Samsung Series 9 Ultrabook - 15-inch ultraportable

Intel's OEM partners have been thankfully liberal about how they interpret the terms Ultrabook. Now, even 15-inch laptops can be considered portable. Samsung has launched its Series 9 Ultrabook in the Philippines. This 15-inch laptop weighs in at just under 3.5 pounds. At 0.58 inches thick, it is also slimmer than most other Ultrabooks and the MacBook Air.

Quick specifications:

Windows 7 Home Premium (64-bit) 

15-inch display (1600 x 900)

Intel Core i5-3317U (1.7GHz, 3MB cache) "Ivy Bridge" processor 

Intel HD Graphics 4000

8GB DDR3 memory

256GB SSD

1.3-megapixel web cam

802.11 a/b/g/n, LAN, Bluetooth 4.0

micro HDMI port, 

LAN port via dongle 

2x USB 3.0, 1x USB 2.0

4-in-1 card reader

8-cell Li-Po battery (up to 10 hours)

Suggested retail price: Php76,900

Samsung has done a lot to make this 15-inch laptop smaller than it sounds. A thin bezel around the display results in this laptop being just 14-inches wide. Just a bit wider than a typical 14-inch laptop. With a SSD on board, it can boot Windows in just under 10 seconds.

A Php76,900 is priced about 4K higher than the top of the line (off-the shelf) 13-inch MacBook Air, but the Samsung Series 9 Ultrabook does come with double the RAM and a higher resolution display.

It comes in matte silver and matter black, the latter being decidedly more corporate looking.