Windows 8 laptops with touch are everywhere, but don't tell the Samsung Ativ Book 9. This laptop doesn't seem to have gotten the memo. In fact, it seems almost exactly the same as the 2012 Samsung Series 9. That's because it is almost the same.
Samsung Ativ Book 9
The Good
The Bad
The Bottom Line
Samsung has new laptops and tablets coming soon, including a Book 9 Pro and Book 9 Lite, but this particular Book 9 is really just a rebranding effort. Gone are the "Series" naming conventions for Samsung laptops, which were admittedly getting wonky (there was a separate Series 7 and a completely different Series 7 Gamer, as well as a Series 5 and Series 5 Chromebook, but don't get us started). Now Ativ has become a catch-all for the Windows PC world of Samsung.
The Series 9 was one of our very favorite thin, compact 13-inch ultrabooks: it had a great build, a sharp screen, and great battery life. And the Book 9 hasn't changed much. It does have an excellent 1080p matte display, but much like Apple's MacBook Air, its design has stayed the same while the rest of the world is moving forward. And unlike the latest MacBook Air, the Book 9 didn't get a next-gen processor. But truthfully, Intel's latest processors don't offer any really big gains in speed: they're really all about the accompanying great improvement in battery life, and a boost in onboard integrated graphics.
A year later, can the same look and feel still work for Samsung, the way it does for Apple?
