2015 ATIV Book 9 NP930X2K 12.2-Inch Laptop (Imperial Black)

The manual does not mention Ethernet or VGA and the pictures make it clear that the laptop has no ports to connect the traditional proprietary dongles. So the Samsung US website must be wrong.

 

It wouldn't be the first time they've posted incorrect information. The mhdmi-vga adapter should still work and perhaps they have included a usb ethernet dongle, or not. It's a nice looking machine, but it will be much more interesting when it is refreshed with USB3.1.

 

The 12.2" NP930X2K models have been selling on Amazon for about a week now, maybe we'll see a new owner here soon..

Would be interesting to hear how the Core M-5Y31 processor is performing, along with temperature performance due to the fanless design.

This notebook is the direct competitor to the 12" MacBook Air Retina that is about to be released.

 

I have been using this laptop for a few days now. It is pretty nice compared to my previous NP900X3C.

The fanless design is very convenient. The bottom does sometimes get noticeably warm, but not uncomfortable. I haven't done anything computationally intensive yet, so cannot comment on CPU speed yet. I am installing VirtualBox images right now, will let you know how fast that works. Hyper-V doesn't seem to be installed on this version of Windows.

 

Both the 12.2 and 13.3 versions are attracting my attention. I wonder if they ever will be available in Sweden. Not one retailer is even mentioning them. I know Samsung is officially out of the Swedish computer market, but I kind of hoping they will change their mind about that. And then Apple will release something cool tomorrow. Good times for laptop-lovers.

 

It's too soon to expect Samsung to do a U-turn about selling notebooks in Europe. Perhaps the expectation that Windows 10 + Skylake will give computer sales a boost and a realisation that they are also being squeezed in the phone and tablet markets may get them more interested in generating some more profit at the premium end of the notebook market (note that their Broadwell notebooks are all Series 9).

The hardware development costs of those notebooks as they are continuing to sell are sunk costs and the incremental cost of adding European keyboards is minimal. Dell is also getting better at the thin and light end of the market.

John

 

Yep I love the bezels of the new XPS, but not crazy about the design and materials. Come to think about it, I don´t think i will buy a Windows computer until it is delivered with Windows 10, with drivers and everything working. Maybe by then Samsung is back with computers in Sweden

 

Me neither, but in theory W10 should function just fine with W8.1 drivers and it will be a free upgrade for users who can't wait till the Fall. However, we did see numerous issues during the 8.0 to 8.1 upgrade that don't necessarily give a lot of confidence. I sound like a broken record, but I think the next generation of Core M will be better and they will add USB3.1 to match the MBAr. 2lbs plus no power brick would make this about the most portable laptop possible. It's a shame we PC users have to wait for Apple to debut these features, though I hope Samsung has enough sense to include more than one port.

I can't imagine Samsung would ignore the european market much longer since they are clearly not closing down their PC business. That would be as stupid as Sony not bothering to market their phones in the US.

 

Can you provide some feedback as to how glossy the display is? Are reflections mirror-like where you can clearly see an image of yourself (and other background items) when the screen is showing all black content (or when the screen is turned off)? Or are reflections more distorted, like on your NP900X3C?

Also, how are you liking the 1600p resolution on 12.2"? How's scaling?

 

It is definitely more glossy than NP900X3C but it is not mirror like, it hasn't been bothering me too much. The reflection on the picture is visible because of the camera flash.

The screen resolution is quite amazing, coming from 1600x900. This is the first time I am using scaling, and I was wondering if there a place to adjust the scaling properties? Is it always scaling 2x?

 

How is the new keyboard compared to X3C?
Also did you do some stress testing to observe temperature/throttling behavior?

 

So can you see clear background reflections (like your face) when looking at the display when it's showing all dark content?

As for scaling, have you tried right-clicking when you're in desktop mode to adjust resolution and customize scaling? You might want to adjust down to 125% for starters and then gradually increase until you're comfortable.

 

Samsung better reduce the price a bit. Macbook Air comparably equipped with 8GB RAM, 256GB SSD, same Core M CPU is MSRP $1299 vs Samsung $1399: http://www.imore.com/apple-introduces-retina-macbook-air

Apple is even offering a version with 512GB SSD and faster CPU for $1599.

