NP900X3G - Successor to the ATIV Book 9 (not Lite or Plus) with Haswell

I apologize in advance if this thread is in the wrong place. Mods, please feel free to move/merge it as needed.

A few months ago, my fiancée was looking for new laptops and fell in love with the Samsung ATIV Book 9. I recommended that she wait a couple months since all the new Haswell machines would be coming out soon, and it would be silly to miss out on the vast battery life improvements they would offer.

Today we went back to Best Buy and played with the new Haswell ATIV Book 9 models -- the Lite and the Plus. The Plus is nice, but it's way too expensive; I feel like you're just overpaying for an unnecessarily high-resolution screen. The screen on the Lite has more than adequate resolution, but the viewing angles are awful, and the colors just look washed out.

The thing is, whereas the Plus was priced at $1400, the Lite was priced at a low $700 or $800. So it seems there is a gaping hole in Samsung's product line. We'd be willing to spend $1000-$1100 on the Lite if it had a better quality screen (not higher resolution), and perhaps a backlit keyboard.

Last year's model hit the right price point... but it lacks a Haswell processor.

So, as per the thread title - does anyone know whether Samsung plans to refresh the middle ATIV Book 9 model with Haswell?

Thanks

 

This is a frequently asked question to which we don't know the answer. We are baffled why Samsung's only Haswell notebook released in the 6 months since Haswell was officially launched is the Book 9 Plus (the Book 9 Lite has an AMD CPU). Perhaps there is still too much Ivy Bridge inventory remaining to be cleared and they felt that Haswell didn't bring big enough improvements in everyday usage to push out more models which would cause the Ivy Bridge machines to be discounted.

The current speculation is that Samsung will show new models at CES (which is only just over a month away).

John

 

Thanks for the quick response as well as the processor clarification. (Obviously the Lite doesn't even use an Intel chip, let alone a Haswell... brain fart on my part.)

Ugh, I feel like I'm always waiting for the next trade show for the perfect model to be released, but that rarely happens. I guess we'll need to go a different route since my fiancée really wanted to have a new machine before Christmas.

The other top contender is the new 13" Macbook Air, but I think she'd be just a little disappointed to forgo a touchscreen now that there are so many touchscreen models available. Unfortunately none of the other laptops at Best Buy really appealed to her visually. (Not even that nice new Yoga 2 Pro!)

 

oh, so she actually wants a touchscreen model?

i thought the whole point of your question was that you didn't want a touchscreen, but wanted the ATIV 9 style and build quality.

i would love to see the ATIV 9 (as it is right now) simply updated with Haswell and an AC card. it's got the best 1080p matte screen on the market with the best form factor at 2.5 lbs.

 

I've got the 256 gb model atb9 matte i7 and notice the price has gone up over 200 dollars on amazon. IMO, if you want a matte atb9 you should settle with the ivy model. These are ending their life cycle imo.

 

She ended up going with the Macbook Air.

She did want a touchscreen, but it ended up being less important than some of the other factors. The Air had the right price point, a Haswell processor, insanely good battery life, and a nice form factor. Since she's OS-agnostic, it pretty much hit the sweet spot of specs for her. She seems happy with it. It's honestly crazy to see the battery readout displaying a time of 15+ hours sometimes.

Shame on Samsung for leaving a gap like this in their product line. They lost a potential customer for sure!

 

I believe they've probably lost thousands in their haphazard Haswell roll out. But I guess they're selling so many phones and components, no one even cares about their PC line.

 

glad she found something she's happy with. personally, i don't like Macs, but all of your points are completely valid.

100% agree with you about Samsung's shortfall here. they've totally missed the boat by not updating the ATIV 9 with haswell.

all Samsung has thus far is 1 haswell model and it's way overpriced, has very average battery life, is much heavier, and its super duper resolution doesn't even scale well with most major programs.

if they don't announce anything new at CES, it'll be clear that Samsung isn't interested in the PC market at all.

 

Look in this Samsung Korea document, page 11, and you will find the 900X3G (being Korea this is the NT900X3G - Korean models use the NT prefix).

i5-4200U, 8GB (on board), anti-reflective FHD panel, ac WiFi, 1.13kg.

What took them so long? Let's hope that the model makes it out of Korea.

The same brochure features the 900X4D still with Ivy Bridge while there's a 910S3G with an Intel i3-4020Y CPU. We have identified in another thread what appears to be a 15.6" Series 9.

Edit: It is not just Korea: Here's an NP900X3G-K01UK. However, while the Korean K3G is listed in SW Update's database, the UK version is not, so early January eta is optimistic.

