Monday, June 25, 2012

Battle of the Screens: Samsung Series 9 np900x4c versus Asus Zenbook Prime UX31A - Samsung wins.

To avoid light bias, I took these two notebooks to a closed dark room (bathroom) and snapped some shots comparing the two screens. Both are set to maximum brightness (and I moved the mouse every 15 seconds to avoid screen dimming).

I have to give brownie points to Asus for the much cheaper price point and for including a microVGA-> VGA adapter and sleeve, but have to totally give the win to Samsung. Better battery life, upgradeable, and a much better (read: brighter) screen. Refer to my previous post to see how the 15" and 13" Samsung Series 9 machines compare.

As I expected, 1920x1080 resolution is too fine. I have 20/15 vision (better than normal) and I'm sorry, there is no way I want such high resolution on a 13".















8 comments:

  1. Thanks for these pics - very helpful. I've been trying to decide between these two for over a week now.

    My only remaining concern is that the Samsung display may be a bit over-saturated for my preferences. Contrary to your conclusion, I actually prefer the Asus in your pics. To each his own I guess.

    Any chance you'd be willing to do another comparison after recalibrating with John Ratsay's display profile?

    http://forum.notebookreview.com/samsung/650581-samsung-15-series-9-np900x4c-ivy-bridge-cpu-71.html#post8652877

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    1. Unfortunately I returned the Zenbook - by default it was a bit less saturated - lmk if some shots of the 15" alone with John's profile would be useful!

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  2. Will, can you tell me if Samsung has a glossy "glare" screen? It seems this tidbit is very hard to find. My test would be sit in a room with flourscent lights and tilt the screen so it reflects the light in your eye. (yes, I'm a matte display fan)

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  3. All the 2012 ss9 machines have a matte screen. I agree matte is way better

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  4. I saw your comment on overclock.net and decided to give you some input. I would "refine" the build quality/ esthetics a little more. I recommend doing them in Brushed stainless steel or brushed allie with a coat of varnish on, because that stuff stains easily! How it will look in terms of material:http://forums.bit-tech.net/showthread.php?t=223587&page=17

    Look at the backplates he made 1/3 of the way down the page.

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  5. Though darker, the colors on UX31a look more natural than on NP900x4c. Anyone would disagree?

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  6. You say the Asus full HD (1080) 13,3" screen is way too much. How do you feel about the Samsung s9 13,3" 1600*900? A bit too much either? Thanks!

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