Samsung Series 9 Full HD (ATIV Book 9)

Once upon a time, you expected this kind of experience only from Sony or Apple. A unique and distinctive design, an all-metal casing and perfect fit and finish. Good performance and specs. I'm talking about the Samsung Series 9 Ultrabook; striking yet understated in Mineral Ash Black. The design hasn't changed from the previous generation 13.3" Series 9 (though it's much improved from the first generation), but it still turns heads. This 2.55 pound machine is just 0.51" thick, with straight cut bright aluminum sides that contrast with the matte black top, bottom and inner surfaces. For those of you who follow Samsung's Galaxy Android smartphones, Samsung's penchant for metal casings in their notebooks might come as a shock. Yes, the Samsung Series 9 is the manufacturer's high line of Ultrabooks, so it should look good and use high end materials. That said, the styling exceeds expectations, so it's worth a mention. It's not only unique and striking; it's strong and rigid with no flex and no unsightly seams. Samsung is changing their naming convention, and this will eventually be rechristened the Samsung ATIV Book 9.

Today we look at the April-May 2013 refresh with updated Intel CPUs and a full HD 1920 x 1080 display. The rest of the specs are similar to slightly older models available several months ago, and the design is untouched (we won't complain about that since it's stunning). Of course, a $1,399 list price laptop ($1,299 on Amazon) needs more than good looks to impress us, and Samsung does a fairly decent job with their jaw-dropping full HD matte display, updated 2.0GHz Intel Core i7-3537U ULV CPU with Turbo Boost to 3.1GHz, 4 gigs of DDR3 RAM and a very fast 128 gig SSD. Yes, we'd like to see an 8 gig option, but Samsung seems to shy away from offering this in their 13" Series 9, and to be honest, I rarely exceed 4 gigs of usage unless running VMs (virtual machines) or editing full HD video while other programs are running in the background. 128 gigs of storage isn't exactly capacious, but the 256 gig model with a Core i7 (NP900X3E-K01US) will set you back $1,500 on average the (list price is higher). The 20 gig recovery partition, Windows 8 64 bit and associated apps take up plenty of space, so you're left with 68 gigs available on first boot on the Core i7 model with 128 gig SSD that's most commonly available in the US (NP900X3E-A02US). For those who are wondering why Samsung bothered to release this model with Intel's next generation Haswell CPUs and chipset looming, it's likely because we won't see Haswell invade Ultrabooks in meaningful numbers until the fall of 2013.

The machine has dual band Intel Advanced-N 6235 WiFi with WiDi wireless display, and we had no problems with performance or range. It has Bluetooth 4.0, an SD card slot, 1 USB 2.0 port, 1 USB 3.0 port, micro HDMI, mini VGA (adapter to full size VGA sold separately for $40), wired Gigabit Ethernet (via included dongle adapter that doesn't use a USB port) and 3.5mm combo audio. The port selection, other than 10/100/1000 Ethernet, is par for the course among Ultrabooks, but for a notebook this exquisitely thin and light, we're satisfied. If you need a more general purpose aluminum-clad workhorse with built-in Ethernet and a full size HDMI port (plus upgradable RAM), then Samsung's Series 7 Ultra is more appropriate. The 13.3" Series 7 Ultra is a pound heavier, which is average to a wee bit over average rather than stunningly light like the Series 9.

Despite the thin metal body, the Series 9 didn't get uncomfortably hot when working on MS Office documents or streaming 1080p video. The internal twin fan cooling with copper heat pipes effectively keeps heat under control. Air vents on the bottom and near the back edge get the job done (just don't block them by resting the laptop on a bed). Our CPU ran at a safe 47 degrees Centigrade with moderate demand (105 degrees is max allowable), while the bottom surface rarely got hotter than human body temperature except when playing 3D games.

You can remove the bottom cover if you unscrew 10 tiny Phillips head screws, but the only upgradable part is the mSATA SSD drive. Removing the bottom cover does provide access to the nominally "sealed inside" battery should you need to replace it.

The laptop has two 1.5 watt stereo speakers that fire downward from grilles on each side near the front. They deliver pleasing audio that doesn't sound harsh or shrill, but typical of Ultrabooks, they're not terribly loud and bass is minimal. Use the 3.5mm audio jack or Bluetooth for external speakers and headphones that deliver much better audio. The Series 7 Ultra's higher watt JBL speakers are noticeably louder and add more bass, though they still won't vibrate the table.