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

Sorry this may seem like a stupid question, but is the only difference between NP900X3G and NP940X3G, the screen resolution? So the NP940X3G is currently available but only with 4GB of RAM, and the NP900X3G is not yet available but will have 1920x1080 and 8GB RAM?

 

The NP940X3G not only has a higher resolution display (with potential associated display scaling problems) but the display is glossy and touchscreen. It also has an M.2 format SSD and a bigger battery but this is partly offset by the extra power used by the higher resolution display). The overall notebook is about 20% heavier than the NP900X3G which doesn't have touchscreen.

John

 

I've just noticed that my NP900 has (again, as it's the second one the vendor sent me) what i think is a production defect: right above the front camera the metal frame as a kind of little "bubble". I am a little disappointed in this, as it's the second one in a row that has production defect (the previous one had a broken pixel and the bottom surface not "planar").

 

Maybe Samsung has send (fired) people from quality control part of production line.You know ,there is no point keeping good voice if that
voice is about to be killed .
Joke.(Sorry i just could not resist)
By the why ,you could give us some high res. picture so we don't have to imagine what you see in front of your self.
If you don't I am about start to think you are trolling.Again joke,or is it?













9

 

Received my maschine today, not disappointed so far.

Two questions:
Has anybody of you owning an Ativ Book noticed the bottom left edge of the touchpad sitting slightly deeper in its framing than the rest of the touchpad?
Do I need "Recovery" of Samsung or if I remove it, will I be unable to reach the backup partition?

 

The touchpad has to be that way.
Otherwise how can it be clickable, right? It can't just float in the air. Macbooks and lenovo use the same technology

 

You can uninstall the Samsung Recovery Windows app. It relies on the "real" Recovery software on the Recovery partition, which you can always reach by pressing F4 at boot - as long as your Recovery partitions are intact.

And yes, the touchpad needs room to travel when you click it. But it should be even when not clicked. I had a unit like you describe (different model though) and I replaced it within my return period. The new unit I received was perfect.

 

Well, it's noticeable.
Not necessarly when looking at the touchpad, but if you run your fingers along or over the edges of the pad, the other three feel evenly embedded while the bottom left feels as if it was permantely half way clicked.
Maybe my senses are clouded by this fact, but it also feels as if there is less resistance pushing the pad back in position for that edge, compared to the bottom right.

 

To be fair, the touchpad on my Sammy may have the slightest of unevenness as well, about 0.25 mm lower on the right side. But my first unit had far more (actually two different units) and I decided to return them; one primarily due to miserable Broadcom Wifi, the other due to the touchpad. And the touchpad on my current unit has worked flawlessly -- for 20 months so far. By far the best touchpad on any laptop I ever had.

Only you can make that decision...

 

I think I am going to exchange it.
I noticed it within the first hour of trying the machine out, it's not like it is only noticeable in very unusual settings.
Also, the left button on the NP-220JA03 I am typing on right now has stopped working over a year ago, so it's not like I have much faith in the build quality of touchpads in general.
It's a 1000€ machine that I plan to use for several years, therefore I better feel right about the sample I get.

 

Could you check if the surface immediately above the front camera is "planar"? I mean the inner frame. My touchpad seem to be fine!

edit: i've checked it, my touchpad is made the same way (left edge deeper) i would have never noticed however

 

No inconsistencies noticeable to me in the framing around the camera or elsewhere.

If you push down the top right edge of the touchpad, does it even the pad out for you too?

 

The top right edge doesn't move at all, just the bottom part of the touchpad is "clickable", i think

 

I understand completely. The only thing to consider is you might get a new unit with some other little issue that is less tolerable (such as a dead pixel). But I am a nitpick and would probably exchange it as well.

 

Yeah, i agree: you could receive another unit with defects (it happened to me as well )

 

Hi there,

I need a new notebook at work and this one seems to satisfy my expectations.
It just arrived at our supplier, but our admin returned it because of Win 8.
He wants a downgrade to Win 7, but is it even designated or recommended for?
Also I don`t understand how this premium-notebook is not delivered with a Windows 8 pro-licence (which would be downgrade-friendly).

