13.3" Samsung NP900X3C with Ivy Bridge CPU

My battery wear os 0 after 2-3 months of use. Does that seem right, or do I need to give it a while?

 

My X3B has been sitting at 3% wear since new and my X4C is also at 0% ( in fact the fully charged capacity is more than the design). A few people have encountered quite high wear either from new or within the first few months.

Normally I'm using the Battery Life Extender option and haven't had the need to regularly use the full battery capacity. Any wear may not become obvious until one needs to use the full capacity and discovers that the battery goes from plenty of time remaining to empty in only a few minutes. Then it is time to run the battery calibration in the BIOS after which the wear may become evident. It will be prudent to run the calibration after, say, 9 months, so that if abnormal wear appears then it can be attended to within the warranty period.

John

 

I just verified the webcam driver of my NP900X3C-01 because of its very weak back light compensation and the impossibility to setup most of camera settings in skype (they are inactive). Well, I found a standard driver from Microsoft from 2006...is this normal? I didn't find official driver for win7 on Samsung's support page, only for XP and it's from 2012...I tested it on my win7 and it works (a little bit better back light compensation but slower camera response time IMO. All settings are unlocked in skype).
Does some one have something better?
Thanks

 

I think I have the same camera in my X4C. I've just been checking and Skype offers me two settings: The Webcam and the Cyberlink Webcam Splitter. Using the latter means that I can access various controls in the Cyberlink YouCam control panel.

John

 

Just performed a clean install on my NP900X3C, but I'm experiencing 2 issues:

1) The left and right click sections on the trackpad only work intermittently, even after updating to the latest driver.
2) Windows Task Manager is reporting around 85-95% Physical Memory usage. I've noticed that 2261MB is Nonpaged Kernel Memory (MB), which I don't believe is normal?

Anyone else experiencing these issues?

Edit:

I've just removed Intellimemory and the RealTek audio software and the Physical Memory issue has gone, what exactly is Intellimemory?

 

1. Re the pad, do you mean the buttons or the clickable pad? Notwithstanding that question, I would uninstall / reinstall the driver then, in Task Manager, raise the priority of ETDCtrl.exe and ETDCtrlHelper.exe to "Above normal".

2. I presume that Intellimemory is intended to be a clever caching problem. However, I also noticed that it was a memory guzzler and quickly uninstalled it. I don't think the Realtek driver uses much RAM.

John

 

Where is this Intellimemory you speak of John? TIA

 

It should be on the list of installable software offered by Easy Software Manager (unless you have installed it already).

John

 

Hi guys - question.

My X3C speakers are intermittently making a horrible high pitched screeching noise! Anyone else experienced this?

 

I wonder whether something is creating a feedback loop between microphone and speakers. Left-click on the speaker icon and select mixer to see the different audio sources. Turn down any sources that you don't think you need (note that the listed sources change depending on what programs are producing audio output).

John

 

Interesting theory. I've done as you said.. will report back if the problem persists.

Thanks for the input!

 

If the problem reappears go straight to the mixer and see if any new audio sources have appeared.

Of course, I might have got this completely wrong, but your description made me think of feedback. Normally, what goes in the microphone shouldn't come out of the speakers.

John

 

I used to have this problem every once in a while. It hasn't occurred a single time since I updated the audio driver.

 

Anyone try win 8 upgrade yet? Any drivers missing?

Sent from my GT-I9100 using Tapatalk 2

 

I suggest you read this specific Series 9 Windows 8 thread.

John

 

Any reports of keys paint peeling off or any other cosmetic issues after time?

 

I've just seen an NP900X3C-A05UK which has Windows 8 and an i7 CPU. Unfortunately, I couldn't figure out whether it still has the Sandisk U100 SSD.

John

 

Sorry if this was brought up, but are there any photos of the disassembled screen? I'm interested in which connector is used on the Samsung and if it could be used on some other laptops..

 

Edit: Nevermind! Figured it out

 

Since I purchased my 900X3C my battery wear according to HWMonitor was 3% out of the box. In the 2 weeks since I started using BatteryExtender the wear dropped to 1%. Not gonna complain but I found it funny and wanted to let you guys know!

