Samsung - Notebook 9 Pro 13.3" Touch-Screen Laptop - Intel Core i7 - 8GB Memory - 256GB Solid State Drive - Titan Silver

This is a great laptop that I'd recommend to anyone~! *Summary: The Samsung Notebook 9 Pro is a very nice laptop that is thin, light, speedy, and well-constructed with a beautiful and bright display. It also offers useful extras such as the S Pen for the artistic types as well as active pen note-takers. < PROS > *Build quality. The Samsung Notebook 9 Pro is a solid and well-constructed laptop. It is made of premium materials with a premium feel when you touch it and use it. Everything is fitted very well and there are no annoying creaks or noises that distract from the user experience. Similar to Samsung's Galaxy S and Galaxy Note series of phones, this laptop is solidly built. The hinge works quietly and smoothly and is easy to convert into its Tablet mode. It is also very thin and light, weighing only ~2.5 lbs. Perfect for students and business travelers alike. *Display. The 1080P Full HD display is bright and crispy with great viewing angles, color fidelity, and accuracy. There are absolutely no complaints here as it is all wonderful. *Keyboard and Touchpad. The keys have a nice matte feeling to it and is very easy to type on despite its relatively short keystroke travel. I had no problem adjusting to it from my previous daily-driver laptop, the HP Pavilion dv4. I especially appreciate the location of the Arrow keys on the lower-right hand corner since it's easy to access and use. It would've been nice if the Pg Up & Pg Dn keys had their own separate physical keys (instead of using the Fn key with the arrow keys) but due to the smaller form-factor of this 13.3" laptop, it is understandable. To make it more convenient for myself, I went into Settings then Advanced Gesture Configuration and created custom gesture shortcuts for Home, End, Pg Up, and Pg Down. The Touchpad sensitivity and responsiveness are also great. Two-finger, three-finger, and four-finger shortcuts and gestures all work very well and makes navigating between and within applications very seamless and smooth. *Connectivity options. Wifi and Bluetooth performance are excellent. *Ports. With 1x HDMI, 1x USB Type C, 1x card reader, and 2x USB ports, the Notebook 9 Pro easily fulfills most people's port connectivity needs. I'm certainly satisfied. *Speakers. The sound comes out nice and decently loud. The bass, as expected, isn't great but that is to be expected from such a thin and light laptop chassis. *Performance. With the Intel Core i7 7500U (2 cores, 4 threads), 8GB of DDR4 RAM, 256GB SSD, and the Intel HD Graphics 620, the laptop will plow through everything very fast except for graphic-intensive 3D games. Opening Chrome or Firefox with ~20 tabs doesn't slow the machine down. Multi-tasking with multiple applications and background processes is also very good. Installation of large filesize applications, such as Office 2013, goes by very fast. Love it~! *S-Pen. For those that want or need it, the S Pen is a definite plus. With its fine-grain control and sensitivity, those who like to draw on the screen or take notes during classes or meetings will have no issues. It just works and works very well. *Battery life & charging options. Running on my own copy of Windows 10 Pro 64-bit (upgraded from the default Windows 10 Home), I have experienced very good battery life. I can easily obtain 6 to 8 hours of battery life before needing a recharge, which is more than good enough for me. In addition to charging the laptop via the included wall power adapter, one can also charge up with a power bank and a USB Type C cable which is very, very cool. Fast Charge is also possible and much appreciated. *Samsung software. Samsung has included some very useful and easy-to-use software for users that are truly helpful and are NOT bloatware. I like the Samsung Update app because it allows one to easily discover, download, and install important system drivers and software updates. I like that I don't have to visit a separate website, go through multiple menues, and individually find and download each driver and software package. The Samsung Update app makes it very simple to manage important downloads. Another useful Samsung app is the Samsung Settings app. From within the app, one can quickly toggle On and Off features such as Auto Booting (boot the laptop when the lid is opened), USB charging, Display Color mode (similar to Samsung smartphone display options), Video HDR, Keyboard Light control, and Sound Effects. The Samsung Recovery app is a dead-simple backup management software one can use to restore your laptop to its Factory Default state, make a disk copy backup of your SSD to another SSD, and also perform data backup to external storage. Finally, there is the Samsung Security app. With it, you can create a Privacy Folder that prevents others from accessing your personal content (similar to Samsung smartphone's Knox app), activate a software screen filter that obscures the laptop's display so others nearby cannot get a clear look, and a Block Recording mode that protects you from unauthorized recordings and wiretaps through the laptop's camera and microphone. I don't know how well this works in the real world but it is a nice feature to have as extra protection. *Memory upgrade options. With the RAM soldered to the laptop, one cannot