2013 Ativ Book 9 13.3" Ivy Bridge NP900X3E / NP900X3F

Samsung upgrades their former called Series 9 notebook with a Full HD display. For the first time the device is also available with a 3G/4G LTE Mobile Broadband WWAN modem. Configurations vary by country.


Similarities
All models come with a matte 1080p display and 4GB RAM.
Configurations are available with either i5 or i7 Dual Core Ivy Bridge "U" CPU and a range of 128GB, 256GB or 512GB SDD.


Differences

Amor II	NP900X3E	NP900X3F
Chassis	Aluminium same like NP900X3C	Magnesium - framing now in all black - touchpad now frameless - .3mm (.01") thicker - weights 30g (1.1 oz) less
WiFi	Intel 6235 Half Mini Card	Atheros 946x soldered
Battery Life Extender	only trailing "A" models (eg NP900X3E-A03UK)	no
WWAN	no	only trailing "G" models (eg NP900X3F-G01UK)
SD Card Reader	yes	yes, except WWAN models (*)
Branding	Series 9 (NP900X3E-A) Ativ Book 9 (NP900X3E-K)	Ativ Book 9

* Samsung specs says WWAN models come with SD Card Reader too. The X3F manual however states "optional" for both SD and SIM slot. The picture below indicates it has a SIM Card only slot in place of the SD Card reader.


Worth mentioning (true for all models)
- Panel is a BOE05BE - rumored using BOEs own AFFS technology which is similar to IPS
- SSD 128GB has been reported to be a Lite-On M6M Series
- SSD 512GB has been reported to be a Samsung PM841 Series
- RAM runs in single channel only


Upgradability
RAM is soldered
SSD comes as mSATA card
WiFi comes as Half Mini Card or soldered (see table above)
WWAN is soldered.

There are no empty slots whatsoever. Expansion cards are replaceable.


Alternative OS driver support
As SW Update only lists drivers for Windows 8, I recommend downloading up to date device drivers directly from the respective manufacturer. Install them first, then for Samsung related SABI functionality like Fn keys you will need:

Win 7: Easy Settings 1.1.1.4 from NP900X3C*
XP: Easy Display Manager 3.2.7.4 from NP900X3A (only 32bit supported)*
Linux: kernel ≥ 3.10*
(*) tested on NP900X3E-A


Reviews
NP900X3E - notebookreview.com
NP900X3E - MobileTechReview.com


Useful forum Information
Next Samsung Series 9 Release
Series 9 Owners: Third party mSATA upgrades
Series 9 Accessories
Is dual channel ram a joke?
Finding Easy Setting/Battery Life Extender?
Horizontal lines / flickering screen using old drivers
Linux ambient light sensor - ALS


Internals
NP900X3E-A03UK - thanks to james.shannon


NP900X3F-G01DE (LTE version)



Evolution
NP900X3A First appearance of ultra sleek Amor
NP900X3B New Chassis Amor2, HD+ panel
NP900X3C Ivy Bridge
NP900X3D Budget Sandy Bridge model
NP900X3E Full HD panel, re-branded as Ativ Book 9 (From X3E-K on )
NP900X3F Magnesium chassis, soldered Atheros WiFi, WWAN
NP900X3G Haswell successor, soldered Intel WiFi
NP900X3K Broadwell successor, QHD+ panel, Atheros WiFi


Devolution
Big, fat, heavy, glossy Ativ Book 9 Plus / Lite

 

How will Lightroom run on the E-model with i5 you think?
If there is no 13inch matte model with 8gb memory or 15inch with FHD matte screen before middle of August, i'm going for this or the 900x4c with 8gb/i7.

 

Is it necessary to have a new thread for every perturbation of the S9? One for each intel tick-tock cycle is sufficient. In regards to this model, it is worth noting some users have reported RAM is single-channel rather than dual-die package which results in poorer graphics performance. Perhaps only noticeable in gaming.

 

The major reason I decided to do so:

- those models are no longer branded Series 9
- they have new features like a FHD screen & WWAN option
- the "next samsung series 9 release" thread which holds most information about these models gets confusing as now even AMD and Haswell is out and as mentioned above there won't be no more "next Samsung Series 9".

