Just as the original 13-inch Samsung Series 9 laptop was a direct shot across the bow of the 13-inch MacBook Air, this new 11.6-inch version is aimed squarely at the smaller version of the Air. The 11.6-inch Series 9 is so similar to the 13-inch version that it looks like our earlier Samsung review unit got hit with a shrink ray. The same curved sides and rounded hinge are there, as is the brushed metal surface, made of a space-age metal called Duralumin, which Samsung claims has "twice the strength of aluminum."
Samsung Series 9 NP900X1A (11.6-inch)
The Good
The Bad
The Bottom Line
While the Series 9 is most likely to be compared to the MacBook Air, 11-inch laptops are becoming more popular, and there are now several worthy options to choose from, such as the high-end Alienware M11x and the inexpensive HP Pavilion dm1z. The $1,199 Series 9 is arguably the best-looking of all of these (it's a toss-up against the Air), but it falls behind on price--the Air starts at $999--and performance, as the Series 9 is saddled with an older 2010 low-voltage version of Intel's Core i3 CPU.
If you upgrade to a comparably priced 11-inch McBook Air, you'll get double the hard-drive space (128GB rather than 64GB) and slightly better graphics. The less expensive Air also beat the Series 9 in the area of battery life, a key selling point for an ultraportable. Samsung's strategy here should be to under-promise and over-deliver, not the other way around.
At the same time, the Samsung Series 9 has a lot going for it, including a backlit keyboard (something the MacBook Air lacks), a huge touch pad, and something close to the instant-on capabilities of OS X. It's state-of-the-art for Windows laptops, and likely the only real contender if you've got MacBook Air envy and don't mind spending a little more (a lot more, actually) than your average 11-inch laptop shopper.