Dell XPS 13 vs. Samsung Series 9: Business Ultrabook Battle Discussion

[Charles P. Jefferies]

We recently reviewed these two 13.3-inch business-oriented Ultrabooks and now put them head-to-head in our comparison test.

Read the full content of this Article: Dell XPS 13 vs. Samsung Series 9: Business Ultrabook Battle

Related Articles:

• HP Ultrabooks, Sleekbooks Hands On: Wait, What's a Sleekbook?
• Samsung Series 9 NP900X3B Review: An Ultrabook With A Great Display
• Dell XPS 13 Review: An Ultrabook For Business Pros
• HP Folio 13 Review: A Lean, Mean 13-Inch Ultrabook

[Pseudorandom]

It seems like I missed the memo about the Series 9 being aimed at business or was even true ultrabook.

I think that comparing against the HP Folio 13 or Toshiba Portege Z830 would have been better since both of those are definitely business oriented judging from design and port layout.

[Jerry Jackson]

The Samsung reps at trade shows have regularly mentioned how the Series 9 is a great Ultrabook for business professionals and execs who value stylish form and function. Also, the Samsung Series 9 Ultrabook product page has had a "customer review" highlighted for ages that begins with the words:

"Great Replacement for my work laptop! I work in I/T. We receive company laptops supplied by our "partners". They are, like most laptops, big, heavy, bulky,and with limited battery life. When you go to a meeting, you have to take along your power supply, mouse and other items in order to be functional."

I can guarantee that Samsung wouldn't highlight a "user review" like that on the product page for the Series 9 unless it was 90-100 percent "on message" with what Samsung wants to say about the Series 9.

[Mitlov]

This comparison is begging for the Thinkpad X1 Carbon (I know it's not out yet, but just had to say it).

Between these two, I'd go with the Series 9 for the matte 900p screen over the glossy 720p screen.

[John Ratsey]

As a (self employed) business user my NP-900X3B has, overall, impressed me. It uses negligible space in the baggage. However, it does grind to a halt every now and again when I open too many RAM-hungry applications and it runs out of RAM. To me, the fixed 4GB RAM is the biggest limitation (the next is the 128GB SSD). However, the first-class display compensates for a lot its other short-comings.

I would note that, while mine has the Sandisk SSD, what users get depends on country and possibly the production batch. There seems to be a similar lottery with the new Ivy Bridge models. Perhaps Samsung will eventually realise that it's not good strategy to kit out their premium product with a less than premium SSD.

John

[Charles P. Jefferies]

John that's a great point about substandard SSDs - that was the case with the Toshiba Portege Z835. It came with the slowest SSD I've ever used (CrystalDiskMark shows it's slower than most modern 7200RPM hard drives, as a matter of fact):
Toshiba Portege Z835 Review: The Best Ultrabook
Thanks for your feedback about the Samsung, always good to get a real world perspective. I only get to use the notebooks I review for a week at most.

Personally, if I was buying one of these two it'd be the Samsung because:
A) fantastic screen (and high resolution, too)
B) it has plenty of battery life for me
C) the looks are killer

The only thing I really don't like about the Samsung is the way they did ports ... really chintzy. I predict we will all be making fun of these "micro" ports in a couple years - the ones that require dongles.

This comparison is begging for the Thinkpad X1 Carbon (I know it's not out yet, but just had to say it).

Between these two, I'd go with the Series 9 for the matte 900p screen over the glossy 720p screen.

For these comparisons it's just between two notebooks so I have to settle on two. We try to stick to notebooks we've reviewed directly. If I have to, I'll get my hands on one in another manner. I'll see if I can fit the X1 into a future comparison.

[kramer71]

John that's a great point about substandard SSDs - that was the case with the Toshiba Portege Z835. It came with the slowest SSD I've ever used (CrystalDiskMark shows it's slower than most modern 7200RPM hard drives, as a matter of fact):
Toshiba Portege Z835 Review: The Best Ultrabook
Thanks for your feedback about the Samsung, always good to get a real world perspective. I only get to use the notebooks I review for a week at most.

Personally, if I was buying one of these two it'd be the Samsung because:
A) fantastic screen (and high resolution, too)
B) it has plenty of battery life for me
C) the looks are killer

The only thing I really don't like about the Samsung is the way they did ports ... really chintzy. I predict we will all be making fun of these "micro" ports in a couple years - the ones that require dongles.

For these comparisons it's just between two notebooks so I have to settle on two. We try to stick to notebooks we've reviewed directly. If I have to, I'll get my hands on one in another manner. I'll see if I can fit the X1 into a future comparison.

Charles. Your conclusion in the review puzzles me, and to be frank looks to me as to please a big supplier, even if it is not intended.

These machines are made for business, and they are meant to be worked on.

A glossy low/medium quality display is for home and cheap machines not for long working usage doing office work in different lightning environment. There is lightyears between the two screens and it affects productivity. The Samsung pls screen is everything one can hope for.

As for the backlit brightness, its plenty for every situation in darkness. Why do you emphasises it?, the ssd speed is a valid point because there is a few situations where you can feel it so slightly even for normal usage pattern, but compared to a glossy unsharp screen you watch all the time its utterly insignificant. Nobody would ever notice if they were not a geek. The screen everybody on this planet can apriciate and notice. The screen is an absolutely marvel. For normal viewing distance the same quality is as retina on the ipad3, just without the glossy problem. Then there is the superior design.

Your comparison will result in people buying the xps13, and you will be having your new 900x3c - for good reasons.

[Jocelyn84]

Thank you for the review