13.3" Samsung NP900X3C with Ivy Bridge CPU

I am looking for some kind of protective skin/guard for the x3c and also a keyboard guard. Does anyone have any recommendation?

The only one I found so far is the invisibleshield, but it is for the 15in x4c.
Samsung Series 9 15" Notebook 900X Skins | invisibleSHIELD by ZAGG

 

Samsung Series 9 900X3C StarCraft II benchmark:

Medium settings on 1600x900 - Avg: 30 FPS!! (This is with HIGH physics and Effects)

You can actually use medium shaders in the game now with this model! It looks great! The FPS does drop into the mid 20s in heated battles, but for 90% of the game, the game is completely playable!

 

Any chance you could do a battery test comparison between the two? I'm particularly interested in media playback, trying to get a feel for how much of a difference ivy bridge makes. For instance, on my X3B (3% wear) I've done the followig rough benchmarks:
1. All power savings on, wifi off, screen dim=1, cpu idle =14%/hour ~ 7 hours
2. Power savings on, wifi off, screen dim=1, dvd in media center (mounted iso, not external drive) = 17%/hour ~ 5.5 hours
3. Same with 1080p mkv ffdshow dxva= 22%/hour ~ 4.5 hours
4. Power savings on, wifi on, screen high bright, 1080p mkv streamed over network = 28%/ hours ~ 3.5 hours

All of these are a far cry from engadget's claiming 7.5 hours streaming media on the X3C, but those seemed far fetched. Maybe IVB is much better though.

 

You might have better luck asking in this thread: http://forum.notebookreview.com/samsung/659271-series-9-accessories.html.

 

Thanks! I'll definitely try it out. I've already tried to exchange the laptop yesterday but the MS store was all out and not expected to receive more until a week or 2. Hopefully this works for me too!

 

Just FYI - my NP900X3C-A01NL has arrived yesterday. It comes with the angular powerplug, not the straight one. Otherwise it has the Sandisk (which speedwise has been fine, except indeed when there is a big dump to the drive due to swap). After booting it up I've updated the bios to the latest version. My second action has been to plug in a USB stick and wipe the disk, installing openSUSE 12.2 (rc1). Almost everything works great out of the box, I'm impressed actually by the power usage (I've seen it down to 6.4 watt, that should give a very decent battery life!) and the speed (awesome ). The only thing which does NOT work out of the box is the keyboard backlight. I haven't looked around for a solution yet. Oh and the wifi button doesn't turn of the wifi but I haven't looked for a solution there yet either, it doesn't bother much as turning off wifi is 2 clicks away anyway. Last, closing the lid doesn't make it go into hibernation and the OS doesn't seem to detect if it's on power or not - but this might be solved after some updates I've just ran. Will see after rebooting...

The CPU turbo works nicely, btw, even on battery - I've seen the CPU at 2.1 ghz in powertop already.

/me goes reboot to see if the remaining issues are fixed with the updates

 

I think somebody else asked this but I don't remember seeing the answer. Do all the keyboards in x3cs sound cheap and loose, especially the space bar, when you type on them or do I have a lemon? It's really annoying and will probably go back because of it. I just don't know if it's worth getting another.

 

I guess it depends on what you want it to sound like. My space bar sound a bit "cheap" I guess - but then again it's pretty much the same sound my old ASUS space bar made. The other keys only sound like "low thumps".

 

I got my Crucial SSD the other day and installed it - seems to have went without a hitch, except that it took quite some time to install all the windows updates. One thing that annoys me though - when I boot the Samsung "Press F2 to enter bios"-screen is up and visible for around 10 seconds. The rest of the boot is very fast - about 7 seconds. I don't really mind if the system is loading in the background (although that means my boot time has gone from <10 secs to the double).

And another totally unrelated question: will you guys upgrade to Windows 8 right away? It's supposedly fully backwards compatible, but getting everything "just right" with all the little drivers and programs that come with this laptop might prove to be even harder on Windows 8. Thoughts?

 

@Don1 I can say the X3C I have surely has a noisy, probably cheap-sounding spacebar. i guess they wanted to make sure that, as tactile feedback is mostly missing with the shallow keys, you'd get auditory feedback... I'm quite OK with it but I can see why you complain too.

About the Linux support of the NP900X3C - what's not working is:
- keyboard backlight
- wifi switch (fn-F12)
- ACPI actions (doesn't notice powerplug going in/out and laptop lid being closed. It does show battery charge correctly and it does note the power button keypress so I've assigned that to 'suspend to ram' and will suspend manually until this is fixed).

Everything else is great: wifi, screen (brightness), volume, suspend to ram/disk. Not tested: external screen as I have no dongles. Have no problems with the touchpad at all - although due to its size you hit it regularly while typing so I installed Synaptiks which can turn it off for an configurable time (.5 sec is fine for me) after a keypress. 2-finger scrolling (horizontal and vertical) is butter smooth and I have had no issues with 1, 2 and 3 finger clicks (which I've configured to be left, right and middle click. Performance and powerusage are very good.

