might be pretty (and bulkier), however you cannot make a serious comparison. What Apple tax? - this Samsung Tax is far greater than any Apple ever thought of.:d

As for suggesting the presence of the GB ethernet gives it one over - you still need a Samsung adapter, so no great difference to using the Apple adapter.

As with (all?) your Samsung reviews it reads a little like a breathless schoolgirl....

I notice when navigating to the Samsung review Firefox showed 'transfering from bs-serving...'
Does that tell us something about the integrity of this review? (bullsh.t-serving for those slower readers)\:d/
rubaiyat
10 August 2011
 This is exactly what I have been talking about with these reviews and the PC supporters' strained wishfulness.

I tried both the Macbook Air and the Samsung next to each other and was astonished to find that despite the Samsung being way more expensive it was sluggish compared with the Air and the screen was terrible compared with the Air's crisp, saturated colors. Text was particularly difficult to read on the Samsung.

The Samsung ports were nothing special, nor conveniently placed and the touchpad was exceedingly clumsy compared with the Air's.

It has no Thunderbolt port and I was unable to test how well it runs external displays better than its inbuilt low res version. I've seen the Air running a large Apple Display with no problem.

So virtually on all fronts except for the ethernet port, which is hardly used in these days of wireless, it loses on speed, visual accuracy and legibility of the screen (I really disagree about the viewing angles), responsiveness, slow wireless, inferior touchpad, no mag power chord, unfortunate OS with crippled included software, and the walloping over the top "Samsung Tax".

PS After I pointed up all these deficiencies, the sales guy, seeing I wasn't buying, fessed up that he also has a Mac at home and couldn't really see the point of the Samsung. Wonder who will actually fall for this?

Edited by rubaiyat: 10/8/2011 12:34:31 PM
johnus
14 January 2012
 Last month I bought for my wife, an excellent computer, really excellent, but a little expensive, normal prices can be found in Google products or try the website:
http://www.bhphotovideo.com
Sometimes they have good prices

Edited by johnus: 14/1/2012 06:07:15 PM
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