13.3" Samsung NP900X3C with Ivy Bridge CPU

Instead of the "New SERIES 9" above the F keys, this 2013 version will say "New New SERIES 9"

 

If it ain't broke...
Only change this baby really needs is 8GB, should be coming in a few months with haswell. I find 900p quite sufficient on a 13" display, windows scaling is weak at best.

Ok, maybe better wifi antenna too...

 

That was my second thought after my initial reaction but upon even further review I decided it still isn't enough. They have been the innovators with these light weight and fast ultrabooks and now they seem to have fallen into catch up mode somehow.

 

Based on what?

 

Like a dummy, i got double whammied and dropped my phone on my X3B and there is a scratch near the samsung logo.
https://www.dropbox.com/s/57n3qy8lq4qjbzs/Series9_scratch.JPG



Any ideas on how to reduce or even remove the scratch? Thanks

 

Does anybody have any experience with the WiDi function on the x3d with ivy bridge cpu? I'm trying to decide between the x3d and an Asus ux32vd. The Asus machine seems to have trouble with both WiDi and usb 3.0 in some cases.

 

Draw over the scratch with a very dark blue marker pen. Several times if necessary to get a thicker layer of ink.

John

 

Based on implementing full HD displays of course. Asus has had them for 18 months and at least two other manufacturers have had them since the middle of last year. This was their big announcement relating to the S9. Aside from the hardware though they can't even implement windows 8 properly, their own drivers and software won't work while I don't see that problem with Asus, Acer or Sony. It seems all their effort is going into the S7 and their tablets while the S9 is left alone. To me at least that's a shame.

 

It worked fine with windows 8 by just downloading and installing the software. Since going back to windows 7 however I have had no luck in getting it to work at all again and I think I know why. As part of installing it on windows 8 it upgraded the firmware on my adapter and now I can't seem to get it to go back to the factory settings even though I have the instructions on how to do so. I have the Belkin Screencast.

 

Until I've seen the Samsung screen and compared it to the ASUS, I can't really judge if there's a winner. The ASUS machines have received rave reviews of their screens, but the 13.3" PLS screen on the Samsung Series 9 is pretty fab, too.

As far as Windows 8 is concerned, your data is out of date. My NP900X3D-A02US runs Windows 8 extremely well.

Which Samsung do you have?

 

+1
I have had some first hand experience with both the 900x3d with Ivy Bridge and the Asus UX32VD, but not side by side. I think the win 8 integration in the x3d is better than the UX32VD. There are some driver issues such as WiDi, wifi and USB 3.0 on the UX32VD that are a bit annoying. As of the Asus screen, IMO, the picture quality and the viewing angle is better than the x3d, but my ux32vd had much more back light bleed issues, and the resolution was actually a bit too much for my eyes/taste on the ux32vd. The trackpad of the Samsung is superior to the Asus, but the keyboard is inferior. I think the all over build quality of the Samsung is better, it feels more sturdy and well made and it is dead silent, and the UX32VD is definitly not that. The only big drawbacks for me is not having the possibility to upgrade the RAM and the (terribly) slow SSD on the x3d. All in all, if the RAM was upgradable the choice would be much easier. Right now I don't really know which laptop to keep.

 

I upgraded the 128GB SSD on my 3D to the Crucial M4 256GB. Extremely fast now.

Love the screen, weight, silence and look. I can live with the keyboard.

 

I forgot to mention Samsung's superior battery time. I really like the x3d. The thing is, the x3d with a proper SSD would be as expensive as a stock UX32VD with 4 GB RAM and a HDD. I've already bought a SSD and more RAM for the UX32VD and can't return the upgrades so the UX32VD would, in my case, pack quite a lot of ompfh compared to the x3d. And one final thing, the UX32VD lasted for 4 days until I had to return it, and the x3d has now lasted for a whole week, so my experience is that the reliability of the x3d is better

 

As well as 1080 screens, they had a bash at painting it white too Spotted: Samsung shows off a white Series 9 Ultrabook with a different finish, we prefer the old version

 

Updated Intel graphics driver to 9.17.10.2932 today via the Intel website.

