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

Perhaps they ran into license problems with Intel / Microsoft which delays the release.

 

I was acutally very sceptical of Win 8.1 but after a few days of giving it a try, I have to say I don't get the negative hype.
I have no driver or OS-related problems at all, the machine runs very smoothly even in Eco Mode except for intense flash applications, the boot up times are very good and so is the battery life.
Sure I am still sometimes a little surprised I get switched to the Metro UI when for example I open a picture or when pressing the Windows key will be able to bring me back to the desktop, but I am positive I will get used to it very soon.
Everyone who has used numerous versions of Windows before should be able to adapt to the changes made from 7 to 8 and I would recommend to at least give it a try.

 

Hey tisa,welcome to NBR.com the best mobile forum ever.
First I want to say that you will not regret with Samsung notebook,they are beautiful and reliable.
Thank you for giving us hope that we would see inside of 900X3G .The biggest mystery is what type of wifi module is inside it.So please when you take pictures take big shot of wifi,,also it would be nice to see other internal parts of 900x3g.
I will also buy EVO msata but I will buy 250GB because I keep my storage on desktop computer.
SanDisk that is now in my 900X3C I will put in this encloser ,it is one of only few enclosures and definitely the smallest one that has latest USB 3.0 controller-ASMedia 1053E that can go 450mb/s:
MyDigitalSSD Bullet Proof USB 3.0 mSATA SSD Enclosure

If you ever come to Hvar please contact me I will make you a dinner :hi2:

This is for community:
Just for the record,after four months of adapting and struggling I am now totally adapt on 13.3" screen.
I don't know now do I really want to change 1,7" bigger screen for 0.4kg of more weight that 900x4c have.
Probably not.

 

All right folks, I got some problems and hope you guys can help me, since some of you have the same notebook like me. Maybe you have/had the same issues.

I recently bougt the Samsung NP900X3G-K01DE notebook, and as you all might know, it uses an Intel Core i5-4200U CPU (2x 1.60GHz - 2,6GHz Turbo-Boost, Stepping 1, Revision C0).
Please note that all the drivers on my notebook are up to date and the following problems occur with and without the power-cable plugged in. I normally use the energy-profile 'Maximum Power'.

Problem 1:
My laptop is VERY slow. 'CPU Z' tells me that my cpu's frequency is constantly 798,38MHz and newer clocks up, regardless of the selected Power-Profile and the cpu-load. I really don't know the reason, why my cpu never clocks up! Does anyone have the same problem? Any ideas how to fix this problem?

Problem 2:
Windows tells me, that the maximum clock-speed of my cpu is 2301MHz with turbo-boost, but according to intel's homepage, the maximum core-speed is 2600MHz. Why is my cpu slower?? How to fix this?

Problem 3:
Each time I restart my notebook the system automatically chooses the Power-Profile 'Energy saving'. I would like the notebook the use the same Power-Profile that has been chosen before shutting down the system. I there any way to set this option?

I thank you a lot for your answers.

 

Did you enable Silent Mode or Eco Mode in Settings or Fn+F11? Either of these will lock the CPU down to 800MHz.

We have been discussing Silent Mode in another thread.

John

 

@John: Silent mode was on 'Auto'.. Ok, my bad! I turn it off and now it runs like crazy. Thank you soo much!
Hmm.. still wonder about problem no. 2 and 3. Can you help me?

 

I had the same performance issues you faced when my Silent Mode was set to Auto.
I have to agree with Dannemand, the two options Eco Mode and Silent Mode are not intuitive to use.
I expected Eco Mode to control the performance and Silent Mode the fans.
To me it would be a great feature to be able to have the fans auto-controlled to a minimum needed noise level even when the performance level is set to it's maximum.

As for the 2,3GHz maximum clock speed.
Do you refer to the information that can be found in System Controls => System?
My system too suggests that the maximum clock speed is 2,3GHz

 

As discussed in the Silent Mode thread, "Auto" is confusing since it means silent mode is enabled. A lot of people have fallen into the Silent Mode trap.

