Thanks to Samsung Germany I’ve had the Samsung 900X3A (that you might know as the Samsung Series 9) for about 3 days of full use now and I’ve just done an overview video.
I’m enjoying the device immensely but am concerned about the value-for-money aspect here. With GPU performance nothing more than what you get on the 399 Euro AMD-based Lenovo S205, you’d expect maybe a little more for 4 times the cost. CPU performance is about 3-5X that of a netbook so again, not mind-blowing. Still it’s very useful and matches nearly all the average user use cases, especially with the screaming 220MB/s 128GB SSD on board. It’s little features like this that set the Series 9 apart from other devices.
Battery life is impressive with a truly usable 5-6hrs and a multi-day standby time that does a good job of starting up within 5 seconds. One feels confident that the 900X3A never has to be shut down.
Screen brightness is top-class and the matt finish really helps outdoor usage highlighting a fairly unique usage scenario. The touchpad takes some getting used to, the Wi-Fi reception is good, the speakers are OK and there’s very little heat or noise. All in all, it’s a product that does well in a battery saving mode to offer netbook-plus performance or in a turbo mode to offer something that can be used for 720p video editing. There’s even a very swift hardware-based video conversion subsystem that again, sets this apart. That’s all the consumer bases covered then in a 1.3KG laptop.
Again though, the 1600 price means this one is for design fans, executives and those looking for the absolute latest in laptop technology, especially knowing that Ultrabooks using the same platform will be coming in under $1000 (expected €1000.) later this year.
I’ve already made good progress on the full review of the Samsung 900X3A but with such a wide-range of operating modes, it’s going to take quite some testing! Stay tuned for the full review later this week.
LIVE REVIEW
Come and see the Samsung 900X3A in a live review session. Ask questions, hear what other people have to say and enjoy a few hours of geekery! Details coming up in the next post (will be linked here when live.)
Video demo and thoughts embedded below.
Full specifications and links to other reviews here.