 

The new keyboard is smaller especially certain keys like backspace.

I didn't do much stress testing yet.

 

Yes I can see my reflection when the screen is blank (in sleep mode).

I took it one notch below the default setting, and I can see more content on the screen now. It doesn't say how much scaling it is using just "smaller" and "larger".

 

Click on the "Let me choose one scaling level for all my displays" and you can choose from 100%, 125%, 150%.

 

Got this laptop a couple of days ago. Build is very nice, feels premium. The screen gloss is noticeable but doesn't seem intrusive. There is a bit of light bleed, only visible on black background when brightness is turned up in a dark room (I know this is considered normal for an IPS screen, but it still bothers me on every IPS device to this day, wish Samsung had just put in an OLED screen).

Overall I'm happy with the hardware though. I plan to install linux on this machine this coming weekend, but have already played around with some live images. If anyone else is planning to buy one of these and run linux on it, WARNING: the wireless chipset in this machine (Qualcomm Atheros Killer n1525) is NOT compatible with any live-cd I have tried (including latest Arch linux (kernel 3.18.6) the ubuntu daily build and Suse Tumbleweed (both on the 3.19 kernel)), as such wifi DOES NOT WORK on linux, everything else seemed to work (at least on the 3.19 kernel). Have ordered a usb-wifi adapter it should be here today, will install Arch linux this weekend and try the mainline kernel (4.0rc3) hoping the wifi chip will be recognized by that, will post here again once I have that all sorted.

 

Hi,
I got my Samsung ATIV Book 9 NP930X2K-K01US 12.2-Inch Laptop today.

I got an Evercase sleeve from Amazon:
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00FYNP9AY

I chose the sleeve based on internal dimensions. It's a little wide but fits ok.

Pictures here showing laptop, sleeve, comparison in size, charger etc.
http://1drv.ms/1MuzkyM

Installing 73 Windows updates now.
My first impressions are that the screen is very glossy. Similar to my old Samsung X360-34P. Very noticble when turned off, not so bad when the screen is in use but still very shiny compared to my
Series 9 NP900X4D-A02US.

Pictures will show the relative size compared to the Series 9 NP900X4D-A02US . I am retiring the X360 and this will replace it for when I go small.

I am going to stick classicshell on it as soon as I'm done with the Windows updates.

I'm looking for a spare AC adapter that is 12 volts, 2.2 amps. I haven't found an original Samsung PA-1250-96 online. I'm willing to get an aftermarket charger if anyone has a suggestion of one that will work. The purpose is to leave one in my laptop bag and keep one at home. It's a shame they switched from 19 volts as I have 2 for the NP900X4D already.

It does not come with a wired Ethernet dongle like the NP900X4D and does not have a port to plug one in so I will have to get a USB to Ethernet adapter.

 

Check if the Samsung Chromebook PSUs are compatible. I think they are also 12V.

John

 

Thanks for the photos.

Yeah, that looks quite glossy. Seems kinda strange for Samsung to use a glossy screen when it's non-touch.

Hopefully the new 13.3" NP900X3K model with the QHD+ display doesn't turn out to be glossy as well. If so, that would mean Samsung has stopped offering a matte option in their notebook line.

 

Specs quote an "anti-reflective" display which I take as a matte type finish, but apparently not. I disable the touchscreen on my current Samsung, too, so no touchscreen is a bonus. It even calls out a 700 nit max brightness which is extremely bright. Curious to see how bright it actually is. Not to mention it is actually 16:10!!!

http://www.samsung.com/us/computer/pcs/NP930X2K-K01US



Thanks @u600213 for the photos too by the way. I love my Ativ Book 9 13.3" with i5-4200U but this grabbed my attention because it's only 2lbs, 12", and would fit my needs a bit better. I know the CPU is a bit less powerful, but actually in short bursts it's as effective as the i5-4200U just the 4.5W TDP will limit it's performance over longer workloads. I'm curious if ThrottleStop would work with this and keep the CPU at boost indefinitely. That would be great! As long as temps don't get too high, it could work as effectively an i5-4200U.

 

This is a disturbing trend it seems. My X3B has no light bleed, while it's readily apparent on my X3G under those conditions you list. I feel like they didn't properly seal the panel to the bezel.