Intel® Driver Update Utility

 

Ok so there's a new S9 listed in the webshops in Norway today, NP900X3C-A06SE.
It is listed with the I5-3317 UM CPU, availability from mid February, ~$100-$200 pricier than the previous models.

Could this be related to the models showed at CES?

 

I would expect a different letter in the model number, probably E, and perhaps a complete new number, in any new model.

John

 

Until you see 1080p or something in the specs for the screen, I doubt it.

 

Hasn't been a week and I think my arrow down key is starting to stick on me. Clicks really loud and needs a bit more effort to push then the rest of the keys.

 

Run a small flat-bladed screwdriver around the edge of the key to make sure it is centered in the hole and there are no rough edges that are catching.

John

 

Thanks for the heads up, downloading now

Edit: I wonder if it has anything to do with this: http://www.tomshardware.com/news/gigabyte-4k-dual-thunderbolt-hd4000-ultra-hd,20361.html

 

Looks like that did the trick. My key was crooked (still is a little bit) but doesn't catch anymore, thanks.

 

Does anyone else have the problem that the touchscreen driver doesn't seem to switch off the one finger drag and drop ? I'm constantly moving things around which is really really annoying.

 

Touchpad issues are discussed in detail in this thread (the Series 7 has the same pad). See if any of the suggestions there work for you.

John

 

Could someone please tell me where SW Update stores the downloaded installer files? I'd like to delete all, but i couldn' find them so far, neither in SW update folder or in the hidden sytem folders.

Thx!

 

I use Treesize Free to find out what is using the space but I can't see a Samsung folder full of installer files on my X4C.

John

 

Has anybody disassembled the screen bezel or knows where a service manual could be found explaining the process? I'm searching for the display panel number..

 

In North America you can buy a Service Manual from Samsung Parts.com.

John

 

That's strange. It would be somewhere. Or, maybe the installer delete itself after the install process. Nevermind. Thanks John! :thumbsup:

 

Hmm, thanks, but I won't buy it just to get the screen model number. Searching through the page showed the part number of the screen and searching that in a few other places led me to believe that the screen assembly seems to be sold as a whole with the bezel. Couldn't find a reference for the screen itself anywhere.

 

I understand that the bezel is glued so a replacement panel will need a new bezel as part of the repair kit.

John

 

I have noticed an extremely annoying problem. My Series 9 is extremely unstable. If you press down the bottom left of the computer, it waggles. Because the bottom left and top right are not touching the desk at the same time. Does anyone else have this problem? I mean, the computer waggles like crazy because of this.

 

There have been a few reports of this type of problem. I would check (i) that the four rubber pads are in place on the bottom then (ii) that the base is screwed on correctly. Check if there is any gap in the seam along the back between the hinges: If there is then it's not clipped together correctly. Loosening the screws on the base, squeezing the seam together until it clicks and then tightening the screws should fix the problem.

If the base is fixed on correctly then the problem suggests that the chassis (which is very strong) is warped.

John

 

Or the surface it is on is.

 

This happened to me, although I wouldn't say it was "extreme". The legs were actually not all touching the surface at the same time.

What happened was the laptop got warped after being squished against other stuff in the backpack. Believe it or not, I simply just twisted it back into shape. Put it on a table and take a good look at what side is pointing down or up, then just give it some torque. Aluminum is soft and this is a pretty thin laptop, we have to be careful.

 

That is not acceptable build quality. "Don't put your laptop in a bag, it will bend". That is something that should really lower review scores.I mean, it's a pretty big flaw in the design.

 

There's a number of things the reviews never tell you because like many products, you learn them over extended periods of time.

For instance, the bottom plate of the X3C and the other second generation Series 9 machines is nothing more that a curved piece of sheet metal. It doesn't have the same thickness and strength as the main chassis or lid. This is the portion of the machine that is susceptible to issues like bending from being smashed in a backpack.