2. Intel say that the i5-4200U can run at up to 2600MHz in Turbo mode. The System info reports the maximum non-turbo speed. I think the 2300 MHz is the fastest non-turbo speed. Use HWiNFO to see what the CPU speed is actually doing.

3. I would suggest you select the Samsung Optimized power plan which does a good job on both mains and battery and see if that gets rid of the energy saving message. If it doesn't then check what is set in the BIOS.

John

 

Just checked my HWiNFO and can confirm what John said.

Still confused with the GPU shown as HD 4600 and the memory refered to as running in Dual-Channel, maybe I should report it in the HWiNFO forums if nobody else has done it already?

 

Thanks for checking.

I think the problem with the graphics is that physically the HD 4400 and the HD 4600 are identical but the latter is allowed to run a bit faster. Hence diagnostics programs don't know which it is.

However, it would be tidier if they showed HD 4400 / HD 4600 if not sure which.

John

 

Just spoke to the developer of HWiNFO.
Based on the logs I sent him, he agrees there is a HD 4400 built into our Sammy.
He told me to fix it.
We are still discussing the dual channel mode of the memory.

 

The RAM is soldered so it doesn't contain the SPD chip that is included in removable modules. The X3B / C / D used a DDP module and I think the X3G is the same.

If you want confirmation that the RAM is dual channel then download and run SiSoftware Sandra. Then run the memory bandwidth benchmark and compare the result with my table here. I expect you will see a bandwidth of 20 GB/s +/-10%.

John

 

In the likely case that the X3G still has the noisy keyboard, readers may want to take a closer look at the NEC LaVie Z LZ750 (matte 1440p 13.3" 795 gram i7 Haswell 256GB. Downside: 4 GB RAM max, Expensive from dynamism with support, or cheaper from tenso, only Japanese (Win 8 can be et to English), warranty issues if problems occur outside of Japan, battery replacement should battery go bad might be difficult too (unsure)). Upside: Is said to have a very silent keyboard and is super-light.
Chris, please comment on whether Samsung have improved the keyboard a bit, I still have hopes.

 

The linux driver allows that, for Windows there is a workaround:

You can just set it to the highest multiplier to avoid any capping.

We have been discussing that in the Silent mode thread

 

I'd like to play around with it. LaVie Z always been the uber ultrabook regarding weight. I wished the AB9 had that nice row of status LEDs

 

SiSoft crashes the touchpad driver anytime I run an update of the memory bandwidth benchmark, also it provides largely differing results for anytime I reboot the machine to simply start the benchmark afterwards.
Is there an other memory benchmark which is more reliable?

 

I've run Sandra on a range of different computers but none with Windows 8.1 (which is what I presume you have).

The 3D graphics performance is another indicator of the RAM bandwidth since the integrated GPU uses the system RAM. Get 3DMark11 from Futuremark and see how your results compare with the range given at notebookcheck for the HD4400 GPU. Or you can run 3DMark06 to compare with my Ivy Bridge X4C or Sandy Bridge X3B, both of which I know have dual channel RAM.

John

 

Anyone able to post Hi-Res pictures yet? Maybe even a video?

 

Hi dkukade, welcome to the Samsung forum.

I think you already studied the thread, and indeed, I don't recall seeing member pics posted here yet.

Samsung has a few pics on their specs page ; and of course Googling NP900X3G brings up a ton of images (this thing is a beauty).

But I'd love to see some member shots as well.

Edit: Member yuv posted some pics here. It really IS a beauty!

 

It does look nice but I would still like to see something more clear and possibly a video. I will most likely be purchasing this laptop thanks to recommendations from John and reading this thread from the beginning though I still have some hesitations. Hopefully with Q2 on the way we shall see this being released in the U.S.

Have we confirmed, based on the three users who have reported it, that the touchpad is supposed to dip in the bottom left? I don't really see any ergonomic benefit there ..

