MacBook Air vs Samsung Series 9 Notebook

[Legion93]

The new Samsung series 9 notebook (also know as NP900X3A) has been rumoured to outperform the new MBAs both ergonomically and aesthetically. It features a 1.4GHz Intel Core i5-2537M processor, 4GB RAM, 128GB SSD, Intel HM65 chipset and Intel HD 3000 graphics. As samsung claimed, it will be using the new sandy bridge processors, which is a kill for the already released Airs by Apple.

What is anyones intake of the new Samsung 9 series? Will you be buying it over a MBA if you were to choose between them? Just trying to get some ideas, because I will be purchasing one very soon.

 

[SR71]

To be honest I don't see the point of an ultraportable having super powerful processors, which is why I think the MacBook Air's are fine with the Core 2 Duo processor's that they currently have. An ultraportable is supposed to be a thin and light computer for doing light work on, such as e-mail, web browsing, watching videos, typing up a report, and the like. An ultraportable is not for doing intense video editing and rendering work or doing other processor intensive things.

In my eyes, the MacBook Air outperforms the Series 9, and also, the MacBook Air is thinner. The Series 9 is .64" thick while the MacBook Air is .68" thin and tapers down to .11". The tapering on the MacBook Air makes it look thinner in comparison to the Series 9, and it feels better in the hand, too.

Now, onto the IGP that comes with the Sandy Bridge processors in the Series 9. Well, in comparison to the NVidia 320m that comes with the Core 2 Duo chip in the MacBook Air, the IGP sucks. Plain and simple. It's been shown to be 50% slower than the 320m.

Another thing that the MacBook Air has over the Series 9 is the resolution. The 13" MacBook Air has a resolution of 1440x900, while the 13" Series 9 has a resolution of 1366x768, which is significantly lower than the resolution on a MacBook Air, especially when the 11" MacBook Air has the same resolution as the 13" Series 9.

Also, I can't forget to mention the fat that the Series 9 is running Windows OS which in my opinion is way behind Mac OS, but again, this is my opinion.

Lastly, the price. The price, the price, the price. The 13" MacBook Air can be had $1299 for the base model, while the base model of the Series 9 is $1649; significantly more than the price of the MacBook Air, especially when you take into consideration some of the things that I have listed above, and yes, while some things I listed above can also be seen as negatives (for example, I know some people will disagree with me about preferring the Core 2 Duo over the Sandy Bridge processors), most of what I listed are positives.

So, in my opinion, the MBA is much better than the Series 9 for all reasons stated above.

Again, this is my opinion and people may see things differently.

 

[Beaverman3001]

For most people on these forums, they aren't competing products (W7 vs. OSX). Personally, most people don't need a better CPU than a C2D, especially for a travel device. For most I feel the 320m GPU over the Intel 3000 GPU is more of a factor for everyday use for most users.

 

[SR71]

For most people on these forums, they aren't competing products (W7 vs. OSX). Personally, most people don't need a better CPU than a C2D, especially for a travel device. For most I feel the 320m GPU over the Intel 3000 GPU is more of a factor for everyday use for most users.

I agree with this post.

 

[Legion93]

Again, this is my opinion and people may see things differently.

I kinda agree with you, the design of the series 9 looked too over the top, the MBA features power and simplicity in the same device. If the series 9 did not have sandy bridge processors, the Air would kill it instantly, but my main point was that other manufcaturers are catching up with Apple's products, and Samsung have surely made a great start. Price is an issue though, as you stated. So far im more keen on the Air for many reasons - one of which is being OS X

 

[SR71]

I kinda agree with you, the design of the series 9 looked too over the top, the MBA features power and simplicity in the same device. If the series 9 did not have sandy bridge processors, the Air would kill it instantly, but my main point was that other manufcaturers are catching up with Apple's products, and Samsung have surely made a great start. Price is an issue though, as you stated. So far im more keen on the Air for many reasons - one of which is being OS X

I do not fully agree with you saying that other manufacturers are starting to catch up to Apple for this reason: Apple released the latest version of the MacBook Air in October 2010, which was almost 7 months ago. The Series 9 was just released late last month. Samsung had 5-6 months to look at what Apple did with the MacBook Air, copy what they did, but added in more recent hardware (i.e. Sandy Bridge processors), when at the time of the MacBook Air's release back in October 2010, the ULV Sandy Bridge processors hadn't been announced.

