No successor to Ativ Series 9 / Book 9 15 inch screen model (NP900X4C/D)?

That's actually pretty impressive (especially the price). Hopefully they get a better touchpad on it, that's a crucial feature.

 

I can't be 100% sure as I got the information form Samsung online chat assistant. But what we can be sure is, X4Cs doesn't have it. And some or all of X4Ds have it.

 

the orignal message from VOBIS:

Exacly the wrote that it willcome out fastest in August.

 

Google translate:
From the information received from the Product Manager and Samsung's new Series 9 15 "on Haswell will come out soon in August.

 

One can only hope!!!

 

Hopefully a non-touch 13" at current weight and 8GB will be released as well.

 

Just look at the specs of the Samsung Series 9 laptops coming out in Germany with latest additions.

Notebooks-Mobile Performer | SAMSUNG

It's in German but easy to identify what the rows mean given the specs. Most new laptops come with 512 GB SSD by default, and there is a variety of them from 13.3 inch to 15 inch. Why don't other countries follow, beats me.

 

Can you tell if they changed the wifi chip? I can't see that there is a difference or not.

 

I doubt if it has changed. Is there another Intel combo WiFi Bluetooth card?

Dropped connection problems have been fixed for most people by the latest Intel driver but the signal strength will be sub-par as long as the antennae are in a metal chassis.

John

 

I may just be hoping since it seems to be the #1 issue with these laptops - not just because I experienced it but in the customer reviews. I'm kind of nervous getting any laptop with the same wifi chip (the asus zenbook is my next choice but has the same chip).

 

it should say "no sooner than in August"

 

The Haswell platform (in the model that we hope Samsung will release soon) uses a new Wifi adapter. I don't know it is any better. The main issue is the antennae placement. The best location is at the top of the display.

John

 

I checked the link and there is no new model, it might be just variation of ssd size, processor speed, or RAM.

 

It's still better than the specs in the majority of countries selling Samsung Series 9 laptops. I would buy now a UK based laptop Samsung Series 9 with 512 GB SSD. These specs make a big difference. There are no 15 inch Samsung laptops sold in the UK anymore, and only 1 version with the 13.3 inch, 512 GB SSD. In Germany you can choose from a variety of both 13.3 and 15 inch laptops with very good specs.

 

For as long as I've been following Samsung notebooks the German customers have had more choice (particularly models with good specs) than the British ones. Perhaps because their sales are more. I haven't seen any sales figures but a wider product range is likely to result in more sales.

John

 

If you speak German, the German keyboard could be fine for you but it is not recommended for none German speakers and especially people who works on codes.

 

Would be great if we do see a 15" refresh as there literally is no alternative...but isn't the issue likely to be haswell means touchscreen which means gloss? Or am I misunderstanding? Alsi I would imagine the sweet spot for my eyes of a native 1600x900 display will also be history?

 

We think the touchscreen is part of the "Ultrabook" marketing. I don't think that Samsung ever claimed that the 15" is an Ultrabook - there's no sticker on my X4C. Samsung are big enough to make what they think will sell and, if in doubt, could offer both touch and non-touch versions.

The move to an FHD panel looks to be more certain (it was the only info about the 15" given out at CES in January). We will just have to hope that 125% display scaling works properly.

John

 

I have to correct this statement: I've just been looking at a new X4C which still had the transparent plastic protection over the palm rest. On the left side there's a sticker saying "Samsung premium Ultrabook inspired by Intel."



So that's a claim by Samsung that the 15" is an Ultrabook. However, is that the same as an Intel Ultrabook sticker?

John

 

I don't believe they could use the Ultrabook(TM) logo without intel's approval. We'll see when the supplies of haswell stabilize, what compromises are made on the "official" spec (re: touch). Hope that sticker's easily removable, don't need it marring that impressive machine.

 

The "Ultrabook" sticker is on the transparent plastic so once the computer is put to use it no longer claims to be an Ultrabook.

John

 

By the time Haswell stabilizes there will be a new generation in the not far off future. In the meantime I doubt you will ever see Intel back off touch on the Haswell. They have insisted that all Haswell ultrabooks be touch since day one.

 

Well I could care less about the sticker. Hopefully smarter minds prevail at Samsung HQ, but their track record is a little shaky.