 

Has the Haswell-version of the 13,3 again this blueish-black color or a real black chassis like the 15,6 2014 edition? I dont trust the specsheets so much in this area.

 

If the description says "mineral ash black" then I expect it is the same very dark blue (which looks like black until compared with a black object) that Samsung have been using for the Series / Book 9 for the past two years.

John

 

Not exactely what you were asking for, but here is a nice set of clear shots:
NT900X3G-K58 | blog.naver.com

 

These are great definitely the best I've seen, Thanks! Now to await thorough review of the device

 

Why has Samsung gone with the magnesium chassis rather than aluminum on x3G?

I think silver shine on the edges looks much nicer and premium than the all black finish, I had thought of upgrading but I guess I would be happier getting stuck with my shinier 900x3e. i7, matching performance of i5 haswell , plus a bonus of saving a few hundred bucks on the upgrade, just a little compromise on battery time is worth while.
siki

 

my 900x3g finally arrived at the shop today.
i tried it out for half an hour and decided not to take it.
for me the keyboard was to rattly and the display (bit) to dark at max settings.
everything else was decent to pleasing.
i think a lot of customers will be very satisfied with the 900x3g especially considering the competition and the price.

 

That's odd. I was under the impression that it was the same vibrant panel as the X3F and had no issues with getting very bright.

 

it is definitely not bad.

it's just that for me, it could have been brighter
but that wasn't the only downside.

 

I wonder if it could have been the ambient light sensor at work.

John

 

no.
it was on but i know when it was at max. i noticed it getting darker with the sensor
but the highest brightness (with sensor of) was still to dark for me.

 

When I had my x3e for testing, I too was convinced at first that the screen was at max, but I overlooked some setting in the first hour of usage. This screen is crazy-good and very bright. It's insane to send the notebook back because of the screen. I'm But glad you confirmed what I feared: They didn't improve the keyboard. Right you are for not keeping it. I am currently configuring a Lenovo Edge E540 for my parents and I must say these are underrated. For a budget laptop, they are great, and very high-end spec-wise. I have nothing to complain really, only very very minor things. The keyboard feels like a kid's calculator, but it's rather silent and easy to type on, overall definitely better than the 900X3[ ]'s. Doesn't rattle and doesn't require force.
ALso check out this update: Asus UX32LN. Good price, nice design, matte, only downside 4GB RAM. However I do not now know what the keyboard/touchpad is like. If they made it similar to the Zenbook touchpad/keyboard-wise, then one should really consider this one.

 

Thanks for posting this, I've been wondering if ASUS was going to make a matte display model for Haswell. The Zenbook keyboard is always spoken very highly of by its owners. As of now, from what I'm reading of their recent announcement, these two new ASUS models (LA and LN) are only available in Europe and there's no word yet if they'll come to the US or elsewhere. I imagine if they do, however, there would be at least one configuration with 8GB of RAM for the higher-end LN model since all their other Zenbook models for Haswell have 8GB (even the i5 versions).

 

Asus keyboard is great,it registered one of four space clicks.So when you finished with writing your text ,you have one beautiful Lord of The Rings elf language.
J.R.R. Tolkien probably had Asus notebook when he figure out all those names and expression

 

http://forum.notebookreview.com/oth...5g-i7-4500u-4gb-256-ac-1-5mm.html#post9606826

I am now ordering the NEC La Vie Z from Japan.

 

Well, I hope you will be happy with the NEC, it's definitely a risky move to import a notebook from a foreign market.
Have you considered the latest Asus UX32LN before ordering?

