New SA/SB vs. Samsung Series 9

I'm not much of a computer aficionado so I was hoping someone could point out the significant differences one would expect in terms of performance.

SA/SB compared to Samsung Series 9

Series 9 Notebook | Samsung Office Series 9 Notebook

Samsung - Laptop / Intel® Core™ i5 Processor / 13.3" Display / 4GB Memory / 128GB Solid State Drive - Black - 900X3A-A03

 

The CPU performance is about the same, even if you upgrade the one on the Sony. Where you will see differences out of the box are the hard drive speeds. The Samsung 9 has a SSD hard drive, which makes everything load much quicker, including your OS. The Sony one does not come with a feature right off the bat, and if you want a SSD, Sony charges way above market price for that upgrade.

 

I guess I was assuming you upgrade to the SSD in the Sony. (poor assumption on my part)

 

CPU is about the same, but the Samsung will have crappy graphic performances.

 

Samsung is ULV...not sure how you guys figure the CPU performance will be the same...

 

Not even in the same market segment/category and not comparable.

 

My mistake, didn't realize the i5-2537M was a ULV, thought those werent out yet...

 

The Samsung Series 9 is essentially just a thinner and lighter version of the previous VAIO Z. The newer SA/SB series are heavier, but they have discrete graphics solutions along with a standard voltage processor. Its just a trade-off between portability and performance.

 

Beaups- are you sure that's a ULV in the Samsung? There's no indication of that in the literature on the machine; they present it like a standard core i5 sandy bridge mobile cpu.

Either way, however, there's no comparison between the Samsung and either the SA or the old Vaio Z; both Sonys are much more powerful machines than the Samsung due to their discrete GPU.

A better comparison for the Samsung would be with the bigger of the macbook airs; the Samsung's processor (if it's not a ULV, which I don't think it is) would blow away the macbook, and the Samsung's integrated GPU would probably approach the macbook's as well.

This all depends on whether or not it has an ultra low voltage GPU though, as Beaups suggested; if it does, the Samsung would probably be pretty similar to the air in both CPU and GPU...

 

Samsung 9: Intel® Core? i5-2537M Processor (3M Cache, 1.40 GHz)with SPEC Code(s)SR03W
Low-end Z13: Intel® Core? i5-460M Processor (3M Cache, 2.53 GHz)with SPEC Code(s)SLBZW, SLC22

The Z may fall into the ultraportable weight category, but it is not an ultraportable inside. I can see the confusion though among people calling it overpriced, etc. No-one else has ever come close, which is why many of us are on tenterhooks for a Z replacement and hoping enough people actually bought it for it not to go away like so much of Sony's higher-end stuff.

Apple is doing a fantastic job catering to people who don't know what they're buying: Sony is one of the few in the same market which offers stuff for people who know what they're buying. Samsung is not in the same ballpark - this is an Air wannabe, which is an overweight (by Sony standards), underpowered and quite possibly undercooled (although I'm absolutely willing to give Samsung the benefit of the doubt) 'look at me' statement for those who aren't into the outright metro-hipster look of the Apples.

...And that's exactly why I'm thinking about getting one

 

Ever heard of Google?

Also, Anandtech has these charts showing the Sandy Bridge ranges - LV/ULV parts (3rd chart down) seem to end in something other than a 5 or an 0.

Edit: Vogelbung beat me to it! He's right though; what makes the Z so attractive is its a full fat processor in the size of chassis that everyone else uses a ULV in. That's why it has no real competition.

 

Isn't a computer considered a ULV when its CPU speed is clocked down from normal already? It is certainly the case for the Samsung Series 9, where it is running at 1.4 Ghz at normal speed (with turbo boost up to 2.2 Ghz). It is quite similar to the first generation i7 ULV processors (like the 640UM, which also ran at 1.4 Ghz normal and with turbo up to 2. something Ghz)

 

^Remember that TDP now includes the Northbridge (gone) including the GPU...since it's all in the CPU now.

 

"Want: Macbook Pro 15" Intel Core i7-2820M @2.3 Ghz, 8 GB DDR3 RAM, ATI Radeon HD 6750M, 512 GB SSD, 1680x1080 screen
Current: VAIO Z VPCZ138GG Intel Core i7-640M @2.8 Ghz, 8 GB DDR3 RAM, NVIDIA GT 330M, 256 GB SSD, 1920x1080 screen"

Never mind, worked out that poster doesn't have a clue anyway

 

i thought that even the lowest core i cpus were much faster than the c2d in the mb air?

 

I wouldn't say the lowest, but the i5/i7's sure beat the heck out of the C2D's especially with turboboost. As for GPU, the 320M is supposedly a tad bit better than the Intel HD 3000 IGP of the Sandy Bridge processors according to this:

Mobile Graphics Cards - Benchmark List - Notebookcheck.net Tech

Personally, the HD 3000 is a very good step forward in IGP tech as it is still better than the 310M... which is considered discrete graphics (at least by Asus in their beloved hybrid graphics UL30 series laptops... which is sad because the HD 3000 beats both the IGP and the discrete GPU of that )

 

Both of these units look good to me. I was leaning towards the Samsung until I knew about this Sony. Now I'm not so sure.

 

LOL, I'm the same, dont worry. I pre-ordered Series 9 before I saw the new sony.. hahaha - I tried to cancel it but they already shipped the product (just got it yesterday). This is just a tip, don't look at Series 9 too much, the design will get to u.... I'm serious! I can't play most of my games on it and the trackpad is just "ok" (the two finger scroll doesn't go as smooth as mac) and the hard drive is only 128 GB (so I can't really keep movies or anything in it). I think I'm gona return it and wait for the SA series (I need a better graphic card to play games sometimes)! If SA series sucks, then I'll go to SB! But other than the graphic card, Hard Drive size, and trackpad; the speed, performance, and everything else is very good! : )

 

Nice, I was thinking of the 9 Series however I then found about the SB's specs and ordered (a month ago). The big thing for me was the SB has a discreet gpu and I am a huge gamer! Hopefully sony ships my sb this week!

 

I currently have both the samsung series 9 and the vaio sa. I'm typing this on the sony. Wanted to compare them side by side and keep the one I liked the most. For me the fit and finish of the samsung is hands down the nicest pc I have ever seen. It is the only PC that I've seen that is comparable to a mac in build quality and hardware design from an aesthetic stand point. The sony still feels kind of cheap, way nicer than most ever thing else out there on the market but not nearly as good looking as the samsung.

The samsung has a way better trackpad. Samsung has mac like expose and show desktop features activated by swiping 4 fingers up or down on the trackpad. Sony does not. Samsung has 2 finger scroll, sony has "slide finger up or down right side of track pad" scroll which is kind of annoying compared to 2 finger scroll. Samsung 2 finger scroll is still not as nice as 2 finger scroll on mac. Mouse buttons on sony are very hard to push, kind of annoying.

Screen resolution on sony is nice for some programs as you can fit a lot of stuff on the screen but I find myself squinting to read some things on the sony with resolution set to 1600x900. The screen on the sony is not quite as crisp as the samsung.

I just got the sony today and I've had the samsung for about a month. I'll report back once I've lived with the sony for a bit longer.

 

Samsung uses Synaptics as their touchpad manufacture meaning you can enable the mac-like gestures on the touchpad. Sony uses Alps so you don't get the same multigestures.

As for the screen, just use a lower DPI to make everything a bit bigger