 

--

Hi All,

I've tried to install a fresh version of Win XP, 64 bit Edition, on a NP900X3C but I had no success.
I've used Intel Rapid Storage Technology drivers for XP version 11.2.0.1006 (latest) specific for 64 bit Edition (f6flpy-x64.zip) as found at link.
Installation starts regularly in text mode, Windows asks if I want to install a third party SCSI or RAID driver (F6 key), when prompted I insert floppy (in external USB unit) containing iaAhci files, I select AHCI chipset mobile driver, then installation continues correctly but when text mode ends and Windows wants to restart (to continue later in VGA mode) it stops saying "Windows will be restarted" but freezing.
What went wrong?
Thank you in advance for any help.

 

Xp?

12345

 

Did you disable the Samsung Fast Start (or whatever it is called) in the BIOS? You might also need to check the USB support options in the BIOS.

Samsung have gone to the effort of providing XP versions of drivers and software for the Series 9, presumably because there are companies who have never moved beyond XP.

John

 

Hi.
This is my first post. I will start by excusing for my bad english. Now......

I want to buy a Samsung 900x3c, but there are so many different models/configuration. What to choose?


From what i can see the difference between these to models (A2 and A4) are that one is with 128gb SSD and the other one with 256 gb.
This a comperation from a swedish store: Komplett.se
Its the same processor, same amount of RAM, both comes with Windows 8....

Is the SSD the only difference?
Ive read that people dont like the SANdisk SSD i Samsungs "ultrabooks". Is there SANdisk in these two? One of them? None of them?

The price for the one with 265 gb SSD are 12% more expensive then the cheaper one. Is it worth paying that to get 128 gb more?

Anything else to think about?

Thanx in advance.

 

1, 2, 3, 4, 5? That's amazing, I've got the same combination on my luggage!

 

apologies if this has already been answered, but;

how flush does a SD card sit when inserted into the slot?

i.e. how viable is it to treat an SDXC card as an permanent extension to internal storage?

cheers

 

I'd get the 256GB. The 128GB has limited space left for the user. Also, The 256GB is very probably not the slow Sandisk U100. In other respects the models appear to be the same but you may want to check the specs on other sites.

1. See the photo in my NP900X3B review which shows that the card does stick out (the X3B and X3C are physically the same).
2. The SD slot is a USB device with a slow controller (slower than a several years old USB 2.0 SD adaptor that I have).
If you still want to go down this route then see this.

John

 

cheers for that.

 

How much free storage do you get out of the box?

 

From memory, out of 128GB Windows and software uses around 50GB and the Recovery Partition about 20GB so the user is left with around 50GB.

John

 

Sure, I've disabled (and enables) AHCI Mode Control and other options in BIOS but without consequences... I was able to install Seven (x86) with no problem but XP Professional (x86) and XP 64 bit Edition (x64) don't want to start (and freeze) after preliminary text mode installation with IRST drivers (iaStor.sys version 11.2.0.1006), loaded with F6 key request...

Other question: in Seven, after a new fresh installation, all devices are correctly recognized by drivers provided (downloaded by Samsung web site), all except USB 3.0 (partly recognized in device manager) and Function keys (Fn + F2, F3...) that don't work... How to fix them?

 

USB 3.0 has its own driver which you can download while the Fn key functionality is provided within the Easy Settings package (see here if you want more details).

John

 

If you clean install, the numbers are vastly different. I just flattened the NP900X3D I received and after installing Windows 7 with Office 2013, I have 99GB free on the U100 128GB mSATA SSD. That's after doing all windows updates, removing restore points, removing the hibernation file, tweaking the pagefile, etc.

 

Are the 128GB models still coming with the crappy U100 drives in US? Any chance of scoring the samsung ssd in the 128GB 900x3c-a02us flavor?

 

Unknown. I know my machine came with one. I will probably order a Crucial M4 256GB drive next week but there's really no hurry at the moment. I need the Crucial really for a couple of reasons. First, if my machine ever needs to be serviced, it will be sent with the U100.

 

Man... I hope mine comes with samsung drive so i dont have to waste money upgrading ........

 

I like SS9 13.3", but Haswell is going to be released march-june next year. Should I wait for that? The 4 gig limitation on SS9 13.3" is a concern too (I do programming and photoshop/video editing).

