2016/17 ATIV Book 9 with Kaby Lake COMING SOON: 13.3" and 15.0" versions

Man, all this love for the 15 EXT really makes me want to consider it. I feel like its weight and the fact that it's only 15" instead of 15.6" might make it nearly perfect. I've historically used 13.3" ultrabooks and those have always been fine for me, but lately I've felt the need to go for a bigger screen.

My main concerns are the price and the silver keyboard. My Samsung NP740U3E was my favorite laptop I've ever owned, but the silver keyboard was probably my biggest complaint about it.

And as for price, at $1399, it's hard to justify the upcharge over the 13" Spectre X360 I just bought for $966 after tax, which has an i7/16GB/512SSD.

Does anyone know if Best Buy will carry these? Or the Microsoft Store perhaps? I'd like to play with one of these in person.

 

Well Best Buy does sell Samsung laptops. They sell last year's version. So, I assume they will sell the newest one later this year?

 

My closest BB only had the 9 Spin and the 13/15" 7 Spins. They didn't carry the standard 9 Series like they did with the previous gens. Hope that changes this year.

 

I confirmed with an LG rep that the Gram does not use PWM. The Notebook 9 does use PWM.

 

What do mean by "use PWM"?
Does that mean it takes care of the PWM and it is not noticeable in Samsung Notebook 9 15" .

 

Hi
Is there a problem in the practical usability with a silver keyboard or is it something that you don't like aesthetically?

 

Let me preface by saying I've never used the new Samsung Notebook 9 15", but I have read the issue is still present with this model.

Regarding your question: It is a usability issue and while it isn't a complete dealbreaker, it's definitely an annoyance. Because the silver keys are light in color, and backlighting is usually white, light blue, or in the latest Samsung's case, a light blueish green, it creates a contrast issue where the backlighting blends in with the keys in all but darkest lighting conditions. You'd be surprised how often this becomes a nuisance. If you are in a moderate to dimly lit room, it's often better to leave the the backlight off because the unlit lettering offers more contrast against the silver keys than the actual backlight does.

It looks like the color that Samsung is using for their latest backlight has improved this some, but it's still not as good as having black keys.

 

Thanks for the reply. so in the current offering from Samsung notebook 9 15, the Silver keyboard will be better option than a White keyboard regarding the better backlight contrast.

 

To be honest I'm kind of curious about that myself. I don't think the white version is being released in the US. At least not currently. I'd be interested in seeing them next to each other though.

 

Yes , there is one Comparison video uploaded on Youtube pitting Gram 15 against the white Samsung Notebook 9 15 inch but its in Korean. Serves me right for not learning Korean in High School

Nevertheless this machine seems much better than its direct competitor on several fronts.

On the Lightness/portability front there is just one competitor and that is LG Gram

Touchscreen in LG is without the Pen/Stylus support. Also no separate Lenovo Yoga like function makes it more of a gimmick than actual use. The battery consumption will also be higher.

The thunderbolt port in samsung is a very nice addition.

The display in LG seems way more Glossy but this depends more on individual persons usage.But portability means travel , Coffee shops and Airport. That way Notebook is better with covering the glossy nature and providing outdoor mode.

NumPad is better on LG. Wished Samsung also gave that

Trackpad/Keyboard -- Comparison videos give more points to samsung here.

The graphics card is Samsung is again a big boost as it need not drive a touch screen and can be used for nominal gaming and such. Although would have at least preferred a DDR5.

So the main pieces where we interact with the Computer that is Display, Keyboard and Mouse are better in Samsung and that alone makes it a stronger contender to LG Gram.

The only deal breaker would be if the Notebook 9 does not have the low brightness flicker under control as mentioned in some of the posts earlier.

In one of the review videos I saw that there is a night mode button in the function key in LG GRAM. . Hoping that the Samsung also provides the same. It just is a nifty addition like in the iPhone Night shift.

 

Regarding night shift, you can just install f.lux, which is one of the (if not THE) original night light apps for Windows. It works impeccably.

 

Actually - I'd much rather have the LG screen which is 8% larger and is better for long term viewing (less flicker - PWM). I hate the 10key as I have fully developed hands and would find the alpha keys way too cramped on a 15 inch with a 10key - also it would put the trackpad off center of the home keys - making accidental taps far more likely. I don't care about the graphics because seriously once you have a 980 or 1080 ti video card does a laptop cut it?

 

I totally agree with you regarding the PWM issue.So is it confirmed that Gram doesnt have it and Samsung uses PWM?
If you own it or seen some video regarding the PWM , can you post it so we can see how good/bad it is. As I mentioned, this could be the potential deal breaker for me.
Regarding graphics , this machine is not meant as a gaming rig, so any addition will be better in the long run for general day to day activities and not hardcore video rendering.


