In-Depth Review of Samsung's ATIV Book 9 Lite Ultrabook

Thanks to Samsung, I was able to test this ultrabook from the South Korean brand for a couple of weeks. And thus be able to carry out an in-depth analysis of the device, in different circumstances both in personal and professional use.

In the first part I want to do a review of the hardware that makes up the device, describing below the sensations with which I have stayed and the final conclusions.

Hardware, mechanical and electronic interior

The version reviewed is the smallest of the ATIV Book 9 Lite series, with the 128GB SSD hard drive and the static screen , that is, it does not allow tactile use.

The heart that beats inside the device is an AMD A-Series A6-1450, a specific processor for notebooks with an internal clock speed of 1.4Ghz. This processor, optimally using its four cores by software, can have performance similar to an Intel i3-380UM; which is more than enough to consume information and the use of office applications. But it falls short when moving games and applications that perform calculations intensively.

Comparing AMD to its competitors.Intel Atom Z670 (min) - 691Intel Core 2 Duo T5450 - 2826.5AMD Turion 64 X2 TL-56 - 2835Intel Pentium Dual Core T2330 - 2854.7AMD A-Series A6-1450 - 2860.5Intel Core Duo T2250 - 2884Intel Core 2 Duo SU9400 - 2894.4Intel Celeron Dual-Core T1500 - 2960

The graphics card that is responsible for displaying the graphics on the 13.3” HD LED screen, at a maximum resolution of 1,366 x 768 , it is an AMD Radeon™ HD 8250. Its advantage is that it integrates perfectly with all the ADM chipset on which the device is based.

Like the processor, we find a more than acceptable performance for an average consumption of information, having to rule out the use of complex games, such as the most current ones.

The 4Gb of DDR3-type RAM, together with the 128Gb hard drive, make the computer really fast both turning on and starting applications.

Windows 8 squeezes the capacity of the hardware and moves with great ease; and the office that comes with a 30-day trial works correctly, even despite what Microsoft's 2013 suite “weighs”.

Connectivity is complete including a mini VGA connection, a Micro HDMI connection, a USB 3.0, a USB 2.0 (without power supply), a 3-in-1 media card reader (SD, SDHC, SDXC), the headphone/microphone jack, a mini Ethernet port (adapter type), and the power jack.

Just in case I go back to complaining about the new “ fashion ” of including non-standard ports and forcing you to use proprietary adapters, which they make the product more expensive and that, if you lose them, they cause you a real problem and a gap in the portfolio.

full stop is the keyboard, which I really liked The keys are large, the touch pleasant and supports a rhythm heart rate as high as I can sustain when inspired.I think it's the best I've tried in ultrabooks, waiting for the heirs of the famous ThinkPads to fall into my hands and up to the extraordinary Type Cover of the Surface.

The weight is quite light in this model, exceeding just a little over four hundred kilos. And for which the battery is largely to blame of two cells (30 Wh), which is thin and light.

Using it on a daily basis

The first feeling I get when taking the ATIV 9 out of the box and picking it up with one hand is that its name “lite” is totally descriptive. It is an ultrabook especially light, which allows it to be handled and transported with just one hand and is also very pleasant to hold due to the sinuous shape of its side profile .

The screen is like all the current 13”, with a distance of 13.5” diagonally. And that it is the right size for an ultrabook, since it allows me to write or watch movies without any lack but without being as bulky as 15 "laptops. And here I find one of the great advantages of Samsung: I can fold the screen down with respect to the keyboard until I get 180º.

This, which seems trivial, is something I miss a lot on devices that don't allow it. Since that angle I get a great freedom of position of the ultrabook in the most varied positions. For example, on the backrest table of an airplane or train, where the angle is “strange”.

As I mentioned before, the keyboard is quite good, with large keys, and silent It supports my typing rate without problems when writing an article , and it causes few typos other than those I get from typing faster than I should.

Another positive surprise of the ATIV 9 is that it doesn't get hot at all, unlike that deadly corner of most tablets, ultraboks and laptops, which gets hot enough to make it uncomfortable to have it on your lap and which has led me to put almost fireproof supports. And that the battery lasts more than 5 hours - at least in the test that I did on a small trip.

The style and design of the ultrabook is exquisite, being beautiful and very manageable. It's a device that in my office has attracted the attention of both men and women Produces curiosity and praise from co-workers; who are already "accustomed" to pottery arriving to try and have already seen one or the other. And it is that, we must admit, that it is very striking.

Conclusions

This ultrabook gives me a very positive feeling and evaluation, but I would not buy it for myself. And let me explain.

The decision to buy a device depends, mainly, on two factors that I consider critical: the use that is going to be given to it and the minimum I need to avoid getting frustrated.

Thus the ATIV book 9 Lite is a device that meets my minimum requirements by far. It's very pretty, it caches, it's excellent for taking notes in meetings or making PowerPoint presentations, it works very well with Office and is, an excellent executive ultrabook.

It grows on trips due to the long battery life, how little it heats up and the degrees with which the screen can be folded down.

I can't play with it though, it falls short for photo editing and it doesn't move a powerful image tool fluidly development or management, like the one I use on a daily basis.

Thus, even adding the excellent price with which I have found it in different points of sale, I (in my case and with my use) would think of choosing one of its older brothers, with more microprocessor and hard disk, but also at a higher price.

On the other hand, if its main use is going to be the consumption of multimedia material (videos and audio from the Internet) and office automation, it is an excellent option . And more with how beautiful it is.

More information | Samsung ATIV Book 9 Lite, AMD A6-1450