Samsung NP470R5E-K01UB & NP470R5E-K02UB ATIV Book 4 Slim Aluminum 15.6″ Laptops

The Samsung NP470R5E-K01UB and NP470R5E-K02UB models from the ATIV Book 4 15.6-inch laptop series are almost premium class notebooks. We say “almost”, because they don’t have a high-resolution display and keyboard backlight.

Samsung NP470R5E-K01UB and NP470R5E-K02UB ATIV Book 4

On other fronts, the NP470R5E-K01UB and NP470R5E-K02UB are premium machines. They sport the same metal body, with brushed aluminum finish more precisely. The hardware hidden inside the durable and sleek 0.9″ thin chassis includes the Intel Core i5-3230M processor and 6GB of system memory in the K01UB selling for $580 and the i7-3537U coupled with 8GB RAM in the 700-dollar K02UB. Differences between these two model end here.

What they have in common are a 750GB hard drive, 1366×768 screen resolution with anti-glare coating on the display, 2 x 1.5-Watt stereo speakers, a webcam for video chats at up to 720p resolution, three USB ports, Intel Wireless Display technology for hooking up HDTVs wirelessly, HDMI output for a wired HDTV connection, VGA for older monitors, multi-format reader for media cards, Bluetooth 4.0 for smartphones and other compatible devices and peripherals, and standard Wi-Fi and Gigabit LAN connections for getting you online. What’s also noticeable is absence of a built-in optical drive, so you won’t be able to use CDs and DVDs with these systems, unless you buy a separate USB optical drive.

Regarding performance comparison of their CPUs, its interesting to note that the i5 chip in the cheaper model is actually slightly faster than the i7 in the other one, according to PassMark. That’s mostly because the i5-3230M has a clock speed of 2.6 at default to 3.2 GHz in TurboBoost mode, whereas the i7-3537U runs from 2.0GHz up to 3.1GHz, while both CPUs having two cores.

Intel Core i5-3230M

The big difference between the i5-3230M and i7-3537U is power consumption, with former consuming 35W and later only 17W. This means the i5 runs hotter than the i7, but apparently doesn’t influence power autonomy of the laptops. Samsung has estimated that you will have a battery life of “up to four hours”, whether you purchase the NP470R5E-K01UB or NP470R5E-K02UB.

Samsung NP470R5E-K01UB and NP470R5E-K02UB Lid

The systems weigh 4.6 pounds and together with sub-1-inch thinness they are highly portable laptops in the 15.6 class. For comparison’s sake, an average budget 15.6-incher weighs about 5.5 lbs and is about 1.3″ thick. So, if you carry your laptop around much, but still want to have a decently big display, the Samsung ATIV Book 4 is a good choice. However, right now on sale at Best Buy is the 15.6″ P500 – 59372845 by Lenovo with almost the same specs as the NP470R5E-K01UB plus DVD burner and keyboard backlight for $80 less, or precisely $500. It measures 4.9lbs and has a height of 0.9″, so it is also highly portable considering its screen size. Another good choice is the 650-dollar Toshiba P55-A5200 with a 1920×1080 screen and DVD burner.

3 thoughts on “Samsung NP470R5E-K01UB & NP470R5E-K02UB ATIV Book 4 Slim Aluminum 15.6″ Laptops”

  1. Great laptop, i have one (model NP470R5E-X01, Russian model with Core i5, 8GB of RAM, 1TB Seagate HDD – but pre-installed Windows have English language), buy it for $530 – but feels like mac book pro for 1500 usd :) Great assembly, perfomance, wheght, thin, materials and sound quality for good price, but display not good, but imho much better then previous Lenovo U510 ultrabook.

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