Samsung Series 9 (13-inch)

Compare WithToshiba Portege R835-P56X

Ever since Steve Jobs pulled the original MacBook Air out of an envelope, Windows laptop makers have been trying to beat the thinnest, lightest notebook in town. We've seen some notable efforts, such as the sexy but underpowered Dell Adamo series and the powerful but unsexy ThinkPad X301. Others have tried, too, but no one has been able to pair an ultra-slim and ergonomically sound design with an uncompromised computing experience. Now Samsung has taken up that challenge with the Series 9, a machine that rivals the latest 13-inch MacBook Air not only on in terms of design but performance. It also has a brighter display than the Air and a backlit keyboard, which you only get on the MacBook Pro. The Series 9 definitely has the air of an Air killer, but is it worth $1,649?

Design

The Series 9 is a beautifully crafted machine. It's made mostly from a metal called duralumin, which up until now has only been used in aircraft construction. Samsung claims it's twice as strong as aluminum, and at 2.88 pounds, it does feel a hair lighter than the closest competition, the MacBook Air (2.9). Not only is it light, the Series 9 feels sturdier than the Air, especially if you pick it up by its corner. We also noted that the hinge is less fluid on the Series 9. You may not be able to open the lid with just one finger, but the display won't flop back when you carry it, either.
Unlike the Air, the Series 9 isn't all metal on the outside. Some pieces of the deck and the base of the display connected to the hinge are high-grade, glossy plastic. It melds well with the duralumin style-wise, but is prone to fingerprint smudges in some areas.

Both notebooks are about the same size--12.9 x 8.9 x 0.62-0.64 inches (Series 9) and 12.8 x 8.9 x 0.11-0.68 inches (Air)--though Samsung managed to make its offering a bit slimmer at its thickest point while still adding a dash of flair. Unlike the Air, the edges don't taper in a straight line, but include a little arch and curve reminiscent of the wave design found on the Samsung NF310 and SF510.

Under the hood, aesthetic similarities to the MacBook Air abound, including an island-style keyboard and large touch pad, which might be mistaken for Apple's design work if they weren't in black. Though the design is minimalist, Samsung included a few extra touches, such as blue LED indicators in the keyboard and on the deck as well as the chrome-outlined power button on the upper right.
Beyond the actual notebook, Samsung also paid close attention to how the Series 9 is packaged. The box is also minimalist but elegant, right away giving owners the feeling they've purchased something high-end. (Check out our unboxing photos on the blog.)

Ports

You'll find the few ports on the Series 9 along the edges, rolled up into little pull-down drawers so as not to mar the elegant lines. Pull down the left drawer to access a Gigabit Ethernet port (an adapter is included), mini HDMI, and (chargeable) USB 3.0 port. Pull down the right side drawer for a combo headphone/mic jack, USB 2.0 port, and a microSD card slot. (We'd prefer a full-size one.) The curve on the back edges house the power jack on the left and a lock slot on the right.

Keyboard

Chiclet keys aren't new to Samsung machines, and on the Series 9 our only regret is that the keys themselves are flat. Otherwise, they offered plenty of travel along with spring feedback. We had no trouble getting up to our normal typing speed right away.
The back lighting is definitely a plus, especially in low-light situations. (The 13-inch MacBook Air doesn't have a backlit keyboard.) We liked being able to control the brightness or turn it off completely to save battery. Still, we wish that the top row of Function keys were more like the Air, where volume control, Wi-Fi toggle, and other similar functions are one touch away. Fortunately, Samsung offers an Fn Lock key that eliminates the need to press the Fn key to access all the secondary functions on that row.

Touchpad

The touch pad on the 13-inch Series 9 is just a bit smaller than the MacBook Air's (3.9 x 2.7 vs. 4.3 x 3 inches) but it offers a smooth, matte surface free of friction. It's one of the closest in both feel and functionality to Apple's touch pads, but it does have some drawbacks.
Those who use touch pads with two hands may find it frustrating that the Series 9 sometimes mistakes leaving one finger on the bottom left click area for a desire to activate a multitouch gesture, such as zoom. Plus, the cursor sometimes jumped around when we had a finger resting there. We rarely, if ever, encounter these issues with MacBooks. But if you use one hand to navigate you won't have this problem.
The gestures available on the 13-inch Series 9 go beyond the standard two-finger scroll and pinch/zoom found on many Windows notebooks. There's a three-finger flick for navigating within apps such as the photo viewer and browser. The four-finger gestures further attempt to mimic Mac OS X functionality: Swipe down to minimize everything and view the desktop and swipe up to activate the Aero 3D window manager. Swiping right presents a simple box listing all programs and windows, while swiping left toggles back and forth between the last two open windows.

We were able to execute each of these gestures easily every time we tried. And Synaptics provides visual tutorials in the settings menu, where users can also deactivate anything they don't want to use. Overall, Samsung and Synaptics did an excellent job with the gestures.