Samsung is rolling out a number of new notebooks soon as part of the company’s back-to-school lineup. The Samsung Series 3 laptops will have screen sizes ranging from 11.6 inches to 15.6 inches. I got a chance to check out a 12.1 inch model at a recent event, but detailed specs, pricing, and information about the other models wasn’t available at the time. Now it is.
Samsung Series 3 NP300U1A-A1US (11.6 inch notebook)
This model is due out in July with a suggested retail price of $679. At launch it will be exclusively available in the US from Staples stores, although that could change.
The laptop has a 1366 x 768 pixel display and a 1.2 GHz Intel Pentium 957 dual core processor. It will feature 802.11b/g/n WiFi, Bluetooth 3.0, and Gigabit Ethernet. The laptop has 3 USB 2.0 ports and a 6 cell battery.
Samsung Series 3 NP350U2B-A1US (12.5 inch notebook)
This model has a faster processor, a slightly larger display, and a higher price tag. It will be available from a variety of retailers this month for $749.
The laptop has a 12.5 inch, 1366 x 768 pixel matte display, a 2.3 GHz Intel Core i5-2410M dual core processor, 4GB of DDR3 memory and a 500GB hard drive.
This Samsug NP350 notebook is actually already up for pre-order at J&R, but it hasn’t begun shipping yet.
Brad, I’ve had my eye on the ASUS U36JC-NYC on Amazon for $819.97 and been wondering if there would be something like that computer, which mates a full voltage i5 CPU with NVIDIA Ion 2, but using a Sandy Bridge CPU.
The pros and cons:
ASUS U36: Â 6 GB of RAM, last generation i5, both Intel and NVIDIA GPUs, 7200 RPM HD – $819.97. Â Bigger screen and keyboard (I like the 12.1 inch form factor more than 13.3), about 5 hours of battery life in real world conditions.
Samsung NP350U2B:  4 GB of RAM, in theory, better version of the i5, only Intel GPU, 5400 RPM HD – $749.99.  My ideal size for screen and keyboard, unknown battery life metrics.
Any idea if ASUS is going to refresh their lovely U-series line with Sandy Bridge and NVIDIA Optimus?
Honestly, I don’t pay a lot of attention to the mainstream laptops from Asus and others so I don’t have any info on an updated version of that model. Sorry.
already in Costco
i’m not seeing it on the Costco site.. which model is it? the 11″ or 12″? is it in store only?