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Samsung Series 9 (late 2011 refresh) review

Our Rating :
Price when reviewed : £1183
inc VAT

A great looking laptop, but with some frustrations and a high price it's difficult to recommend

Specifications

13.3 in 1,366×768 display, 1.3kg, 1.6GHz Intel Core i5-2467M, 4.00GB RAM, 128GB disk, Windows 7 Professional 64-bit

http://www.dabs.com

The first version of Samsung’s Series 9 laptop wasn’t an official Ultrabook, but this refreshed version brings it into line with Intel’s specification. With a dark brushed metal finish, curved hinge and rounded corners, it has a distinctive appearance that helps it stand out from its competitors. A single Samsung logo on the lid helps retain the minimalist look, which continues when you lift the screen.

Samsung Series 9 (late 2011 refresh)

The Chiclet-style keyboard is backlit, so you should have no trouble working on the Series 9 in the dark. The spacious full-size keys are responsive and a pleasure to use, with plenty of spring, although we did spot a noticeable amount of flex in the keyboard tray. The integrated touchpad is also very easy to use, although as on some other ultrabooks it lacks physical touchpad buttons. The pad and buttons are combined into a single panel, and for the most part it worked accurately. Even so, the very limited tactile feedback made it difficult to tell if a click had been registered or not.

Samsung Series 9 (late 2011 refresh) keyboard

We were impressed with the image quality of the 13in display, which looked incredibly sharp despite its unremarkable 1,366×768 resolution. Pictures were vibrant at maximum brightness, although not quite as impressive as other ultrabooks we’ve seen – this is mostly because Samsung has opted to use a matt display finish, which mutes colour reproduction slightly. On the plus side, this has the benefit of reducing light glare significantly, so we had no trouble working under the harsh lights of our labs space. Viewing angles are about average and there’s a good range of screen tilt, so you shouldn’t find it too hard to get a comfortable working position.

The Series 9’s refresh has left it relatively unchanged on the outside, but inside Samsung has upgraded the processor to an Intel Core i5-2467M running at 1.6GHz. Combined with 4GB of RAM and a 128GB SSD, it completed our multimedia benchmarks with a somewhat disappointing overall score of 35. This isn’t the fastest performance we’ve seen from this particular chip, but the laptop is still quick enough for most day-to-day tasks. With a superb battery life of seven and a half hours, you can work for long stretches without worrying about the remaining charge.

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Basic Specifications

Rating ***
Processor Intel Core i5-2467M
Processor clock speed 1.6GHz
Memory 4.00GB
Memory slots 1
Memory slots free 0
Maximum memory 4GB
Size 16x329x227mm
Weight 1.3kg
Sound Realtek HD Audio
Pointing device touchpad

Display

Viewable size 13.3 in
Native resolution 1,366×768
Graphics Processor Intel HD Graphics 3000
Graphics/video ports HDMI
Graphics Memory 384MB

Storage

Total storage capacity 128GB
Optical drive type none

Ports and Expansion

USB ports 2
Bluetooth yes
Wired network ports 1x 10/100/1000 via adaptor
Wireless networking support 802.11n
PC Card slots none
Supported memory cards Micro SDHC
Other ports minijack headset port, 1x USB 3.0

Miscellaneous

Carrying case No
Operating system Windows 7 Professional 64-bit
Operating system restore option restore partition
Software included Microsoft Office 2010 Starter Edition
Optional extras none

Buying Information

Warranty three years collect and return
Price £1,183
Details www.samsung.co.uk
Supplier http://www.dabs.com