So yeah, that's how I see it lol.

 

[fyrefly]

To be honest I don't see the point of an ultraportable having super powerful processors, which is why I think the MacBook Air's are fine with the Core 2 Duo processor's that they currently have. An ultraportable is supposed to be a thin and light computer for doing light work on, such as e-mail, web browsing, watching videos, typing up a report, and the like. An ultraportable is not for doing intense video editing and rendering work or doing other processor intensive things.

But if you define an ultraportable as you have above, then the Intel HD 3000 shouldn't be a problem for you either. It'll do just as good at web browsing, watching videos, typing up a report. No problems. But it's a trade off - a faster i5 (or i7 if Apple uses the i7-2657M) with a slower graphics chipset (vs. the 320m).

In my eyes, the MacBook Air outperforms the Series 9, and also, the MacBook Air is thinner. The Series 9 is .64" thick while the MacBook Air is .68" thin and tapers down to .11". The tapering on the MacBook Air makes it look thinner in comparison to the Series 9, and it feels better in the hand, too.

Wait, so are you saying performance of a machine relates to it's thinness?

I have owned a MBA for 3 years and I'm not about to give mine up for a Series 9, but you can't say that the MBA "outperforms" a Series 9 - how? Only in Gaming, based on what we've seen so far - but you break out the IGP and argue it seperately below... so how (other than in Graphics performance) do the SL9400/9600 CPUs "outperform" the i5-2537?

The i5 gives more performance per watt, and better battery life (due to it's IGP being integrated into the processor, and not needing separate power the way the 320m does).

If you wanted to say that Samsung's implementation of the i5 processor in an "ultra-light" form factor doesn't seem as "sexy" as the MBA... I' agree with ya. But Battery tests and other benchmarks for the Series 9 are all over the map, with most agreeing that in "performance" (aka CPU) the i5 smokes the C2D.

Now, onto the IGP that comes with the Sandy Bridge processors in the Series 9. Well, in comparison to the NVidia 320m that comes with the Core 2 Duo chip in the MacBook Air, the IGP sucks. Plain and simple. It's been shown to be 50% slower than the 320m.

Yep. Super-true. And again, I'd take an Air over a Series 9 any day, (even with a C2D). But if we're using your definition of what an "ultra-portable" needs to be ("a thin and light computer for doing light work on, such as e-mail, web browsing, watching videos, typing up a report, and the like") then the HD 3000 will "perform" identically to the 320m.

If an ultra-light needs to play WOW at more than 14fps, than you're right - in those benchmarks the Series 9/i5/HD 3000 will be slower.

Another thing that the MacBook Air has over the Series 9 is the resolution. The 13" MacBook Air has a resolution of 1440x900, while the 13" Series 9 has a resolution of 1366x768, which is significantly lower than the resolution on a MacBook Air, especially when the 11" MacBook Air has the same resolution as the 13" Series 9.

Can't argue with you there. Some people say the Samsung's screen has more nits, and is more vibrant, but I love the screen on the 13" 2010 MBA. It's a huge shame Apple didn't at least give the 2011 13" MBP a BTO option of the higher-rez screen as it's amazing.

...SNIP for the OSX/Windoze debate. And the price. We're on a Mac Forum. I generally assume we all prefer OSX on our machines... And Yeah, how Samsung can say that the series 9 is a MBA competitor and price it well above the MBA I have no idea.

So, in my opinion, the MBA is much better than the Series 9 for all reasons stated above.

