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Samsung refreshes Series 9, 5 and 3 laptops, unveils two new Series 5 systems
We knew Series 9 laptops with Ivy Bridge weren't too far off when Samsung prematurely leaked the news on its own site. Well, if you've been patiently awaiting a refresh, your day has come: the company held a press event in New York City today where it showed off both the 13- and 15-inch models with Intel's third-generation Core processors in tow. Hardware-wise, there aren't many changes to what you saw on the earlier models, though Samsung added Bluetooth 4.0 support and shaved 0.1 inches off the silhouette. Along with the Series 9, Samsung's Series 5 laptops are getting new Ivy Bridge innards. The only changes besides the processor upgrade are Bluetooth 4.0 support and a USB 3.0 socket. And the low-end Series 3 isn't getting overlooked entirely either: the company is upgrading the line to dual-core Sandy Bridge CPUs (previous models ran Pentium units). But that's not all: on top of all those refreshes, the company has two new Series 5 machines. The Series 5 500 starts at $800 and offers a 14-inch 1366 x 768 display, 500GB of storage space and a third-gen Core i5 CPU. The 15.6-inch Series 5 costs $100 more and features a Core i7 Ivy Bridge processor along with a 750GB hard drive. Both models also include NVIDIA GeForce GT 630M graphics. Sammy says they will be up for order by mid-June. Dana Wollman contributed to this report.
Visualized: Second-gen Samsung Series 9 gets torn down to its ultra-slim components
Chances are you're no stranger to the Samsung Series 9 -- the first generation stood out for its slimness, and the most current version is an impressive 28 percent thinner. If you're wondering how those notebooks can be so dang skinny, your curiosity will be satisfied by Samsung's teardown of a 13-inch model. A thinner LCD and a customized main board contribute to the machine's slight profile, as do a 40 percent slimmer touchpad and a built-in lithium-polymer battery. As is so often the case, the pictures speak much louder than words, so hop over to Samsung's blog for a gander.
