Samsung's Ativ Book 9 (2015) impressed us at CES 2015, with its combination of ridiculously light/thin build, razor-sharp screen and (allegedly) long battery life. What we didn't know was when it would launch (apart from "Q1"). Well, you can mark your calendars: the Ativ Book 9 hits stores tomorrow, March 1.
The 2015 version of the Ativ Book 9 is clearly designed to take on the MacBook Air, and it beats the current-generation MBA in most hardware categories (though OS X Yosemite vs. Windows 8.1 is another matter altogether). Samsung's notebook has a razor-sharp 2,560 x 1,600 display, a Broadwell Core M processor and a listed "up to 12 hours" of battery life.
Its killer feature, though, is its size. At just 11.7 mm (0.46-in) thick and 950 g (2.09 lb) light, it felt startingly light and thin. So much so that we originally assumed it was made of plastic (it's aluminum).
The new Ativ Book starts at US$1,200 for 128 GB storage and 4 GB of RAM, and that jumps up to $1,400 for 256 GB/8 GB. You can get your hands on it Sunday, March 1.
I believe Samsung is the company that used to do the screens for the MacBook Air? Then my worry is that of durability and quality, something a few of us have experienced with 2011 and 2012 MacBook Air.