 

It's just a trait of IPS panels unfortunately. You can get lucky and get only slight bleed, but it's never fully gone.

 

Good point about the "anti reflective" notation, as that has usually denoted a matte screen in the past.

You mentioned you disable the touchscreen on your current Samsung.. that means you actually have the ATIV 9 Plus model, correct?

Are you aware that Samsung makes a regular ATIV 9 with a non-touch screen? It's a 13.3" display, but only weighs 2.36 lbs. So it's really not that much heavier than this 12.2" model, and it also comes with an i5 or i7 chip.

 

Yes. Win10 works great on my AB9P now. Got some updates yesterday that fixed some trackpad issues I was having. But I also demand more functions in 10 before I buy another Windows machine.

Anyone care to comment on batteylife? Read some reports that said it only delivered 5.5 h of movie-playback.

 

I tried W10 as well and it performed ok, though I did also notice some trackpad issues. I'll probably give it another shot with the consumer preview. But I require WMC so may or may not upgrade in the end, really hope they keep it around. What other features are you looking for? I still find scaling a PITA on my SP3 but I'm not sure there's much more they can do. It's just the number of legacy apps I use and remote desktop. It'd be nice if they allowed you to have different scaling when using more than one display though.

I'd agree W10 itself is not a compelling enough reason to purchase a new machine, but maybe in conjunction with skylake+usb3.1. ATM, I'm most interested in the next generation of atom tablets.

 

it looks like this laptop doesn't support Intel WiDi. When installing WiDi drivers it says that the platform is not compatible.
http://supportkb.intel.com/wireless...lfservice/intelwidi/#portal/1026/article/2511

However, the spec page says that WiDi is available
http://www.samsung.com/us/computer/pcs/NP930X2K-K01US

 

What model is the WiFi card? It is Intel?

John

 

it looks like this laptop doesn't support Intel WiDi. When installing WiDi drivers it says that the platform is not compatible.
http://supportkb.intel.com/wireless...lfservice/intelwidi/#portal/1026/article/2511

it is "Qualcomm Atheros QCA61x4 Wireless Network Adapter"

 

Sorry if I missed it, but has anyone done a "professional" review of this model? I'm particularly interested in the screen and SSD measurements. Thanks.

 

I don"t have any TV's with WiDi so I can't test it myself. If I buy a new TV and WiDi doesn't work, I'll be p*ssed off.

 

Edit: oops I see we linked the same thing.

That's too bad. You likely won't know what wi-fi card comes with it either. On one hand the Qualcom has a better and more consistent wireless connection, but if it's not WiDi compatible... well that stinks.

 

A few first impressions after receiving it last Friday:

Amazingly light and very good build quality. Really feels premium. Great keyboard. Pretty good track-pad, had some hiccups where the cursors moved by itself a couple of seconds but have not noticed in a while

Performance is ok. I have a bunch of tabs open in Chrome and use Visual Studio. Works pretty good. Occasionally some lag in Chrome when two finger scrolling in a tab that is loading. Maybe because I am testing Eco mode.

The screen is booth good and bad. Samsung uses some kind of pentile on this one and it makes it impossible to use the display at 100%. I've set the display to 150% and it's ok but not more.

Brightness is very high in outdoor mode. I can finally use my computer outdoors. I live in Chile and here is a lot of sun. I would not sit in direct sunlight but I guess I could if I really wanted to. But semi shade with sunglasses worked fine today.

Battery life is far from 12 or 10, maybe 5-6 in real world usage. I'm writing this outside in darkness with brightness set two notches up from the lowest possible and I've got 5 hours left with 64% remaining. So maybe 10 hours batter life writing in darkness. But the estimate changes often. But good enough for me.

I bought this notebook specifically for using outdoors or when I need to get something done quickly on a project. And for that purpose it works. I would be happier without the pentile. I'll see if I can get a picture of the pixel arrangement.

I'll do my best to answer any questions as I understand that there are not any reviews out yet.

 

It looks like too much copy-paste by some Samsung webperson. WiDi needs Intel components.