This is on: openSUSE 12.2 RC2 (release in to be done 1 month), Linux Kernel 3.4.6, 64bit.
I am aware that there is a 3.5 kernel out already (which might indeed have some or all of these issues fixed). I'll upgrade to openSUSE Tumbleweed (openSUSE rolling release repository) once 12.2 is out to see if that does indeed fix it (or, if I get restless, grab a newer kernel from openSUSE Kernel Resources).

 

Well, if it's normal I will try to adjust to it..everything else about it I love..well maybe not the keyboard backlighting.

 

Did you reinstall rapid boot or whatever intel call it and set up a 4 gb partition so that it works? I think that will make a big difference.

 

There is a Samsung Fast Boot Mode which optimises the Windows boot process. It is impressively fast. Fast Boot is different from the Intel Rapid Start Technology which is basically sleep / hibernation / resume that is managed outside of Windows and which gives not only much faster resume from hibernation than Windows but also provides the facility to just shut the computer, put it in the bag and know that it will transition from sleep to hibernation after a delay specified by the user and without Windows waking up. I like it because the open programs remind me of the half-finished work.

John

 

To be honest - I don't know. I tried following the instructions, and it did create a 4 GB partition. However, uninstalling/reinstalling/admin/whatever IRST Manager won't start for me.

Edit:
It IS on in Samsung's Easy Settings.

 

It must have been fast boot then..my mistake, I have it turned on and I know it really made a difference.

On another subject, somebody was looking for silver in the US. If you have a MS store near you they sell silver, 900x3c-a03. They won't have them on the floor because they stopped selling the x3c completely when the aus prime hit their floor but they may still have them in the back. I got one yesterday, no discount other than the 20% sale they already have but still that is good.

Oh, nm..that may have been the x3b.

 

So you are saying the machine is silver like a MacBook Air? It isn't the "Mineral Ash Black" dark blueish gray?

 

No, it's Titan Silver which is different than The Mineral Ash Black but with Samsung silver isn't silver and black isn't black. This is sort of a dark gray. If you look closely at the pictures on their website you can see the difference. Mostly they use Titan Silver in their business notebooks, those with professional installed. I am sure Titan is used as an abbreviation for Titanium which itself is dark gray.

 

What does the label on your box say?

 

I see notes about an MS store 20% sale, but don't see anything on their website. What is that deal?

just went to MS store, and found out about discount - 20% if PC costs over $1000, they also said that the discount has been extended until the 18th.

 

Is yours the AD-4019SL Rev. 1.5 power supply?

 

I likely won't upgrade to Windows 8 right away because I do not like the loss of the Start button. Once the release version is out, and there are 3rd party add-ons for the final version to add that functionality back, I will give it a try.

 

My box says it is mineral ash black but that is a MS box and not the original Samsung box. However it isn't it is Titan Silver. The black is different.

 

There are many websites (including Amazon) which have described the product as "Titan silver" when the delivered product was mineral ash black. How is your black different? On my X4C the keys are properly black and the main paint job is a slightly lighter shade of black with a hint of blue under some lighting conditions. This is illustrated by the photos in my X4C review.

John

 

Which color does your machine look more like in the attached pictures?

 

/me checks

Yup, it is... Looks like in NL at least they've started shipping the Rev. 1.5 by default.

 

Mine is solid dark gray. It does not have the bluish tint like the ash black does. I don't know how else to describe it but the Samsung site itself lists two distinct colors. Titan Silver and Mineral Ash Black. I have seen both and while similar they aren't the same. Unfortunately I haven't seen both side by side.

I see no other difference at all between the two links below other than color but maybe I am missing something. If not then why would Samsung offer two models for the same machine?

Specs - Notebooks NP900X3C | Samsung Laptops

Specs - Series 9 Notebooks NP900X3C | Samsung Laptops

 

If anybody is looking to buy, Amazon has the free $100 gift card promotion going again.

Amazon.com: Introducing Intel-Powered Ultrabooks.

 

Ah, right after I bite the bullet and purchase the A03, now you go and tell me that it's not the mineralized beauty I've been lusting for. XP How would you personally compare it to the mineral ash? Is it significantly less interesting and drop-dead gorgeous?

I'm debating whether I should tell my mother to return the A03 she just drove five hours to get (I seriously love her to death) and order the A01 off of Amazon with that promotion. :/ I'd rather not do that to her, but if it's a drab grey compared to a deep blue-black that varies with viewing angle...

 

Aren't they the same from different angles?

 

That's what my A03 looks like too but the box says it is mineral ash black..same as the A01 on Amazon. I still don't get why Samsung would make two entirely different model numbers of the exact same machine(spec wise) unless the color really is different.

Now this looks black but who knows if it is a filter, the light or whatever.. I know mine doesnt look anything like this at all.

