2013 Ativ Book 9 Plus owner's lounge (NP940X3G)

The NP940X3G uses an M.2 SSD. The EVO is not, for reasons best known to Samsung, not available in this format.

If you want more than 256GB then currently your only option is the Crucial (now updated to the M550). However, be forewarned this may reduce your run time on battery (one X5J owner has a big problem in this respect while another owner says that his battery time has improved slightly). See the X5J thread for more details. A part number for a Toshiba 512GB M.2 has been in circulation for a few months but no one has seen the SSD.

John

 

Thanks a lot for the reply John. Looks like I am stuck with crucial then
I am guessing that our M.2 SSD uses SATA controller instead of PCI-e, so this SSD http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820249043
will not be compatible either?

 

I think you guess correctly. Take a look in Device Manager.

John

 

This happened once before but for the life of me I cannot remember how I fixed it.

Yesterday, suddenly Chrome, which is my browser of choice, the bookmark bar and the address bar and the tabs on top went tiny. So small I cannot see them well to navigate. The rest of the page ( web content) is fine.

I uninstalled Chrome and re installed....still the same. My screen size has been set at 250%....

Any thoughts. I really am trying to stick with Chrome.

 

If you search around for the Samsung XP941 SSDs, they've started to become available in capacities of up to 512GB.
You pay a big premium for them but that's reflected in some of the fastest benchmarks speeds of any SSD around.


Personally, I would say go with one of the Crucials just now (M500/M550), especially given how cheaply they can be picked up for, then when more m.2 SSDs start to hit the market maybe upgrade again.

 

I think you mean the PM851.

The 512GB M.2 PM851 has part number MZNTE512HMJH.

John

 

No, XP941.

No idea why they're not listed in Samsung's catalogue - perhaps because they're not widely available in retail?
But they've gone from only being available from RamCity in Australia to popping up in a few other places, including the odd UK retailer.

 

I stand corrected.

However, don't expect a PCIe SSD to work in a Samsung notebook which has an SATA slot. There is a bewildering range of options in the M.2 format.

John

 

I hadn't even noticed that...

 

Don't worry about it. Happens to me all the time

 

I have bought the i7 - 8gb - 256gb book 9 plus but after installing a few programs and uninstalling other bloatware like all the food - health etc programs, I have the problem that it runs the check disk every boot.

it says press any key within 1 second to avoid check disk, if I don't it takes a couple of seconds for checking, finds no error, does the same thing again and boots correctly. I ran chk disk in windows and found no error.

There is also another problem which may be related: in desktop mode I hide the keyboard toolbar (to hide the symbol of the on-screen keyboard from the lower windows desktop toolbar) but every time I reboot it appears again.

How can I solve these?

ps: the problem MAY have been created by slim cleaner, I use it regularly on the desktop pc to clean it but may have deleted something it shouldn't have on the 9 plus.

 

Like a lot of u, i'm dying to swap out the 128GB ssd on my AB9+ for a larger capacity unit! seems like the name Crucial gets tossed around a lot as a replacement.. .. looking at the size and shape (admittedly, i'm not that technically inclined!) it looks similar to the unit used on the Macbook Pro Retina display... are those interchangeably usable on our AB9+ ? i also heara that Sandisk makes some SSDs that could be used as well. anyone has any experience with these? thanx!

 

The M.2 specification covers a range of sizes and interfaces.

The version you need is 2280 with SATA interface. The Crucial M.2 SSDs use this format and are compatible. They are probably also the most easy to find and, currently, is the only option in the retail chain at the 500GB size. Be forewarned, however, that some people have encountered problems with increased power consumption after installing one of these SSDs. The Toshiba THNSNJ256G8NU is an alternative in the 250GB size and has been used by Samsung in the Book 9+.

John

 

Okay, I had some updates today for the graphics driver, sound, and the SD card reader and the mustard yellow is back with a vengeance. Anyone else notice this or have any ideas to fix it?

 

So after some trouble to decide between the UX301, z30 of toshiba (which specwise etc. was my winner), I am almost in love with the ativ 9 plus. One thing is still open though: I have a LG 29 ultrawide (29EA73) which wants a 2560 x 1080 res to be used properly. Can I get that with the Ativ 9 plus? Through which port?

Also, is there any docking station (usb 3) which can support the LG at that resolution plus another older Samsung 19 inch? Any recommendations?

Thanks!

 

ok I solved the check disk problem by making a full recovery to default.

 

Thank you for that update.

I think Slim Cleaner could well have been the cause cause. Not that I have any particular knowledge of it, but most utilities that clean out bloat and registry entries and promise to optimize your system can be quite dangerous. It doesn't take much to cause a situation that confuses Windows -- such as in this case to make it chronically think that you had disk corruption.

I use CCleaner myself, but only to delete temp files and such. I don't let it touch my registry.

 

I'll remember to do the same in the future

I noticed another little bug, sometimes I have the cursor to jump somewhere on the screen even though I wasn't touching the trackpad nor the screen, or if I had a finger on the trackpad but it was definitely still. It's not terribly annoying since it's seldom, but is there a known fix?