 

hi, i got mine via a company supplier and it has window 8.1 pro installed: if you really want i don't think there'll be problems in installing windows 7 instead. The very first days i got it i was about to do it (format everything and downgrade...)but once you get used to wndow 8 it's not that bad.

 

I hated Windows 8 even if i never tried ,that says more about me then about Windows 8
But after i saw how it give me 45 minutes more battery life over Windows 7 i start to use it.Now after one month i can say its definitely better then Windows 7.

 

As I wrote, it`s not my decision. Our company-admin wants all our pc`s at windows 7.
I hope our supplier will do the downgrade, otherwise I have to choose another notebook.

To make a clean windows 7 install you have to change some bios-settings, change the partitions and install from cd?
Is SW-Update necessary and the right programm to manage win7 64 bit drivers?

 

Sorry I think you got me wrong I just want to say my experience with Windows 8.
About SW Update.You need to start it and then it will run for some time to check system ,like what hardware and what Windows you have.After that you will get list of software you need to update or install.
I never install sound software I always use Windows default driver for sound.
By the way I putted Option gtm671w in my 900x3c instead of Intel wifi adapter and now I even have in Settings(Windows 7 Easy Settings) option to disable wwan.
About Windows installation,i always make fresh Windows installation so I don't know anything about partition.

 

If your model is supported with Win7 drivers, downgrading is absolutely doable - assuming you have a Win7 product key, of course. Win7 install media can be downloaded (legally) from Digital River.

I am not near a pc now, but run SW Update (on any pc) and use Find Model to lookup your model number and see if Win7 drivers are available.

There are some considerations to make before downgrading, since you will wipe your current disk entirely, losing the ability to restore to factory. Thus you want to make some backup first - or install on a new SSD and keep the old one safe. See the post linked below before starting:

http://forum.notebookreview.com/sam...-hd-8570m-optional-4g-lte-73.html#post9346644

Then once you're ready to go, follow the install guide linked below - including the steps to convert your disk and change your BIOS settings. On your model, you can install from DVD or a USB stick, it shouldn't matter. (You want to follow the guide in the post I link, not the ones on the first page of that thread; those are for other models which are best installed from DVD).

http://forum.notebookreview.com/sam...windows-7-8-via-usb-np700z-4.html#post9191509

 

Samsung haven't (yet) posted any Windows 7 drivers / software for the NP900X3G but they are available for the NP940X3G. I would expect the chipset and graphics to work since the key difference is the QHD touchscreen display but the other components would need to be checked. The drivers will definitely be available. Samsung may have both Win 7 and Win 8 versions in what is nominally a Win 8 installation package (this is the case with Settings while the Elan pad driver just has X86 and X64 versions).

Please excuse my ignorance (because I don't have first hand experience of doing this) but isn't it possible to put the Windows 7 installation onto the SSD without converting it (although the UEFI settings in the BIOS may need to be changed)? I understand that Win 7 is GPT-aware.

John

 

Thank you, John.

With official Win7 support for the AB9+ one can hope Samsung means to do the same for the AB9. And as you say, the drivers should be the same.

And yes, you're right, Win7 does support UEFI (64-bit only), but we've had enough reports of strange behavior with Win7 UEFI installations on Samsung laptops (even before the bricking debacle, Easy Settings using BIOS calls is a main reason) that I have taken to recommend BIOS/MBR for the most complete and trouble-free Win7 installation.

If you do install Win7 in UEFI mode, you may run into bootloader complexities if the disk already contains Win8 partitions. Not that it cannot be done, but installing Win7 on a clean disk is a safer bet with UEFI (and adding Win8 afterwards if you want dual-boot).

Edit: One more comment, just to clarify: Win7/64 as well as Win8 do indeed support GPT disks -- even in BIOS (non-UEFI) mode -- but only as Data disks. They both require UEFI in order to boot from a GPT disks, and that's what can be a pickle with Win7.

Admittedly, it could be different now with the new models and the merging of Settings and Easy Settings that I hear about (but still haven't looked into myself yet).

 

And as i know, Win7 driver is not released at SW update. what about taking it to samsung store?
Or call them and let them know product details(ex.model number), ask you can install Win7.
hope it helps.

 

I thank you for all the replies and technical hints.

