Samsung ATIV Book 9 Plus

With few exceptions, the current crop of premium ultrabooks are all about the three Ps: Portability, Performance, and pixel. The Samsung Ativ Book 9 Plus delivers on all three. Design is brought proto-ultrabook from Samsung, the Samsung Series 9, which helped define the new thin and light category, and it is bolstered with one Intel high performance, highly efficient fourth-generation Core i5 processors and a fast solid-state drive (SSD). And when it comes to pixels, the winner of Book 9 Plus hands down, thanks to a magnificent QHD + 3200 by 1800 display Tops all others in the category, Choice making it our new Editors' premiums for ultrabooks.

design
The obvious place to start discussing the Book 9 Plus is the display, because it so easily grabs your attention as soon as you power on the laptop. Boasting a 13.3-inch display with a whopping 3200 1800 Quad HD + touch screen. The high-resolution display that is not only better than HD, it's better than just about anything. The most immediate comparison that comes to mind is the Apple MacBook Pro 13-inch (Retina Display), with its Retina display, but also had two premium laptops sold in the past month with higher than 1080p displays, such as Toshiba Kirabook, display ramped up to 2560-by-1440 resolution. Unlike Apple's Retina display, the Ativ Book 9 Plus also has 10-point link, an important feature for Windows 8.

While the display is comparable to the MacBook Pro with Retina, the more apt comparison for the svelte ultraportable Apple MacBook Air 13-inch (Mid 2013). Both are part of a similar sliver-thin design, minimalist Aesthetic, and an aluminum all-metal chassis; Although Samsung largely eschews the bare metal look with a dark coat of paint and only a GLiNT of metal along the side of the chassis. The slim ultraportable measures 0.54 by 12.58 by 8.78 inches (HWD), which is about the same size as the Apple MacBook Air 13-inch, but just a bit heavier, weighing 3.06 pounds.

With full-size chiclet keyboard complete with backlight Ativ Book 9 Plus. Participating in keyboard is a relatively large touchpad, measuring 4 inches wide and 2.7 inches high. The buttons are included on the touch surface, and the touchpad also supports Windows 8 gestures.

To provide a firm backing for the touch screen, open the laptop hinge well to just past 90 degrees, and then require more force to open more, like dual-friction hinges used in Editors' Choice Acer Aspire S7-392- 6411. the result is a touch screen to hold firm against all the poking and prodding your while still opening and closing without issue. A difference of Ativ Book 9 Plus is the decision to use a 180-degree hinge. It lets you start up the ultraportable with a very flat 180 degrees, but although you, I can not for the life of me think of any circumstances where you really want to.