Monday, April 4, 2011

My Samsung Series 9 laptop Review

Finally had the time to write this up. Sorry for the delay.

Well I'm sure many out there would have already played around with this laptop but what the heck, I'm still gonna write it anyways.
I had a chance to play with the laptop during its launching recently.

First I shall begin with the specs of it.
  • Intel i5 2nd Gen 1.4GHz
  • 4GB ram
  • Windows 7 64bit
  • 128GB Flash Hard Disk
  • Chargeable USB port
  • Backlit keyboard
The Samsung Series 9 laptop is designed for people on the go. With its thin and lightweight design, being portable was definitely one of the main themes. The laptop is also pack with a Intel 2nd Gen processor, so don’t you worry about lagging and not being able to multitask. One of the main points that Samsung highlights would be the SUPER bright LED screen(1366x768) which is supposed to be the brightest in the current market, so for all those users who likes using their laptop out in the sun, don’t you worry about it. For users who like to sit in the dark, a backlit keyboard is provided and it is sensor guided. When it is dark enough, it would automatically switch on.


It has all the basic connectivity ports plus a very special USB port just for charging equipment. It allows users to charge their handphones or their mp3s even when the laptop is off! How cool is that? Another main feature of the laptop would be the hard disk. Samsung has made the jump to Flash memory, the same kind of technology of the basic memory card. Since there are no moving parts involved, it is faster than the conventional hard disk. Battery life on this baby is exceptional, pushing over the 7 hour limit with minimal usage. Oh, before I forget, the material used on the Series 9, is used to build airplanes. holy shit? 


With all the high-tech power packed into this laptop, there are also some flaws with is. One would be the hard disk size, since the technology is still pretty new, yes it may be fast and very thin but it would not give you much size. When a regular laptop now comes with 500GB of memory, you can only expect about 200+ GB max. Thus, that is why I said this laptop is meant for constantly moving people. Bring an external HDD around, it will be useful. It also only comes with a Intel graphics card. It may not use as much electric but it definitely won’t be giving you much graphics as well. Media such as movies and songs would be fine but from my estimation, DOTA and CS1.6 would be pushing it already. *Updated* Well apparently the Integrated graphics are stronger than I thought, according to notebookcheck.com, the Intel HD 3000 is able to play games like L4D, WoW, F.E.A.R 2, Battlefield - Bad Company 2. Not in HIGH details for most of the newer games but definitely playable. My concerns would be the heat, maybe Samsung has perfected a way to reduce the heat of the laptop, or else not best remember to have laptop cooler nearby. Moreover, the laptop is priced at a pretty steep price, at RM4999. A pretty big flaw since the laptop looks so damn good! Just pray the price drops!


This laptop would be good for office people and college students due to the weight and size issue. On the go, you can view and reply mails, light gaming, read and edit documents and when needed, plugged into the projector or even wirelessly to a Samsung LCD for presentations. Charge your phone with it perhaps or even watch some movies at the local coffee shop but if you are looking for something with more power, best you look elsewhere.


I rate thee - 7/10


*I would just like to clarify, as I am a sole reviewer, I would not be given any of the products to be reviewed in-dept. I would only be able to fiddle around with it during the launching and at showrooms. So if you find that there is a lack of information about the laptop, please check out other reviews about it. 


**UPDATED - According to a commenter, who owns the laptop, with 60% brightness and basic browsing, videos and music the laptop would last for about 5:30 hours. Commenter only said the GPU outperforms a Nvidia 320m.

*****Samsung passed me the laptop. So here is my first impression and the usability of it**

YJ

13 comments:

  1. What a neat post! Looking forward for more post from you. Thank you for sharing!

    ReplyDelete
  2. Ive been using this laptop for a month now. I have a very detailed understanding of the laptop's merits and demerits. I feel you havent addressed most of that. Although your review is good, it remains highly objective in that it becomes obvious that you dont own it.

    Thanks for the info but I would respectfully suggest that a number review does not do justice to a product without conducting benchmarks on CPU, batter usage, graphics card (notebook review did a graphic review on this laptop and it to outperform Nvidia 320M). Also, nowhere is the battery rated to work for 10 hours. Samsung says about 7 hours but I have seen a more modest 5:30 hours worth of consistent use (60% brightness with flash based browsing, videos and music).

    I hope some of my recommendations help you out.

    Thanks

    ReplyDelete
  3. Thank Default Account. Well you are right on the part where I don't own it. Unfortunately Samsung did not pass every reviewer a laptop to review. I only had a hour to play with it and most of the information I got was from the launching. So that was what I wrote down.

    Thank you so much for more of the information tho. Will add it in to help others out.

    ReplyDelete
  4. Such a lovely model of laptop you have here. I like that it has Backlit keyboard and 4GB ram in it.
    Dealsbell

    ReplyDelete
  5. do u own one of this ??? it certainly looks like u "review" it based on a review u read... ==" what a bumper...duh~ do personally touch it or use it before u review it ...=)

    ReplyDelete
  6. I wrote this on my own after i personally touched it.

    ReplyDelete
  7. Hello Justin,

    Thanks for the review.
    I, however, have another question related to Samsung laptops. I hope you don't mind me asking
    do you know of the reliability of Samsung laptop in msia?I personally feel that other brands out there--Dell,HP,Sony--are more popular among others, but is Samsung good because I'm interested in buying one, but am not sure of its reliability and performance. Perhaps if you know of some website/reviews/personally owned one, could you give some comments?I'd really appreciate it. Thanks so much!

    ReplyDelete
  8. Hi, personally I would say that Samsung laptops are pretty reliable. Technically any brand would be good. Its more on how you treat the laptop and how lucky you are. Sometimes people do get defective parts in their laptops but those are usually fixed pretty quickly.
    So no worries about buying the laptop. It should be all good.

    ReplyDelete
  9. Beautiful Laptop!!!! I am a great admirer of Samsung. Thanks for sharing.

    ReplyDelete
  10. Wow...Samsung has make new laptop...hope this product better than before

    ReplyDelete
  11. The newly redesigned MacBook Pro with Retina Display combines an amazing screen with just enough of the MacBook Air design to feel like a new animal, and to take its place as the best of the current MacBook breed. Www.expressmacs.com

    ReplyDelete