That won't be the first time the Samsung specs have been wrong and we only get the truth when someone has purchased the computer. The upside of this error is that anyone who purchased this notebook and isn't happy about any aspect can then return it and demand a full refund because the specs are wrong (just claim that WiDi was one reason for buying the notebook).

John

 

Battery update working in Visual Studio, GitHub and browsing. Brightness set to two notches below max in normal mode using balanced power profile. From 99% to 10%. Pretty good I'd say.

12:41:36 Active 0:59:46 17 % 5,943 mWh
14:06:22 Active 2:42:23 50 % 17,480 mWh
16:53:50 Active 0:44:09 19 % 6,642 mWh

 

My update after taking it on a trip this week:

I used it for 3 hrs yesterday on battery and battery icon still claimed to have 7 hrs left. Brightness around 40%. All defaults except to modify power saving for the wifi card to not save as much power.

On other notes, I wanted a spare AC adapter so I can leave one in my bag and one on my desk at home. Based on John Ratsey's earlier suggestion that a Chromebook charger should work, I bought a "
AC ADAPTER FOR Samsung 303C XE303C12-A01US Chromebook Google Chrome OS Notebook"
for $14.95 on ebay , this one:
http://www.ebay.com/itm/380996532840
It was waiting for me when I got home tonight and it works fine.

I have an older LG 24 inch LCD display that always had problems with the HDMI port. Therefore, I bought a "
Brand New Genuine Samsung Micro HDMI to VGA Adapter (Black) AA-AH1NAMB/US " also from an ebay seller:
http://www.ebay.com/itm/231132416571

This also arrived while I was gone, and it works fine as well except that my external display is 1920 x 1200 and that is not a choice for the resolution. So I have the external display set to 1920 x 1080 temporarily, and slightly distorted, and may do the lazy thing and swap it with the LCD on my desktop machine which is 1920 x 1080 and works fine with HDMI. Not a waste as I'll need the cable anyhow for use with projectors in meetings.

 

Thank you for that information which should be of use to others.

John

 

If it has a dvi port, a dvi-hdmi adapter may be of use.

 

there are more inaccuracies in the official specifications page here: http://www.samsung.com/us/computer/pcs/NP930X2K-K01US

1. RJ45 (LAN) Gigabit Wired Ethernet LAN with included dongle.
As far as I can tell RJ45 LAN is not supported and there is no dongle included in the box.

2. "Included in Box" - AC Adapter, LAN Dongle.
Again no LAN dongle included in box.

Is it worth contacting Samsung about fixing these obvious inaccuracies in their specs page (WIDI and LAN dongle support)?

 

Can anyone confirm or disconfirm whether or not the Ativ 12.2 uses Pulse Width Modulation (PWM) to dim the backlight? If you turn the brightness right down and hold any cell phone camera up to the screen, you'll see scrolling waves across the screen if it's using PWM. Any results or insight would be appreciated.

 

Just tested and could not notice any waves or flickering.

 

Many thanks!

 

I am moving on from a VAIO Z 820 with a Core 2 Duo P8700 processor with 8GB of RAM and a Samsung 830 Series SSD. I have great interest in this Samsung 12.2 Ativ Book 9. Will the general performance of this notebook be comparable?

 

Yes, should be a good bump up. Might also want to consider 13" NP900X3K.

 

Thank you for the reply. I have also been interested in the NP940X3K-K02US but am still undecided due to the touch screen and non-matte screen.

 

Has anyone atttempted to install Windows 10 on this machine, to see if the improved support for high dpi scaling affects the clarity and sharpness of text?

 

Samsung specs page says that the memory configuration for this laptop is "

• MEMORY CONFIGURATION
  8GB x 1 (On Board)"

However the task manager says that there are two slots.
So is there one or two slots?

 

Samsung often uses a Dual Die Package RAM module that essentially operates as 2x4GB although only taking up the space of 1 module. You'll have to speed test to ensure this is the case, but regardless the module is soldered and not upgradable. But 8GB is better than the 4GB we always use to see in ultrabooks and DDP will give a little kick to GPU tasks as well.

 

It is dual channel, not necessarily two slots, but in dual channel configuration, which is nice to have, although the ULV CPU's are probably the most significant bottleneck.

 

Anyone here who owns one of these notebooks have any thoughts on this after using it for a few days/weeks?