upgrade the RAM. Since this isn't a gaming laptop, however, I don't count this as a serious issue. I think 8GB will be enough for most people. It is for me. *SSD interface. Too bad the SSD uses the older and slower SATA-III interface. It would've been nicer if the Notebook 9 Pro used the more future-proof NVME PCI-Express interface. With that said, however, the laptop still boots up very, very quickly and I don't think most people will notice any difference between using a SATA-III SSD and a PCI-E SSD (unless one copies/accesses large amounts of data very frequently). I also wish the size of the SSD was at least 512 GB. On the positive size, the SSD is user-upgradeable and I'm planning on upgrading to a 1TB Samsung 850 Evo drive (M.2 SATA-III) in the near future. Out of 10, I rate the Samsung Notebook 9 Pro 13.3" laptop a 9.5 out of 10. It gets right the main crucial and important aspects of a good laptop experience - easy portability (thin, light, and good battery life), bright & crispy display, superb fit-and-finish with premium build materials, excellent touchpad and keyboard, useful connectivity ports, fast storage (user-upgradeable), fast performance, and stable software. The icing on the cake is the very handy and useful S Pen that is integrated neatly into the laptop chassis. This is a quality machine from Samsung.

Pros +Flexible as a 2-in-1 and very portable +Included S-Pen works well and stores in the case +Comfortable keyboard and accurate touchpad +Has a USB-C port that supports charging +Excellent build quality Cons -Battery life has been a bit inconsistent and is only average -Some bloatware -Speakers could have more bass Summary This is a very good 2-in-1 from Samsung. While I would have liked a more optimized battery life, it doesn't have any noticeable weak spots. It has a good mix of ports that includes USB-C, is light, and very well constructed. The pricing is on par as well when compared to others with similar build quality. This device is recommended for business travelers and students. Background I picked up the Samsung Notebook 9 Pro 13.3 from my local Best Buy. I wanted a travel friendly Windows 2-in-1 with a good screen, keyboard, touchpad, USB-C compatibility, and battery life. My daily driver to this point has been a 2016 MacBook Pro 13 with Touch Bar and I have been testing out many recent Windows laptops including the 2017 models of the Dell XPS 13 (regular and 2-in-1), 2017 ThinkPad X1 Carbon, 2017 Surface Pro, 2017 Galaxy Book, 2017 Spectre x360 13, and others. My thoughts are based on being a frequent business traveler that spends a lot of time in Microsoft Office & Office 365 and the web. I also play some light games like World of Warcraft and League of Legends. Design I really like the design. It's a professional and clean silver aluminum body with a dark interior that makes the key lettering pop. The hinges are sturdy and fairly firm to minimize screen wobble. Fingerprints tend to show up on the inside in the keyboard deck area, but are easy to wipe clean. The rounded edges of the body make it easy to carry and nothing digs into your hands. It weighs under 3 pounds, is thin, and very easy to carry around or toss into a bag. The fit and finish is excellent. Display The laptop comes with a 13.3-inch touchscreen at 1080p resolution. It looks good and I think is the perfect resolution for this screen size. A higher resolution would draw more power and I don't think the tradeoff is worth it for a mobile device. Plus, there is less of a chance of running into Windows text scaling issues. While it doesn't have the thinnest bezels, they are still quite slim and look good. Light bleed is very minimal. Text and video are both clear and HDR is supported. The panel is pleasing to look at and is plenty sharp for standard use. Input devices The 3-stage backlit keyboard has a good amount of travel, is relatively quiet, and is easy to type on. My biggest gripe with it is the fact that functions like volume and screen brightness are not the default action for the function key row. I checked the BIOS and there doesn't seem to be a way to enable these by default. The touchpad glides well and makes satisfying click. It supports gestures and tracks accurately. The device includes the S Pen that slides into the case which is very convenient so you always have it with you and you don't have to worry about figuring out how to attach or secure it to the device like other similar devices. The S Pen does not require batteries and while thin, provides a good mark-up experience. Having used the Apple Pencil and new 2017 Surface Pen, I find it works just as well as those two for casual use. Ports 2 USB 3.0 1 HDMI 1 DC Power (1.5mm) 1 USB-C that supports charging and display port - Note - I use the Apple USB-C to HDMI adapter to charge the device and plug it into my monitor with one cable. 