Oh, and those carry along battery packs that I once used to recharge my cellphone? Those can be repurposed to charge the Notebook 9 Pro or to act as, essentially, an external battery pack. Throw just one of those deck-of-cards sized packs into your briefcase and you'll have more than enough juice for constant use of the Notebook 9 Pro on the flight between LAX and Heathrow.The upshot is that for both the Note9 and the Notebook 9 Pro, all you need is a single wall adapter with two USB power slots, and two USB-C cables. That's all that needs to go into your travel bag, although I note that you could also throw in a dual USB lighter plug charger in case you wanted to recharge both while driving — in the off-chance that your rental car doesn't have USB outlets.
As has become common with most mobile computing devices these days, both the Note9 and the Notebook 9 Pro can be opened with biometrics, with the Note9 adding a ergonomically-placed fingerprint reader on the back as well.Supposely, the Note9 has a great camera, but I'm the wrong guy to ask about that since if I take more than 30 photos a year on my cellphone it is a big deal. Thus, I'll leave reviews of the camera to others.What does impress me is the processor speed of the Note9, which is very fast. My S5 had considerable lag in running some apps or displaying big webpages, and my S7 had noticeable lag, but if the Note 9 has any lag at all it simply isn't noticeable. You click something and — boom — it works, no time to think about it or for random daydreaming. This is important for me when I'm standing in court and there is a question about some document or another, as I can instantly pull up the document on PDF and scroll through to find the important part without uncomfortable delay.
Another great thing is the Note9's screen, which at 6.4 inches is pretty big, considering that most tablets have screens that only come in about an inch-and-a-half bigger at 8 inches. What this usually means is that you don't have to squint to see what you're looking for. Younger users may not care as much, but this can be a big deal for older users.At the same time, the Note9 is barely bigger in footprint than the S9, and it easily fits into a front pants pocket or a suit pocket. When I bought the Note9, based on the photos I was concerned that I wouldn't be able to carry it around easily, but that simply has not been the case. Now, it's not the phone that one is going to strap on the bicep when working out, but it is not too big for business users.
The downside to the Note9 is its weight, which isn't onerous, but you simply can't put that big of a screen on something, and insert that big of a battery, and make it light with existing technology.The Note9 comes in two versions, with one offering 128gb of memory and the other offering a whopping 512gb of memory. I went with the 128gb of memory because I just couldn't see ever running out of memory. The reason is that the Note9 has a slot for a MicroSD card up to 512gb for a combined total of 640 gb with the smaller built-in memory! That, my friends, is an absurd amount of memory for the average business user. All of my files for all of my clients in all of their open cases take up just a little over 6gb. The real memory hog is my collection of jazz albums, which runs about 40gb. Unless I suddenly become a video bug and start using my Note9 in place of a video recorder, there simply is no way that I'll ever get even close to maxing out the available memory with or without a MicroSD card inserted (and, yes, I inserted a 128gb card into mine for reasons still yet unknown to me other than I felt that I had to do it).
Finally, all the Samsung phones starting with the S8 are water-resistant to about 30 feet, and this includes the Note9. This doesn't mean that I'll be taking my Note9 out with me the next time that I go surfing (though I could), but it is one less thing to worry about, as when recently I was caught outside in a torrential downpour (known locally as a "gullywasher") while visiting my native Oklahoma, or when the guy in seat 17D knocks his coffee all over everything.Other than the new features, the thing that is the most striking about the Notebook 9 Pro over earlier iterations of the Notebook 9 is that the Pro is significantly lighter. I have two earlier (2015) versions of the Notebook 9 Pro, both of which I thought at the time were perfect, but which weighed about 4.5lbs. The new 2018 version weighs about 3.8lbs, so Samsung has somehow managed to shave off nearly a pound in weight. While this may not sound like much in the abstract, the loss of that extra pound makes the new version much comfortable to use, and correspondingly lightens the briefcase.
But that is just the start. As mentioned, the new Notebook 9 Pro doesn't require a unique charger for power, but instead can be charged through a USB-C cable. That means that you can both (1) drop about another pound or so in weight for the charger, and (2) eliminate having to carry a rat's nest of wires with you at all times. In fact, if you asked me what the single best feature of the Notebook 9 Pro is, it is a good chance that I will say "Lose the charger". I've been carrying those awful chargers with me for over a quarter-of-a-century, and to not have to carry one now while traveling is simply a little slice of heaven. I honestly can't see ever even considering a laptop that requires a unique charger. As our English cousins might say, "Bollocks to that."
Otherwise, the Notebook 9 Pro is simply a very solid laptop. RAM comes in a 256gb SSD drive, which by itself isn't particularly impressive, but then the Notebook 9 Pro also offers a built-in MicroSD card so that one can easily add another 512gb for a total of 768gb. Maybe if I was doing a bunch of video editing I'd want more, but (again) everything that I would want to carry with me comes in well short of 100gbs, so that is far more than enough for me.The screen of the Notebook 9 Pro is big, bright and beautiful, and as mentioned can be turned into a tablet by the simple expedient of flipping the screen over. The keyboard is lit, which can be very useful for folks like me who enjoy sitting outside at night writing articles like this, or when one is taking the red-eye to New York.
If there is a serious or even just mildly annoying downside to either the Note9 or the Notebook 9 Pro, I haven't found it yet through I've already racked up quite a few hours with each, including one lengthy business trip to the East Coast. The Note9 is expensive, but then again so is its closest competitor from Apple. As for the Notebook 9 Pro, please don't tell Samsung but I'd have still been happy if I'd had to pay an extra $1,000 for it; it's just that good (and I remember that roughly 20-year period where "the laptop that you want is always $3,000", before cheap consumer goods became common).
BTI has recently issued their updated special pricing for SY-BPS13 BTI Laptop Battery for Sony VAIO VGN-SR190EBJ – 4400 mAh – Proprietary Battery Size – Lithium Ion (Li-Ion) – 10.8 V DC for Federal Agency customers. This temporary special pricing expires on December 31 2018. For more product information, visit the landing page of any of the suppliers below. To place a government purchase on GSA or NASA SEWP contract vehicles, please visit any of the Government Contractor suppliers listed below. As always, feel free to contact us regarding product information or search a listing of products in our Product Review category.
This Battery Technology, Inc (BTI) SY-BPS13 BTI Laptop Battery for Sony VAIO VGN-SR190EBJ – 4400 mAh – Proprietary Battery Size – Lithium Ion (Li-Ion) – 10.8 V DC listing reflects the special pricing for federal government customers including Defense Contract Audit Agency, Veteran Affairs, Veterans Affairs Department (VA), Veterans Benefits Administration (VBA), Veterans Day National Committee, Veterans Health Administration (VHA), Veterans’ Employment and Training Service (VETS), Vietnam Education Foundation, Voice of America (VOA), US Army, Army Corps of Engineers, Navy, Air Force, Marine Corps, etc.
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