@foodie009 Can you help us all by posting a video regarding the PWM issue. How has your experience been , using it for long period at a go.
One positive post from you with video regarding PWM will make samsung richer by $1399

 

I went to Fry's and they still don't have it on display. They told me that they can't open a sealed box of it unless I buy it. : /

Anyone know if some people are sensitive to non-PWM monitors?

I found a korean video reviewing the Samsung Notebook 9, and you can see PWM on the Samsung screen:

 

My Dell U2415 monitor, which does not use PWM, gives me the same interference pattern on my cellphone video camera as seen in the Samsung 9 Review video.

A very thorough review of the Dell U2415 monitor http://www.tftcentral.co.uk/reviews/dell_u2415.htm says:

"At 100% brightness a constant voltage is applied to the backlight. As you reduce the brightness setting to dim the backlight a very low amplitude slight oscillation is introduced but it is not a Pulse Width Modulation switching. The amplitude of this oscillation is so low that you can only really pick it up when changing the vertical scale down to 50 mV, as shown in the last image zoomed in. It is operating also at a very high 1200 Hz frequency. We are only including it here for completeness really, and this should not represent any issue at all for any user. The screen can still be classified as flicker free in our view, and PWM is not used for backlight dimming at any brightness setting."

I am just mentioning this to show that the "cellphone video method" is not a 100% reliable tool to detect PWM and flicker.

@foodie009
Can you find out the model number of your Notebook 9 screen? You can use Moninfo http://www.entechtaiwan.com/util/moninfo.shtm or https://www.hwinfo.com/ for that or perhaps Device Manager > Monitors > 'Generic PnP Monitor', right click > properties > details > device description > hardware ids
We can then perhaps look up the specs here:
http://laptopmedia.com/top-laptop-pwm-ranking-rated-by-negative-impact-on-eyesight/

 

I have tested both the Gram 15 and Notebook 9 15. I can confirm that the Samsung has PWM on all brightness levels except max brightness. I can confirm that the Gram has no PWM on any level. I tested them using the pen method.

 

What do you think? Is it a deal breaker for you? Is the PWM bad on Samsung?

 

It was one of a couple dealbreakers. I am not normally sensitive to PWM, and perhaps I was just imagining it because I was aware of it. But I did get a slight headache after using it for an hour.

To me, my eye health is not worth it.

FWIW, the Gram's screen is as good or better.

 

I have to say, as an ophthalmologist and researcher, the evidence for PWM having negative effects is poor at best. It certainly will not damage your eyesight. It is conceivable it may cause headaches, but the science behind the rationale is weak and there is no strong evidence to support a causal link.

 

Hey Stonerose.

For some reason, I prefer the old LCD monitors than the new LED LCD monitors. I notice if I use my old monitor I don't get eye strain but I do get a slight headache. If I use LED, I get eye strain. If I use my old LCD, my sight improves slightly afterwards. And I also get eyestrain with iPads and retina screens from Apple. Not sure if PWM has anything to do with it; I doubt it though since many of these screens are PWM-free.

 

"Eye strain" is a vague symptom. It can caused by over-accommodation (changing the shape of the lens inside the eye to focus for near - what people lose as they get older and then need reading glasses) - the correct prescription glasses should help this and it would be unrelated to PWM. The commonest cause of eye discomfort when using computer screens I come across is due to dryness of the corneal surface. When visually concentrating on something for long periods, people blink less and the tear film evaporates leaving patches of the cornea dry. The cornea is very sensitive and this can lead to a whole variety of symptoms including "strain", heaviness, ache, stinging, watering, blurring. This again would be unrelated to PWM. The only way I can conceive PWM would specifically cause symptoms would be unrelated to the eye and more to do with the neurological processing of the visual information the eye provides. I am not a neurologist, and can't really comment on this. I suppose flashing lights have been associated with triggering fits in a minority of patients with epilepsy - so perhaps there can be a visual trigger to other neurological symptoms, perhaps more on the migraine spectrum for PWM - just speculation.

 

Walmart has the Notebook 9 15-inch NP900X5N-X01US now:
https://www.walmart.com/ip/Samsung-Notebook-9-15-16GB-RAM-NP900X5N-X01US-Light-Titan/55615852
Sold & shipped by Walmart
$1,309.14 plus local sales tax. Free Shipping. Walmart says you can easily return it to the store within 15 days of receipt in its original packaging:
http://help.walmart.com/app/answers/detail/a_id/9

 

Anyone know of any companies making keyboard skins for the 2017 Samsung laptops?

