- Conclusion Get the lowdown
- Features How they compare
- Performance Real world benchmarks
- Differences Technical showdown
- Reviews Word on the street
- Competition Others to consider
- Discussion Answers and opinions
Compare with...
- Lenovo IdeaPad Yoga
- SAMSUNG Series 7 Chronos
- Sony VAIO S Series
- Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Carbon
- HP Envy Spectre XT
Rated 90% by by TrustedReviews (Sep, 2012)Weighed against all this goodness, the 900X3B’s average battery life seems a minor downer, and overall Samsung’s latest ultraportable is worth every penny of its premium price.
- 11.6"
- Core i5 1.67 GHz Dual core
- 4 GB
- 128 GB SSD
Released July, 2011
Rated 80% by by Wayne-N (Jul, 2011)I've noticed that with Bluetooth off, the connections are pretty stable around campus and at home.
Conclusion Which is better for you?
Features Key features of the Samsung Series 9 NP900X3B compared to the Apple MacBook Air 4th Gen
GHz2.3
Intel Core i5 2467M
Rated 90% by by TrustedReviews (Sep, 2012)Battery life and performance might be merely average, but in every other regard this is the king among thin and light laptops - due in no small part to its stunning high-resolution PLS screen, which more than justifies the premium over many rivals.
1.67 GHz
Intel Core i5 2467M
Rated 100% by by Monchichi (Dec, 2011)It is very very thin, light and easy to carry in my backpack so that I can take it to school everyday without any burden on my shoulders.
screen size
13.3"
11.6"
Series 9 NP900X3B by William-R.-Green (Feb, 2013)The screen is very easy on the eyes , though I made an adjustment to the font size to 125% to ease the my eye strain for long periods of time of use.
MacBook Air 4th Gen by K.-D.-Hess (Sep, 2011)Although small, the screen is clear and bright, and the full-size keyboard is as good as one from a bigger computer.
screen resolution
MacBook Air 4th Gen by R.-V.-Laxmikanth--L.V.-Raghavendra** Screen/Resolution:. >> Higher resolution on the 13" Macbook Air which i believe was greater than the 15" regular MBP definitely looked good.
cpu speed
| 0 GHz | 2.3 GHz | 3 GHz |
Series 9 NP900X3B by Saint04Either processor is preference and one is not much more powerful than the other; I prefer lower Ghz for longer battery life and cooler performance.
MacBook Air 4th Gen by E.-Kim (Jul, 2011)I purchased the MBA 11" with standard 1.6 gHz Core i5 and am happy with this.
processor
Series 9 NP900X3B by TechCoupleMy computer can go from off to up and running in 30 seconds including punching in my user password at the login screen; My previous laptop is 5 years old and had Windows Vista with a faster processor speed and 3 Gb of RAM, yet start-up was on the order of 3-6 minutes.
MacBook Air 4th Gen by J.-McWhirter (Apr, 2012)I know it sounds nuts, but the new i7 Dual Core MBA with 4 GB of RAM seems to be as fast as my 27" i7 Quad Core iMac with 16 GB of RAM, when it comes to managing RAW photos in Lightroom, and editing RAW photos in Photoshop...I kid you not!
memory
| 0 GB | 4 GB | 4 GB |
Series 9 NP900X3B by TechCoupleIf you are happy with 4 GB of RAM then a rating of 5 stars is still valid.
MacBook Air 4th Gen by Nancy-J.-Bookfan (Jan, 2012)When it comes down to a choice between quicker processor or more RAM, I've been advised to always go with more RAM, and I find this to be good advice.
Performance Real world tests of Samsung Series 9 NP900X3B vs Apple MacBook Air 4th Gen
3DMark06 CPU
MacBook Air 4th Gen by GatorowlI don't run benchmarks, and the benchmarks I've seen so far show that this computer is much, much faster than my nearly 4-year-old MBP, which is my most important performance requirement.
battery life
7 hour
5 hour
Series 9 NP900X3B by techgeek32The battery life is not great for a 13", but this recharges so fast (about 80% in 30 minutes) that I can plug it in for a quick charge and be ready for more work.
MacBook Air 4th Gen by francois (May, 2013)it was affordable came fast and was flawless, the battery life may be 4-7 hours, but other than tat all is well.
cinebench r10 32Bit (Aggregate)
MacBook Air 4th Gen by R.-Chapman (Aug, 2011)I haven't read any benchmarks on the performance over time with the new MBA.
Differences What are the advantages of each
Advantages compared to the Apple MacBook Air 4th Gen
| Has a memory card reader | MMC, SDHC, SDSC, SDXC | vs | None |
|---|---|---|---|
| Read and write data from a camera or phone memory card | |||
| Significantly faster processor | 2.3 GHz | vs | 1.67 GHz |
| Around 40% faster processor; run computation-intensive applications, such as photo editing, faster | |||
| Longer battery life | 7 hour | vs | 5 hour |
| 40% longer battery life; surf the web longer without having to plug in | |||
| Bigger screen | 13.3" | vs | 11.6" |
| Around 15% bigger screen | |||
| Marginally newer | Mar, 2012 | vs | Jul, 2011 |
| Release date 7 months later | |||
| Higher resolution screen | 1600 x 900 | vs | 1366 x 768 |
| More than 35% higher resolution screen | |||
| Much faster USB | 572 MB/s (USB 3.0) | vs | 57 MB/s (USB 2.0) |
| More than 10x faster USB; connect a high-speed external hard drive or other high-speed device | |||
Advantages compared to the Samsung Series 9 NP900X3B
| Has a light sensor | Yes | vs | No |
|---|---|---|---|
| Somewhat common; Automatically adjust screen brightness for environmental factors | |||
| Much faster Bluetooth | 24 Mbit/s (Bluetooth v4.0) | vs | 3 Mbit/s (Bluetooth v3.0) |
| 8x faster Bluetooth | |||
Reviews Word on the street
Samsung Series 9 NP900X3B | Apple MacBook Air 4th Gen | ||
 |    Rated by 45 users at amazon.com Rated 100% by by Dave (Mar, 2012) Rated 80% by by Piel (Apr, 2012) Rated 100% by by Dave (Mar, 2012) | Rated by 391 users at amazon.com Rated 100% by by Marcelo (May, 2012) Rated 100% by by E.-Kim (Jul, 2011) Rated 100% by by pol | |
|---|---|---|---|
Competition What else you should consider
 | 1 | Lenovo IdeaPad Yoga OK CPU benchmark score |
 | 2 | SAMSUNG Series 7 Chronos Largest amount of storage capacity |
 | 7 | Sony VAIO E Series 2-way tie: Most CPU cores |
 | 8 | Samsung Series 9 NP900X3A-B01UB 5-way tie: Much more advanced architecture |
