Samsung Galaxy Book S is Thinner, Lighter, Faster Than MacBook Air (notebookcheck.net) 81
An anonymous reader shares a report: The Intel Core i5-8210Y delivers a multi-core score of 1544 which compares poorly with the Qualcomm Snapdragon 8cx multi-core score of 2745. Yet, despite fitting the MacBook Air with a 49.9 Wh battery, Apple claims it will deliver just 13 hours of continuous video playback. However, because of the superior performance-per-watt of the Snapdragon 8cx when paired with the smaller 42 Wh battery in the Galaxy Book S, it delivers up to 25 hours (claimed) of continuous video playback. You can probably also argue that Microsoft has done an excellent job of optimizing Windows on ARM so that it works so harmoniously in this WinARM union. The MacBook Air weighs 1.25 kg (2.75 pounds) and is 15.6 mm (0.61-inches) at its thickest point. This compares with the Galaxy Book S which weighs 0.96 kg (2.11 pounds) and measures 11.8 mm (0.46-inches). Given that buyers of the slightly more expensive MacBook Air (US$1,099) are also only going to be doing relatively light-weight tasks on it like internet browsing and running Microsoft's Office suite on it, why would anyone choose the MacBook Air over the Galaxy Book S (US$999)? Like the MacBook Air, the Galaxy Book S runs its operating system, pre-installed apps and the Office suite natively while also giving users the option to use 32-bit x86 apps for those occasions where you might want to use other apps.
Not worth the price. (Score:2)
Is too small
Can't repair it
Too expensive
Re:Not worth the price. (Score:5, Funny)
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That sounds like the perfect contender to go up against the Macbook Air.
You're daft.
This is as much a competitor for the MacBook Air as a Galaxy Flip would be.
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Run ARM proc. Most software I use wont work on that
Lacks ports
That must be some pretty lame software if you have to do anything special to port it to ARM.
Isn't that why we have C in the first place?
8GB too small (Score:5, Insightful)
I have a relatively recent 8GB laptop. With FF and Chrome having both become bloatware, the laptop has lots of problems with not having enough RAM.
The Galaxy Book S is going to suffer the same problems. They under-spec'd it.
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I run Chrome on a 4GB laptop and it's fine. The SSD is so fast now that swapping isn't a major source of slow down. There is a fraction of a second delay switching tabs sometimes.
That's a SATA SSD. this thing should have the much faster NVMe. The apps are 32 bit as well, which uses a bit less than 64 bit.
Having said that I do run uBlock Origin so you might have worse performance if you allow ads.
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Where's the #Ad tag? (Score:3, Insightful)
If this isn't a straight-up ad for the Galaxy Book S, I don't know what is.
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It is... welcome to Slashdot. Now say something negative about Windows and get called a troll for pointing out the obvious.
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It is... welcome to Slashdot. Now say something negative about Windows and get called a troll for pointing out the obvious.
Or say something negative about Apple and get modded +5 Informative.
Welcome to Slashdot!
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Windows sucks?
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This is the internet, so there are plenty of ads everywhere, nothing special about slashdot.
Does the Galaxy Book run OSX? (Score:1, Insightful)
No? Then it is worth the 100$ extra to not have to put up with a shitty OS. I have a PC for gaming and a iMac side by side on my desk. I prefer OSX for doing work as it thus far has been more reliable for the task. The Windows 10 PC is likely to be replaced by a game console in the future if it continues to do the only job it is tasked with so poorly.
Found the iTard. (Score:1)
Projecting much, are we?
Nobody is a MS fanboy. Absolutely nobody. Even its backers merely put up with it. Because they are afraid of Linux, and at least it's not Apple.
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Projecting much, are we? Nobody is a MS fanboy. Absolutely nobody.
Yup. Even that Zune tattoo guy had it removed.
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I would say absolutely nobody.
Most of the Windows supporters I know, fit your description. But there are a few who are MS fanboys.
You can tell them apart because they show off their MS Certifications as source of pride, work history heavy in Active X than Silverlight application development.
There are a group of people who are big fans of Microsoft products.