I know this because I was one of the first people to really crack these suckers open and attempt upgrades.

And of course, this is why forums rock. Real owners, real answers.

 

Backlit Keyboard

I have a question regarding the backlit keyboard. I recently acquired a NP900X3C. The keyboard light is very very faint. How bright is the keyboard lighting suppose to be? I turn the brightness on the keyboard all the way up and it's still just a faint light , not a " bright " backlit.

If possible, can someone snapshot their keyboard with the backlit on high and post a picture. Thanks in advance.

 

However, while the base is bendable, the chassis would need a lot of force to distort it. It is possible to locally push the base in where it isn't supported by the chassis. The fix for this is to remove the base and try to push out the depressed area.

The backlight is dim. Apparently it is electroluminescent rather than LED because of thickness considerations and doesn't glow like a normal LED backlit keyboard. However, if you put the computer is a dark place then you will find that the lettering is visible whereas an unbacklit keyboard would be hard to read (I know this because I had to carry a USB light to use with the unbacklit T420s (the Thinklight is next to useless)).

John

 

Yes, compared to most of the other backlit keyboards I have, the Samsung Series 9 is not as bright. But it works well in a dark environment.

 

Acer seems to use the same backlighting method in their new S7s but theirs is much, much better.

 

The Acer S7 is a sweet machine. The touch panel is very nice. But they aren't cheap.

 

The tip of my charger broke in my computer, it worked if I wiggled it around for a little, but I recently got a replacement charger. My issue is, my laptop appears to be charging at a much slower pace than it did prior to replacing the charger. The new charger is an oem charger from the manufacturer so this isnt a voltage issue. But I'm not really sure why it takes so long to charge now. Before the tip of the first charger broke, I'm pretty sure it took somewhere around 2-2.5 hrs for a full from around 7%. Now it takes closer to 3-3.5 hrs for the full charge. What could be the cause for this?

 

I would look at the charging rate in more detail. If you run HWiNFO and enable Sensors then the battery charge / discharge power is at the bottom of the list. My own observations are that charging starts at around 20W (but can be less if the computer is running at full load to keep within the 40W PSU rating) but as the batter gets near to full the charge rate becomes very low. It is possible that a change in the charging time is a result of a BIOS update in which Samsung changed the charge management rules in order to reduce battery wear (lower charging rate means less heat and less damage to the battery).

John

 

My girlfriend she's buying an exposed np900x3c-a01it in an italian electronic shop. They do an awesome price, but it's used for about 5 months.
Can I change the ssd with another new one? For example a good not overpriced 256gb msata... Suggested models?
The ram I have understand it's solded right? :-(
Thanks for reply

Inviato dal mio SGS3 con Tapatalk 2

 

1. Yes, SSD upgrades are feasible. See this thread. The Crucial 256GB m4 mSATA is probably the best balance of availability, price, speed and technical support.

2. Yes, the RAM is soldered. It is a special dual channel DDP package that is of similar size to a normal notebook RAM module.

John

 

Thanks for fast reply!
It's installed win7, you suggest for first to upgrade to win 8 (promo until end month...)
Faster sys with W8?

Inviato dal mio SGS3 con Tapatalk 2

 

Hey guys,

I want to clean up my keyboard that is becoming sticky for some reason. Any suggestions for tearing it down to get to the keyboard?

Thanks.

 

I'm still thinking about the upgrade (better decide soon). As a minimum I would need to invest in a program to bring back the start menu. Perhaps reading this thread will help you decide (but note that many of the early problems were fixed before the final release).

This requires a full disassembly to get everything out of the chassis. Have a good set of screwdrivers and proceed carefully. If you are in North America you can buy the service manual from samsungparts.com. If you can't get the manual I would first take photos at each stage of disassembly and carefully document the removed parts, particularly the screws.

John

 

For the keyboard cleanup, have you tried wiping with a wet towel while the keyboard is held upside down? This way water should get into to cracks but not leak into the laptop.