 

Does anyone have any reviews of the Samsung NT900X5L-K716 (16GB RAM - 512GB SSD - 2.8 lbs)?
http://icecat.us/us/p/samsung/nt900x5l-k716/laptops-nt900x5l-k716-34606593.html

https://www.mywit.com/shop/laptops/...6gb-ram-512gb-ssd-15-led-display-refurbished/

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Samsung-NT9...8-1cm-Core-i7-512GB-SSD-/122095619227/?_ul=HN

 

NT indicates a Korean version but the basic hardware will be the same as the NP900X5L for which reviews such as this are available and you will then have to extrapolate the results to take account of the CPU / RAM / SSD configuration. You will have to compare the weights to get an indication of whether the battery in the NT900X5L is likely to have the same capacity as the notebooks in reviews.

John

 

I picked up the 15" EXT from Walmart and have been playing around with it for the past couple days. I really love it. There's not much bad I can say about it.

Weight is awesome. Very light. Almost feels like a hollow chassis at first.
Screen is very good overall. The colors are good and it gets bright. There is some lightshift (blacks turn gray) when viewing it from an angle, but when viewing it directly it looks great. I think 15" is better than 15.6". It allows for a better footprint.
The keyboard is nice. I'm surprised how much of a non-issue the silver keyboard is. In fact, the way the screen shines off of the keys make it to where I need to turn on the backlighting less than if the keyboard were black. When the backlight is turned on, however, it makes the keys hard to see, especially when the screen is displaying something white/bright. I don't like the greenish color they used on this laptop.
I love the fingerprint reader. I like it a lot better than the facial recognition that the Spectre x360 uses. Both are nice though.
The battery life is awesome. Exactly what I've been looking for. Can last 9-11 hours with video and browsing.
Stays super cool during operation. Whereas the Spectre x360 gets quite hot to the touch in the keyboard/vent area, the Samsung does not. It barely ever even gets warm. When the fans are running, they are super quiet. The thermal design of this laptop was excellent.
Touchpad is nice. There is only one issue I have with it. When I am trying to single tap on certain parts of pages or make a change in windows (such as turn on/off a radio button) the cursor will move a quarter inch, causing me to mistap. It only does this in situations when I'm trying to click on a specific thing. I'm not sure why it does this, but it's weird and pretty annoying.

Some issues I noticed:

The feet aren't grippy enough. They are too small and it causes the laptop to slide when I open it with one hand. The light weight of the laptop also contributes to this problem. I noticed that the Chromebook Plus also has this problem.

Looks. I still feel like it's not the best looking laptop. It's not ugly, perse, it's just really plain and kind of "cheap" looking. It definitely doesn't have the refined look of my old brushed aluminum ATIV Book 7, but if the looks of the material used has to be sacrificed to cut down on weight, I have no problem with it.

 

How's the pwm?

 

Could you run the PCMark 7 benchmark on it?

Free download: http://www.techspot.com/downloads/5218-pcmark-7.html

 

I'm liking the 15" w/Nvidia. even has AptX Bluetooth. if the other device has also, should be a noticeable difference in sound quality?

Hopefully, will work with one or two 2K monitors in the future.

looking for the best deal on it.

 

Using my phone's camera it looks like there is PWM on all but the highest brightness settings and outdoor mode. I personally don't seem to be sensitive to it. That or I just don't realize it.

 

PCMark7 = 5958
PCMark8 = 3819

 

Wow. PC Mark 7 is 30% faster than my recent notebooks.

Is the PCMark 8 Score Home or Work Accelerated?

Comparison: Dell XPS15 (2017):
PCMark 8 Home Score Accelerated v2 3659 points
PCMark 8 Work Score Accelerated v2 4884 points
https://www.notebookcheck.net/Dell-...book-Review.195668.0.html#QyOmmYGsLgAavc7E.99

 

Home accelerated

How could it possibly have outscored the XPS15? That doesn't make sense.

 

The XPS in the review uses a 1TB hard drive with 32GB SSD cache. Also the test model had an Intel i5-7300HQ CPU, not an i7.

Could you also test PCMark 8 Home Conventional?
The Dell XPS 15 (9560) i7 with 512GB SSD gets PCMark 8 Home Conventional 3,534:
http://www.windowscentral.com/dell-xps-15-9560

 

With a 3819 PCMark8 Home Accelerated score, your Samsung Notebook 9 is also faster than the 2017 Thinkpad X1 carbon:

It would be interesting to find out the Samsung Notebook 9's PCMark 8 Work Accelerated score and compare it to:

R ef: http://www.notebookreview.com/notebookreview/lenovo-thinkpad-x1-carbon-5th-generation2017-review/

 

I picked up a new 15" from walmart yesterday, I was doing some work and got a random reboot. "your PC ran into a problem and needs to restart - memory management.