That said being that Microsoft is so dominate in the market they don't feel the need like Apple or Linux fans to tout how much better their product is,
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No? Then it is worth the 100$ extra to not have to put up with a shitty OS. I have a PC for gaming and a iMac side by side on my desk. I prefer OSX for doing work as it thus far has been more reliable for the task. The Windows 10 PC is likely to be replaced by a game console in the future if it continues to do the only job it is tasked with so poorly.
Not to mention little things like your local file-searches being sent to the Mothership...
https://tech.slashdot.org/stor... [slashdot.org]
Performance (Score:5, Interesting)
Like the MacBook Air, the Galaxy Book S runs its operating system, pre-installed apps and the Office suite natively while also giving users the option to use 32-bit x86 apps for those occasions where you might want to use other apps.
The macbook air can also run 64bit x86 apps, which the galaxy book s cannot...
And while the snapdragon may perform better on paper, how much of that advantage is lost when emulating x86? Emulating a foreign processor is going to take its toll on memory use, battery life and performance.
How many peripherals are going to be lacking drivers too?
Now if this ARM based laptop ran linux or android it would have a lot more native apps.
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Microsoft is trying to eat into the Chromebook market with Windows on ARM.
On paper Chromebooks suck. Low specs, only run Chrome apps of which there are not that many, certainly no Photoshop or Microsoft Office... But they are popular because they are cheap, don't get viruses and so everything that many people need. When all your stuff is online and in the cloud anyway they have advantages.
By the way Malwarebytes says that Macs now get more malware than Windows. ChromeOS is still king, probably followed by L
Re:Performance (Score:5, Informative)
By the way Malwarebytes says that Macs now get more malware than Windows.
But you disingenuously "forgot" to include the next paragraph:
"Macs differ drastically from Windows in terms of the types of threats seen," the report reads. "Where we found several different categories and families in our top detections of Windows threats that classify as traditional malware , especially those aimed at businesses, most Mac threats, and certainly the most prevalent ones of 2019, are families of adware and potentially unwanted programs (PUPs)."
https://appleinsider.com/artic... [appleinsider.com]
So, while Mac Malware might cause some banner ads; Windows Malware is much more likely to sell your computer into BotNet slavery, or be the prelude to a nice, satisfying RYUK Ransomware attack.
Which would you prefer?
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I didn't include anything, just the link.
Anyway I'll take neither. Linux or Chrome OS.
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Like the MacBook Air, the Galaxy Book S runs its operating system, pre-installed apps and the Office suite natively while also giving users the option to use 32-bit x86 apps for those occasions where you might want to use other apps.
The macbook air can also run 64bit x86 apps, which the galaxy book s cannot...
And while the snapdragon may perform better on paper, how much of that advantage is lost when emulating x86? Emulating a foreign processor is going to take its toll on memory use, battery life and performance.
How many peripherals are going to be lacking drivers too?
Now if this ARM based laptop ran linux or android it would have a lot more native apps.
The only thing I take-away (mmmm. Take-Away...) from this Apples to ARMbook Comparison is that a major OEM now feels that WinARM is stable and mature-enough to pour some R&D dollars into an actual Product.
So, when Apple puts out its ARMBook, with it's asininely-superior Ax SoC, it will mop the floor with this Smartphone-with-a-keyboard hardware.
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How many peripherals are going to be lacking drivers too?
A lot. But that you can actually connect to that laptop, probably not much.
Let's face it, nobody buys this to connect peripherals. They buy it to get a thin and light laptop to surf the web.
Great! (Score:5, Funny)
Which version of Mac OS does it run?
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Yeh, if a fraction of a percent of the buyers bought a Macbook (of any kind) to run Windows on it I'd be astonished. I bought my Macbook despite the flashy poorly designed anemic overpriced hardware because that was the cost of getting an operating system that didn't suck combined with apps that didn't suck.
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Yeh, if a fraction of a percent of the buyers bought a Macbook (of any kind) to run Windows on it I'd be astonished. I bought my Macbook despite the flashy poorly designed anemic overpriced hardware because that was the cost of getting an operating system that didn't suck combined with apps that didn't suck.
Enough people consider Windows capability important enough for Macs in general that Apple has continued to Update BootCamp for at least a Decade.
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And yet somehow you failed.
Mac Windows Other things.
