Samsung has finally announced the Series 9 Laptop and we have the full details with today (3/17/11) being the release date for the 13″ version and the 11″ version coming in “mid-April”. The idea behind this laptop is to bring some competition to the Macbook Air. I really wish that there were more competitors out there, but Samsung has definitely brought their A game. We have been waiting for the release of this laptop since it’s announcement back at CES 2011. So lets take a look at the details and put it up for comparison against the already out Macbook Air.
The Macbook Air comes in the same 13″ and 11″ flavors, so you have the same options as for size in the 9 Series. The Macbook Air comes in the unibody aluminum body while the Series 9 comes in duralumin. Both machines are very thin and light and easy to carry and go portable. Both machines also have an “instant-on” feature due to the SSD drives they are equipped with. Now I don’t have both machines to do a side by side comparison of the boot time, and return from sleep mode, so I will just say that both of them are pretty darn fast when booting up. So lets get down to the nitty gritty and put them up side by side, so you can see the details!
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13” Comparison
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11” Comparison
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Series 9 – 13”
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Macbook Air – 13”
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Series 9 – 11”
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Macbook Air – 11”
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Processor
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| Intel® Core™ i5 Processor 2537M (1.4 GHz, 3MB) |
1.86GHz Intel Core 2 Duo processor w/ 6MB{optional 2.13GHz Intel Core 2 Duo processor w/ 6MB} |
Intel® Core™ i3 Processor 380UM (1.33 GHz, 3MB) |
1.4GHz Intel Core 2 Duo processor w/ 3MB{optional 1.6GHz Intel Core 2 Duo processor w/ 3MB} |
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Memory
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| 4GB DDR3 (8GB max) |
2GB DDR3 (4GB max) |
2GB DDR3 (8GB max) |
2GB DDR3 (4GB max) |
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Storage
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| 128GB SSD |
128GB (optional 256GB) |
64GB SSD |
64GB (optional 128GB) |
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Screen Size (Resolution)
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| 13.3-inch (1366×768) |
13.3-inch (1440×900) |
11.1-inch (1366×768) |
11.6-inch (1366×768) |
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Size (Height, Width, Depth, Weight)
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| H: 0.62 – 0.64 inchW: 12.9 inches
D: 8.9 inches
2.88 lbs |
H: 0.11-0.68 inchW: 12.8 inches
D: 8.94 inches
2.9 lbs |
??? – mid April 2011 release2.31 lbs |
H: 0.11-0.68 inchW: 11.8 inches
D: 7.56 inches
2.3 lbs |
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I/O Connectivity
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HDMI
3.5mm Headphone
Mic-in
MicroSD
RJ45/Lan
(3) USB (1 Chargeable)
{no mention of USB 3.0??}
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Mini Display Port
3.5mm Headphone
Integrated Mic
SD
(2) USB 2.0
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??? – mid April 2011 release
(safely assume the same, maybe one less USB)
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Mini Display Port
3.5mm Headphone
Integrated Mic
(2) USB 2.0
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Graphics
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| Intel® HD Graphics 30001.3MP HD Webcam |
NVIDIA GeForce 320MFacetime Camera |
Intel GMA HD (Integrated)1.3MP HD Webcam |
NVIDIA GeForce 320MFacetime Camera |
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Wireless
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| 802.11abg/n WiDi Capable/WIMAX Wireless LAN
Bluetooth 3.0
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802.11a/b/g
Bluetooth 2.1 EDR
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802.11abg/n WiDi Capable/WIMAX Wireless LAN
Bluetooth 3.0
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802.11a/b/g
Bluetooth 2.1 EDR
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Battery
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| 7 hours40-watt-hour |
7 hours50-watt-hour |
??? – mid April 2011 release(safely assume 5 hours) |
5 hours35-watt-hour |
So now that you have the full details, lets talk about the price. Since both come in a 13″ and 11″, lets see what the prices are.
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Pricing
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Series 9 – 13”
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Macbook Air – 13”
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Series 9 – 11”
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Macbook Air – 11”
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$1,599-1,649 (depending on the retailer)
$1649 MSRP Windows 7
$1699 MSRP W7 Pro
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$1,299 – 128GB
$1,599 – 256GB
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?? – mid-April release
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$999 – 64GB
$1,199 – 128GB
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Do you see what happened there at the end, and why I held off the prices on the first table? You can pay less for more storage (double to be exact); for basically $100 less or more depending on the Windows OS flavor that you get. I guess the idea here is, that you are paying for a better i5 Processor. With the March update of the Macbook pros to Quad-Cores i Processors, it seems that the Macbook Airs are not far behind. So come summer time, the Air maybe the better buy.
I cannot say I have a clear choice, as I do not have either machine in my hands to test, but at the current time, it seems the Series 9 has a better processor, but less storage for the price. Now, I cannot say if they SSD is upgradeable at this point or not, because there is no option from the factory. Also the Series 9 can be maxed out in memory at 8GB, instead of the Air at 4GB. If it were overall price, then the Macbook wins, because of the better price and the better storage.
So I ask you, if it were your choice, what would you buy?
Feel free to leave a comment below!
Samsung via [Engadget]
Apple via [Apple]