1 Headphone/Mic combo port 1 micro SD card Audio There are two downward firing speakers on the bottom of the case that get loud enough. The audio is clear, but there is a distinct lack of bass that is common in most laptops. They are fine most casual use, but not as good as the newer MacBook Pro models which have amazing audio. Performance A dual core i7-7500 powers the device and I have not run into any issues with daily tasks. It scored a 4352 on the single core and 8548 on the multi-core Geekbench 4 tests. The integrated Intel HD 620 graphics are ok for light games, but you are going to have to turn details way down to achieve a decent frame rate. I would have preferred to see an option for Iris graphics for a bit of added game power, but it still drives multiple windows, including streaming video, across my Dell 34 inch ultrawide with no problems. The included 8GB of DDR4 RAM and SATA 3 256GB SSD are not upgradeable. Wireless performance is good and uses the Intel 8265 card. Bluetooth 4.1 works as expected. Battery Life Battery life is just ok. It has a decent sized 54Wh battery and gets about 8 hours of casual use with battery save on. It's not quite as strong as competitors in the early stages of ownership, so I may need to dig into the power plan settings to see if I can make some tweaks. Since the device can charge over USB-C, a portable power bank is an option to help augment the battery. Webcam The front facing 720p webcam can best be describes as serviceable. It's fine for web conferences, but it's not going to win any awards. Windows Hello facial recognition is supported and works very well. Heat & Fans The device gets warm towards the middle back when under load, but the keyboard and touchpad are still comfortable to type on. If you are doing some heavy processing, it will get warm on your lap. The fans are not audible doing normal tasks, but do ramp up if playing a game or other processor intensive tasks. I was not able to detect any coil whine (the bane of every Dell laptop I have used). OS/Bloatware The device ships with Windows 10 Home and the Creator Update. There is quite a bit of bloatware installed including McAfee, Samsung Apps, and various Windows store games. The first thing I did was clear all of that stuff off. I would much rather have the Microsoft Signature edition install that you typically only get from the Microsoft Store and other vendors like Lenovo, but a little time doing app housekeeping or a fresh install resolves this. Samsung includes an app for driver updates, but it can also pull from the standard Windows 10 update process.

This review is coming from a once upon a time Windows user that has happily switched to being a Mac user. I try to keep up with my Windows side and my last PC was the 1st generation Surface Pro... traded it in within a month or so. I have taken a liking with this Samsung Notebook 9 Pro. Maybe it is because it has a better OS with Windows 10 compared to Windows 8 with the Surface Pro. It has a dual core i7 processor, 8GB RAM and a 256GB solid state drive which is enough power for everyday computing and for semi-pro video and photo editing which is what I use it for. 16 GB of RAM would have been better, for me at least. I have it turned up to use high performance and it does get a bit warm near the hinges. Normal use like browsing the internet, the unit stays cool. It is light but solidly built. If you lift it up from one of its corners, it flexes just a bit. I picked up a cheaper 2–in-1 like that and I thought it was going to break. The 13.3” screen is bright and with clean, clear resolution and I had no problems with it in bright environments. Facial recognition works and it even works in the dark. I wonder what would happen with twins. The keyboard layout is comfortable and it is backlit for typing in the dark. The stylus works well, precise and it has a convenient built-in storage. I no longer need to carry a paper notepad for jotting down my creative ideas… when they come that is. Sometimes I use it as a mouse because I really don’t like getting the screen smudged with fingerprints and junk. It has the latest USB ports, USB 3 along with USB-C which allows this computer to be charged with a portable charger. I will be testing that soon when my cables arrive. I don’t like the speakers! They are way too soft. They are located on the bottom of the unit and if you put it on your lap, the sound gets muffled. My iPad Pro produces more sound volume than this. I usually end up connecting a portable bluetooth speaker to it. It has 2 mics but both of them are on the same side, the right side near the ports. It has a microSD card slot and I wish it was a full size SD card slot instead. My cameras use the full size SD card so this is an inconvenience for me. The power button, which is also located on the right side, should be somewhere else. I used to turn off the computer or put it to sleep whenever I picked it up because I would inadvertently push it. A button that doesn’t protrude or placed on the front would have been better. I set the button to “do nothing” while on battery resolved my issue with it. You can still use the button to turn off the computer by holding it down In conclusion, I really like this 2-in-1! This has become my go to computer for almost all of what I do. The flip and fold design takes a bit of getting used to but that is what makes this a versatile all around computer. This would make a great computer for the college students. Pros - Light but solidly built - Facial recognition works - Starts up fast. On the desktop with facial recognition in just about 15 seconds. - Portable charging capability through USB-C. Cons - Power button location. - Speaker volume not very loud. - No Full size SD card slot - Though the black on the keyboard panel makes this look even more sexy, it makes it easy to notice that you’ve been eating potato chips again.