AT least you can put up with windows for general use for now. At some point it will be relegated to a gaming OS only. Still better than mac os thougg. (yes I had macs. 10.3 - 10.5 were the good points, anything else was riduculous, old 7 down was ok given the time. (my 68k macs ran debian).
Re:Great! (Score:5, Interesting)
The biggest reason desktop and laptop companies don't compete with Apple is because no matter how nice a device you make, it's still not going to run OS X, which is a big part of what many people looking at Apple laptops and desktops want.
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Exactly. I *was* trying to be a smartass, since that is unavoidable. But, the entire point of getting a Mac is to get the software, not because of the hardware.
Xcode works on a MacBook Air (Score:5, Interesting)
Given that buyers of the slightly more expensive MacBook Air (US$1,099) are also only going to be doing relatively light-weight tasks on it like internet browsing and running Microsoft's Office suite on it, why would anyone choose the MacBook Air over the Galaxy Book S (US$999)?
The biggest reason to buy a MacBook Air over a Galaxy Book S is that you get a free Xcode license. If you are a software developer, and prospective users have been pestering you to port your application to macOS or iOS, you'll need Xcode in order to make that happen.
For comparison, Galaxy Book S can't even run Visual Studio. From Visual Studio 2019 System Requirements [microsoft.com], with my emphasis:
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Microsoft probably expects you to use Visual Studio Code, and make your app for the web or .NET.
https://code.visualstudio.com/... [visualstudio.com]
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Microsoft probably expects you to use Visual Studio Code, and make your app for the web or .NET.
https://code.visualstudio.com/... [visualstudio.com]
Sorry, no ARM-native VSC, either.
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32 bit x86 will run.
But VS Code should be easy to port to ARM.
Don't think so (Score:2)
But VS Code should be easy to port to ARM.
If it were, there would be a port by now.
I seriously, seriously doubt that any version of Visual Studio is an 'easy port' to any other platform, you know that thing has to be riddled with hacks and very platform tightened code.
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Will it runs on Linux and Mac and is open source so... It would be weird if it was hard to compile for ARM. I mean it's basically Chrome underneath and that runs on ARM.
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Nice! Having got used to VScode it's actually a pretty decent system. The best part is that you can just point it at a repo you downloaded and it will sort itself out, very handy when trying to browse someone else's code and you don't have their IDE or whatever.
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It takes minimal work to compile code written in Visual Studio to gcc, and on ARM you also have the choice of something like Code Composer Studio from Texas Instruments.
If you used some weird language that might be a bigger problem, but most code is C or C++ which are trivially portable.
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If it were, there would be a port by now.
Ehm... [github.com] Exactly how long did you look for it?
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Hard to say as 90% of the Mac users I know are developers.
Only french and some other niche language users, use Macs because the language support is so much better, or artists.
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My MacBook Air runs Eclipse and IDEA IntellyJ.
The difference between the Mac Book Air and the Galaxy is $100, if one take the Galaxy and not the Mac one must have mental problems.
The touchpad (Score:4, Informative)
So far, I have never tried a laptop that has a touchpad that comes close to the macbooks'. It is worth a premium all by itself.
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So you need the Touchpad but don't care about the keyboard?
Their are many PC with touchscreens now, that do much of the Apple Touchpad features.
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The previous generation macbook pro keyboard, which I believe is still used in macbook air, is pretty good IMO (but I may suffer from Stockholm syndrome :) ). The current MBP ones are rather horrible though.
Touchscreens are another thing altogether. Good for some things but not others, and not a replacement for keyboard+touchpad.
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Almost all Apple laptops use the failure known as butterfly keyboard. Only the old 2017 MacBook Airs use the old classic scissor-style keyboards and the new 16" MacBook Pro has a new version which is said to be similar to their Magic Keyboards. Rumours are that the 13" MacBook Pro and the MacBook Air are going to be updated to this new keyboard.
