Customer Reviews

Samsung ATIV Book 9 Lite 13.3-inch Laptop - Black (Quad Core 1.4GHz, 4GB RAM, 128GB SSD, LAN, WLAN, BT, Webcam, Integrated Graphics, Windows 8)

I wanted something to allow me to work while traveling, so I was looking for something with ultrabook-like attributes but as I already have a very high specification PC at home I didn't want to duplicate technology (or spend ultrabook money!). So this laptop fits the bill perfectly; it's pretty light, very thin, good build quality and just generally does the job.

It's had some negative reviews elsewhere due to the "white label" processor but these reviews do not make much sense as one is presumably buying this machine for budget and high-portability reasons. One thing I would recommend is to get rid of Windows 8, aside from Windows 8 being awful; Windows 7 runs much better, quicker and smoother. I've also dual booted Windows 7 with a linux distribution which works extremely well.

The machine boots very quickly, is very quiet, has a decent battery life (about 6-8 hours depending on what you are doing) has a good quality screen.

If you are after a budget ultrabook-like laptop then this is pretty much the best you will get for the price range.

Ideal for: work, mobile use, internet useage, programming, data analysis, basic media use (video, youtube etc.)
Not for: gaming, simulation, a lot of multitasking, graphic intensive work.

Firstly this little machine is great for what it does, battery lasts about 7 hours on wifi with low screen brightness (non-touch screen version) and does most of the stuff I want and it is very light. I'd heard all the bad points before I bought this, they didn't put me off too much, but as I see they are not listed here I will point them out.

This laptop feels like an enlarged netbook, it has all the memory of a laptop (4Gb), but the processor and graphics are lacking somewhat.

HD video is jittery and the screen is of a low quality, you can see the individual colored pixels from a distance away from the screen. I have a 6 year old 13.3" work laptop which cost the same, with the same resolution, but is far better quality screen.

The touchpad takes a while to get used to, it's rather large and the fact that the base of the pad is also the mouse click means that the touchpad feels loose and flimsy at the bottom. I heard other people complain about the sensitivity of the touchpad, but they clearly don't know this can be adjusted in the control panel.

Is this worth �500 (RRP non-touch screen version) I'm not so sure, I shopped around and got �100 cashback on mine.

I needed a Windows OS to work with Excel files - Linux and LibreOffice simply wasn't coping.
I chose Windows 8 on a machine without a touch screen which was the dumbest idea imaginable.
I started by getting rid of Samsung bloat ware, installed Office and away I went.
Battery life is good and the size of the machine makes it impressively portable. It ticks so many boxes for me that I would like to give it 5 stars.
But it has Windows 8.
After a few years of trouble free Linux use, this feels like a return to the Dark Side

Excellent value for a notebook computer. I live the quick start-up and thinness of it.

The downside of having the solid state drive is the reduced storage but with cheap external drives available it's an easy compromise to make.

I did not expect much from this laptop... and was prepared to return it as unfortunately I had to return a Lenovo which looked very promising and an Asus. All three laptop are in the �500 range.

The Lenovo Ideapad U410 14 inch Ultrabook had great spec (Intel Core i5 3317U 2.6GHz, 6Gb RAM, 750Gb HDD + 32Gb SSD), was quite slim but the wifi was not simply working. Was really sad but had no choice but to return it.

The Asus VivoBook S400CA 14-inch Touchscreen had roughly the same spec (Intel Core i5 3317U 1.7GHz, 4GB RAM, 500GB HDD), though a bit bulkier, but the touch screen had a growing stain - really growing day after day, right in the center...

Actually this Samsung is just what I need. Ok, its processor is not an i5 and it only has 128Gb of storage. But first this storage is SSD - which is much more reliable (no chance to ruin this storage device if you drop the laptop) and incredibly faster than HDD. Obviously if you need to store a lot of media files this is not a laptop for you.

As for the processor performance for my usage it is just fine. I am not playing any game on it, nor running a data base. It it not for this usage and I am sure it would not cope with it. But I only need to work on my standard office applications, listen to music, watch movies and browse the internet. And it does all this really well.

Its graphic performance is also slightly below the Asus and the Lenovo both in terms of resolutions and processor. But I do not feel (see?) it when I watch a movie - let alone browse the net or work on my power point slides.

It is also very light and slim and quite stylish.

Actually on that same day we bought with my partner an Apple 13-inch MacBook Air (Intel Dual Core i5 1.3GHz, 4GB RAM, 256GB Flash Drive, Intel HD Graphics 5000, Mac OS X) which is more powerful, extremely reliable and has greater storage. The MacBook Air is also great value for money - we have also kept the Mac since we are delighted with it as well.

A nice way to put it would be that the Samsung has the same value for money as the Apple. It's just half the price.

Quality laptop light in weight but with heavy performance. at a good price. Responsive and fast performance.A pleasure to take with me whrerever I go

The first one we had worked OK apart from the dongle for the wired ethernet access wouldn't get an IP Address form the DHCP server, or indeed work if I gave it a static IP Address.May have been just the dongle, or may not, but at Samsung's advice that went back. The replacement machine connected to the network OK wired and wireless but intermittently - but still fairly frequently - it crashed - at least in so far as the screen went blank and the only way to get it back was to power cycle it. So that one's gone back too, and just in case we're not getting a replacement but a different machine.
If you do get a reliable one then it's a great little machine - an ultrabook apart from it doesn't qualify for the name as it doesn't have Intel processors. The screen is poor from a resolution point of view - not getting a full HD screen, but seems adequate for the purpose for which we bought the machine, and indeed it's a really good price. I can't really see anything else in the same price bracket that's as good - IF you get a reliable one.

Much bigger and better than you would think in the flesh; feels like a laptop not a net-book, in both size and performance. Plenty fast enough, tons of memory and good features. To me, it is user friendly and I found it easy to setup. I like the fact you can personalise everything, it is a nice touch. I have read some comments about the fact it feels "plasticy", I've not found this at all, it feels no different from an Apple Mac. Good value for the money and I would recommend it to another person should they have a realistic budget of around �500 - why spend �1500?

all perfect with the Samsung laptop! The lead time was a bit delayed by 3 days compared to what has been promised!!

Very pleased except the laptop only has 99GB of memory, half of which is taken up with window processes. Would only recommend for those who don't have a lot of music or photos as there isn't room for everything on the current system.