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Tonight, at 2100 CEST (your timezone here) I’ll be testing the Samsung Series 9 15” ultrabook with the new Ivy Bridge upgrade. It’s a stunning bit of kit but will it stand up to two hours of scrutiny? You can join in, watch the stream, chat and guide the review process by joining us here or via the ‘live’ tab up top.
Another huge day for the Ultrabook world as Computex gets started on day one! Most of the big surprises like the Asus TaiChi and Transformer Book were outed on Day 0, but there was still a flood of exciting news today. We worked hard to bring you detailed coverage here at Ultrabook News and now we’ve got a handy round-up of all the Computex Day 1 news; come on in and check it out!
We’re confused. Trying to get a hold on the models numbers, specifications and availability of the new Samsung Series 9 in just the USA, UK and Germany is driving us crazy and adding to the confusion today is news via Engadget that Samsung UK have listed an Ivy Bridge version of the gorgeous Series 9 2012. There’s also an Ivy Bridge version of the 13.3” version appearing in Austria. The 900X3C with 4GB of RAM and the Ivy Bridge i5-3317UM is showing for €1253 with an expected availability of 21 May. We don’t believe any Ivy-Bridge Ultrabook will ship before June but remember that the Series 5 is already launched and, importantly, not an Ultrabook!
Here’s an overview of the Samsung Series 9 models as far as we can work it out. The two new models are highlighted.
I’ve just finished the main text for the full Samsung Series 5 13” Ultrabook review. It’s been a tough one. [Details, specs, gallery here, Review will be live tomorrow and linked on this page.]
To all intents and purposes the Series 5 is a simple, unfussy and polite Ultrabook but there’s a lot going on under the hood. It’s a swan! Express Cache is doing it’s stuff to improve boot, hibernation and application startup times and Turbo is giving a leg-up where needed; but only a little one. It seems the Samsung Series 5 has been de-tuned in order to keep it quiet.
Ultrabooknews.com has the Samsung Series 5 for testing. 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.
Thin and beautiful but big and usable. The Series 9 15” is an exciting laptop to see, an exciting laptop to hold and and exciting laptop to use. The finishing on the Series 9 2012 is slightly less ‘out there’ compared to the 2011 Series 9, still a fantastic ultralight but loses nothing in terms of style. 1.4KG, 1600×900 screen, full SD card slot, Centrino 6230 Wi-Fi module and it looks like some great power consumption figures. We don’t have official figures but we think the battery capacity is a very usable 68Wh. [6200mah is given on specs and a (3×3) 6-Cell battery makes 68Wh] It would match Samsung’s claims of 10hr battery life. We measured some respectable minimum drain figures too…
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.
The Samsung NP530 is the new 1.4KG Series 5 Ultrabook you saw launched in South Korea a short while back. We’ve now confirmed It’s coming to other countries soon as we’ve just spotted pre-order for it in Germany. The specifications and price are looking very competitive.
Full gallery here.
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