In the interest of avoiding confusion, Samsung has shied away from calling its second-generation Series 9 computers “ultrabooks” since it didn’t refer to the first generation — which launched last year before Intel birthed the ultrabook moniker – as such. But the new Series 9 looks like a duck, quacks like a duck and pretty handily out-ultrabooks most actual ultrabooks as far as thickness and weight are concerned. There’s bound to be some confusion, in other words.
It’s mostly a moot point, though. Consumers will see a half-inch thick Series 9 notebook with a 13-inch screen (Samsung officially bills it as “the world’s thinnest and most compact premium notebook”) next to 13-inch ultrabook models from other manufacturers that measure closer to 3/4 inches thick, and they’ll pick up a 13-inch Series 9 notebook that weighs 2.5 pounds next to 13-inch ultrabook models from other manufacturers that weigh closer to three pounds.
(MORE: Check out Techland’s coverage of the 2012 Consumer Electronics Show)
Whatever you want to call them — ultrabooks, ultraportables, thin-and-lights, skinnybooks, slivertops, pencilputers (I made some of these up, believe it or not) — it’s a game where every fraction of an inch and every fraction of an ounce makes a difference. So the new Series 9 has that going for it. Even the first-generation 13-inch model still holds its own at 0.64 inches and three pounds, and it was unveiled an entire year ago at the 2011 Consumer Electronics Show.
While the new Series 9 shaves enough ounces and fractions of inches off its previous design to warrant attention (Samsung says it’s “28 percent smaller”), the real appeal here as far as I’m concerned is that the new line sports a respectable 1600×900 screen resolution.
We use Apple’s MacBook Air line as the ultrabook measuring stick (even though like Samsung with the Series 9, Apple doesn’t embrace the “ultrabook” moniker), so it’s important to consider differences in screen resolutions. The 11-inch MacBook Air has a 1366×768-resolution screen; the 13-inch version has a 1440×900-resolution one. So what have a bunch of these PC makers done to differentiate their ultrabooks from Apple’s ultrabook? Many of them have trotted out 13-inch versions with 1366×768-resolution screens and priced them at $1,000 or less. That’s closest to the 11-inch MacBook Air’s $1,000 starting price, which gets you a machine with the same screen resolution as most 13-inch ultrabooks, but in a more portable package.
For consumers like me who want to use an ultrabook to actually get some meaningful work done, though, it’s a game where every pixel counts as much as fractional inches and ounces. Maybe more, even: I lugged a four-pound laptop around the 1.6-million square feet of CES all week instead of a three-pound ultrabook solely because it had a 1600×900-resolution screen.
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Something’s got to give if you’re a PC maker dead set on putting out an ultrabook that starts at less than $1,000, and the screen is the most expensive component of any laptop — ultrabook or otherwise. And plenty of potential ultrabook owners don’t care about screen resolution enough to pay extra for it. Whatever the case, there’s no magic secret to why some 13-inch Windows ultrabooks cost $900 and the 13-inch MacBook Air costs $1,300. It’s not the software. It’s all about the screen, and the Windows camp hopes you’ll be tempted by $300 to $400 in savings without noticing (or caring) that you’re giving up precious pixels in return.
Samsung’s seemingly throwing caution to the wind, then, by stuffing a 1600×900-resolution screen into the new $1,400 Series 9, right? Not really. A company rep revealed to me that a higher-resolution screen was the number one most often requested feature from owners of the first-generation models. “They liked the size and weight, but they really wanted the high-res screens,” he said. I reviewed the first 13-inch Series 9 machine and had the exact same wish.
Fast forward to 2012, and for those of you keeping score in the MacBook-Air-versus-Windows-Ultrabooks battle that’s been brewing, we now have Samsung’s 13-inch Series 9 and Apple’s 13-inch MacBook Air locking horns. Apple’s got a $100 price advantage, but Samsung now has the upper hand in screen resolution (1600×900 vs. 1440×900), weight (2.5 pounds vs. 2.96 pounds), and thickness (0.5 inches vs. 0.68 inches). Aside from the price difference, Apple still has another key advantage, too: seven hours of battery life versus five from Samsung.
And there should be no doubt that Apple’s been busy prepping a new MacBook Air line for 2012 that could measurably tip the scales in its favor again. After all, it has access to all the same components as the PC guys, and a fondness for using premium displays in its products. Apple last updated its MacBook Air line in July with newer processors, a Thunderbolt port and backlit keyboards, but those were relatively minor upgrades to the models released in October of 2010. The series is due for a more meaningful overhaul, in other words.
It’s Samsung’s new 15-inch Series 9 model that makes things really interesting, though. It features the same 1600×900 resolution (albeit in a larger screen) as the 13-inch version, adds just $100 to the sticker price, promises up to 10 hours of battery life, measures 0.58 inches thick and weighs around 3.5 pounds – all of which is absolutely unheard of in a 15-inch laptop.
Most importantly, there’s no MacBook Air equivalent at the moment. Don’t think the supposed 250 undercover Apple employees walking the show floor at CES didn’t take notice, though — Samsung’s window might not be open for long. Considering recurring rumors of a larger MacBook Air that have been circulating and the fact that Apple already offers optional 1680×1050-resolution screens in its 15-inch MacBook Pro machines, and it’s becoming clear that Apple and Samsung may be throwing a few haymakers this year when it comes to ultrabook-style computers that neither camp officially calls ultrabooks.
For now, though, Samsung has itself an impressive line of premium portables in the 13- and 15-inch Series 9 notebooks, both due out in February. Check out the above video for a look at the 13-inch model and grab some popcorn while you wait for Apple’s rebuttal.
(MORE: Samsung’s 5.3-inch Galaxy Note: Giant Phone Meets Tiny Tablet)