Judged by the standards of most 15in
laptops, the Samsung 900X4C is small, sleek and stylish. It's one of the better
ultra-portables now flooding the market. A shade under 1.7kg, it boasts unique
portability and a crisp style that's starting to tread on Apple's toes.
The curved chassis has resulted in some
compromises. The mains-charger plug, for example, has a very narrow barrel that
will easily snap if someone trips over the wire. You’ll need to use supplied
adaptors for Ethernet or HDMI video, too.
A 16:9 widescreen spreads across the top
panel and boasts great quality: it's LED-backlit, extraordinarily bright and
anti-reflective. With 1600 x 900 pixels making up the screen, resolution stands
above budget laptops fitted with coarse 1366 x 768 screens.
The touchpad is large and responsive, a
button-less type with hidden left- and right-click buttons. You can instead
elect to use a two-finger tap for right-clicking if you prefer.
The keyboard has incredibly low-profile
keys, so minimal effort is required for typing. The intensity of its white
backlight can be controlled; buttons for adjusting this and screen brightness
sit on the Function keys, minimising button clutter elsewhere.
Powering the Samsung is a third-generation
Intel Core i5 -the same processor we now find inside the entry-level 11in Air.
Combined with 8GB of memory, this ‘Series 9' laptop was able to score 125
points in our World Bench 6 real-world speed test.
Storage is solid-state, as you'd expect of
something this thin, light and expensive, although the Korean semiconductor
specialist has opted for a SanDisk U100 rather than one of its own SSDs.
Thanks to Intel's super-charged HD Graphics
4000 chipset, you can dabble with some gaming on this laptop. We saw a playable
28fps in the basic Fear game at Maximum detail.
Battery life is outstanding at more than 8
hours, although we did note that the Samsung runs slower on battery power.
Verdict: A
great anti-glare display and crisp aluminium shell lift the Samsung Series 9
above the Ultrabook rabble, and speedy Intel silicon keeps the laptop fast and
very far from ephemeral. Ideal if you need a light and limber laptop with a
great 15in screen.
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Information
Price: $2,039
Contact: samsung.com
Ratings
Build: 8/10
Features: 6/10
Performance: 8/10
Value: 6/10
Overall: 8/10
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