Samsung Series 9 NP900X4C User Review Image Gallery

 

The colour does appear to vary depending on the lighting. But I suspect that the camera is doing an auto white balance that changes depending on how much white is in the photo. All I can say about the colour of my X4C is that the keys are black and the paint surrounding the keys is slightly lighter. Very dark grey with a hint of blue depending on the lighting.

John

 

Here's an idea, why don't you post some pictures of your machine.

 

I returned it this morning but only so I could buy one from Amazon and use all these AMEX reward points I have been accumulating. It still ends up $100 more but you also get a 100 gift card and there is no tax so it is pretty much a wash. This one says it will be mineral ash black and the more I am hearing the more I think it will be the same. Why Samsung uses two distinct colors in their specs escapes me.

 

They use two distinct colors for the second generation Series 9 notebooks in the USA. One for the consumer machines, and another for the business machines. The gray/blueish color most of us have, and the Silver color on the business NP900X4D 15" model. The silver I am referring to looks like a Mac. Apparently there is a coming NP900X3D model in silver as well.

There are actually four colors from Samsung specs, packaging, and marketing:

Mineral Ash Black
Titan Silver
Mystic Silver
Silver

Nobody has ever explained why all the online properties (Samsung, Amazon, JR, Costco, B&H, etc.) all have descriptions that say one thing, but the order arrives with a different color. Samsung marketing continues to be one giant cluster f.

I believe Ash Black and Titan Silver are the same. I also believe Mystic Silver and Silver are the same. But I would love PROOF that four different colors/finishes exist.

 

Haha now all we need are the limited editions. Don't know if they are doing them anymore though.

SERIES 9 Limited Edition - Luxury Rose Gold - YouTube
SERIES 9 Limited Edition - Moonlight Blue - YouTube

 

I've got my np900x3c recently - I like everything about this laptop,
except one thing - I see backlight flickering at brightness levels of 5-6/8 and below - which makes it kind of annoying for the eyes. Am I the only one who see this ? what is your experience with comfort of working with this display ?
when I do a 'pencil test' - I can see patterns at mid-brightness

 

Oh my. This is hilarious. Hmm... Well, I suppose that I'll keep the A03 and risk it then. I'll post about it later once I return to the States and open this baby up (and boy is it painful knowing that the A03 and a Nexus 7 are just waiting at home for the next week! T____T).

 

OK, I read about the pencil test, but wasn't that a test to be used for flicker on an old CCFL LCD display panel? Would it even be applicable on an S9 display?


I don't see flickering on a B series model.
Originally, I thought that the display strained my eyes, but that was only at 6/8 or higher. Once I got it to 5/8 or lower, no problems.

 

That's the best explanation I have seen yet and upon further review I think that is exactly right as well.

 

Has anybody ever produced an a-z ssd upgrade guide? From preparing the new drive (is it necessary? does ethernet work before boot so that you can just backup/restore to a network drive). To opening the case, proper tools (I know you need a size 0 phillips, anything else?), removing the old drive..whatever..you get the idea. I have never been able to find one..Bits and pieces here and there but nothing complete.

 

Most of the bits are here. Splice them together, try to follow them, fill in the gaps and then you have written the guide which you can add to that thread.

John

 

Thanks!.....

 

Is there a microSD to SD card adapter that doesn´t stick out of the 900x3c? I remember somewhere in this forum someone even built his own.. though I can´t find that post anymore.

 

Hello all,

So I just installed a new hard drive and a clean W7 installation....where is the best place to download the latest drivers/software? I remember back in the X460 days Samsung always had more recent versions of software and drivers on their Japanese or Chinese support site.

Where does everyone get their latest drivers?

Patrick

 

Well, i got my replacement x3c from Amazon yesterday and both my wife and I think it looks more black than the last one but freely admit that maybe it is our imagination.

 

Start by installing Easy Software Manager and let it do the work for you.

John

 

STOP TORMENTING ME. D: Which do you prefer aesthetically? (And not to worry, I likely won't exchange it; this is mostly just curiosity haha)

 

I prefer this one to what I got from MS but again I may just be imagining it..I was finally convinced they were all the same and then this showed up yesterday.

 

I've been looking at the 13" Samsung 900X3C, and have about decided to buy it - instead of the Asus UX31A - but the problem is that the MS store seems to have the best price on both (with their 20% off special), but they only have the Samsung with 128GB SSD and i5 processor - while they only have the Asus with the 256GB SSD and the i7 processor. Since I would likely want to replace the SSD on the Samsung with 256 GB, prices aren't that much different. In looking at the two in the store, I don't see some of the issues that people are complaining about on the Asus thread, but I like the slightly smaller size of the Samsung, and am leaning in that direction. Is there anything that I'm missing in this? Also, if I replace the Samsung's 128 GB SSD, what is the best way to make use of it?

 

You won't see the problem with the ASUS screen unless you are in a dark environment and of course the fan issue you won't be able to hear either and that only occurs when resuming from sleep anyway.