 

Just received the UK version of the NP900X3G and honestly I'm shockingly disappointed. I'm a current owner of the NP900X3E with the Ivy Bridge processor. I really like my current machine, but have been seeking Haswell plus the 8GB of RAM in the same package, hence my interest in the G. Everything looked good until the machine actually showed up. Someone earlier caught the point in a post, the G is made out of this magnesium material, not the aluminium body, and from my initial impressions has be cheapened across the board, not in internals, which are actually pretty great on paper, but in the external bits. I don't know if this is the material the ATIV Book 9 Lite is made out of or not, but having the two machines together, the G feels awful. It has this rough sandpaper feel to it, the bottom feels nearly like plastic, they have removed the nice silver accents from the sides as well as from the edges of the touchpad. They keyboard also feels somewhat different, the text and keys are not the same, and the overall effect across the board is a great cheapening of the device.

Now I'm not entirely sure how strongly I'd feel if I didn't have my E version sitting here, but the straight swap from the E to the G in the same chassis isn't apparently an option, so I hope at least anyone expecting that now knows otherwise and plans accordingly. I'm not usually all that fussed with laptop aesthetics, but Samsung even left the picture of the old version on the box, complete with silver accents and I assume the aluminium body. It looks to me like a corporate decision was made to introduce Haswell into the a much cheaper body that takes the shape of the old one without the same quality feel, presumably reducing cost and boosting margins. My current Ivy Bridge system has long felt like a very high quality executive type laptop, easily up there with the Macbook Air and other similar systems, but now it looks like Samsung has gone somewhat downmarket. Still I'm amazed how big these little changes feel.

I'd be curious if anyone else has been able to compare the new model directly. I'm going to make a decision in the next day or so likely to return the G and keep the E. Irritating as I'd love to swap the internals...

 

Magnesium is a little lighter than aluminium, at the same time it is softer and does not conduct heat as well as aluminium does.
I guess Samsung decided to go for minimal weight at the cost of resilience.

While I would by no means call the look and feel cheap, I too am a little disappointed by the build quality.
The user pointing edges of the chassis of my machine already start losing color after only a month of use.
Sure, I put this computer through a lot of stress, but that should be the scenario an ultrabook gets designed for.
Don't get me wrong the chassis losing it's color at the edges is not nearly as bad as glossy lacquered chassis of the past were, but if I were the product engineer, I would never color a metal chassis that gets stressed mechanial a lot, but would rather stick to the inherent color of the material.
Excuse me for sounding like a persnickety German engineer, but that is what I am.

 

Thanks everybody for this Thread. I have been following it since 2 weeks.

I went ahead and bought an NP900X3G-K02, The first one had two problems: screen clouding, not really visible in normal use but with a black screen in a dark room with brightness above 60% it was very annoying and not tolerable for something costing as much. the second problem was the click pad was would get stuck.

So I brought it back and got a new one. the click pad was ok, but the clouding was still there. I decided to keep because thats probably a fault with this model and not jut my unit. But then I found out that this PC could get quite loud when watching some videos (720p youtube), and silent mode is not a solution (the PC gets pretty slow). the keyboard back-light is not that bright either, it does it's works though. so a screen with strong clouding, an hyperactive fun and the build quality is really not spectacular. for 1000€ ? no thanks, I brought it back too.

In the end i went ahead yesterday and got a mac book air. the difference in quality is quit real. the fan is not active (I could not hear it in a silent room) even with 2 720p videos and 6 tabs in the same time. and it feels much better built. magnesium just feels soft, I can't explain it, but you do feel a difference. now I have to live with OS X, which I don't like, and with a worse screen, but for me thats still better than a noisy fan and a worse build quality. I plan on keeping this PC for many years and Quality is Important. and for 1000€ or less there is not much choice under 1,5 Kg.

Now the good points: It really is light, the Air feels heavy in comparison! the Screen look great when you don't see the clouding (bright colors, like browsing .. ). the battery could get between 6 and 8 hours depending on use. the keyboard is Ok, but noisy. and this Notebook just looks beautiful.

I kind of feel this is a good laptop if your top priority is weight. It really is light. Screen is good, but not worth the quality problems. and with windows scaling being what it is, most applications end up looking blurry anyway. Is the weight worth it for you? that's up to you! I certainly would not commander this this notebook to anyone not really interested in weight.