By changing a little bit here and a little bit there Samsung refreshes are very confusing as is there model numbering. I tried to shed some light into those newest and still popping up Ivy Bridge models. Even combining those two models in one thread is a bit confusing as they don't share the same chassis.

If more users think it is a bad idea to have a separate thread let the mods take it down. In that case I'd be happy to at least add E/F to the C thread title (or add E and keep F seperate?)
My intention is that people can post and find information in the most convenient way.

read the opening post

 

My initial reaction was that this thread is a duplication but on further reflection I can see the purpose of this thread. Our knowledge about the 3E and 3F is buried in other long threads so getting all the future discussion about these models into one place should be advantageous.

John

 

Apologies I missed that. Carry on, it is a nice model otherwise.

 

Surprise!

WiFi seems to be a soldered Atheros 946x in the NP900X3F-G.
WWAN seems soldered too (still unknown manufacturer).
Antennas seem to be still in place between the hinges.
SIM Slot seems to take place of the SD Card reader.

Samsung Support says it comes with a Card reader, but the manual states "optional" for both SD Card and SIM slot. I'm currently waiting for permission to post a picture of the motherboard indicating it's SIM only.

There is no more mentioning of WiDi in the specs, this could indicate that the soldered Atheros 946x is true for all "NP900X3F" models (except on samsung US).

Do we have any X3F owners yet?


updated OP

 

Samsung's specs for the NP900X3F-G01UK clearly state "LTE, HSPA+" and also indicate that there is a multi-card reader. The same is shown by this etailer listing. Could the card slot have contacts on each side so it can take either a memory card or a SIM card, but not both concurrently.

Putting WiFi on board would help provide room for a 3G chip. This solution works well in phones and tablets and one can buy the complete phone for the cost of a normal 3G plug-in module for a notebook.

There are a few at Amazon.co.uk. It appears that Samsung is planning to shift more of the Ivy Bridge models (I expect the cost of the chips from Intel has come down) before discontinuing this chassis.

John

 

I just bought the NP900X3F-K01AU in New Zealand,

All black/dark blue framing, Atheros wifi, lite-on SSD, frame-less touchpad.

It's got an SD card reader, don't see any SIM slots. Happy to check anything else out for you, but so far looks like you guys have it covered. I've read reports of less than awesome wifi signal strength, this appears to be true


Got it from here for $1350 NZ

Probably my first post in maybe 5 years, Asus W5 is still going, but a dinosaur now

 

There's nothing in the specs to suggest that particular model has 3G. As indicated in the first post, a G in the version number (eg -G01UK) indicates 3G.

One advantage of the Atheros WiFi is that it doesn't suffer the driver issues of the Intel 6235.

John

 

I'll probably follow soon to replace my dinosaur too - good ol Core2 Duo
1350 Kiwi Bucks is a pretty neat deal!

Thanks for the specs!
Could you further find out panel model number and if the RAM runs in single or dual channel - I think HWInfo64 is capable of figuring that out.

Does WiFi run more stable with Bluetooth deactivated? How is battery life?

Hope you enjoy your new machine!

 

RAM runs in single channel,
Panel is the BOE05BE, and is stunning, everything looks rather small though.
Wifi isn't totally bad, just not as good as my wife's MacBook Air next to me, she's getting 100+mbps and I'm getting between 27-80mbps and seems to jump around a lot.
Battery life, right now its saying 7h:59 left (96%), have seen it say 10h30. Seems to last at least 5-6 hours while watching YouTube etc, but its early days, have only charged it twice so far

Am I happy with it, hell yes! Better than the Dell XPS13 I bought my sales manager...... tough call, certainly looks better, cost $650 less too, but isn't as grunty.

 

It doesn't look like:

View attachment 99621

 

According to Samsung support the modem is a dual band 3G (WCDMA 900/2100 MHz) and triple band 4G (LTE 800/1800/2600 MHz).
Still no info about manufacturer or 2G (GSM) support.

That's quite disappointing, especially considering the current Galaxy phone comes with quad band 3G and hexa band 4G.

 

You checked your power scheme and made sure your wireless adapter is running at maximum performance, right?