 

Lenovo announces a 14" ultrabook without a touchscreen:

Lenovo reveals a Haswell-refreshed ThinkPad: the 14-inch, 1080p T440s

It is the same weight as the 15" S9.

 

I believe the website indicates touch is an option. The non touch version is likely my next 14" machine. Unless of course they release the Carbon with IPS which is now highly likely.

 

With a somewhat smaller battery, I suspect. "Up to 6 hours" on that web page. There may be bigger battery options, with higher weight. With both Lenovo and Dell one can never be sure what they have included when they weight the computer, but it's usually with the smallest battery and any other options missing.

John

 

I've registered solely for the purpose of expressing my frustration with the lack of information from Samsung. I need a new notebook, and the only one that fits my requirements in terms of screen size, form factor, weight and price is the NP900X4D. Now I cannot decide whether to buy one now and put up with the horrible screen and SSD, or to wait on the off-chance of a Haswell-Refresh. I would be royally pissed if I bought the 15" now and a few weeks later they offer a refreshed version.

 

You know, I don't know why everyone complains about the screen. It was far from horrible when I had one. I think it was a very good screen - but - not the best screen available. It was the wifi that forced me to return the laptop. I too am very disappointed. I can't find a suitable replacement. For my needs the samsung was perfect except for the wifi which is non-negotiable for me.

 

You might want to study my post here with my rationale for replacing a year old X4C with a new one that has better specs.

I agree. The problem is that the screen gets compared with the top class PLS panel that was in the 13.3" X3C rather than with the matte finish screens used in some other similar sized notebooks. For me, a matte finish panel in the current 15"Series 9 wins over the risk of a glossy touchscreen in the new model plus the 1600 x 900 resolution works fine with my eyes at 100% scaling.

John

 

Hi guys, so is there no 15" laptop yet under 4 lbs with Haswell, at least a 1080p IPS display and 8GB of RAM from any of the manufacturers?

**Sent from my GALAXY NOTE II**

 

P35? The new xps (shudder)

Sent from my HTC One X using Tapatalk 2

 

This seems nice. Do you know the exact model?

 

The mbpr or this new dell are 4.5 pounds, but have much more horsepower.

Dell officially unveils Precision M3800 workstation at SIGGRAPH, gives rumored specs a nod

 

Isn't that Ativ Book 8 territory?

John

 

Yes, 4.5 is heavy really as compared to 3.5Ibs for the same screen size.

 

I thought the AB8 was 5.5 lbs, but yeah 4.5 isn't exactly featherweight.

 

So apparently Samsung is calling their 15" series 9 models Ativ-Books now. The new prefix is "K01", followed by a country code, e.g. ATIV Book 9 NP900X4C-K01US or ATIV Book 9 NP900X4D-K01US. Has there been any updates in regards to the "old" X4C and X4D models? Do they still use the Sandisk SSD, TN-Screen and Ivy Bridge CPUs? It does not seem so, but what puzzles me is that the models labelled ATIV-Book score a higher price than the old 15" series 9 models.

 

All Samsung laptops were re-branded, starting a few months ago. John posted an excellent graphic back then which showed the new names for each model series, but I cannot seem to find it now. Googling samsung laptop ativ book rebrand revealed the following though, which gives the same information:

Samsung rebrands all its Windows PCs with 'Ativ' moniker - Crave - Notebooks - CNET Asia

No refresh to the 15 inch series 9 / Ativ Book 9 has been announced, and this entire thread is about members worrying that there won't be one. There is still a chance it may happen at some point, but so far no indication from Samsung.

 

We've also seen the price hike with the Chronos 7 / Ativ Book 8. I wonder whether Samsung hope that potential Ativ Book purchasers think they have Haswell inside (they will, at some stage in the future) and are willing to pay extra.

The display is still TN, but it's an above average TN panel and the CPU is still Ivy Bridge (but one of the faster 15W parts). The -K01US has a 256GB SSD which will either be Liteon or Samsung (there has only ever been one report of a 256GB U100 and that was last year). I was a little surprised to see a shorter quoted battery life but the battery is still 62WHr but tested using Mobilemark 2012 so, in reality, capable of longer run time.

I recently replaced, after due deliberation, my early X4C with a 2013 model with faster CPU and bigger SSD. One benefit was to avoid further anguish about whether or not a Haswell replacement will appear and, if it does, would be lumbered with a glossy touchscreen. You may want to indulge in similar deliberation.