This is an unboxing: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6vDlcu99Gxo

 

These last two reviews are disappointing. I'm starting to lean more toward the ativ 9 plus at this point. Plus with no release date for America its all getting quite annoying.

 

Two US versions of the NP900X3G are now in the SW Update database so I would expect stock to reach the shelves within a few weeks.

I can't explain why Samsung opted for magnesium instead of aluminium. I'm sure that the latter is the cheaper material but perhaps the former is easier to machine resulting in lower overall production cost.

John

 

Magnesium is significantly more expensive than aluminium.
At the moment magnesium sells for approximately 5/3 the price of aluminium.
Historical Magnesium Prices and Price Chart - InvestmentMine
Historical Aluminum Prices and Price Chart - InvestmentMine

While aluminium has a density of 2,7g/cm³, magnesium has a density of ~1,74g/cm³.
Therefore the same chassis made of magnesium should be almost 1/3 lighter than it's aluminium counterpart.
Still the X3G has the same weight as the aluminium cased X3E.
I guess other internals (battery, display ...) became heavier and to account for it, Samsung decided to change the material instead of marketing a machine that was heavier than its ancestors.

Off the current topic, has anybody of the fellow owners of the X3G noticed any difference in their machine since installing the System-BIOS-Update P02ADU via SW Update?

 

Essai can you upload a video of you using it? maybe the fan noise .. Assuming you still have it

 

The difference between aluminium and magnesium versions of the X4C was 70 grams (1.65 kg - 1.58 kg) so I would expect the difference between the X3G and the X3C should be around 40 grams. I can't think of changes in the internal components that would have compensated for the weight reduction in the chassis (soldered WiFi instead of socketed WiFi should have reduced the weight slightly). Has anyone weighed their X3G on a reasonably accurate set of digital scales?

John

 

My Philips kitchen scale says my sticker stripped X3G weights 1123g.

PS:
Globalisation at it's best, a Dutch kitchen scale made in Austria weights a Chinese made Southkorean notebook on an Italian tabel in a German household, which gets posted on an US forum to reply to a British request

 

My old X3B weighed in at 1.15kg so the X3G is a bit lighter than that model. However, the NP900X3F was advertised as 1.13kg so the weight hasn't dropped by as much as I would expect if the metal has changed. Looking harder at the published specifications I see reference to both aluminium and magnesium so maybe both are used.

John

 

Would magnesium offer less interference for the wifi?

 

This page gives magnesium electromagnetic permeability of 1.00012 while aluminium is 1.00022. However, maybe that difference is more significant than it appears from the small difference in the numbers.

These values are relative to a vacuum (value 1.0) so aluminium is nearly double and, I think in the context of this discussion, a value nearer to 1 is better.

John

 

Sorry I have already returned it...

 

Magnesium can be coated to be more scratch resistant than aluminum. There are also more clever form factors you can make with Magnesium. Microsoft opted for Magnesium in their Surface for that very reason.

 

Hello all,
after one month or so of usage (in which i've installed some very heavy applications that i no more need in the future)i've decided to take advantage of this opportunity to make a clean installation of windows on my X3G.

I downloaded the image of my version of windows 8.1 las week and i used a MS official program to create a bootable USB. Then i flipped over my x3g to realise my product key of windows was not on PC or on package neither. Ops,it's embedded into the PC. I've retrived it using a program, now before getting started i have few questions, i hope there's someone that can help me with it.

1) Samsung official support told me it's not possible to use the product key embedded into PC to activate even the same version of 8.1 after a clean install. That would be a problem, is it true?

2) I don't feel confortable enough to format the entire SSD, so i'd like to keep the restoration partitions. Do i have to just select the main partition while i do the clean installation?

Some post ago some guy asked about making a video to get an idea of cooling system's noise. I could do it, but i am pretty sure you won't hear anything. It's too silent in normal usage, and even by making the fan spin faster via setting it's not too noisy. I always use it into silent libraries, it seem to be turned off.

I hope someone have the will to help me, cheers