Visualized: What the new Samsung Series 9 could have looked like

Posted on 17/05/2012 by Dana Wollman

In case you haven't noticed, we've gotten multiple opportunities to talk shop with Samsung executives over the past couple days. After we finished grilling the R&D team on higher-res displays, we sat down with the designers behind the latest Series 9 Ultrabooks, and they surprised us by whipping out a late-stage prototype -- aka, a glimpse at what these laptops might have been, were it not for a little extra hemming and hawing and at least one executive veto. You know what they say: a picture tells a thousand words, and we've got quite a few embedded below for your viewing pleasure. If you're obsessed with minutiae like the keyboard backlighting color, however, follow past the break for more on all those rejected design ideas, and feel free to let us know in the comments which ones you would've preferred.

Gallery: 2012 Samsung Series 9 prototype hands-on

Continue reading Visualized: What the new Samsung Series 9 could have looked like

Visualized: What the new Samsung Series 9 could have looked like originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 17 May 2012 11:32:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Editorial: Thin laptops are the new mainstream, but what about battery life?

Posted on 16/05/2012 by Darren Murph

Bandwagons, trains and Tranes. Can't say that these three have a heck of a lot in common in most regards, but one thing's for sure: trying to stop this trio would be a Herculean task. And so it goes with laptops -- once upon a time, it was good enough to have something that resembled a portable tower, but these days, the ability to even see the chassis at all feels like a negative. I exaggerate, of course, but the proverbial race in the laptop world is hardly about price; it's about thinness. Intel's unstoppable quest to plaster the Ultrabook term as far and wide as possible has led to a change in the way consumers are viewing portable machines, and Apple's devilishly thin MacBook Air certainly played a role, too. What we're left with is a very curious priority list, and I'm wondering if too many OEMs have stopped to wonder if the "obvious" is indeed the "right."

I'll be the first to confess that I love the look of thin. Samsung's Series 9 and Acer's Aspire S5 might just be two of the sexiest machines to ever be built, and Dell's original Adamo was primarily of interest due to one thing: its jaw-droppingly thin frame. But there's some saying about putting form before function that seems to apply here, particularly when keying in on battery life. I've no doubt that the marketing and research teams for PC makers far and wide understand the realities of the market place, and perhaps the average consumer really doesn't need more than four to six hours of life on a single charge. Five years ago, squeezing that much life from machines under an inch thick would've required some sort of wizardry that exists only in a rarely visited corner of West Hollywood. But today, I'm a dreamer. And I'm dreaming of a laptop with "all day battery life" -- something that could be screamed from the rooftops, and honestly, something that could probably be accomplished tomorrow if our laptop options weren't on such a diet.

Continue reading Editorial: Thin laptops are the new mainstream, but what about battery life?

Editorial: Thin laptops are the new mainstream, but what about battery life? originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 16 May 2012 14:00:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Samsung exec admits the 15-inch Series 9 could benefit from better viewing angles

Posted on 16/05/2012 by Dana Wollman

When we reviewed the 15-inch Samsung Series 9, we found very little to complain about, save for the narrow viewing angles and the fair-weather trackpad. Turns out, Samsung at least agrees with the first part. In a show of candor, Raymond Wah, VP of PC product strategy, told a group of reporters, "We can make improvements in terms of the viewing angle." That's not surprising, given that Samsung's homegrown 15-inch display doesn't currently make use of the same IPS-like PLS technology as the panel used in the 13-inch Series 9. It would seem, then, that it's occurred to Samsung to develop one, though company reps declined to say when we might see a 15-inch Series 9 with such a panel in tow.

For now, anyway, the outfit is giving itself some credit for the laptop's relatively dense 1600 x 900 pixel count (and rightfully so!). Interestingly, Wah's comments come at a time when MacBook Pro rumors are starting to flow fast and furious, and a Retina display is looking like a fair possibility. As to whether Samsung will ever produce a 4K laptop display of its own, Wah declined to comment, but he did note that right now there isn't enough content optimized for that higher resolution, and that such screens would be costlier to produce. Until all that changes, we have to admit we're pretty pleased with the Series 9's resolution too -- after all, anything's better than plain old HD.

