Meet The Samsung Ativ Book 9 Plus

No matter what haters say, there is no doubt that the MacBook (Pro or Air) is very difficult to beat when it comes to aesthetics. I’ve always teased my friends about “going Mac and never going back”, but there is a lot of truth to that; and aesthetics is one of the considerations. However, that realm is not the sole domain of Apple. We have seen more than one device that can give Apple a run for its money in terms of looks, and I think that the Samsung Ativ Book 9 Plus comes close (still, not quite).

Okay, you can’t really deny that it does have some similarities with its main competitor, but the Samsung Ativ Book 9 Plus has its own charms. This laptop technically belongs to the ultrabook line. Not only does it look a lot better than most of the other Windows laptop alternatives out there – it also has specs to boast of.

• 13.3-inch QHD+ (3200 x 1800) Gorilla Glass® touch-screen display; Samsung describes it as “incredibly precise”. To put a number to that, how does 2.8x sharper than full HD sound? Incredible, huh?
  
• Intel® Core™ i5 Processor 4200U
• 128GB SSD
• lightning-fast boot-up (as fast as 5.9 seconds) and wake-up (as fast as 0.9 seconds); this is something I want to see, as I am very happy with how fast the MacBook Air boots and wakes up.
• battery life of 7.5 hours; if you’ve been following the development of this device, you’ll remember that Samsung initially promised 12 hours. That’s several hours short, but 7.5 is still a very good number.

So what’s the damage going to be?

The Samsung Ativ Book 9 Plus is not yet available, but pre-orders will be accepted starting August 18. If you are in the market for a high end Windows laptop that does not look bad, then this might be the thing for you. Do get ready to part with $1,399.99 (more or less), though. The good news is that it’s a tad cheaper than a MacBook Pro with Retina. A tad.

[Images via The Verge & pcpro]