Again, this is my opinion and people may see things differently.

Nope. While I can quibble with you on some points (and most of those are just the FUD regarding the LV i5 processor), I agree that I'd take a MBA (even a C2D one) over the Series 9 any day.

 

[AppleScruff1]

To be honest I don't see the point of an ultraportable having super powerful processors, which is why I think the MacBook Air's are fine with the Core 2 Duo processor's that they currently have. An ultraportable is supposed to be a thin and light computer for doing light work on, such as e-mail, web browsing, watching videos, typing up a report, and the like. An ultraportable is not for doing intense video editing and rendering work or doing other processor intensive things.

In my eyes, the MacBook Air outperforms the Series 9, and also, the MacBook Air is thinner. The Series 9 is .64" thick while the MacBook Air is .68" thin and tapers down to .11". The tapering on the MacBook Air makes it look thinner in comparison to the Series 9, and it feels better in the hand, too.

Now, onto the IGP that comes with the Sandy Bridge processors in the Series 9. Well, in comparison to the NVidia 320m that comes with the Core 2 Duo chip in the MacBook Air, the IGP sucks. Plain and simple. It's been shown to be 50% slower than the 320m.

Another thing that the MacBook Air has over the Series 9 is the resolution. The 13" MacBook Air has a resolution of 1440x900, while the 13" Series 9 has a resolution of 1366x768, which is significantly lower than the resolution on a MacBook Air, especially when the 11" MacBook Air has the same resolution as the 13" Series 9.

Also, I can't forget to mention the fat that the Series 9 is running Windows OS which in my opinion is way behind Mac OS, but again, this is my opinion.

Lastly, the price. The price, the price, the price. The 13" MacBook Air can be had $1299 for the base model, while the base model of the Series 9 is $1649; significantly more than the price of the MacBook Air, especially when you take into consideration some of the things that I have listed above, and yes, while some things I listed above can also be seen as negatives (for example, I know some people will disagree with me about preferring the Core 2 Duo over the Sandy Bridge processors), most of what I listed are positives.

So, in my opinion, the MBA is much better than the Series 9 for all reasons stated above.

Again, this is my opinion and people may see things differently.

Where did you get to check out the Samsung to see how it feels to hold and compare it to the MBA? I haven't seen any retailers in my area that have this in stock.

 

[TrollToddington]

To be honest I don't see the point of an ultraportable having super powerful processors, which is why I think the MacBook Air's are fine with the Core 2 Duo processor's that they currently have. An ultraportable is supposed to be a thin and light computer for doing light work on, such as e-mail, web browsing, watching videos, typing up a report, and the like.

Can't an iPad do the same?

An ultraportable is not for doing intense video editing and rendering work or doing other processor intensive things.

And why not? It's just a computer like any other one. The fact that the present MBA cannot do any other work than what you describe doesn't mean it shouldn't be able to. Wouldn't it have been nice if we'd had the power of the i7 quad in a MBA?

 

[Legion93]

Well one thing surely kills the MBA is the intel core i5s in the series 9, no one can argue on why Apple did not provide a faster and better processor in the MBA - I mean, CD2 is like a 90s chip processor, they could have done it better.

 

[SR71]

But if you define an ultraportable as you have above, then the Intel HD 3000 shouldn't be a problem for you either. It'll do just as good at web browsing, watching videos, typing up a report. No problems. But it's a trade off - a faster i5 (or i7 if Apple uses the i7-2657M) with a slower graphics chipset (vs. the 320m).



Wait, so are you saying performance of a machine relates to it's thinness?

I have owned a MBA for 3 years and I'm not about to give mine up for a Series 9, but you can't say that the MBA "outperforms" a Series 9 - how? Only in Gaming, based on what we've seen so far - but you break out the IGP and argue it seperately below... so how (other than in Graphics performance) do the SL9400/9600 CPUs "outperform" the i5-2537?