Since Windows 10 really should run the same on all hardware, I’m going to try and concentrate on the hardware aspect of this Samsung Notebook 9 Pro and try to refrain from mentioning Windows 10 too much. Another thing I will undoubtedly do is make some comparisons to Samsung’s main competitor in a few different arenas…Apple. We have had Windows computers in our house since 1997 from a variety of manufacturers, Dell, Toshiba, Sony and HP. I have had a MacBook Pro as my “main” computer for about three years now. When I changed from an HP laptop to the MacBook, it was one of those “Wow!” moments in technology life. I just had another one of those moments when I opened and started using this Samsung Notebook. This computer and how snappy it runs Windows could be just the thing to lure me back to the “PC” world. It is seriously that good…in a number of ways. Even before booting it up, this Samsung impresses with fit and finish as good as any of the Apple products in our house, which I think says a lot considering Apple’s reputation. Nice job Samsung! And this comes from someone old enough to remember Samsung from many, many years ago when they had a reputation of being a manufacturer of low-line, discount electronics and appliances. While built-in optical drives are a thing of the past on laptop computers these days, Samsung has seen fit to still provide a full array of ports and jacks on this model that should satisfy most users. So, no CD/DVD drive, but you still get one HDMI port, one 3.5mm headphone jack, two USB 3.0 ports, one USB-C port, a slot for a microSD card, and a round DC power jack. The full user manual on Samsung’s web site makes no mention of a maximum capacity for the micro SD card, so maybe this is no longer an issue like it was with some devices in the past. The connector for the AC power adapter is a little disappointing as it feels rather flimsy – only time will tell how durable it is. The other thing is that when the lid is shut and the power adapter connected, there is no light to tell you that yes, it is charging, or that it is now fully charged – I miss that, compared to my MacBook. The built-in speakers are on the bottom of the case which works better than I anticipated, but I guess this makes sense when you fold the screen back onto the case to turn the device into a tablet. The “Samsung” logo on the back of the top cover does not light up which is slightly disappointing, but I believe Apple no longer lights up their logo on the latest MacBooks either. When you first set-up the Notebook 9 Pro, you have the option of using Cortana and voice recognition. This worked pretty flawlessly and made a great first impression. Even though I prefer not to talk to my devices in public, using this feature at home was impressive. I have the computer set up to shut down when the lid is closed, and with the solid state hard drive, the time spent booting up is very minimal. If you have not yet had a computer with an SSHD, you are in for a real treat once you get one. Hands down, the coolest feature of this computer, for me anyway, is the facial recognition to unlock it. Combine this with the auto boot feature and these functions keep your computer secure from unauthorized users. The facial recognition worked really well, even with my face being back-lit by a window. It did have trouble when I did not have my glasses on since the reference image was taken while I was wearing glasses. There might be a way to save multiple images for each user…I have not researched this yet. I used this computer to write this review (I thought that was only fitting) and I have to say I was real impressed with the feel of both the physical keyboard, and of the virtual one when using the tablet function. The backlighting is well done and illuminates uniformly. I can truthfully say it is a pleasure to type on. In the one week period I have had this Samsung, I have only scratched the surface of how things work…especially in Windows 10. I suspect that as I become more acquainted with this operating system I will be even more impressed with what this little machine can do. In my opinion Samsung has a real winner here for the everyday user, especially at this price point (even more so when cross shopping to a MacBook). This computer can definitely hold its own when compared to others on the market, and if you are shopping for a new computer for the kid going off to college, they will have nothing to be ashamed of with their dorm-mates.