 

Member dhm282 reported here about doing 2560x1440@40Hz (147MHz dotclock) and member kitejumping reported here about doing 4K 3840x2160@30Hz (249MHz dotclock). Both of them through HDMI. So I would say it is feasible that you should be able to do 2560x1080@60Hz (166MHz dotclock) through HDMI, although you may have to create a custom resolution for it.

You can connect a second external monitor directly through the mini-VGA port on the AB9+, though you will have to purchase one of Samsung's overpriced proprietary VGA dongles. I have used it up to 1920x1200@60Hz with tolerable results (though not nearly as sharp as HDMI, of course).

 

Others have reported the same. You can tweak the Palm Sensitivity as mentioned here. That post also links to more extensive touchpad info.

 

however my problem is not related with sensitivity, since I'm definitely not touching the touchpad by mistake (I'm not even typing when it happens). Tomorrow I'll check that EDTA thing

 

OK, I see. Do try and tweak that Palm Sensitivity nevertheless and see if it makes a difference. Others have reported that it helped with the cursor jumping erratically.

 

Received my new S03US. Interestingly, it came with a Samsung SSD - MZNTE128HMGR-000. It's the first I've seen with a Samsung and not a Toshiba, at least to my recollection.

 

Thanx John! appreciate that. looks like we dont have much of a choice at the moment eh? )

 

Thanks, good to know it can do that, at least on it´s own. Anyway I wanted to only plug one cable and use the two monitorw with other laptops too. Any ideas for docking stations that could juice that output? Would there be even another connection available than USB3? It is only one monitor with that high res, the other one is only 1280*1024.

Is the mini-VGA a display port or different?

On another note, I am thinking of getting it and put a 3m ARM 220 matte foil on it. Has anyone tried it?

 

No, the mini-VGA is good old analog VGA, but using a smaller (proprietary) port. If you use a good VGA cable with ferrite beads it will be able to drive your 1280x1024 monitor just fine.

I don't know other solutions for two external monitors. But you're right, a USB3 adapter is the only other option I can imagine.

 

And here is a CrystalDiskMark comparison between the Toshiba HG5d 128GB in my K01US and the Samsung MZNTE128HMGR in my S03US (both factory-installed):

Toshiba HG5d:


Samsung MZNTE128HMGR:


I then installed my Crucial M550 512GB SSD after cloning the factory image from the Samsung 128GB drive above using Acronis. It booted fine, but the Windows recovery partition did not work, so I booted into recovery from a USB and re-imaged the M550. I then used the recovery partition to reinstall Windows 8.1 to make sure it worked, ran all updates and then tested the SSD.



Also, without running any Crucial utilities or modifying any settings from factory, I can report slightly better battery performance with the M550 over the factory Samsung SSD, but I have only compared them under extreme loading using Battery Eater. With the Samsung drive, I averaged a discharge rate of about 21.5W running Battery Eater, and with the same settings slightly less than 21.0W on the M550. I will monitor battery life under normal conditions now and check on sleep mode power when I can, since that seems to be where others have been experiencing trouble with the Crucial drive.

 

Thanks Dannemand. The problem is acutally finding it with the specs to run both monitors and the ultrawide on his native res. Doesn´t seem to be out there. I am pretty much disappointed how difficult and timeconsumng all this is.

Anyway I pulled the trigger, and am now having wifi difficulties, it gets limited connection every so minutes. I reconnect and everything works and same game over and over. Disinstalling the driver with reboot, trying to update (no update avail) and trying it to manipulate the options as described in this thread did not help. Is there any special problem with the ab9+ and wifi?

I am starting to think it might not have been the right decision..

Thanks to anyone who could help.

 

The starting place for the WiFi problem is to go to Intel and make sure you have the latest driver. I would next turn off Bluetooth and see if that improves the stability of the WiFi.

The previous Series / Book 9 models have sub-par WiFi performance because the antennae are along the back of the chassis and surrounded by metal but I believe that Samsung put the 9+ antennae back in the display. This was worsened by a driver problem with the Intel 6235 WiFi, but you should have the newer 7260 which has been relatively trouble-free. I think your problem is with driver or software and not hardware although the possibility of your router, if more than a couple of years old, not playing well with the new WiFi card cannot be ruled out (check for a router firmware upgrade).

John

 

intel 7260-n is very iffy and sensitive to router settings.

performance isn't too good either, due to crazy power-saving mode, and often interferes, especially when wifi throughput is at peak, with bluetooth connections as wifi and bt share the same antenna.

heard 5ghz routers are relatively issue-free but that's not a good solution given that this laptop is an ultrabook and public/corporate wifi signals mostly operate on 2.4ghz.

i can only suspect how much improvements i can expect from future driver updates.

to make you feel better, at least most of the ultrabooks have single 7260-n while ab9+ has dual 7260-n, and my understanding is that the wifi problem is not worse, if not slighly better, for ab9+.

btw. 7260-n is located at the bottom of the chasis next to the fans.