The i5 gives more performance per watt, and better battery life (due to it's IGP being integrated into the processor, and not needing separate power the way the 320m does).

If you wanted to say that Samsung's implementation of the i5 processor in an "ultra-light" form factor doesn't seem as "sexy" as the MBA... I' agree with ya. But Battery tests and other benchmarks for the Series 9 are all over the map, with most agreeing that in "performance" (aka CPU) the i5 smokes the C2D.



Yep. Super-true. And again, I'd take an Air over a Series 9 any day, (even with a C2D). But if we're using your definition of what an "ultra-portable" needs to be ("a thin and light computer for doing light work on, such as e-mail, web browsing, watching videos, typing up a report, and the like") then the HD 3000 will "perform" identically to the 320m.

If an ultra-light needs to play WOW at more than 14fps, than you're right - in those benchmarks the Series 9/i5/HD 3000 will be slower.



Can't argue with you there. Some people say the Samsung's screen has more nits, and is more vibrant, but I love the screen on the 13" 2010 MBA. It's a huge shame Apple didn't at least give the 2011 13" MBP a BTO option of the higher-rez screen as it's amazing.

...SNIP for the OSX/Windoze debate. And the price. We're on a Mac Forum. I generally assume we all prefer OSX on our machines... And Yeah, how Samsung can say that the series 9 is a MBA competitor and price it well above the MBA I have no idea.



Nope. While I can quibble with you on some points (and most of those are just the FUD regarding the LV i5 processor), I agree that I'd take a MBA (even a C2D one) over the Series 9 any day.

I'm not necessarily saying that an ultraportable needs to be used for only e-mail, web browsing, video watching, or typing up documents and the like, I'm merely saying that once it can do those things fine, in my opinion, that's all that an ultraportable really needs to be able to do for my needs.

When I said that the MBA outperforms the Series 9, I was going based off of two reviews that I read that both showed the MacBook Air beating the Series 9 in battery life (for an ultraportable, I think battery life would be more important than a super fast processor because, in the end, it's an ultraportable and needs to be able to last a long time without being plugged into a charger, and in both reviews that I read, the MacBook Air had the Series 9 beat in terms of battery life) and in graphics (important for some, but not necessarily for me, but hey, I'm not complaining that Apple put in a 320m ).

Hmm, for some reason I can't multi-quote... it wouldn't let me check the boxes, so I'll have to @reply to people.

@AppleScruff1: I will admit that I myself did not hold the Series 9, but in some reviews that I have read, a few did mention the Series 9 feeling thicker in the hand, which I would assume would be less comfortable in the hand. But, in the end, I am just making assumptions.

@TrollToddington: Sorry, but I could never compare an iPad with a full-fledged laptop.

I'm not saying that an ultraportable such as the MacBook Air shouldn't be able to do processor intensive work, I'm just saying that that is not it's main purpose. It definitely can do light video editing and other processor intensive work, but for work like that, a more powerful notebook or desktop or something (I can't thing of the right word at the moment lol) should be used, as that is what their main purpose is to do (i.e. the MacBook Pro's).

@Everyone: What are your views on the Series 9 vs MacBook Air? I would like to read your input on the subject, too.

 

[SR71]

Well one thing surely kills the MBA is the intel core i5s in the series 9, no one can argue on why Apple did not provide a faster and better processor in the MBA - I mean, CD2 is like a 90s chip processor, they could have done it better.

Well, in Apple's defense, the new Sandy Bridge processors were not available when the MacBook Air was announced last October, however there were other options that Apple possibly could have looked into that could have possibly allowed them to use a faster processor in the current MacBook Air. The Core 2 Duo chip is old, but don't forget that Apple paired it with a fairly good GPU (again, this is important to some, but not to me), while if they had chosen another processor other than the Core 2 Duo chip, they might not have had the option to use the Nvidia 320m GPU, but I don't know lol... I'm merely coming up with ideas.