John

 

John you've given this subject some real hope! thanks so much for providing that info and feel free to let us know if/when you see the UK version in the database.

based on your experience, do you think the US will also be getting a NP900X3G model?

 

I can't think of a good reason why the X3G won't appear more widely. The UK is a profitable place to start and not a big market. In fact, supplies may reach other European countries first. The difference is that their etailers haven't yet been told about the new model. (The same applies to the Haswell Ativ Book 8).

One aspect I find interesting is that, unless Samsung have developed a good non-reflective touchscreen, they have fended off Intel's requirement for Haswell ultrabooks to have touchscreens. This aspect might be a factor in the delayed appearance of the X3G.

Samsung's next sensible move should be to put the PLS HD+ display into the Book 9 Lite. However, this doesn't appear to be imminent.

John

 

you make a good point about Intel's requirement for 'ultrabooks' to have touchscreens now.

i would be shocked though if the X3G is a touchscreen due to the 1.13kg. if the 1.13kg is true, that would be even lighter than the X3E/X3F Ivy models that have the non-touch FHD.

if the specs on that Korean document are real, it seems as if Samsung has simply added a Haswell chip, more RAM, and an AC card while losing a bit of weight and keeping the same panel.. and for me, that would be the perfect combination!

a huge bonus would also be if they improved the keyboard with more travel and less key clicking sound.

 

Some days ago DigiTimes reported that vendors will reduce the number of new laptop models with touchscreen because the market demand just isn't there. Seems like Samsung will follow this trend.

I found the link: Login to DIGITIMES archive & research

 

good article and it makes perfect sense.

the majority of 'casual' consumers have already transitioned from traditional laptops to tablets or chromebooks, that's why laptop sales have fallen-off so greatly for a while now.

i'd guess at least 65% of the remaining laptop consumers are business users. and business users hate glossy screens and don't have any desire to touch them. instead, they most value a light form factor, build quality, and sufficient enough resolution with the latest Intel specs. that's all, pretty simple actually.

the ATIV 9 remains the top business model along with the Carbon X1, so it'd be silly for Samsung to discontinue it.

i'd happily pay around $1,600 for an i7/8/256 Haswell version with improved battery and AC wifi.

 

I'm sure there are also a lot of non-business users who may have a tablet for portability but want a very portable notebook for more productive usage. Plus there's a generation of computer users whose eyes can't use very high resolution displays so the only way they can get more info onto a screen is to make the screen bigger.

However, Microsoft's attempts to mess up the traditional user interface encroach on the efficiency aspect. Fingers have a long memory.

I just hope that Samsung realise that the 15.0" Book 9 form factor fills the big size gap between 13.3" and 15.6" and shouldn't be left to die.

John

 

Nice find John! Finally it's coming. How about changing the thread title?

From another thread:

The chassis & weight specs match the ones from X3F (slightly lighter & thicker than X3E, frameless touchpad,all black edging).
The specs says WiDi though, so it seems they've gone back to Intel WiFi.



Here is a cropped image from the pdf:

 

did they ever leave Intel wifi? the X3E/X3F used the Intel 6235 (driver issues), i'm guessing the X3G will use the Intel 7260?

 

I hope the battery life has been increased.

I returned my np900x3f, as I was barely getting 5 hours of juice.

EDIT: Looks like the battery is 4 cell, 44wh =(

 

i'm guessing battery life should be a solid 6-8 hours due to Haswell alone? i love the 1.13kg form factor, but wouldn't mind if Samsung increased the weight and thickness slightly in order to fit a larger battery.

if the ATIV 9 can better compete with the MB Air's incredible battery performance, i think it could really steal some market share from Apple.

i'll be curious if the ATIV 9 uses the same battery as the 9+. if so, it should get better life since it won't have to drive all those QHD+ pixels.

 

Nope, X3F comes with a soldered Atheros 946x

I assume its an Intel Wireless-AC 7260 M.2 card

Specs says 44Wh, that'll be the same battery as previous models, whereas 940X3G has 55.5Wh. You'll probably save some power due to smaller resolution & lack of touch screen, but I doubt it'll be on par.

 

before the 9+ came out, Samsung advertised up to 12 hours on their site.. now they're saying up to 11. but in the specs detail, it says up to 7.5 hrs. it's crazy how much this varies, what's the truth?

i'll be happy if the 9 can generate a true 6-8 hours on medium-high settings.

 

I think the longest times were for very light usage but the shorter time is using a standard battery benchmark which could be bettered under light usage.

John

 

If that is the case, I don't think we can expect any significant increase in battery life during normal use. From what I understand, the advantage in using the haswell chipset is in low power/idle usage.

