Samsung Series 9 (NP900X3A) review

Opening the case, it’s clear to see that Samsung has been inspired by the MacBook air. Gone is the usual touchpad with dedicated left right buttons, replaced instead with a large multi-touch touchpad. The entire unit is a single button, which follows the same rules as on Apple’s laptops: a click with one finger is left-click; two fingers gives you a right click.

It’s responsive and works brilliantly, once you get used to it. By default, tap is turned on, so you tap (without clicking) to select an object or move the mouse cursor. Given that this often means that while you’re typing the touchpad can get knocked, moving the cursor to a part of the screen you don’t want to type on, we disabled this in the Windows Control Panel.

Where the Series 9 really loses out is with multi-touch gestures. On an Apple MacBook, a four-fingered swipe puts Exposé into action, giving you a quick way to switch between applications; on the Series 9 the same action either minimizes all windows if you swipe down (the same action restores) or gives you Flip 3D in you swipe upwards. Two fingered swipes let you scroll through a document, but a little icon appears in Windows 7 to show what you’re doing. Windows 7’s multi-touch support, it’s fair to say, just isn’t as smooth or as well integrated as on Mac OS X. Even so, this is the best touchpad we’ve seen on a Windows laptop and far more preferable to the two-button models we normally see.

The full-size Chiclet-style keyboard is incredibly comfortable to type on. We found that the keys had the right amout of feedback and travel, letting us touch-type at full flow without making any errors. For use in dimly-lit areas, the keyboard has a backlight that’s activated by a light sensor. Shortcut keys let you control the brightness. It’s a nice touch that makes the Series 9 easier to use in a variety of locations.

We were pleased with the evenly-lit 13.3in screen, which has a resolution of 1,366×768. It’s incredibly bright, so you can use it in pretty much every lighting situation, and produces rich colours. It really is a fantastic screen. While the MacBook air comes with a 1,440×900 screen, there’s really very little between the two resolutions and the two laptops are about even there.