For me, the Notebook 9 Pen's biggest draw is its weight -- 2.2 lbs -- and that's largely a result of Samsung's clever metallurgical skills. It's easy to pick up the machine and assume it's made of plastic, but it's not. Samsung developed a magnesium-aluminum alloy called Metal 12 to make its new devices more durable and lighter. Samsung's choice worked: The N9 Pen handled a few cautious drops surprisingly well. The alloy has a bit more flex than expected, but it's nothing to get worked up over.

I'm less fine with the way the Notebook 9 Pen looks. I dig minimalist designs, I really do: Google's Chromebook Pixel is one of my favorite designs ever, and it was basically a flat, unadorned rectangle. Samsung's design is downright boring. It's just straight silver-gray, with only a shiny Samsung logo on the back to break up the monotony. This might be the single most unremarkable looking laptop I've ever seen.

And the port selection is even worse. There's one full-size USB 3.0 port, an HDMI-out, a USB-C port and a tiny slot for a microSD card. This limited selection means the Notebook 9 Pen isn't ideal for my usual workload. Honestly, it feels like Samsung simply went with the bare minimum. I got by, but there was nothing about the experience to relish. And while it's not exactly a new choice, I still hate that Samsung stuck the notebook's power button on the right side, just below the microSD slot. It takes almost no pressure to trigger. More than once, I've grabbed the N9 Pen off my desk only to accidentally put it to sleep because my finger grazed the power button.