I hope our supplier contacts samsung and I will get a downgraded NP900x3G K01

 

You can just download Windows 7 device drivers directly from the respective manufacturer (which have the nice side effect of being up to date) and / or use a specific device driver from another notebook which has the same device built in.

The only official Samsung piece you need is "(Easy-) Settings" as it provides a BIOS interface driver which makes all the special notebook features work. Again there is a good chance that this software taken from other recent models will work. I'd try the one from AB9+ first.

 

But as John already pointed out, since AB9+ has official Win7 support, and uses mostly the same devices (except a higher res display) it would be easier to just download the AB9+ drivers using SW Update instead of hunting on various vendor and OEM websites -- unless one enjoys that particular hunt, of course

 

Ufff!...After a week of thoughts I bought K01.
It's really,really nice, compact, light and well-built laptop.
I didn't found dead pixels as well other mechanical defects.
After first start there is 194 from 223 GB free (rest is, as I think, hidden recovery partition).
Now I'm charging it and then I'll try to remove bloatware.

 

Hello Eiskalt, congrats on that awesome new machine. Sounds like you received a good unit there.

The post here lists the standard partitions on new Samsung laptops, of which the last two are for Samsung Recovery Solution and the first is Windows Recovery Tools.

This post has a some guidance regarding bloatware cleanout, while this post has some suggestions to free up a bit more space on your SSD.

Enjoy your new toy. And stay cool

 

...and here are my CrystalDisk benchmarks results:

 

Dannemand,
thank you very much for useful links!

 

Hello Eiskalt,

Congrats for the new entry...I am going crazy with battery life...so, please could you give us figures about battery endurance under different scenarios you deal with?

Thanks a lot in advance!

Pietro

 

So...Somewhat about battery after first charge.

1) Laptop in airplane mode.
2) Power plan: Samsung Optimized
3) Adaptive Brightness disabled
4) Brightness: 8 of 10
5) Windows Media Player
6) MPEG-4 AVC, ~25000 kbps avg, 1920x1080

After 1 Hour of playback: -19% of Battery

 

Can somebody please make test like this and then i will also make it so we can compare.
Put brightness on half without adaptive brightness,then open mail client to update mails(check server) every 2 minutes.Then see how much time did left till shut down after one hour of testing.
Testing battery life without wifi is like testing car consumption down hill.

 

I wonder if 900X3G gets released to US, UK or Poland (in shops that support international trade, that is). German prices are great, but they have QWERTZ keyboard layout so it's pretty useless to me. Shame.

 

UK stock is expected within a few days. (26th Feb is currently shown but has previously been 7th Feb then 7th March). However, release in the US is not imminent (nothing yet in the SW Update database).

John

 

Some Info about LCD-Pamel:

1. HWiNFO says that it is HN133WU3-100

2. Datacolor Spyder 4 Pro Calibration Software:

Brightness-Level 10 (Maximum) - 307 cd/m^2
Level 9 - 233 cd/m^2
Level 8 - 175 cd/m^2
Level 7 - 128 cd/m^2



P.S.
Matt screen is really great!
Before I bought Samsung I've played a little with new Dell XPS 13. It's seems to be a good laptop too (and feels more robust than Samsung), but glossy screen....Folks, it's (imho) terrible und looks really like mirror. It was impossible to enjoy it, because I saw permanently only my face, salesman and other things on the background.

P.P.S.
Some scrennshots from HWiNFO:

 

1. That is a good display. Can you zip up your calibrated display profile and post it here so others can try it?

2. I see that the Haswell CPU voltage at 800MHz is about 0.68V. That is a useful reduction compared to Ivy Bridge (my 3317U is about 0.83V at 800MHz). And given that the power consumption is proportional to V squared there could be a saving of around 1/3rd on CPU power which is better than I expected from early reviews. Perhaps fabrication process refinement has made some improvements in this respect.

John

 

Let me say that each piece of information provided by owners of the 900x3G indicates that that is a great laptop.
Basing upon the power consumption claimed by John, do you, dear owners and guest of the thread, agree with me that a battery life of more then eight hours is very likely under light usage, that is wifi on, 30% brightness and using office apps?

