Samsung series 9 ultrabooks unveiled at CES 2012 Las Vegas

The original Series 9 was one of the world's thinnest laptops, but Samsung has managed to shave another 4mm from its size-zero body, and the updated 13" model measures just 12.9mm when closed.

The 15" version measures just 15mm, and one certainly gets the impression that Samsung wants to prove a point to the Ultrabook crowd. Duralumin, the tough alloy used on the original model, has been axed - possibly because it was prone to scratches - and replaced by standard aluminium, which feels much more resilient, and should stand up to contact with other items in your bag.

Inside is a 1.7GHz Intel Core i7 processor, and up to 8GB of RAM, and an SSD hard drive, which really makes a difference in boot times. Samsung boasts that the Series 9 can resume from sleep in just 2 seconds, and when we got hands-on, this claim certainly doesn't seem wide of the mark.

In a surprise move, Samsung has opted for an 1600x1200 matte screen on the Series 9, and there's no option for a glossier, more vibrant Super-TFT option.

For a portable laptop, it makes sense to include a matte panel, to stop annoying reflections when working in direct sunlight, however, this updated model feels more about style than business. The detail is fantastic, the screen bright, but it does lack vibrancy in colour and contrast, which may put off media lovers.

Source: Tech Radar

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Posted in: CES 2012,Samsung series 9 Ultrabooks,Samsung Ultrabooks

Samsung series 5 14" and 13" ultrabooks unveiled at CES 2012

Powered by an Intel Core i5 procesor, the Series 5 differentiates itself from many of the other Ultrabooks on offer at the show by packing beefed-up graphics in the form of an AMD Radeon HD chip inside the bigger 14-inch model. It also has something called an 'optical disc drive' – we're pretty scared that disc storage seems like such an outdated concept. The Series 5 is available in a 13-inch too – it's interesting that the sizes aren't more different - but both size variants have the Intel Core i5-2467M processor and up to 8GB of memory. The 300nit HD LED SuperBright screen is lovely and bright, and is anti-glare, though this didn't seem to help on the show floor at CES. The 300nit HD LED SuperBright screen is lovely and bright, and is anti-glare, though this didn't seem to help on the show floor at CES.

So let's talk about the 13-inch model. It's between 14 to 17.6mm thick and weighs a measly 1.38kg – a fairly standard Ultrabook weight.

As is generally the case with Samsung laptops, the keyboard seems great, while the trackpad buttons are definite and well designed.

As well a 128GB SSD or 258GB SSD, there is also an option to go for higher capacity by using a standard hard drive – up to 500GB. Samsung says the 14-inch can be configured with up to 1TB of storage – an incredible amount.

However, this creates a problem – SSD storage is fast. So the Series 5 includes a tech to boost the speed of the standard drive - ExpressCache by Diskeeper. This uses a small 16GB iSSD to speed up the system. Samsung cites a 20 second boot time and 2 second resume from standby, which is only a little slower than many other Ultrabooks featuring SSDs. The only area the Series 5 13 disappoints in is battery life – Samsung cites 6.4 hours. This pales in comparison to the 8-9 hours promised by many other Ultrabooks. The 13" model also has a full-size HDMI port along with one USB 3.0, two USB 2.0, a 4-in-1 multi SD card slot, an Ethernet connection and webcam. The 14" model offers full-size HDMI, VGA, two USB 3.0, one USB 2.0, a 4-in-1 multi SD card slot, Ethernet and built-in webcam. It's 20.9mm thick and weighs 1.84kg.

Source: Tech Radar

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Posted in: CES 2012,Samsung series 5 Ultrabooks,Samsung Ultrabooks