 

I was wondering if someone could let me know why the N900X3E-A02US has 9 hours of battery life and the N900X3E-K01US and N900X3F-K01US have 5.8 hours. Thanks

 

Check the basis of the battery life benchmark. Samsung seem to have changed their testing method for the new models. Perhaps they then expect the haswell models to show a big improvement.

John

 

can you replace the SSD in the X3E without losing warranty and/or Windows licence?

 

Consensus is that you shouldn't have a problem with warranty, as long as you are careful and don't cause visible damage (stripping screws or breaking stuff). One member even described in this post how two different Samsung representatives had confirmed this.

You Product Key is stored in BIOS, and regardless of whether you clean install Windows, clone the current installation, or use Samsung Recovery to backup your Factory Image to USB and re-build the new drive (which I recommend) it will pick up that Product Key.

 

That's fantastic, many thanks for the details!
Now I only need to decide if I want to go with the X3E or the 9+ and - in either scenario - replace the default (128/256GB) drive with 512GB SSD with the support of FDE (PM841 perhaps?). I've never used hardware-based FDE before (only TrueCrypt FDE), but--as it's pre-boot--I believe I shouldn't run into any problems with any of the scenarios you've described.
So why would you say it's better to have the image restored rather than an unbloated clean install of Win8 with maybe just some Samsung software downloaded and installed? I think I've read a longer post on that here, was it yours, Dannemand? (sorry, but as a long time XDA member I find the lack of such things in the signature/footer confusing here, that is not advertising one's work ;>)

 

I am sorry, I should have been clearer: I prefer a clean install myself in order to keep it slim (although I recommend Samsung's SW Update for installing most drivers, instead of manually pulling them from OEM websites). Of course this assumes you have the install media and know what you're doing. UEFI/GPT Win8 installations are not as simple as good old Win7 BIOS/MBR installations. Just saying.

But I often recommend that users create that USB backup of their Factory Image (using F4 Recovery) because it allows you to restore any disk to factory state -- you don't have to swap in the original SSD first. This can be handy if something gets messed up (happens frequently around here) or if you need to prove to Samsung Service that something is wrong with the machine.

 

Thanks, I have no experience with UEFI, so I'll make sure to do some reading before. I'm leaving the original SSD in case something goes wrong later, so that I can replace it before shipping the device. Is there any specific 'clean' install ISO you'd recommend to get for the 9?

 

I don't want to give the impression that it's very difficult or you have to be a rocket scientist; just some complexities we didn't have in the old days. The following Microsoft articles helped me understand it better:

Understanding Disk Partitions
Windows and GPT FAQ

But if you don't already have Win8 install media, that may be your bigger challenge. Microsoft doesn't make them available for download the same way as the Win7 ISOs on Digital River.

If you have MSDN/Technet subscription, you can download using this link.

If you have a student ID (and/or .edu email) you should be able to download from Dreamspark.

Otherwise, if you can extract your Product Key, you may (or may not) be able to download an ISO using the link posted by bintoito in this post.

Please note that forum rules do not allow discussing illegal or "alternative" downloads.

 

Dannemand, many thanks for your post. I'll certainly not discuss alternative methods here then, but will just look for a way to get the ISOs instead ;-)
I think I'll decide on getting an NP900X3E, considering the news on the 9+'s battery life.
GPT in fact seems far more developed than good ol' primary+extended+logical scheme we were all accustomed to, but maybe it's good that progress still requires a little thinking on (active) user's side.

After choosing to get the X3E I'm still considering its 256 SSD + having some data on external drives (NAS/USB HDD/pendrive), but I guess SDXC/HC card is not really an option for permanent use since the card sticks out of the port in the series 9..

One more thing that comes to my mind at the moment: does the default SSD have hardware FDE capabilities? (I guess hw FDE means a wipe before encrypting anyway?)

 

does anyone here own the np900x3f model and have compared it with the np900x3e model? are there no other differences aside from the ones mentioned in OP and the proc/ssd? here in my area i can get the np900x3f for the same price as the older np900x3d. i haven't seen the np900x3e here yet but every review i've seen/read used that model so i can't really determine if the np900x3f is good.

another thing. am i correct in assuming that the x3e model is i7 only and the x3f model is i5 only? because i haven't seen anything on the web to point otherwise.