 

[solowmodel]

Well one thing surely kills the MBA is the intel core i5s in the series 9, no one can argue on why Apple did not provide a faster and better processor in the MBA - I mean, CD2 is like a 90s chip processor, they could have done it better.

And hence all the rumours about Sandy Bridge updates for MBAs coming soon...

I have a base 11" as a secondary computer which I use around the house and take to grad school. Best computer I've ever owned.

 

[Legion93]

And hence all the rumours about Sandy Bridge updates for MBAs coming soon...

I have a base 11" as a secondary computer which I use around the house and take to grad school. Best computer I've ever owned.

No doubt, my 13" MBA is amazing, I upgraded all the specs so it is my primary computer, and one can't ask for more. Imagine this laptop with sandy bridge processors, and better graphics in the next update, it will dominate the laptop Market!

 

[Hellhammer]

https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/1119174/
https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/1120865/
https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/1119174/

This is one of these topics that has been beaten to death. Both have their pros and cons. The Samsung has a better CPU but loses in GPU power. It also has only 128GB SSD and is actually more expensive than MBA.

and better graphics in the next update

You won't be getting better graphics since Intel HD 3000 sucks.

 

[Legion93]

You won't be getting better graphics since Intel HD 3000 sucks.

Maybe they'll supply it with a AMD Radeon HD 6490M?

 

[Hellhammer]

Maybe they'll supply it with a AMD Radeon HD 6490M?

There is no space for a discrete GPU in MBA.

 

[hcho3]

Maybe they'll supply it with a AMD Radeon HD 6490M?

....................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................

I wonder why apple went with Core 2 DUO.

 

[French]

I think battery is longer on Macbook Air versus Samsung as well.

 

[bowlerman625]

Where did you get to check out the Samsung to see how it feels to hold and compare it to the MBA? I haven't seen any retailers in my area that have this in stock.

I just saw one Sunday at the Microsoft store at the local mall. I'm just outside of Chicago.

 

[bowlerman625]

I think battery is longer on Macbook Air versus Samsung as well.

That's correct. The Samsung says 7 hours. I read it is actually less than that number though.

 

[AppleScruff1]

I just saw one Sunday at the Microsoft store at the local mall. I'm just outside of Chicago.

There isn't anywhere around here that has them. I'd like to at least check it out for the fun of it.

 

[Scottsdale]

https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/1119174/
https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/1120865/
https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/1119174/

This is one of these topics that has been beaten to death. Both have their pros and cons. The Samsung has a better CPU but loses in GPU power. It also has only 128GB SSD and is actually more expensive than MBA.



You won't be getting better graphics since Intel HD 3000 sucks.

HUH? Did someone hack into Hellhammer's account and post this??? LMAO!

 

[MBA2011]

The new Samsung series 9 notebook (also know as NP900X3A) has been rumoured to outperform the new MBAs both ergonomically and aesthetically. It features a 1.4GHz Intel Core i5-2537M processor, 4GB RAM, 128GB SSD, Intel HM65 chipset and Intel HD 3000 graphics. As samsung claimed, it will be using the new sandy bridge processors, which is a kill for the already released Airs by Apple.

What is anyones intake of the new Samsung 9 series? Will you be buying it over a MBA if you were to choose between them? Just trying to get some ideas, because I will be purchasing one very soon.

I would have considered it, but the screen resolution was a deal breaker. 1440x900 is a must in a screen this size, to me anyway. Plus it's not any significant cost savings, apple makes very good hardware, and you can throw windows on an MBA but not vice versa (well technically). So MBA ftw to me.

 

[Hellhammer]

HUH? Did someone hack into Hellhammer's account and post this??? LMAO!

I have never said it's great or an upgrade from 320M, but it's the only possible option that makes sense. Don't get started with Ivy Bridge, AMD and all that, I have read that millions of times. I don't see Apple waiting possibly another year before updating MBA, just so that the GPU would be slightly better.