Battle of the ultra-high-res laptops: Samsung Ativ Book 9 specs vs. the world

How does Samsung's latest ultra-high-resolution Ultrabook stack up?

Brace yourselves: The death of the pixel is coming.

As consumers look to cheap tablets for their basic computing needs, PC makers are putting more effort into creating luxury machines to compete with Apple's MacBooks. The idea is that if you're only going to buy one PC for serious productivity, it might as well be a dream machine--and a big part of that ideal is manifest in the ultra-high-resolution displays we're starting to see on the streets.

Soon, a wave of laptops with ultra-high-resolution displays, thin and light designs, and long battery life will be hitting store shelves. Samsung's ATIV Book 9 Plus, announced on Thursday, is just the latest example.

How do all these luxury laptops compare? We've created a chart, pitting the ATIV Book 9 Plus against Acer's Aspire S7, Asus' Zenbook Infinity, Toshiba's KiraBook, Google's Chromebook Pixel and Apple's 13-inch MacBook Pro with Retina Display.

Price

Display size (inches)

Display resolution

Processor

Storage

Weight and thickness

Rated battery life

Samsung ATIV Book 9 Plus

Unknown

13.3

3200-by-1800 (276 ppi)

Intel Core i5 or i7 (Haswell)

Up to 256GB

3.06 lbs / 0.53 in.

12 hours

Acer Aspire S7 (2013)

$1400 and up

13.3

2560-by-1440 (220 ppi)

Intel Core i5 or i7 (Haswell)

128GB

2.87 lbs / 0.51 in.

7 hours

Asus Zenbook Infinity

Unknown

13.3

2500-by-1600 (223 ppi)

Intel Core i7 (Haswell)

Unknown

Unknown / 0.61 in.

Unknown

Toshiba KiraBook

$1600 and up

13.3

2560-by-1440 (221 ppi)

Intel Core i5 or i7 (Ivy Bridge)

256GB

2.66 lbs to 2.97 lbs / 0.7 in.

6 hours

Google Chromebook Pixel

$1300 (Wi-Fi); $1450 (LTE)

12.85

2560-by-1700 (239 ppi)

Intel Core i5 (Ivy Bridge)

32GB

3.35 lbs / 0.64 in.

5 hours

Apple MacBook Pro with Retina Display

$1500 and up

13.3

2560-by-1600 (227 ppi)

Intel Core i5 or i7 (Ivy Bridge)

128GB or 256GB

3.57 lbs / 0.75 in.

7 hours

Some takeaways:

  • None of the laptops running Intel's Haswell processors are available yet, but at this point, you're better off waiting for the superior battery life these laptops will deliver. (A Haswell upgrade for Apple's MacBook Pro laptops will probably come later this year as well.)
  • Samsung promises the best battery life and screen resolution of all the PC makers, but how much those specs will cost is unknown. The company is working on a "Lite" model of the ATIV Book 9 with a lower screen resolution, bulkier chassis and weaker specs.
  • The Chromebook Pixel is actually the cheapest of the bunch, but of course it only makes sense if you're okay doing 100 percent of your work in a Web browser.
  • While it seems possible for PC makers to achieve MacBook Air-like thicknesses with their high-resolution laptops, it's not cheap to do so. That may explain why Apple held off on Retina displays for this year's MacBook Air refresh.

Join the newsletter!

Or

Sign up to gain exclusive access to email subscriptions, event invitations, competitions, giveaways, and much more.

Membership is free, and your security and privacy remain protected. View our privacy policy before signing up.

Error: Please check your email address.

Tags GoogleAppleintelacersamsunghardware systemstoshibalaptopsdisplaysComponentsSamsung Electronicsultrabooks

Keep up with the latest tech news, reviews and previews by subscribing to the Good Gear Guide newsletter.

Jared Newman

PC World (US online)
Show Comments

Most Popular Reviews

Latest Articles

Resources

PCW Evaluation Team

Cate Bacon

Aruba Instant On AP11D

The strength of the Aruba Instant On AP11D is that the design and feature set support the modern, flexible, and mobile way of working.

Dr Prabigya Shiwakoti

Aruba Instant On AP11D

Aruba backs the AP11D up with a two-year warranty and 24/7 phone support.

Tom Pope

Dynabook Portégé X30L-G

Ultimately this laptop has achieved everything I would hope for in a laptop for work, while fitting that into a form factor and weight that is remarkable.

Tom Sellers

MSI P65

This smart laptop was enjoyable to use and great to work on – creating content was super simple.

Lolita Wang

MSI GT76

It really doesn’t get more “gaming laptop” than this.

Featured Content

Product Launch Showcase

Don’t have an account? Sign up here

Don't have an account? Sign up now

Forgot password?