 

The NP900X3G is now listed in the Hong Kong section of SW Update so I would expect it to reach the retailers there within a month.

John

 

traditionally, how long does it take for the other world markets to get their units after HK?

 

traditionally in line with the US, UK comes later most of the time except for clevo since it never got into the HK market, and HK does mark up premium products even above UK after VAT prices, though previously the ATIV book 8 did arrive HK and Euro much earlier than the US getting the model, whilst the book 9 plus came at the same time on all 3 places

and FYI the vaio pro in HK never got the 8Gb ram version till recently whilst in US/UK it did together with specs configurator

bare in mind it might just never appear in US, just like the 8870m version of the ATIV book 8/series 7 chronos thats avail all over Europe AND HK

P.S. international student in UK from HK who happned to hang around this mostly US based forum, so i do get close to real time and accurate info

 

It's very variable. If I were Samsung then I would start, particularly if component supplies are a constraint, with those markets that are most profitable.

Samsung also tend to share out the privilege of getting a new model first. I see that the Korean X3G is also in SW Update but a few UK etailers must have seen the X3G in a catalog from Samsung since they have listed the model. Another model just entering production is the NP870Z5G which SW Update is now listing for a few countries.

John

 

thanks for the last two posts guys, hopefully Samsung will at least acknowledge the refreshed AB9's existence at CES.

 

+1 for this machine, a perfect update of the NP900X3C, though I wish the keys had a bit more travel to them...

 

NP900X3G.

What a great discovery. Thanks! Wonderful! I do indeed hope they improved the keyboard noise!
I also have hopes they made improvements to the fan behavior. The 9 plus Haswell is said to be silent, whilst the 900X3E Ivy has a hissing noise most of the time. The 900X3G Haswell might have got rid of that.

Readers of this thread might also be interested in this post of mine: http://forum.notebookreview.com/lg/...-1-tablet-slider-w-keyboards.html#post9517417

So, seems to me those looking for ultra-lightweight-and-design will be able to choose between these three, in the next 6 months:

LG Z940, the AB 9 X3G, and the 2014 MBA 12.5" w/ bootcamp (provided bootcamp drivers improve).

On second thought, I doubt Samsung have improved the too-slow touchpad, the keyboard noise, and the fan: I would only expect this if there was a chassis-redesign. And I doubt there was a major redesign, even though this would not be unusual (cf. X3A vs. X3E). The Korean document does not indicate any redesign though. I am also disappointed because there is no LTE/4G option (and I do hope they won't come up with this at the expense of a missing sd card slot again, that's ridiculous). Seriously, I hoped the Haswell refresh would, after all this waiting, at least come with a redesign (keyboard, touchpad feel, lte+sd option) and a major announcement of a new "business non-glossy" high end ultrabook, and just not some long-overdue Haswell/8GB refresh.

Much of this post is just speculation of course, and some of the points might indeed have been taken care of, so let's wait and see... The measurements of the x3g however are 313.8 x 218.5 x 13.2 //1.13kg, identical to the X3F. So obviously no redesign at all, and the picture looks identical.

Two months ago I wrote to samsung why I did not buy the X3E and they told me they were very happy for my feedback and send it to Korea (loud keyboard bad for library, slow touchpad). I am 100% sure they didn't care about this, there. Tha's why I'm interested in the LG and the Macbook Air, and perhaps even the upcoming Thinkpad Carbon refresh.

 

I'm surprised that they didn't mention anything about the np900x3g at the CES presentation. Maybe they might just showcase it over the coming days.

 

If, as it appears, it's just an overdue Haswell upgrade of the previous version then it wouldn't get a slot in the limited time to show off the genuinely new products. Perhaps the most important thing they should be proclaiming is the durability of the design of the 2 year old X3B chassis which they haven't felt the need to change (although a security slot and the mini DisplayPort would be welcomed by users).

Given that they haven't had to invest in a new chassis then they ought to be able to offer very competitive pricing. However, I suspect they will just take a good profit margin.

John

PS: I've just had notification from a UK seller that the estimated arrival date has moved to 7th February. That's no surprise to me.

 

That's what I thought as well. I just hope enough information (mainly focused on battery life) is avaliable before the end of the month.

Thanks for the continuing stream of information.If I didn't know any better, I would suspect that you were an undercover employee =)

 

I keep hoping that Samsung would pay me for doing so much of their technical support but, until now, they haven't offered me a cent.

