Samsung launches Ativ Book 9 Plus Ultrabook, Book 9 Lite laptop

A little lost in the hubbub surrounding the launch of the Ativ Q hybrid Windows 8/Android device, Samsung also rolled out a pair of new laptops to refresh the Ativ Book 9 family.

More notable is the Ativ Book 9 Plus Ultrabook (pictured above), which will run on Intel's new Haswell Core i5 and i7 processors and shares the Ativ Q's ultra-high-res 13.3-inch touchscreen (3,200x1,800, or 275 pixels per inch). The display is covered in Corning's Gorilla Glass and offers a pair of hinged positions, including 180 degress if, for some reason, you need the screen to lay flat.

Samsung also claims it has improved the keyboard and trackpad over its Book 9 predecessors. The Book 9 Plus weighs 3.06 pounds and is 0.54 inches thick at its skinniest point. The company promises 12 hours of battery life thanks to the new Haswell chips, but that figure might be less in real-world testing. For more hands-on details, our sister site CNET has a rundown.

For more budget-conscious buyers, Samsung additionally announced the Book 9 Lite, which lacks the Haswell processors and pixel-packed screen. Instead, it apparently runs on an unspecified AMD chip (according to Engadget) and has a more pedestrian 13.3-inch screen and a similarly average 1,366x768 resolution. It comes with SSD storage and is available in black, white and red color choices. It is a little thicker (0.67 inches) and heavier (3.17 pounds) than the Book 9 Plus.

Samsung hasn't yet detailed pricing or availability for either of the new Book 9 notebooks, though we can almost guarantee that the Book 9 Plus will be considerably more expensive the Book 9 Lite.