That isn't a good thing (Score:2)
That means that it is even less practical than the Mac. The Mac took being thinner and lighter so far that it sacrificed too much practicality to the altar of fashion. The tradeoffs this required resulted in things like a years long keyboard fiasco, environmentally terrible products that were effectively throwaway products for the layperson and dongle hell. Hate to break it you, but it you don't look very svelte or sexy when your carrying around a bunch of dongles just so you can restore the functionality t
*anonymous reader* (Score:2)
are also only going to be doing relatively light-weight tasks on it like internet browsing and running Microsoft's Office suite
Satya? Is that you?
What's the native terminal on the "Galaxy Books S"?
why is the blurb a total samsung advertisement? (Score:3)
I mean has the guy who wrote it used it for any length of time?
does he not remember WINDOWS 8 RT!? the current armwin is better than that okay, but it's not really something you could say that microsoft is committed to.
or that you would like to use it. people buy it and will be pissed because they wanted to run windows applications. by windows applications they mean win32 x86 applications they have not apps from the store. so they're not compiled for arm and need to be emulated. and run like shit.
expect to see this on a few executives desks. general populace who might have bought one is still burnt from windows rt. so if they figure out it's not x86 before buying they will not buy it. also x86 laptops are pretty good anyways, you want mobile apps you might just as well run android...
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by windows applications they mean win32 x86 applications they have not apps from the store. so they're not compiled for arm and need to be emulated. and run like shit.
Not to defend this POS; but my research into WinARM makes it clear that x86 Applications are JIT-Compiled on First Run, and then on subsequent Runs, the ARM-code Modules Run instead. This is the same methodology that Apple employed with great success during their 68k to PPC transition-period.
So, other than a delay on First Run, they cross-Compiled Applications will run at native ARM speed.
No "emulation". Cross-Compilation. Big difference!
And I heard (from Microsoft), that as of about a year ago (when I stop
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"So, other than a delay on First Run, they cross-Compiled Applications will run at native ARM speed.
No "emulation". Cross-Compilation. Big difference!"
JIT is NOT cross-compilation, it is a technique of emitting native code that emulates an architecture, along with post-optimizations that can be performed on that code. Cross compilation starts with source, not executable code.
Sure, the code runs at "native ARM speed", but it is still code that emulates another architecture, one that is not designed to be ef
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JIT is NOT cross-compilation, it is a technique of emitting native code that emulates an architecture,
JIT is precisely Cross-compiliation. There is no "Emulation". The code may not be quite as optimized as a straight-on Compiler/Optimizer would produce; but it is in no way "Emulation".
Emulation is the software-INTERPRETATION of another CPU on an instruction-by-instruction basis; where a static CPU "Emulator" runs the Non-Native code Every. Single. Time.
Just-In-Time (JIT) Compiling takes non-native Machine-Code and, just before Running it the first time, runs it through a "Translator" (Compiler), then likely
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If you wave your hands until you're light-headed you won't even notice how much slower it is than code that was actually cross-compiled.
But sure, technologies that straddle the word boundaries are just an invitation to engage in absurd hyperbole, right?
The MacBook Air is garbage (Score:1)
and has been for years, even if you're an Apple fanboy, there's no reason to ever consider it. The HP Spectre Folio managed 22 hours of video playback [anandtech.com] in a similar form factor with an old i7 CPU (granted Intel is still fucking up with the refresh) so this is entirely down to Apple not giving a shit.
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and has been for years, even if you're an Apple fanboy, there's no reason to ever consider it. The HP Spectre Folio managed 22 hours of video playback [anandtech.com] in a similar form factor with an old i7 CPU (granted Intel is still fucking up with the refresh) so this is entirely down to Apple not giving a shit.
How is its macOS performance?
And video playback, with carefully-chosen format to leverage a hardware CODEC, is hardly a useful performance-metric for a laptop.
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I don't know, how is the Galaxy Book's? TFA is was already comparing Apples and oranges.
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down to Apple not giving a shit.
I think the Air has been in limbo for a while as they complete the transition to ARM behind the scenes. Really, they should try to make the transition as soon as they can. Intel has been holding Apple back for a while now. The average consumer keeps buying their laptops, but Apple's slowly losing their key advantages for the more discerning customer. Given that iPads are faster than the MacBook Air right now, they need to hurry it up.
LOL (Score:1)
So it's like a Macbook, only it has Windows and an exploding battery? All running on an ARM processor and selling for $1k? I'd rather have a Chromebook than this turd. I'd certainly rather have a Macbook.