Thanks

 

Let me try at an educated guess.
Have a look at the following two previews (in German) at notebookcheck:

Test HP Spectre 13-3010eg Ultrabook - Notebookcheck.com Tests
Test Lenovo ThinkPad Yoga Convertible - Notebookcheck.com Tests

Both maschines come with the same CPU as the 900X3G.
The HP's display comes at the same dimensions buth at a greater resolution as well as a greater SSD than the Samsung, which I think will lead to a slightly higher power consumption.
The Lenovo has a slightly smaller display with the same resolution and SSD as the Samsung, I assume the power consumption will be slightly lower.
The HP's battery has 50Wh and the one of the Lenovo 48Wh.
Surfing via WLAN (under what I expect to be very similiar testing circumstances between the two maschines) the HP reaches 6h 41mins and the Lenovo 7h 35mins.
On average while surfing the HP uses 50Wh/6,68h = 7,48W; the Lenovo 48Wh/7,58 = 6,33W.

Let's apply those figures to the 900X3G, which has a 44Wh battery.
Under regular circumstances I would expect the 900X3G to reach 44Wh/7W = 6.28h = 6h 17mins
Under very economical circumstances, like using a lower brigthness than what is used at the tests at notebookcheck, I would expect the 900X3G to reach 44Wh/6,25W = 7,04h = 7h 2mins.

 

Hello everyone

I'm new on this forum. I have the NP900X3G from a couple of a day and I have an issue on my touchpad.
It works really great but when I copy files from my computer to my NAS by WIFI my touchpad become unstable, it freeze and I can't use it until my copy is not finished.
Somebody already had this problem?
For information I had test with an external mouse and it works fine so its not a problem from the computer but from the touchpad.
Thank you for your answers!

 

Dear Louis XIV,

Your calculations sound good. However, I suspect the np900x3G probably performs even better.
My np900x3c lasts more than 6hrs with wifi on while I use word and PowerPoint to prepare slides (usually I set brightness at 1/3 under the samsung optimised profile).
But, now, owners can tell us more about endurance of the np900x3G battery.

I could figure out that owners claim 8hrs or so...let's wait their replies to my call.

Cheers,

Pietro

 

This one is a TN, then...

I really expected it's an IPS.

"Panel Type : a-Si TFT-LCD,CELL"

a-Si is another name for TN

put it next to triluminus from Vaio Pro 13 and you'll see how terribly off the colors are (9300K)

I really dislike TN displays, their colors are really inaccurate, even if the sRGB coverage is OK.

 

It's definitely NOT TN because of viewing angles and color accuracy.
It's IPS or PLS.
And Vaio Pro 13 is (as far as I saw in store after watching a couple of my photos) not seems to be considerable better.

P.S. "a-si" means "amorphous silicon. The kind of silicon used in the LCD screen":
What Does The Term a-si TFT/PVA Mean? : LCD | Samsung

"Under a-si, there is S-IPS, S-PVA, TN, etc. I think p-si LCDs can also be S-IPS/etc."(с
http://hardforum.com/showpost.php?p=1030097280&postcount=3

 

Sure!
But firstly I would like to play a little with calibration and try to make some fine-tuning .

 

Tomorrow (or on Monday) I'll try to make for a several hours one non-scientific battery test.

 

1/3rd reduction on the CPU power consumption does not mean 1/3rd reduction in the system power consumption. Perhaps more like 1/6th because of the power usage by the other components, particularly the display backlight.

PVA means "Patterned Vertical Alignment". I don't understand the details. It's not IPS or PLS but it does result in good quality displays with good viewing angles. It might be a refinement of TN technology but does not suffer from TN limitations.

John

 

I cited Samsung site only as an example what "a-si" means. Other part of article is for us not important.
I guess that NP900X3G have non-touch version of Asus UX302LA Panel ("HN133WU3- 102, IPS, capacitive"), which can be better because it is non-touch.

 

interesting. another owner who's showing HD 4600 as the GPU. would be great to get to the bottom of this.

 

For those of you with NP900X3G running Windows 7, does the Samsung Settings have a Samsung Fast Start Mode where the computer lid actions can control the startup from Windows hibernate? When the computer is in hibernate mode (not sleep), open lid will startup the computer. Windows 8 lost that feature.