 

Here in the US, I have found the NP900X3E listed with both the i5 & i7. I want the I7 with 256 so I am going to order it from B&H Photo $1499 (Unless someone finds a better price)

 

depends on the country
there are i5/128, i7/256 and i7/256 (I'm not sure about i5/256) models of the X3E in Poland, while in the UK (and India?) there was a i7/512 one that disappeared from the stores (or listings) promptly; I believe we yet have to see the 'F' here but I don't see much difference between the two

 

We have i5/256 in Norway, but not i7/256 or 512

 

Oops, almost forgot to respond to this one.

Yes, GPT gets around that silly limitation of four primary partitions on MBR disks. That's the most important benefit. But many users are a bit overwhelmed when they see 6-7 partitions on the disk of their new Win8 PC (see this post) and feel it must be taking up an awful lot of space -- when in reality only the Recovery Data partition (SAMSUNG_REC2) takes up any significant space (20-some GB), the rest are quite small.

I think using a SDXC/HC isn't that bad even though it sticks out. You can take it out and keep it in your pocket. But of course a bigger SSD is the way to go. I recently came across the deal posted here: Crucial M500 960GB SSD for $559 (free shipping, no sales tax outside CA). This is a 7mm SSD while you need an mSATA; but my point is these things may finally be coming down in price after being stuck on high for a long time.

I am afraid I don't know about the features of the default SSD (your question about FDE). I have an older NP700Z3A myself (14 inch, 750GB 7200rpm, ExpressCache) so any Series 9 information I post is merely what I've picked up from others.

 

Thanks for the useful info again. I'll be considering either Crucial M500 480GB mSATA model which sells for around $400 at the moment (or from ~330 EUR) or Samsung's new PM841 512GB model, which so far looks pricey and I'm not sure if there are any real benefits to choosing this one over the other (perhaps better 4K random reads vs worse seq. writes, if I remember that correctly). I guess I'll be going without the recovery partition on the new drive with a clean install if I manage to cope with the partitions' table, as I'm keeping the old one anyway for legal reasons (I'll be buying this as a part of a uni research grant and everything has to match the books).

 

I've just tried to make sure with Samsung Poland and their rep told me via web chat that only models with a sign 'HDD/MEMORY' on the flap(?) (perhaps he had a whole bottom part in mind) allow for user changes in the hardware. The X3E, according to him, doesn't have it, which means changing the SSD = loss of warranty.

It seems these things may be country-dependent (or rather common sense-dependent). I don't have to add it made me sick. But perhaps there is no way for them to know if I don't damage anything and replace the SSD before shipping it in case I need a repair? I remember seeing some kind of glue inside in earlier (x3c?) models' disassembly videos, or was it series 7).

 

Officially, the Series 9s have no user-serviceable parts.

However, get a good quality Philips size 0 screwdriver, do no damage, keep any parts you replace so you can put them back if you need warranty service and you will be fine (I've been there). Unclipping the seam along the back requires a little skill. There's more about Series 9 mSATA upgrades in this thread.

John

 

I've got my fingers crossed. But the msata form factor hasn't changed in price this past year. The 256GB crucial is selling for $200 on newegg right now, that's what it was when it came out last year. And their 480GB model has been "on order" at every retailer for what seems like six months.

 

If money isn't an issue: Samsung PM841 Series SSD 512GB - notebook.de

 

Yes, you're right: While the ketchup seems to finally be coming out of the bottle for SSDs over the last 6 months or so, the vendors manage to still keep prices high for mSATA. In technology, smaller is always more expensive. I am sure mSATA will follow eventually.

 

Thanks for the recommendations, I've been looking at exactly these two (M500 and PM841). While it should be quite easy to get the M500 in Europe, Samsung is indeed rather pricey. Most benchmarks say Crucial isn't worse than Samsung, so my only concern is the size. Samsung has been said to be included in the 9s', so the question is: will Crucial fit? (two layers of memory chips, one at each side, might make it a little thicker than the 240GB model)
So far it seems no one has tried putting it in the S9 ( http://forum.notebookreview.com/samsung/672173-series-9-owners-third-party-msata-upgrades.html).