My current laptop is a 17" Dell that I purchased 6 or 7 years ago. It's big, bulky and has slowed way down over the years. However, it's still useful so what I was looking for was a small, portable machine that was fast, light, and didn't break the bank to buy. This computer met all of those criteria and more. The laptop is small and thin but it feels very sturdy and well made. There is zero screen wobble and the backlit keyboard provides a nice feeling, quick response. Flipping the screen over instantly turns the laptop into either a tablet or "tent" mode, depending on how far you go with it. Boot time is incredible to me. The power comes on automatically when you open the lid and the computer is fully booted and ready to go in about 10 seconds. Shut down is less than 10 seconds as well. This is due to the SSD memory, which is only 256GB. There is a larger 15" model of this notebook that has 500GB, but 256GB is more than enough for what I need and I also use a standalone hard drive anyway for backup and storage of old files. So no problems for me but the memory is not upgradeable so if you need more, spend a little extra for the 15" model or invest in a stand alone drive to go with this computer. Being a new computer, the wireless is the newest AC standard and it is lighting fast as well. Overall, the entire computer is just extremely fast. Granted I'm coming from an older computer with a regular hard drive, but I have a 2 month old laptop from work that is nowhere near as fast as this. As far as the S-pen goes, people will either love it or never need it. I've had Samsung phones since the Galaxy S3 and am currently 4 years into owning Galaxy Note's, so I am very familiar with the S-Pen and I can say that it really is a useful piece of equipment. Aside from the drawing aspects or note taking, most people would find use of it from being able to use this in tablet mode without marking up the screen with fingerprints. But the S-pen does have some really neat tricks like Smart Select or screen write. I know people who have a Surface and they were impressed with the S-pen, especially with it being built in. The track pad is accurate and has no major flaws. There are dedicated Pg Up/Pg Down buttons along with Home and End. I noticed another reviewer was disappointed that the functions on the Fn keys weren't the default option and you had to press Fn and then the button. However, at the top of the keyboard, to the right is a Fn Lock button that makes all your F buttons default to their function. Yes, it would be nice to not have to press the lock button, but it's not really an inconvenience in my world. I'm not sure what else I can say about this machine. I needed something that was quick and easy to use for everyday use email and web surfing, along with watching videos or streaming Netflix through Chromecast. I'm not doing any heavy gaming so I can't comment on that but for an everyday computer that has a great screen, is easy to use and ultra portable, this is fantastic. There is some minor bloatware but it is easily uninstalled to free up space. Battery life has been good and I really have no complaints. I would highly recommend this computer to anyone.

Going in, I was not sure what to expect from this laptop, as I have never owned a 2-1 before, but after extended time spent with this laptop, I must say it is a very good machine. On all fronts. Looks. Performance. Build Quality. Screen. Ports. Battery. Price AND Value. Some added bonuses. It checks every box without any true weak spots. I really like the “look” and design. Clean, sleek, and light (under 3 pounds). It is very well built, feeling “good in the hand” despite the light weight. It has a silver aluminum body with some curves and rounded edges and a dark interior that contrast well. The whole look seems to tie the design more uniformly with what Samsung is doing on the phone side. Finally. I feel this symmetry only helps the brand. The interior is a bit of a fingerprint magnet, as are most, but it is not too bad on the exterior of the device. The hinges are sturdy, keeping screen wobble in check and the hinge movement is smooth when switching into tablet mode. I was pleased with the build when using all configurations of the laptop. The laptop comes with a Full-HD 13.3-inch touchscreen at 1080p resolution. Text and video look bright, crisp, and well, good. It stands up after long sessions. The side bezels are quite slim, and the top is about what one would expect given the camera, but the bottom is a little on the large side. Overall, not bad, but just worth noting. Performance-wise, I could not really ask for more. The dual-core i7-7500 that powers the machine delivers, and in my use case, I have had no issues. The 8GB of RAM are enough for my use, and the 256GB SSD (makes boot times super quick) is more than sufficient for storage needs, although I am not doing any heavy storage on this laptop. I usually am running multiple windows, some browser tabs, some Office work, and streaming video. I don’t really game on the machine, but some