Samsung ATIV Book 9 2014 Laptop Hands On

You asked, we answered. We spent a little time getting to know Samsung's new ATIV Book 9 2014 - slightly heavier, slightly thicker, with better CPUs, better battery and touch.

Read the full content of this Article: http://www.notebookreview.com/news/samsung-ativ-book-9-2014-laptop-hands-on/

 

Very nice. I have a 1080P ATB 9 i7 256ssd and love this thing to death. But this with a larger screen, and massive battery life improvement makes me want to pull the trigger yet again. The 15 inch really needed a boost and this surely will give it that. I'm sure this is also a IPS which was the big downfall on the older TN panel 900P version. Probably going to run over 1600 for the i7 but that's the one to get for sure.

 

For anyone reading this thread who is not familiar with the Series 9 / Ativ Book 9 range I would add:

1. This Book 9 (2014) is an evolution of the NP900X4C which used a 15" 1600 x 900 resolution display (see here for more details). However, this new model is bigger due to the 15.6" display but seems to have grown by more than is necessary to accommodate the larger panel.
2. The Ativ Book 9 Plus released about 6 months ago is a 13.3" model with the ultra high resolution display. I would expect this to continue to be available.
3. Samsung are just putting into production a Haswell version of the old 13.3" Series 9 with FHD display. The model number is NP900X3G. This may not be on show at CES because it is an update of a 2 year old design.
4. There are also many versions of the budget NP905S3G / NP910S3G / NP915S3G which use a 13.3" 1366 x 768 resolution display. This family is not new so may not merit a seat at CES.

And, slightly off-topic, Samsung are also putting into production a Haswell version of the Ativ Book 8 with model number NP870Z5G. I haven't seen any report of this being shown at CES but it is an evolution, not a new product.

John

 

I agree its a shame this 15" has added weight but if its FHD and has IPS with significant increase in battery life I would say that may be a worthy compromise. I also feel they should keep a non touch (matte) version for business users which would also shed a bit of weight off. I also strongly feel that any Book 9 has no place for TN panels anymore. Their top of the line should all have IPS for what these things cost.
I would have liked to get the 13" FHD with haswell. But I could not wait that long. John, will that also be matte? Really hope they keep that original FHD 13" with the 2.5 lb form factor and haswell. Its the only system that eats the air 13" for breakfast, lunch and dinner. Its build quality, screen and style offer so much more then the air. The air looks crude in comparison. The Apple's raw aluminum look is no match for Samsung's sand blasted dura aircraft aluminum with high end bluish/black paint job and tapered aluminum edge's. The built quality tolerances are insane on the Samsung compared with the air's.

 

See my post in another thread regarding the NP900X3G. The Korean version has a non-glare display while the thickness is the same as the previous non-touch NP900X3* models. Maybe Sasung aren't proclaiming it as "new" model because it doesn't comply with Intel's ultrabook spec. You can see the specs of the Korean version (NP900X3G) here.

John

 

Pro: a 15" laptop without a number pad, it's uncommon and very welcome. HP please learn from this. I'm thinking about the zbook 15.

Cons: 16:9, glare screen, no touchpad buttons, only 256 GB of internal storage, small arrow keys. Not everything Apple does is worth copying. If you really do, copy the 16:10 displays and add matte finish.

 

why the mention of the magnesium chassis as if it were a recent change, surely it was only the original series 9 that used the duralon (?) case?

 

I really like this setup. The 1080p screen at 15" means that you don't have to use scaling which is a plus for me. And of course there is the huge battery while keeping the slim form factor. I think I'm gonna have this one.

 

FYI, Samsung doesn't actually use IPS screens.. they use their own proprietary PLS screens (which are technically different). i assume you're referring to these anyway.

IPS panels are generally held in high regard, but they're not the end-all in display technology and there's different grades of IPS. while a quality IPS delivers excellent viewing angles with minimal color shift, an S-PVA panel does the same but achieves better color saturation and darker blacks.

Samsung and Sony both use S-PVA panels on their TV's, it'd be great to see this technology brought to notebooks.

 

This Wolfson DAC."lossless audio" reminds me of old Sony Vaio FZ, which had the similar capability, and it had the impressive headphone output. The result? Nobody cared, and it was panned for its poor speakers (personally, I don't get why anyone would want to listen to music on laptop speakers, but apparently many people do). Very few people care about audio quality of headphone out on laptops, and those who do tend to own USB DAC/ headphone amps anyway (including myself). I foresee the same thing to happen with this laptop.

 

You should "pull the trigger" faster - I've heard, that Samsung will discontinue its notebook line in 2015:
Samsung cuts target notebook shipments to 7 million units for 2014

 

John, how about making this a seperate discussion in the Samsung forum?

Samsung and Google Sign Global Patent License Agreement
While this mostly effects Android, could it also mean that Samsung will indeed focus on Chromebooks!?

 

What is the release date you think?

 

I would expect Q2 2014 for most countries but it might show up in a few countries before then. Keep watching out for NP930X5J.

The Korean version (N T930X5J) is listed (eg here) but I don't think it is in stock yet.

John

 

The Samsung ATIV Book 9 2014 is listed on Samsung's Korean website:

삼성 아티브 북9 NT930X5J-K51 (39.6cm LED 디스플ëˆì´) - 요약ì•ë³´ | SAMSUNG
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