Samsung Series 9: Out MBA-ing the MBA?

[KPOM]

Buying a Mac doesn't clear anyone's name of being a Windows fanboy, and I'm not calling you one because I don't like that name being called to anyone. Macs run Windows 7 natively and there are people that buy them just to run Windows, so you can still be a Windows fanboy.

I know you can, but I'm not sure why someone would buy a Mac to run Windows 7 exclusively. There is a bit of a "Mac premium" (though nowhere near what Windows fanatics insist, as evidenced by the pricing of this Samsung, the Dell Adamo, etc.), and even if there weren't, there is the cost of purchasing a full version of Windows 7 for a new Mac, since it ships with another OS.

Macs make decent Windows PCs now, but if I were buying a PC to run Windows, or recommending one for someone doing so, I'd go with this Samsung before I'd recommend a MacBook Air.

 

[fyrefly]

Believe it when you see it actually for sale. Last year at CES all kinds of great tablets were shown and they've yet to see the light of day. It's one thing to make a mock up and another to put it into actual production.

While this is true, is there any proof of Samsung previously producing Vapourware?

The i5 CPU is a nice thought, but it has built in crappy Intel graphics. I recently ran some 3 D modeling on a machine at work with one of those processors and it choked on the graphics. Out of curiosity I tried the same thing on my MBA and it cut right through it. Graphics cards do make a difference and if you have crappy graphics a great CPU isn't going to make up for it.

No, it was the current generation i5.

The Sandy Bridge graphics are supposed to be a huge leap vs. the Arrandale graphics. That's one of the main features of Sandy Bridge (And the Graphics chip Turbo Boosts too).

That's not to say the SB IGP could beat the 320M (prelim benchmarks show them semi-tied) but it's a heckuva lot better than the "Intel HD Graphics" in the Arrandale packages.

I also would venture to say that most people who buy a machine like a MBA or a Samsung Series 9 are not gonna be doing hardcore 3D modelling with it. If they were, they'd be buying an Alienware laptop with an NVidia SLI or something.

bad:
-16:9, 1366x768. 16:9 is the worst AR ever used if you want to be productive, and I don't think there's such thing as a good 1366x768 display, unless some new ones came out.

On top of the Vaio TT, the Current 11" MBA uses a 1366x768 panel. Do you think it sucks too?

 

[bloodycape]

I've tried using 16:9 and hated it. the same can't be said for when I went for 4:3 to 16:10. the argument for that was so you can have two windows side-by-side, and incidentally it's close to the golden ratio (1.612). going to 16:9 just cuts vertical space and has even more wasted space on the sides since nothing is that wide except movies.

perhaps I had a particularly bad impression because I've mostly used 16:9 on already tiny netbook displays, but I still think it wastes too much space on the sides.

I think I can go either way. The aspect ratio of my iBook was fine until I moved to the MBP, which has something about it that turns me off now. Kind of makes you wonder what the the next popular aspect ratio is going to be.

I wish Apple would offer on all their notebooks an anti-coating options. It was amazing how much more I could view in direct sunlight vs my MBP. I now kind of wish I got the matte option on my MBP at the time. I kind of got swept into the hoopla of things in store.

 

[tim100]

ces

is there a trend towards smaller screen notebooks?

cnet has an article on notebooks from ces

http://ces.cnet.com/8301-32254_1-20027974-283.html?tag=TOCcarouselMain.0

 

[ReallyBigFeet]

Two months ago I said that the new MBA's would open up the floodgates for ultra-light competitive devices from other makers. This is a great introduction. I'd still take my 13" MBA over this because I prefer OSX to Windows. But choice is always a great thing to have. Apple has redefined and reinvigorated the netbook market.

That said, where MOST laptop designs fail miserably at the aesthetic level is when you fold them up and carry them under your arm to and from meetings. The MBA's look great being solid aluminum surfaced on both sides, without gaudy plastic bottoms covered with misshapen humps and bumps and vent covers. This Samsung looks great from the top and sides....but does anyone have a picture of the bottom? Did they take all this sex appeal and shove it onto the laptop equivalent of a cottage cheese butt?

*Edit* NVM, found a pic of the bottom of the Samsung 9:

Not bad. Not as sleek as the MBA, but not bad for a Windows machine.

 

[Sounds Good]

is there a trend towards smaller screen notebooks

If so, I wouldn't doubt if the iPad had something to do with it.

 

[tim100]

If so, I wouldn't doubt if the iPad had something to do with it.

i wounder what the future holds for the macbook pro

1) will get get thinner
2) will mba and ipad eat into the 15/17 macbook pros

 

[fyrefly]

i wounder what the future holds for the macbook pro

1) will get get thinner
2) will mba and ipad eat into the 15/17 macbook pros

There's been lots of discussion on this on these forums.

I think they'll try and make it thinner. But the higher-clocked chipsets require more energy, which in turn requires more heat, which equals bigger laptops to dissipate that heat.

I seriously doubt the MBA and iPad will eat into 15"/17" MBPs. The 13" I can see. But for people who are gonna drop $2K+ on a laptop like the 15"/17" MBP, they're hopefully using it for something more than a MBA or iPad can handle.

Also, if Apple sticks with C2D in the MBA for a while and the MBP is refreshed with Sandy Bridge and discrete graphics, the MBPs will serve a whole different market. Mobile powerhouses, vs. the MBA as a super-portable, moderately-capable machine.

 

[DVD9]

[/B]

Just because you feel it's a "pretty awesome" OS doesn't mean that others have to share your undying sentiment for Windows. It's also pretty rude for you to call people fanboys here if they say negative things about Windows....on a Mac forum. Most people that say negative things about Windows have actually used it, most people that talk negatively about Macs most likely have never touched them.

Many of the Apple fanatics last use of Windows was Windows 98. That MSDOS based OS was a complete fraud. From Windows 2000 on Windows users have been using the NT kernal that was being developed and sold to businesses while the public was suffering with the MSDOS crap. The only connection between Windows 7 and Windows 98 is the prefix "Windows".

I've installed OSX on my HP desktop, even bought an nVidia 8400GS for $31 to get full graphics acceleration. I can watch movie trailers on Front Row.

Windows 7 task bar is pure genius. What is there by default is the Windows explorer next to the Start button. Everything else is open. Put the mouse arrow on anything that is open and windows open above to let me find whatever window of the open program I want. It's all there. It just works.

The OSX Dock in comparison is a complete mess. Loaded by default with just about everything installed on the system. Put your mouse arrow on a program that you do know to be open and nothing happens. It's a mess to navigate, even with a few programs in operation.

Then there is the software issue. Most bittorent clients are defective compared to their Windows versions. Similar problems crop up with other software. Complaints about the defects go unanswered. Why?

Because Apple has just 5% of the desktop operating system market.

Oh sure, there is a way around this and a way around that. The same can be said for Ubuntu though, and while OSX can read an NTFS drive like Ubuntu, it can't write to one.

Ubuntu can.

FAIL.
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