Samsung Series 5 Ultrabook hands-on Video

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Samsung Series 5 Ultrabook hands-on
Created: 05/04/2012
Video description: Samsung's finally made an affordable ultrabook, but you might want to wait a few weeks for Intel's latest processors to arrive.

Samsung Series 5 Ultrabook hands-on Video Transcript

I'm Scott Stein and hey, graduation is almost here. And the summer is arriving in. You're gonna be looking for some small laptop to carry around right?. Well that's a lot of a computer manufacturers are hoping for. That's what ultra books are design for. And one of the ultra books that we did not get a look at until recently is the Samsung Series 5 Ultra. This is a more affordable version of the Samsung Series 9 that really fancy MacBook Air type of competitor that was really expensive that came out last year. This one is 999 for 128 gigabyte SSD. Although you can go even cheaper. So, you gotta pretty good bargain on this laptop and that's a far cry from the $1,000 plus territory that we (??) to see in this ultra books in before. What's not so great is you can tell that (??) couple of design corners that were chopped off to try to make this thing more affordable. It's certainly looks attractive but it's a little more (plasticky?). It's certainly not the slick blade design that's all metal that you see in a MacBook Air. Now words to the wise if you're buying an Intel Laptop at this point. There are new processors that are literally right around the corner and in some laptops they maybe already be here. That's called Ivy Bridge in SA slightly faster processor that's going...actually have a lot better graphics performance for playing games especially on a little ultra book like this one. If you're gonna think about getting this laptop. I would highly recommend you maybe about a month and just see what comes out. Maybe at the same price that gives you a little more bank for the buck. The 14 inch version is a totally different laptop. It is a ultra book as well but it really fits more in to that...looks like a regular thicker laptop territory. It's got DVD drive and if you were to sit on the street you probably just think...Oh, regular laptop. The 13 inch version is shrunking down...doesn't have a DVD drive but it's a lot thinner. It really feels much more like the ultra book, MacBook Air type laptop you were probably thinking off. Now ultra books in marketing term. What it really needs is you're looking at a thin laptop here. The 13 inches and no optical drive. You're getting a low voltage processor that's still really (zippy?). And Intel Core (??) in this case 4 gigs of RAM and 128 gigabyte SSD and then again that big shift that's happening this year is you're gonna see a lot more of this get packed with regular hard drives to (??) a few dollars of the price and be able to make this things a little more competitive with what Apple's fronting. That's a great idea and I would probably end up buying one of those in the 500 gigabyte territory and not go for the SSD. But that's a matter opinion. The other great thing about this laptop is hey, it packs in all the ports. Why can't every ultra book do this. You've got your USB. You got USB 3.0. SD Card Slot. HTMI an Ethernet port on the side. They're all here it's effortless every laptop should have that. It's a no brianer. As far as this one goes. It's a very good laptop with a disappointing battery life and I feel that it's a little more (plasticky?) than I'd like. Still, you might wanna check one out and see if you can get one in a good price. I'm Scott Stein. And that's the...look at the Samsung Series 5 Ultra.

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The good: The 13-inch Samsung Series 5 Ultra NP530U3B is a more affordable ultrabook than the executive-line Series 9, and has plenty of ports crammed into its sleek body. Get the hard-drive version, and you'll shave an extra $150 off the price.

The bad: The touch pad, keyboard, and battery life aren't as excellent as you'd expect from a laptop this attractive-looking, and a plastic feel throughout makes it feel like a step down from a MacBook Air, which it is, in price.

The bottom line: Samsung's finally made an affordable ultrabook, and the 13-inch Series 5 Ultra is a well-priced and far slimmer product than its 14-inch cousin. Still, it's not a runaway bargain, and it feels like corners have been cut in adapting it from the stellar Series 9's design. You also might want to wait a few weeks for Intel's latest processors to arrive.

Read full review

Samsung Series 5 Ultra (13-inch) NP530U3B - 500GB HDD Specs

Manufacturer: Samsung
Part number: NP530U3B-A01US

Product Specifications
  • Product Specifications

Read full specs

Samsung Series 5 Ultra (13-inch) NP530U3B - 500GB HDD Prices

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