Samsung Rolls Out Windows 10, Skylake-Equipped ATIV Book 9 Laptops

Samsung has taken the wraps off two new metal-finished touch-display notebooks as part of its premium ATIV Book 9 line -- the ATIV Book 9 Pro laptop and the ATIV Book 9 Spin 2-in-1 convertible.

The South Korea-based company is the latest vendor to roll out devices running on Microsoft's Windows 10 operating system and Intel's Skylake processors just as the holiday season arrives.

"The Pro and Spin both feature gorgeous touch screens, lighter designs, and seamless connectivity within the Samsung ecosystem and represent our continued effort to innovate in the PC market," said Gary Riding, senior vice president for mobile computing at Samsung, in a statement. "Our new laptops show Samsung's continued dedication to providing the best options for consumers so they can stay fully connected and productive from anywhere."

[Related: Samsung Takes STEP Channel Program To Wireless Enterprise Players]

At 4.45 pounds, the 15.6-inch ATIV Book 9 Pro runs on Windows 10 Home and contains an Intel Core i7 processor. The new laptop also contains 8 GB of RAM and Nvidia GeForce GTX 950M discrete graphics, with 6.5 hours of battery life.

The ATIV Book 9 Pro also features an Ultra HD 4K display, which other vendors such as Lenovo and Toshiba have recently embraced in their laptop products.

Samsung's ATIV Book 9 Spin contains a 360-degree hinge that supports three models -- the laptop, tented screen and tablet. This versatility feature puts the device in the same category as Lenovo's Yoga series or the HP Spectre x360.

The 13.3-inch ATIV Book 9 Spin contains an Intel Core i7 processor and runs on Windows 10 Home. The 2-in-1 is fairly light, weighing 2.87 pounds, and it contains 8 GB of memory in addition to a 720p HD integrated camera.

The ATIV Book 9 Pro was being made available starting at $1,599 at the beginning of November, according to Samsung, and the ATIV Book 9 Spin at $1,399. Both models will be available exclusively on Samsung's website and at Best Buy.

Samsung has been working to bolster both its notebook and mobile segments over the past few quarters. After six consecutive quarters of declines, the company's mobile division finally returned to a year-on-year gain in the third quarter, with operating profit increasing 36 percent from the thrd quarter of 2014.

"Samsung continues to be a highly adopted mobile platform for consumers," said Jay Gordon, vice president of sales at Enterprise Mobile, a Plano, Texas-based solution provider. "Samsung has a unique value proposition for the enterprise in that it offers a consistent brand for mobility, PCs and many other IT assets, providing an effective platform for standardization."

More vendors are throwing their hats into the ring with convertible notebooks and laptops as the holiday season approaches. Apple in September took the wraps off its iPad Pro, which will be available in November and features an enhanced keyboard accessory, as well as the Apple Pencil, an accessory stylus for writing notes and drawing on the device.

Only a few weeks later, Microsoft announced its $1,499, 13.5-inch Surface Book with a detachable touch screen, followed by Hewlett-Packard, which rolled out its $799 12-inch Spectre x2 with a detachable keyboard and stylus.

"In the enterprise, Apple and Microsoft continue to dominate the mobile segment. However, customers that have employed an Android strategy most often standardize on Samsung mobile devices," Gordon said. "Samsung has done a good job focusing on the enterprise experience by rounding out innovative mobile devices with security and management tools."

PUBLISHED NOV. 9, 2015