John

 

John, could you eloborate on why you chose another X4C over an X4D? The X4C is much more expensive while, as far as I know, it offers nothing over the X4D except another, yet not lighter, material it is built from.

 

Firstly, I could physically get my hands on an X4C with 512GB SSD (which was the key reason for the investment because the Crucial M500 mSATA seems to have got hijacked in transit - first listed on Amazon UK on 15th April and still 1-2 months away). The only X4D with 512GB SSD I can find is the -A06HK and I haven't recently been near that part of the world.

Besides which, I prefer the black finish because the display and keyboard stand out better. The slightly lighter weight of the X4D isn't of great concern to me - one can save more than that by buying a third party PSU which uses a 2-core mains cable.

John

 

I see. I'm pretty sure the X4D comes with either black oder silver coloring, too.

 

Did you physically see a black X4D? Samsung's pictures are sometimes misleading.

John

 

I'm thinking of buying the NP900X4D-K01NL. Unfortunately in The Netherlands Samsung only has the 128gb version. Is it possible to replace the SSD in these models? Also can anyone tell me what the average battery time is, keyboard and trackpad quality etc? Is the TN screen in the 2013 K-models any better than the earlier A-models?

I might wait for the haswell version until the end of the month, otherwise it's going to be ivy bridge for me.

 

No, but Samsung lists the X4D as being available in "mineral ash black" (assuming that qualifies as black) here: NP900X4D - TECHN. DATEN | SUPPORT | SAMSUNG
If I am not mistaken I saw a couple of mineral ash black X4Ds being offered when I was actively looking for them a few weeks ago.

Yes, but as that's not a user action, you will probably lose your warranty. That's the reason I currently still hesitate buying an X4D.

Assuming the keyboard is the same as in the X4C (which it is) I found it horrible when typing on it in the store. However, I am mostly typing on mechanical keyboards, so anything else feels horrible to me. The keyboard is certainly okay to do some light typing while not being at home. I'd connect a real keyboard to the notebook any chance I get, though.
The TN screen is still the same as in the older models, however John keeps pointing out that after calibration it is a decent TN screen. I plan to do mostly text editing/programming on the machine, but if you are a gfx artist the screen might not be sufficient.

 

We have a thread for the mSATA SSD upgrades. This is also relevant. Proceed carefully with a Philips size 0 screwdriver and keep the original SSD to put back if you need warranty. There are no seals. Consider your warranty valid unless you cause obvious damage.

Thanks. Samsung like to be inconsistent when we think there are simple rules. You would need a good pair of scales to tell the difference between that black X4D and a black X4C.

The keyboard action is very shallow - there's not much alternative within the thin profile.

Decent in that it is above-average for a TN panel with problems such as the "screen door effect". These graphics from my Spyder 4 Express may help:

2012 X4C-A01UK


2013 X4C-A02IN


The newer one is reported as having a slightly better gamut but that may just be within production variations. I should also note that the PLS panel in my X3B also has a 71% gamut.

John

 

They've announced the new Ativ book 9 plus with Haswell right?

 

Thank you so much for this piece of information. By any chance, you would not happen to know whether using a different OS than Windows 8 (a *nix distribution, to be precise) would affect warranty, would you?

 

The 13.3" NP940X3G was shown off over a month ago and might be available on 17th August. There is no news about a Haswell version of the 15' Series 9.

I would recommend you make a full backup image of your SSD so you can always restore it to the supplied condition before seeking warranty service. The latest version of Samsung Recovery Solution includes the facility to create a backup image.

John

 

I have been told by employees at the Microsoft store that they will help you install linux for dual booting and that they'll wipe the computer back to stock if you return it. But that's only the Microsoft store's way of doing things... other stores may not be so nice. I'd ask wherever you purchase it from. There is always a slight possibility you can brick a machine when messing with the OS at such a low level... though I've only heard of it happening in extremely isolated cases (both when installing Windows or a linux)... and even then I'd bet it's fixable, and not really bricked. But not being able to easily remove the SSD can make it challenging. As long as you don't screw the BIOS over in the process, you should be fine--barring some horrible overheating issue or poorly written driver actually frying some circuitry, that is. : )