light gaming can be done, although I would not expect to do much more than that. With regards to ports, there is a nice mix. There are 2 USB 3.0 ports, 1 microSD card slot and the power button on the right-hand side. On the left, there is 1 USB Type-C port (that supports charging), 1 HDMI, 1 audio jack and the DC power in slot. I really like the blend of ports, but they really could have found a batter spot for the power button. The keyboard is backlit (with three intensities), comfortable to type on, is mostly quiet and did not take me much time to get used to. All good. The touchpad is a nice size, works well, has a pleasing click and supports gestures. It works great with Windows 10 (though more on that later). Now, on to one of the more unique parts of this laptop, the Samsung S-Pen, which it cleverly houses in a slot embedded into the right side of the base of the laptop at the lip. I find this to be not only quite convenient, but also smart, as it is so much easier to keep track of. As for the S-Pen itself, it supports Windows Ink as well as Air Command from Samsung. It is thin, and light, and I found it a breeze to use, although some may prefer more thickness or weight if that is what they are more accustomed to. That said, due to its size, it does not require batteries, or any charge, which is quite impressive given it offers 4.096 levels of pressure sensitivity as well as tilt controls. I was not sure what to think about the S-Pen prior to using it, but I feel it is great addition to available input controls. I found battery life to be good, getting about 7 hours in my use. Again, just a mix of productivity and some video playback. I am sure I could get a little more with some settings tweaks, but overall, I am pleased with what I am seeing. Further, given the USB-C port, I have been able to use a portable battery I already had for my phone to charge while away from an outlet. A great option to have. The 720p webcam is, well, just “good.” It serves its purpose, no doubt, but having typically used 1080p and better, this is a bit of a downgrade for me. This is more due of my prior experiences, but just something to be aware of. That said, it works flawlessly with Windows Hello to log on to the laptop. A nice feature. As for sound, there are two speakers that are located on either side of the curve of the base of the laptop. The sound can get somewhat loud, and the audio is clear, but there is a distinct lack of bass. I think it is fine for most use, but I just feel given the space available, the speakers could have been positioned somewhere on the top of the laptop which could have only improved the quality. Lastly, for what I feel may be the only true downside to this laptop, and it is not much more than a temporary nuisance…the bloatware that is installed. There are a variety of Samsung Apps, vendor maintenance programs and Windows programs present on first boot. This is not unique to this laptop, and all it took was some cleaning up to take care of this issue, but it is a step that I wish I could have skipped. For most people, this may not even be a concern, but I like to keep a clean system. Overall, I could not be more pleased with this laptop. Samsung stuffs a ton of value into this machine at this price point, while being very competitive with rivals across the laptop landscape while also providing much of the same power and flair as machines from Apple for far less. PROS - Build quality - Performance - 2-1 capability - Thin and light. Portable - Keyboard and touchpad - S-Pen capability and storage - Selection of ports. USB-C is great CONS - Presence of bloatware - Not the best sound - Not the best webcam

Summary: While Samsung excels at premium materials and AMAZING screens, this notebook falls flat based on some current "standards" it doesn't completely ignore, but its doing them wrong... Out-of-box Experience: This notebook is well packaged, and definitely has premium packaging. Unboxing was a snap, and the notebook itself immediately feels premium in the hand. The only unusual happening was that there's a slot in the package for the S-Pen, but the pen was shipped inside its silo in the notebook. Otherwise there were no issues and the notebook is packed well. Body/Design/First Impressions I'd seen this notebook on the display shelf at Best Buy, and when in-store, it didn't impress me. Perhaps this is because its an unassuming design, or that it appeared to be a $1100 laptop made of plastic, but its also likely that its a VERY standard/simple aesthetic. It wasn't until I held the laptop myself that I realized this thing was MADE OF ALL METAL!! In store it seemed plastic but upon getting my own I realized its just two different tones/adonization of Aluminum (or a similar-feeling alloy). The palmrest area and keyboard surround are a black metal while the outer body is more of a "Platinum" or "Pewter" color. The proportions of this machine are what I'd expect from a 13"-class machine in this day, and the layout of the screen/keyboard/ports/etc. are where I'd expect them to be. Screen: This is a Samsung premium notebook - Of course the 13" screen is GORGEOUS!! The colors are vibrant and the color profiles are adjustable in the included Samsung settings app. This thing has an outdoor mode that JUST WORKS. Even in the sunshine. This really is the sweet-spot for convertible notebooks. 