Samsung exec admits the 15-inch Series 9 could benefit from better viewing angles originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 16 May 2012 11:41:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Visualized: Second-gen Samsung Series 9 gets torn down to its ultra-slim components

Posted on 08/05/2012 by Sarah Silbert

Chances are you're no stranger to the Samsung Series 9 -- the first generation stood out for its slimness, and the most current version is an impressive 28 percent thinner. If you're wondering how those notebooks can be so dang skinny, your curiosity will be satisfied by Samsung's teardown of a 13-inch model. A thinner LCD and a customized main board contribute to the machine's slight profile, as do a 40 percent slimmer touchpad and a built-in lithium-polymer battery. As is so often the case, the pictures speak much louder than words, so hop over to Samsung's blog for a gander.

Visualized: Second-gen Samsung Series 9 gets torn down to its ultra-slim components originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 08 May 2012 04:02:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Samsung teases Series 9 Ivy Bridge Ultrabook, leaves availability in the ether

Posted on 03/05/2012 by Zachary Lutz

Samsung's latest Series 9 Ultrabook is certainly a beautiful piece of engineering, but really, what's the fun in purchasing a new laptop with yesterday's internals? Fortunately, users won't need to make that compromise, as the company has now outed a refreshed version of the computer that's complete with Ivy Bridge internals. The move follows Samsung's recent reveal of the Series 7 Gamer laptop, but as you'd expect, components in the Series 9 are geared more toward efficiency than performance. At its heart, you'll find a dual-core 1.7GHz Core i5 3317U CPU (which has yet to be announced), Intel HD Graphics 4000 and the HM75 Express chipset. While its internal storage remains the same, with a 128GB SSD, its memory has received a pleasant bump up to 8GB. No word yet on pricing or availability, but for those who want to own the very latest, we invite you to stay tuned.

[Thanks, Brooks]

Samsung teases Series 9 Ivy Bridge Ultrabook, leaves availability in the ether originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 02 May 2012 20:25:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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15-inch Samsung Series 9 review (2012)

Posted on 09/04/2012 by Dana Wollman

Samsung Series 9 (NP900X3A) laptop review

Samsung unveils redesigned Series 9 laptops with 13- and 15-inch displays, starting at $1,399

Spotted: the elusive 15-inch Samsung Series 9

Before there were Ultrabooks, there was the Samsung Series 9. When it arrived on the scene last year, measuring .64 inches thick, weighing 2.8 pounds and packing a blazing SSD, it seemed to offer Windows users the closest thing to a no-compromise experience -- provided, of course, they were willing to pony up the requisite $1,649. As it turns out, the Series 9 was great -- memorable, even -- but not without flaws. It lacked an SD slot, the trackpad was jumpy and the display resolution topped out at a humdrum 1366 x 768.

A year later, Samsung is back with a second-generation laptop that promises to correct all of these shortcomings, and ushers in an even thinner, even lighter design. Make that two laptops: Sammy's selling a 15-inch Ultrabook, too. And truly, there's nothing quite like it: nothing quite this thin, with this large a screen. (Consider for a moment that it measures just .08 inches thicker than the new 13-inch Series 9, which is already thinner than most other Ultrabooks on the market.) As always, though, luxury doesn't come cheap. The 15-inch Series 9 will cost $1,500 when it ships at the end of this month (the 13-inch version is available for an also-pricey $1,400, though we haven't gotten to take that model for a spin yet.) Ultimately, then, are the Series 9's elegant aluminum design and 1600 x 900 matte display enough to justify the premium you'll pay over other Ultrabooks? And does the 15-inch version offer long enough battery life to match its larger size? Let's find out.

Gallery: 15-inch Samsung Series 9 review (2012)