The good people over at Ultrabook-info.de have spotted a new version of the Samsung Series 5 Ultrabook, the 530U3C-A02. It’s appearing in German price comparison engines with Ivy Bridge specifications and is expected to be an update to the existing Series 5 models available in June. Expect price drops on the current Samsung Series 5 Ultrabooks very soon!
I spent 2hrs testing the Samsung Series 5 (530u3B) in front of an audience this evening – the best way to review!
We didn’t find any showstoppers but we did find an empty memory slot. You can see an upgrade to 8GB in the fourth video in the playlist below but in the other three videos I give you a deep dive into the Series 5.
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Here’s the unboxing video.
You can find out more about the Samsung Series 5 from previous testing articles and the database. We will be doing a live review of this Ultrabook tomorrow. Details here.
Unboxing and overview, comparison and information on a free software package below.
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Update: Session is over now. Videos of the Samsung Series 5 livestream review are available here.
I’m back from CeBIT and have two new Ultrabooks here; the Samsung Series 5 13” and the Toshiba Z830.
There’s only one thing to do, readers, and that’s to get the live cam on them, show you around them, do a live review and let you ask questions.
If you want to find out more about these two devices, or just chat about Ultrabooks in general, join me tomorrow (Sat 10th March) at 2100 CET (Berlin time. Your location listed here.)
Where? Ultrabooknews.com/live
We spent a lot of time with the Series 5 Ultrabooks at CES, did a good series of tests and, given the competitive price, we’re quite impressed. [List of previous Series 5 articles here.]
The 13.3” Series 5 is already shipping in Germany so expect full reviews from that part of the world within days but there’s already a nice detailed review up at 3DNews, a Russian website, who also appear to be happy with the Ultrabook. They’ve got some ‘naked’ pictures too!
Germany was one of the countries that never got that good value Ultrabook alternative the Samsung NP350 so maybe that’s the reason why the Series 5 Ultrabook has entered the market there at an interesting price point. In other countries, low Series 5 pricing could clash with the existing NP350. €780 for the Core i5 version in Germany is a very good price and if you want to go up to Core i7 with 8GB RAM, there’s an option at around €1000 today. For those not familiar with Euros, it’s the same price as the Toshiba Z830 with the Core i5 CPU and 4GB of RAM. The Core i7 option is not showing in the USA.
While I’ve got the chance to test the Series 5 13.3” and 14” at the Samsung Media Lounge here at CES I downloaded CrystalDiskMark, did a boot test and a few other tests.
I’ve already talked about the keyboard which is as good as the keyboard I’m using right now on the Samsung NP350. I’ve also mentioned the good selection of ports and the Wi-Di which put it ahead of devices like the Acer S3.
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With such a short amount of time it’s really impossible to say anything definitive about the new Samsung Series 5 Ultrabooks but I’ve had a chance to have some uninterrupted time with the two devices at the Samsung Media Lounge here at CES and the devices do seem well-rounded. I’m especially impressed with the keyboard, ports and Wi-Di . If you’re thinking about the Acer S3, I would advise to wait for the NP530.
More images and two overview videos below.
As you can see on the underside, there’s HDD and Memory access making it easier to upgrade to an SSD if required.
Full gallery set is available here.
The 13” and 14” Series 5 devices compared:
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