12" devices are just a bit too small, and It seems that with the right bezel-reduction techniques these things make both great NOTEBOOKS and usable TABLETS when folded backward. Samsung clearly understands this well and the Notebook 9 Pro is no exception, but the screen bezels, while perfect on the top and sides for being slim but grippable when in tablet mode, leave MUCH to be desired on the bottom/hinge side. This thing is almost 1.5" wide at the bottom, and it KILLS the whole style of the notebook. With what these guys are doing in Chromebooks and the Galaxy S phones, you'd think they'd nail a new look for screens that wasn't so fat-bottomed! If this were in support of a bottom camera, or some other new-fangled sensors/telemetry devices, or even LTE radio antennae or something I'd be all in. Alas, its just a fat empty bottom bezel. Ports/Slots: One of the other areas of note is the port offerings on the device. As per anti-Apple regulations, this device is thin/slim and nice and light, and offers full-size USB 3.1 ports (two actually, and on the SAME SIDE! - albeit pretty close together, keeping anything but standard size cables and thumb drives from being employed simultaneously). There IS a USB Type-C port as well, but in someone's infinite wisdom, its NOT THE CHARGING PORT!!! Instead we're given a paltry, skinny, thinnest-one-not-made-by-ASUS sized DC connector that's just BOUND to break and screams I BELONG ON A CHEAP ENTRY LEVEL NETBOOK! Even the Chromebooks made by Samsung charge via USB-C - How can their flagship notebook skip this? Of course the Type-C port CAN be used for charging, but no AC adapter is provided for this. I've actually been using a Targus 3rd party charger to do just that, and the battery charging is just as fast and less likely to be snapped off. The other problem is that there's only one Type-C port, and its NOT THUNDERBOLT compatible! That's right, a $1000+ premium notebook does NOT come with the Thunderbolt standard compatibility which excludes this notebook from HUNDREDS of peripheral uses and docking capabilities... Pro? The machine DOES come with a full-size HDMI port, twin USB-A 3.1 ports, a headphone port, and a mIcro-SD card reader. The micro-SD card seems to make sense on Chromebooks, tablet form factors like Surface, and cheap laptops, but why don't these PRO laptops include full-size SD card readers as they did just a few short years ago? That standard hasn't and WONT change for video and photo professionals... One of the targets of these PRO systems... What gives? This isn't a Samsung-only complaint. Pen/Inking: One of the most marketed features of this device is its included S-Pen... Samsung's famous-on-mobiles pen/ink platform that offers stow-away pen functionality with 4096-level pressure sensitivity and tilt detection inking. I tested the pen functions RIGHT AWAY when setting up the device, and Samsung has included a nifty automatic inking interface for their own apps that support it. No nice integration with standard ink functions which work well enough, but one thing I observed amongst all of the pen apps (Microsoft AND Samsung) was that palm rejection is NON EXISTENT! I'm left-handed and this is a NON STARTER for me! Also the pen is thin and semi-rectangular instead of round, making it small to hold in your fingers in typical writing posture unlike the excellent pens from Wacom, HP, Microsoft and Dell. This pen slips around in my fingers and its button is awkward to use for eraser functions, etc. Specs: The 7th Core i7 processor in the 9Pro is fast. I loaded software and pushed hard with CorelDraw, Affinity Designer, Video streaming apps (Hulu, Netflix) and other browser activities simultaneously and it was AT LEAST as good as my other 'Kaby Lake' i7 experiences. There are two shortcomings in the specs and those are storage options and RAM. Since this is a hard-soldered RAM board, only offering 8GB at this price seems silly. EVERY ONE COMPETITOR offering similar pricing for their flagship 13 is doing so with 512GB SSD and 16GB RAM (Ahem, HP/Dell)... At least offer a "souped up" model for a few hundred bucks more! Conclusion: The nifty S-Pen, that doesn't deliver, being the stand-out "Pro" feature makes me think this very good looking little guy has no market with which it will satisfy, especially since Sammy seemed to forget the other pro features (Thunderbolt, Full-size SD card, creator-ready specs for storage/RAM) that would have made this a MacBook Pro 13 killer. While I'm being critical of THESE features, it is a solid, VERY fast, very good looking and working notebook with a vivid screen, beautiful and tactile backlit keyboard, and typical, professional looking styling with a very sturdy all-metal and rubber chassis. This will do well for right-handed students to take notes and have a mid-grade laptop experience, but competitors will offer more bang for their buck, and pros looking for a photo or video editing mobile solution or even a creative apps runner should look elsewhere,