News at 11... (Score:2)
One crappy computer is smaller and faster than another. To quote the Red 'Lectroid from the end of Buckaroo Bonzai: "Big deal".
"Thinner" is not a feature. (Score:2)
You misspelled "less battery, worse cooling, less repairability, shittier hardware design due to crampedness".
But I understand that in those aspects, it might still not be as bad as a MacBook.
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You misspelled "less battery, worse cooling, less repairability, shittier hardware design due to crampedness".
But I understand that in those aspects, it might still not be as bad as a MacBook.
You forgot "Less native Applications than a Microsoft Phone".
Browsing and Office? (Score:5, Informative)
Given that buyers of the slightly more expensive MacBook Air (US$1,099) are also only going to be doing relatively light-weight tasks on it like internet browsing and running Microsoft's Office suite on it, why would anyone choose the MacBook Air over the Galaxy Book S (US$999)?
Who makes statements like that? I do all my iOS development in XCode on a MacBook Air I bought used for $400 and it does perfectly fine. I wouldn't consider that a "light weight" task. I also run IntelliJ and other tools as well.
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Who makes statements like that?
Well, I imagine there’s a reason the submitter chose to be anonymous.
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They should have compared it to Chromebooks rather than Macbooks. I think Samsung's product would be more interesting if they sold a version preloaded with Ubuntu or some other Linux varient (of course, Microsoft would probably still demand they pay royalties, as they do with all hardware preloaded with Linux).
Apple doesn't usually inflate battery runtime (Score:3)
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Nearly all manufacturers inflate battery runtime numbers. Apple doesn't seem to do this. In many cases, reviewers have exceeded Apple's claimed numbers, something that almost never happens with other manufacturers. I bet the reality is a lot closer than 13 vs 25.
Yep.
Which is all the more amazing, since we're talking a completely-unfair comparison of a real CPU against a not-even-glorified mobile SoC.
But when Apple releases its own ARM-based laptop, with its far-superior to CrapDragon SoC, and their already-optimized-for-ARM OS, then you'll see what someone that knows their shit can do with an ARM laptop.
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Which is all the more amazing, since we're talking a completely-unfair comparison of a real CPU against a not-even-glorified mobile SoC.
Well indeed. I don't really trust those random coremark things or whatever they are. The Phoronix suite at least tests real applications on real workloads, with a real (i.e. not vendor hacked just for the benchmark) compiler. Over the years I've found that's the only benchmarking suite that really seems representative of actual work.
Stupid article (Score:3)
The whole argument is based on premise that "apple users use MS Office and other lightweight apps", so they can switch to Samsung right away. The author has no idea who all uses Macbook Air and why, so the rest of the article is pure junk. Here are few more things:
-- Branding: You can get Seiko watch at a fraction of price to Rolex watch.
-- Eco system: If your family members are using Macbook (not just Air), you are likely to use Macbook.
-- Familiarity
-- Better OS. I do value shopping but I wouldn't buy a Windows machine which is half the price of Mac for the same performance. None of my professional requirements. What do you think my personal machine would be?
-- honesty: Samsung has been caught with pants down in the past for many of their claims whether it is battery performance or benchmark
-- Current macbook air is 16 months old. Comparing it to latest Samsung is useless
-- Reliability and dependebility: Apple provides direct upgrade to OS for many many years. With Samsung it is hit or miss.
Keeping this in mind, re-read the article and you will see why Samsung has an uphill battle against Macbook Air.
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,,,so the article is pure junk.
FTFY.
Apples and Oranges again (Score:1)
Small diff in cost not worth lifetime of suffering (Score:1)
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Thinner? (Score:2)
The air isn't that bad. (Score:2)
Sadly it seems that few people here actually own an Air. I have the latest with 16G and use it when I have to travel. I do bulids with XCode, run VmWare Fusion and w/ Linux for server testing and just about everything I need to do it does just fine.
I can't run as many VMs at the same time as my desktop but when sitting on a plane or train I can at least get work done.
However, that said I really miss my 11" Air, it had an i7 but only 8G ram but the the size was perfect. You could actually open the scr
A little late? (Score:2)