With a $1,499 price tag for a 15-inch model, Samsung's Series 9 ultrabook is pricier than the most ultrabooks, which generally cost around $1,000. However, Won Pak, vice president of sales and marketing at Samsung told Laptop Magazine that he believes the product is ultimately worth the price.

"It's an audacious move," Pak added, but Samsung is willing to take the risk.

And judging by USA Today's Personal Tech Columnist Edward Baig's recent review, Samsung may be right. Compared to Dell's $999 XPS 13, Baig argued that the Samsung's features merited the extra cost, citing its 8 GB of memory (versus Dell's 4 GB), "larger and nicer display" and SD card reader.

Baig also praised the Samsung for its booting time, noting that the laptop loaded Windows 7 in 12 seconds. Additionally, notes Baig, the device "sprang to life from sleep in about a second." The laptop's auto-save feature, which automatically saves everything before shutting down, was also a selling point for the columnist.

The Samsung Series 9 ultrabook is one of several PCs that has followed the example of Macbook Air in terms of design: namely, the removal of a disk drive. This means no DVD or Blue-Ray watching for Samsung owners, but in the age of video streaming that may not deter many customers in the market for new Samsung laptops.

According to reviews, the 15-inch ultrabook weighs in at 3.5 pounds, while its 13-inch counterpart comes in at 2.43, falling just under the 13-inch Macbook Air.

The Samsung Series 9 is comparable to the Macbook air in design, but on par with the Macbook Pro in terms of storage. But it's up to you to determine if it merits a Macbook price. If you'd considering an ultrabook, a PortableOne expert can fill you in on the full range of laptops with Windows available.