Very nice notebook overall and would definitely recommend. I did take off 1 star due to in my opinion small SSD size Pros; It has a sleek silver case that is somewhat lightweight at 2.91 lbs with small overall package ( Seems very sturdy with no screen wobble, nice tactile feeling keyboard with back- lighting. Hinges seem very well made and it easily converts from notebook to tablet, with a quick “flip”. Very nice touchscreen operation/feel with option to have it look/operate as a tablet or a notebook. It has blazingly fast boot time that I clocked at just under 10 seconds (Samsung NP940X3M-K01US U3E1 motherboard). Very fast installation and running of software due to; Intel® Core™ i7 Processor 7500U (2.70GHz up to 3.50GHz 4MB L3 Cache) M.2 SSD “hard drive” (liteon CV3-8D256) 8GB of DDR4 1064MHz memory (could not determine manufacturer using Speccy though). Quick charging and can have long battery life (kind of inconsistent). Has latest AC wireless that is very fast (has 802.11 ac 2x2 – which I clocked at 160mbps using speedtest.net and running thru my orbi AC wireless satellite router). Screen looks great with 1080P resolution and can be viewed from pretty much any angle using Intel HD 620 graphics. I played 1080P M2TS video files and they looked great! Has latest USB C connection that can be used for many things including charging of this notebook using portable charger or charging your smartphone if need be. Has 2 USB 3.0 connections - which can easily be expanded with a hub. Also has micro-sd slot but no real card reader. Speakers are OK – don’t expect a true audio experience from them. Wired headphones sounded great with Realtek audio settings. Has a built-in S Pen that packs neatly into the bottom of the notebook. I believe it has a 0.7mm tip, can detect more than 4,000 levels of pressure and can be used from pretty much any angle. It also comes with Samsung Air Command software that lets you take notes, edit documents, and draw (have not used this yet). The S Pen works with Windows Ink Workspace and is “on” - never needing charging. Comes with a little device to pull out and replace tip though). My 2 year old grandson LOVES this thing and the supplied Little Artist software. I ran PCMark 8 benchmark and Samsung had score of 3041 with only 43% of computers having better score. I think this is nice for a notebook. Cons; Took 1 ½ hours to charge out of the box, as it would not boot. Granted 1 time deal but was wanting to get start ASAP once unboxed. Has some bloatware but easily taken care of. What seems to be proprietary Samsung hardware and “supposedly” is not upgradeable. I suspect this is not the case but will wait until warranty is past to find out. As honestly 256GB SSD is VERY small in my opinion and why not use a Sumsung M.2 drive instead of liteon? No dedicated video card – but to me that is not to important as don’t plan on using for games – but wanted to mention. Battery life does not seem consistent. I had it set to high performance and maximum brightness and battery life estimates were all over the place but never ran until out – so cant really state how long is does last. Would depend on load anyway and you can easily change settings to save battery.. Could not use blue-tooth to pair my audio-technica ath-sr6bt headphones. not sure if its user error, but I have paired them with other devices with no problem. No hard wired Ethernet option (suspect I am showing my age here) Personal notes; I am of an age where the delineation between a true laptop and a notebook is somewhat blurred/lost on me. I have a model VPC-SC1AFM/S laptop which still works fine for my son. I purchased it from BB 05/2011 and it is surprising how similar they are in overall specs. Price point is pretty much same as Samsung notebook (but was high in 2011). I5 2410M 2.3 GHz processor up to 2.693 - with 3MB L3 cache 13.3 inch screen (720P screen resolution) 8GB of DDR3 PC3-10600 memory. 2 USB2.0 and 1 USB 3.0 HDMI with built-in Card reader. Has Blu-ray/DVD drive 500GB hybrid drive (5400rpm and 4GB of hybrid cache). Has dual video – Radeon HD 7470M and Intel HD 3000 Graphics, but I use only Intel. Keyboard back-lighting In comparing these 2 models I see that my old laptop boot time is 3 times as long (but at 30 seconds was VERY quick for its time). It is 15% larger in width and length and twice as tall and also almost 1lb heavier (has blu-ray after all). Screen viewing angle is not very good and is not even close to the Samsung. BUT has twice as large hard drive even if it is a spin drive.. I ran PCMark 8 benchmark on my old laptop and it wound up with a score of 2205 score with 73% of computers having a better score, so Samsung with 3041 score is way better. So time has marched on with some pluses and some minuses between these 2 units but the Samsung is a winner in my opinion.