Samsung joins Ultrabook race
Cues up 13.3in, 14in entrants
CES 2012
Samsung took the wraps off its entry into the skinny laptop space last night, revealing the 13in and 14in models in its Series 5 Ultrabook 53OU range.
Both machines are based around Intel Core i5-2567M processors running at 1.6GHz and come with 4GB of 1333MHz DDR 3 memory. The 13.3in model uses the CPU's GMA HD 3000 graphics core, while the 14in version uses an AMD Radeon HD 7550M GPU with 1GB of dedicated VRam.
Both screens have a 1366 x 768 resolution.
The 13.3in machine is the skinniest of the two: 15-18mm to the bigger model's 21mm. It comes with a 128GB SSD or a 500GB HDD, and no optical drive. The 14-incher has a multi-format DVD writer and up to 1TB of hard drive capacity.
Both have 2x2 2.4/5GHz 802.11n Wi-Fi and Bluetooth 3.0, Ethernet, HDMI, USB 2.0 and USB 3.0.
There's no word on pricing or availability, just yet. ®
COMMENTS
"Both screens have a 1366 x 768 resolution."
1996 called - they want their screen resolution back!
The 13.3 inch one looks pretty good (assuming the body is aluminium and not fake grey plastic) and the CPU/RAM/SSD/graphics are all up to snuff, but what's with the crap 1366x768 screen resolution? And a dvd writer on the 14 inch model? Seriously? In a device-class who's raison d'etre is to be as lightweight, slim, and power efficient as possible? I can count on one hand the number of dvd's I've had to burn or read in the past 3 years, and that's on my desktop machine. When I'm out and about with a laptop? Pointless. Might as well chuck a 3.5 inch floppy in there too...
Wouldn't want to go back to 1920 x 1080
I'm on a Dell laptop with 16:10 1920 x 1200 screen. I wouldn't want to go back to anything lower. It can't be compared to these machines though -it's 17+" and weighs enough to upset chiropractors.
Plenty of people take digs at Apple, but at least they have screens at 16:10, an aspect ratio that is hard to find amongst other manufacturer's offerings.
With many applications having Office-style horizontal tool-bars, 'ribbons' or 'command managers' - not to mention browsers- 16:9 makes no sense at all for most people; your actual working area begins to resemble a letterbox.
I couldn't agree more sir. Which is why I'm still running my 5 year old Toshiba Tecra M5 with XVGA (or whatever it's called) resolution... MUCH better than the rubbish on the market today.
The only machine I've found so far with a genuine hi-res screen was a Sony Viao (sp?) which cost a bazillion pounds.
I'll just run my Tosh 'till the wheels fall off...