I ran windows memory diagnostic and it says there is a hardware problem.

another error was: "An unexpected error has occurred. Error Code : 0xc0000023

Event Viewer is full of errors.

running metest86 for the heck of it.

called Samsung, that was useless.

 

I would take it back to Walmart and get another one.

Before you take it back, can you run the PCMark 8 Work Accelerated benchmark?
http://www.techspot.com/downloads/6264-pcmark-8.html

 

I wouldn't discount this being caused by Windows 10 updating itself. I'm sure I've had a BSOD situation which was caused because windows 10 needed another restart to finish some update.

John

 

Walmart sending a new machine, it might not arrive before my Monday evening trip. I'll be glad to run the benchmark on the new machine when I get it. I may never come back after this.

doesn't the Windows Memory Diagnostic run at a hardware level? one corner of the original box was slightly crushed like it had a fairly serious impact.

Memtest86 said no issues.

 

PCMark 8 Work Conventional 2.0: 3353
PCMark 8 Work Accelerated 2.0: 4923
PCMark 8 Home Conventional 3.0: 3079

 

PCMark 8 Work Accelerated 2.0: 4923 makes the Samsung Notebook 9 15 EXT 8% faster than a similarly priced Lenovo Thinkpad X1 Carbon (2017) (i5/8GB RAM) .


and about the same as the Dell XPS 15 (2017) 9560, ( i5 / 8GB RAM) which gets a PCMark 8 Work Accelerated 2.0 score of 4884 per
https://www.notebookcheck.net/Dell-XPS-15-2017-9560-7300HQ-Full-HD-Notebook-Review.195668.0.html

It is interesting that the Dell XPS 15 (2017) 9560 (i7-7700HQ, UHD) (16GB RAM) gets a lower PCMark 8 Work Accelerated 2.0 score of 4422 points, perhaps due to the additional aoverhead of the UHD monitor.
Ref: https://www.notebookcheck.net/Dell-XPS-15-9560-i7-7700HQ-UHD-Laptop-Review.200648.0.html

 

So, I bit the bullet and bought the Samsung Notebook 9 15" model from Fry's Electronics. I bought it open-box and saved a few bucks and wasn't charged the sales tax. So, far I like it.

 

I think I'm going to return mine and get a brand new one. I checked the battery capacity, and it is says it down to 92%. Did the previous owner use it extensively? Is this a normal drainage? I ran the command prompt to get a battery report and it says 92%.

 

See what BatteryInfoView reports. If the fully charged capacity is significantly below the designed capacity then the battery has some wear (or never had the claimed capacity). However, first discharge the battery below 90% and recharge in case the BIOS has a limit on charge depletion before triggering a recharge. You can also do a full discharge (there may be a battery calibration option in the BIOS) in case the battery needs calibrating.

John

 

I just ran this and it says that my full charged capacity is 65,550mWh, which is 98.3% battery wear level. Do you think the fact that I let my battery completely discharge (I thought this was good to do) affected my battery negatively? It wasn't until I read http://batterycare.net/en/guide.html that I realized completely discharging modern batteries can actually be detrimental to performance and longevity.

 

I would consider the 1.7% capacity difference to be within the range of manufacturing tolerances. A full discharge helps with maintaining the battery calibration but isn't good if done frequently, particularly if the battery is left discharged. I have found that if the battery capacity is generous then the battery lasts much longer because it rarely gets depleted while an inadequate capacity (eg the 30Whr version of this notebook) is likely to get fully drained on a regular basis.

John

 

Can one owner confirm that such a hardcore keyboard and case flexing happens https://www.amazon.com/gp/customer-reviews/R2HSCEZ7U72O7V?ref=va_cr_lb ?

Based on this comment and view there is no such a terrible flexing _youtube.com/watch?v=fKnH06jtAsw&lc=z23eub1ycl3ftztzp04t1aokgbnpy1cvd5mpbtwd34rjrk0h00410.1490301518866808

 

Note that the first video is of the 13 inch model (he pushes very hard). The second video is a review of the 15" EXT.

 

I exchanged mine for a brand new one. And it's working great. I'm at 72% left of battery and it says 16 hours left.

Man, Windows has changed. I'm noticing more and more that operating systems are shifting towards being more App-centric.

 

Yeah, I didn't realize how useful apps are until I started playing around with my new laptop. MyTwitch and Baconreader for Reddit are two nice ones I've used so far. So you have any you recommend? Also downloaded the Creators Update and it has a nice built in night mode that replaces f.lux