 

Thanks John, was of real help. I sensed it could be the Bluetooth and it really looks like it was the mouse i had connected through it. Anyhow it is a no go for me, i need t connect the mouse through bluetooth, especially with only two usb. The question now is, if another bt mouse would have the same problem. I even want to use a bt keyboard. What do you think?

Apart from that, I guess for the docking station i would need to have an ultrabook with thunderbolt. Anyone know of a good ab9+ alternative that has thunderbolt?

Greetings!

 

Would upgrading to an ac version help? If yes, which one? I am not really into spending more money on this already expensive k05 baby, but given the options...

 

Did you (i) check you have the latest driver from Intel which didn't help then (ii) turn off Bluetooth and find that the WiFi problems went away? I only mentioned BT because it has caused problems in the past but don't recall people having BT (or WiFi) problems with this notebook.

An ac router is the newest, potentially fastest, and most expensive. But you won't benefit from the extra speed unless you are streaming data across a local network. Otherwise look for a recent, preferably dual band, router. Did you check that your current router's firmware is up-to-date? Are your connection problems only with one router? If you haven't tested with other ones then go and find a friend to visit.

Also check the signal strength and competing WiFi channels. InSSIDer is good for doing this. If the signal strength is worse than about -70dB then a stronger signal would help while if you have other WiFi broadcasts on the same frequency then change your router to use a less crowded channel.

John

 

I wanted to ask the activ book 9 plus owners here as to how satisfied you are with your PC? There's this sale currently for the activ 9 plus : 5/31/14 at Best Buy for $1083.74 for the 4GB memory 128GB I5 version with taxes included. I'm pretty sure it's the 2013 model, which I have no problem with that. What is your battery life like? touchpad issues? Wi-Fi issues? I'm trying to decide between this and an Dell XPS 12, which has the same specs but for only $835 out the door from Amazon. Thanks!I must add that I love my Y2P, which has the same beautiful screen as the Activ book 9 plus.

 

Are there some Windows 7 drivers for this Laptop? Somehow i really don't like Windows 8... Much thanks!

 

Yeah, you can download them using the Samsung SW Update app.

Click 'Find Model' in the lower-left corner, then enter the model number in the search box of the new window that appears, then once you've selected your model it will give you a choice of OSs you can download the drivers for - Win7, Win8 and Win8.1.

 

Hmmm... Last time i was trying do this (around 2 months ago) some of drivers were not working...

 

Dumb question but what's the best way to connect this laptop to a VGA-only monitor?

 

You can use the mini-VGA port with a proprietary Samsung adapter ($35-40 from Amazon). Read posts over the last few days for some discussion of that.

Or use the Micro-HDMI port with a Micro-HDMI-VGA adapter, which can be bought from Amazon for about $10.

 

Coming from my old laptop with an easily removed bottom cover, after getting my Ativ Book 9+ my curiosity led me to taking off the bottom panel so take a in-person peek at its internals. Unfortunately, I seem to have worn off the agent applied to the screws that keeps them from unwinding themselves over time. I was a bit surprised to find this happened so quickly (2-3 removals), as my old laptop never had the issue. Could be the smaller screws are more sensitive. Does anyone here have a similar problem and know an easy solution that won't cause a mess and/or is relatively easy? Its becoming a bit of a hassle to check to make sure all the screws are present and tightened.

Thanks!

 

I would put on a very small amount of Blue Loctite to keep the screws from coming out. The blue version will hold but is not so strong that you can't get them back out by hand when needed.

 

Unfortunately, I don't know of a PC laptop that uses thunderbolt, only apple. It's a great tech and the next version will support charging over the same cable that can drive two 4k displays and all your peripherals. I can only assume PC OEMs are trying to save a few bucks by omitting it. There are usb3 hubs that can drive a high-res (but not 4k AFAIK) screen, but it's not a nice as connecting directly to the pc bus. Additionally, several ultrabooks use a proprietary docking connection that will charge the laptop as well. See the Microsoft Surface, Thinkpad Carbon, and Toshiba Protege. It's unfortunate there is no way to connect an external display with the same resolution to the AB9+.

That is a good price. If you're comfortable with the resolution (sounds like you are) and 4GB is sufficient then go for it. You can always take it back if it doesn't work out, they will try to sell you an extended warranty.

 

Is Samsung releasing anything new at Computex? Asus is presenting lots and lots of stuff.

 

Anyone know how to fix the fuzzy font problem in Chrome now that we can't turn on HiDPI in the updated version of Chrome?

 

Yes, I have big issues every since I did the update. My connection is worse. Do you know how I can get the previous version of the driver or any other version for that matter (you mentioned the 16.10.0.5 for instance).

 

Why would they? They are in the process of going out of the laptop business...

 

I don't know about the latest stable version, but I've been running the beta release for a while and it's definitely got better in the last couple of weeks. The font spacing still isn't as good as IE11 but the fonts are smooth, the tabs and buttons are the right size and the window can actually be dragged and resized now. Zooming has changed too - it's not just font resizing any more.

 

Did you have to make any changes to it before everything looked good?

 

No changes.

 

Do you have a source for that?

An actual source that quotes Samsung, not that rumour that was floating round a while back.