Samsung 9 Series Goes Right After MacBook Air with 2.8-Pound Duralumin Design, 400-Nit Display

We called the latest 13-inch MacBook Air one of the best ultraportables ever made. Now the Windows camp is fighting back--hard. Samsung's new 9 Series is a super-thin and light 13-inch notebook, weighing in a 2.86 pounds (just a hair under the 2.9-pound Air). The machine is made of duralumin, which Samsung claims is much stronger than plastic while being easier to recycle. A best-in-class 400-nit LED-backlit display makes the 9 Series the brightest ultraportable money can buy.

Samsung backs up that eye candy with a new Core i5-2537M processor (and Intel's souped up graphics), 4GB of RAM, and a 128GB SSD. Plus, the ZX310 should sound pretty sweet, thanks to two 1.5-watt speakers and a 1.5-watt subwoofer. The ultraportable is rated to last 6.5 hours on a charge. How much for this beauty? A somewhat steep $1,599, $300 more than the 13-inch Air's starting price.

We're assuming the premium is worth it, but keep it locked here for hands-on impressions. In the menatime, some gorgeous pics of the ZX310 should hold you over.

Mark Spoonauer
Editor-in-Chief
Responsible for the editorial vision for Laptopmag.com, Mark Spoonauer has been Editor in Chief of LAPTOP since 2003 and has covered technology for nearly 15 years. Mark speaks at key tech industry events and makes regular media appearances on CNBC, Fox and CNN. Mark was previously reviews editor at Mobile Computing, and his work has appeared in Wired, Popular Science and Inc.