 

If you can wait then next year's offering is likely to be better. If you can't wait then you need to avoid the Sandisk U100 SSD which could well cause the computer to temporarily free while Windows uses the virtual memory.

John

 

Anyone in here luck out with Samsung ssd in the 128GB flavor? do we have even one person in here !!!!?

 

I have NP900X3C version and i've read about a touchpad problem that appears on both 13" and 15" versions

when the laptop is connected to a charger, the mouse gets jumpy and multi-finger scrolling stops working reliably. Practically the touchpad becomes UNUSABLE.

This happens both under linux (ubuntu 12.10) and windows 7 (the one that came with the laptop). I upgraded bios but it did not help either.

It ALSO happens when connected to a grounded wallplug and at different locations (library, home, work etc). So it's most apparently a bug in the charger.

I've googled around but nobody seems to have got a good answer except "put some kind of a filter between the wall plug and charger". I want to know if this is software related or if the charger has a design flaw.

This absolutely needs to be fixed.

 

I had this exact problem - but only with 3rd-party chargers. I ended up having to buy the Samsung-branded charger that came with the unit originally, as that charger doesn't cause that problem. If you're having that problem with the Samsung-branded charger, I suspect there's a problem with the charger.

BTW, B&H in NY had the best price I could find on the Samsung charger.

Bert

 

And so, any suggestions on how to install Windows XP on this notebook?
As written some post ago, I think problem was in which AHCI driver to use in first part (text mode) of XP installation... I used XP Pro 64 bit Edition.
Many thanks.

 

Having considered both, the Lenovo X1 Carbon and even the MacBook Air 2012, I am now back looking at the Samsung NP900X3C A04 after having convinced myself that 4GB of RAM will be enough for my tasks and after having had the opportunity to play around with one at a local store. But some questions still remain for me:

- Does closing the lid -> sleep, opening the lid -> wake-up work by now? I read before, that waking up requires pressing the power button.
- I read that the WLAN capabilities were critizised, but I haven't found good numbers or comparisons to similar laptops. How bad is it really?
- The laptop in the store didn't support two-finger tap to right click only two-finger tap to middle click in the ELAN drivers. Is this fixed with newer drivers?
- Was anyone able to compare the X1 Carbon next to the 900X3C ?
- Are there any other common issues I should be aware of?

 

• My NP900X3D sleeps and wakes on lid close and opens. You can actually control that easily in the Easy Settings.
• The WIFI on my NP900X3D isn't as good as the WIFI on most of my ThinkPads, but it's been working well for me.
• Two finger tap to right click works well on mine.
• I would avoid the X1 Carbon. I have read too many things that lead me to believe the lid chassis isn't built well.
• So far, I have not discovered a "common issue". I'll know more as I use it more but I have no reservations about my purchase. At all.

 

hi guys just letting you know newegg has the NP900X3C-A01US for 100 dollars cheaper ($1199). Not sure how this is different than amazon's free $100 gift card offer (assuming you're a regular amazon customer), but there you go.
I'm still on the fence. Maybe there'll be a massive discount on black friday? I don't know

 

You have to install Samsung Easy Settings. Doesn't work without it--at least I haven't found out how.

 

I have read about the same problem on some Lenovo laptops. There, the problem seemed to be that the charger provided a wrong potential on the mass line. Since the touchpad is a capacitive device, it is sensitive to changes in its reference potential. A different charger could solve this problem.

 

Such floating voltage problems can be influenced by how well grounded the user is. Concrete floors tend to provide better grounding so the stray voltage leaks through the user and upsets the pad. Samsung usually provide 3 pin (ie including a ground connector) plugs on the PSUs but the grounding of some buildings' electrical circuits is less than perfect in which case any voltage leaked by one piece of connected equipment to the ground line then raises the ground voltage on all the other connected equipment.

John

 

Hey guys, I have a problem with my screws in the back continually coming loose. Is there a fix to this that doesn't require anything too invasive? thanks

 

The professionals use a hint of this stuff. It's like a weak glue. Before you invest in that you can try a small amount of another weak glue such as the white PVA glue which may be enough to stop the screws moving and not too effective to prevent screw removal. Just don't use too much.

John