And, if there are any insiders contributing to the discussion here, I haven't managed to detect them (there have been some undercover operators in past times and I have to wonder where the person who dropped the link to the now defunct http://pci34.fishingtree.com (which had details of the 2013 models got their information).

So I have to make do with the benefit of long-term observation of the way Samsung's notebook release pattern operates combined with seat-of-pants feeling about their current approach to the market (which changes over time).

John

 

I wonder if you have a bad unit. I'm deeply in love with X3E-A's cooling system, can't hear any noise. I hope they just left it as it was.

I expect an internal redesign though as pretty much all Haswell releases switched from Mini Card / mSATA to M.2 devices. That should make some extra space available.

That hopefully will still come up. The shrinked M.2 devices should leave enough room for an additional SIM slot. But more importantly I hope they gonna replace that lousy modem of X3F with one of their Galaxy phones (about twice as many bands supported).

 

Hi!

Some of you guys seem to know so much about Samsung schedule. Since there are no release dates yet I wonder if you know something about the new NP900X3G release date in France/EU? approximately ?

Thanks

 

the only 2014 ATIV 9 mentioned at CES was the 15.6" version and it's a gloss touch screen and has a different build and color (now black) from the 2013 version. i really hope this doesn't mean there will no longer be a matte 13.3" ATIV 9 Haswell.

Samsung Ativ Book 9 - Laptops - CNET Reviews

http://www.engadget.com/2014/01/06/samsung-ativ-book-9-2014-edition-ativ-one-7/

 

The PDF linked by John states "Anti-Reflective". It'll prolly be the same good old matte FHD panel from BOE we've seen on X3E/X3F

 

where would they showcase it if not at CES?

 

Maybe February. Definitely not sooner and could be later. You can watch SW Update and if/when the X3G appears in the database then add a month.

John

 

when you say SW Update, do you mean the Download center? or is SW Update in a private database?

the "new" ATIV 9 is officially a 15.6" glossy touch screen with an updated body and color from the X3E/X3F, so it seems strange that Samsung would release a 13.3" version under the same ATIV 9 name, but use the old X3E/X3F styling and matte screen for it.

kinda seems like this new 15.6" version is closer to the 9+ series, but without QHD+.

 

on the US Samsung site..

Download Center: Download Software, Firmware, Drivers & Manuals | Samsung

if you enter NP900X3G, it gives two different models: NP900X3G-S01US and NP900X3G-S02US

but there's no available downloads yet for either machine. if you Google those model numbers, nothing comes up yet either.. but perhaps these will be the US versions?

 

X3E/X3F have always been Ativ Book 9's. The former Series 9 got re-branded with the introduction of NP900X3E-K models.

There have been 11" 13" 15" Series 9 notebooks
There are only 13" 15" Ativ Book 9's currently

Most likely.
Models are listed on the support sites long before they appear (w/o any info though lol).
See also it's appearance on Samsung Germany: NP900X3G-K01DE | SAMSUNG SUPPORT (didn't find any G models )

Anyway unfortunately Samsung has removed direct website driver downloads with the introduction of X3E. You have to use SW Update now, which is pretty much the only thing you can download on the website. That program runs on any PC though.

 

i hear ya. i think what i was trying to say is that it'd seem weird for Samsung to have the "new" 2014 ATIV 9 as a 15.6" touch/glossy in a new body and color, and then later release another "new" 2014 ATIV 9 (900X3G) in 13.3", but in non-touch matte with an older body style and color.

in other words, wouldn't you think that any "new" 2014 ATIV 9 would have the same build materials, color, and screen no matter what the size is? i.e., just like how the 2013 ATIV 9 versions in 13.3" and 15" were identical outside of the size.

 

If the 15.6" will indeed be glossy / touch they should name it 15.6" Ativ Book 9 Plus.

 

it's touch, glossy, and reflective as a mirror, but they're calling it the ATIV 9 only. here's a video of it as CES..

#CESlive: Samsung's New PCs - YouTube

that's why i'm a bit skeptical that this other apparently "new" AB9 in 13.3" (900X3G) is going to be non-touch matte with the previous generation's body and color. just seems odd to me is all..

 

Don't you worry! Glossy touch Haswell Ativ Book 9 Plus (9 40X3G) has already been released last year.
This one here will be the real deal.

 

i sure hope so, but will have to see it to believe it..

currently, Lenovo and Fujitsu are the only two who have matte screen options for their Haswell notebooks.

 

... Sony, Toshiba, Panasonic and probably some more

 

SW Update now lists the NP900X3G-K01UK so it's getting nearer. And Germany has a -K01DE and -K02DE.

I haven't checked other countries except the USA (nothing, yet).

John