 

I'm 100% sure the 480GB Crucial M500 mSATA will fit, as and when it becomes available. The previous 256GB m4 mSATA also had chips on each side and this year's higher capacity SSDs normally use chips with double the data density.

The 480GB Mushkin Atlas is another possibility although I believe it uses an extra board and is thicker (5.4mm). IIRC someone tried on in their Series 9.

John

 

Thanks, John. I guess in this case there is not much speaking for the PM841, is there?

I think it should not be that hard to get the 480GB M500 at this point:
Crucial M500 mSATA 480GB Internal SSD (Solid State Drive): ssd price comparison - prices at idealo.co.uk
Crucial M500 SSD 480GB, mSATA 6Gb/s (CT480M500SSD3) | Skinflint Price Comparison UK
+ similar German sites, with prices of some 20 pounds less maybe

 

Maybe not:
"Out of Stock" "Order on Request" "Sold Out" "Availability Unknown"
It's been like this for months.

 

The PM841 works fine (I'm using one which came in my new X4C). It was never officially released to the retail chain which might explain the premium pricing by the few places that have some to sell.

I've never seen an explanation by Crucial for the delay in the arrival of their 480GB mSATA. It was announced in January and first listed by resellers in April.

John

 

Ah, indeed, most of the links speak of 'out of stock', sorry. Amazon has info on '1-2 months' from now, while there are two interesting German sites. I don't have the X3E yet, so I'm not buying now, but if someone wants to try:
1) 'from 16th August': Caseking.de » HDD/SSD/ODD » Solid State Drives (SSD) » mSATA Solid State Drives(SSD) » Crucial M500 SSD, mSATA 6G - 480 GB
2) '[ships?] in 9 days since putting the order': Crucial SSD M500 SATA (CT480M500SSD3) - Festplatte Festplatten intern günstig kaufen | Innova24

Can't say anything on their reliability. Perhaps someone from Germany can confirm?

 

My guess would be Crucial is unable to secure the new higher-density NAND in the quantities necessary to enter mass production. Crucial has to purchase the NAND from the manufacturers while Samsung makes it themselves (and then puts together drives to sell to other OEMS, notably Apple).

 

Crucial is part of Micron who are a major memory manufacturer (and also sell SSDs under the micron name to manufacturers) so they should have access to their own chips. Perhaps some notebook manufacturer gave them an enormous order for high capacity mSATA or other small format SSDs which has swallowed their whole high density SSD chip production.

John

PS: We (I'm as guilty as anyone here) seem to have dragged this thread off-topic.

It would be better if further discussion of mSATA upgrades took place in the mSATA upgrade thread.

 

how do i update the bios for x3f? i've look at samsung's website and their sw update application and there's no mention of a bios

 

I recommend you use Samsung's stand-alone BIOS Update program. There's a link to it in the first post in this thread. If that program doesn't find a newer BIOS then it means one hasn't been released (keep checking every week or two). Using the BIOS Update program to first download and then install the new BIOS also enables the user to see what is happening more clearly than using SW Update where the BIOS updating is done in the background.

John

 

This is probably old info by now, but here are some things that are different between my old NP900X3C-A01US and the replacement NP900X3F-K01US that Samsung sent me:

• The device does have black framing all the way around (even though the picture of the machine on the box itself has the silver trim!)
• Touchpad is frameless
• SSD is a LITEONIT LMT-128M6M
• Charger is smaller with L-shaped connector instead of straight
• Finish is coarser than the A01-US, feels less like smooth metal (might explain the weight difference)
• Wifi is a Qualcomm Atheros AR946x Wireless Network Adapter

 

I believe they tend to put the PM841 rather than Liteon(it) in the 256 GB version?

 

Thanks for all the info!
One last thing: Does your device has Battery Life Extender feature in the BIOS?

 

http://forum.notebookreview.com/har...s/729057-horizontal-lines-across-display.html

 

If they are visible on the BIOS screen (which excludes any software problem) and fade away (which excludes the cable) then I would blame the display panel.

What is the display model code (use Device Manager or HWiNFO)?

John