Samsung 15" Series 9 NP900X4B thread

FYI, I did check with a Crucial sales rep via chat to see if they have the M4 256GB mSATA for sale yet. He said no but they were still on track for a June release. Early to mid-July on the outside.

In addition, I was looking at the ssdreview site and stumbled across Memoright MS-701 mSATA SSD Review - SF-2281 Performance and 240GB Capacity Earns Top Marks - The SSD Review. This looks like an interesting option, too. With the Muskin device, it looks like we'll have a number of options this summer.

And on a similar note, I received the mSATA to SATA card I ordered. Unfortunately is won't work with any of the enclosures I have due to the way they designed the card. It does however appear that it will work with my eSATAp cable. I just need a mSATA drive to test and make sure. That might be a couple of months.

 

That depends on who you believe / equipment used. I made my own measurements earlier today and got 71% of SRGB.

Whatever the theoretical quality of the display, I am enjoying the better colours and viewing angles (relative to my Lenovo T420s (which isn't hard to beat in this respect).

Thanks for this info.

Thanks for that info. Mine was shipped yesterday (ordered from Amazon UK but coming from North America). I recently bought one of these which is convenient for connecting to a bare HDD, so it should also be good for that adaptor).

John

 

Me too. That's what I'm waiting for, but I don't know if I can hold out for a larger HD.

 

Does thus have display port?

Thinking of fretting a dell ultrasharp U2412M monitor to go with this laptop for office work. What would be the best way to connect it?

And will I this laptop support the monitors resolution of 1920 x 1200?

Thanks in advance!!

All this waiting is so painful!

 

Now that I have the NP900X3B I can be more demanding of what I need for an upgrade. If I hadn't made my current investment then I would probably be grabbing the first X4B that I could.

No, it doesn't have DisplayPort, only micro HDMI. And the micro HDMI connector claims to be only good for 1080p (=1920 x 1080 - too much influence from the consumer 26:9 lobby).

John

 

Thanks John

I'm still keen on this monitor. What would happen if I did connect them via mini HDMI? Would it simply cut off at 1040 or stretch and pixelate?

 

I'd normally say the same, but my latitude is still going strong. I'm having a hard time waiting, but I've decided that's what I'm going to do. I really don't want to get one, get it all setup and then get another months later. I hate doing that and there's no easy way to migrate everything from device to device.

 

Actually there is. Most disk imaging programs (Acronis, Paragon, others) now support the installation of a disk image on different hardware. Acronis calls this option "Universal Restore". So, you can image the hard drive on your old machine, copy the image to the new machine, and then successfully boot. If you have different hardware devices, you're going to have to install new drivers for them,of course, but that's it. You're going to be up and running within a few hours at most, with all of your settings and customizations transferred.

 

On my NP900X4B, I have noticed the viewing angle is wider as the brightness is increased.

I have ordered a few power adapter plugs by the way.

 

Have you noticed any tanning at 340 nits?

 

What have you ordered?

John

 

Yes, I actually did notice it after I turned the brightness all the way up. You are good!

 

Hi John,

I have ordered the 3mm outter, 1.1mm inner power plug on one end with the USB male plug on the end. It is a straight plug only and the only one I could found as of today. I will have to cut the USB end and replace the existing about to break plug or use implement it onto another 19v power adapter.

I actually have another idea as well. I will let you guys know.

 

Does anybody know how fast the SD card connection is likely to be on an Ivy Bridge 900x4c?

I don't really need i7 if they ever release that, but need more storage and was thinking a professional grade 128gb SD card could make the storage up to 256gb?

If it was USB 3.0 speeds that would be ideal.

 

I can only report what I have measured on my NP900X3B which is that the internal SD slot is slower than a 3? year old Sandisk USB 2.0 SD card reader. The internal card reader shows up as a generic storage USB device.

Note also that a USB card in the slot sticks out of the side of the computer (the slot is not spring-loaded) so it would be unwise to leave a card in the slot when packing the computer. A bigger mSATA SSD is the best approach for more storage. Production of these devices is being ramped up. Alternatively a USB 3.0 card reader (with your high capacity SD card), or a high capacity USB 3.0 flash drive are ways to boost the capacity.

John

PS: It seems that there is a German version of the X4B with i7 CPU and 256GB SSD. It's a little strange to see that being released now when the X4C is expected in the UK within a few weeks (and could do with the 256GB SSD).

 

Thanks! Really appreciate it.. May hold on a little bit in case an Ivy Bridge 256GB model does show up. I think it would be the perfect laptop for me, W520 is too heavy to run to work with

 

Unless you are a real fitness freak. Note, of course, that the Ivy Bridge graphics won't be a match for the W520.

The Austrailians are getting an Ivy Bridge i7 version so the various components we need are all there.

John

 

Hello,

Just a quick question about the screen:

1) Is there anyone out there who can compare the FHD panels used in Thinkpads T520 and W520's with the panel used by the 15-inch 2012 Samsung Series 9?

I currently have a T520 with the screen with a claimed "95% color gamut" and absolutely enjoy the quality (although with a bit over-saturation).

2) Also, I read about the poor viewing angle of the 15-inch SS9 v 13-inch SS9, but in terms of color reproduction, etc., does the 15-inch lag far behind as well?

Thank you in advance.

 

I currently have the W510 with the FHD screen for work. I have had the W520 FHD, the Samsung NP900X4B and a variety of other machines including the NP900X3B.

The W510 and W520 FHD screens are clearly superior on every level to the NP900X4B screen. However, comparing the two machines is borderline silly because in my view they are far apart in terms of computing power and capability.

The viewing angles on the 15" NP900X4B aren't poor. They are rather normal which for an expensive machine is disappointing.

What do you intend to use the machine for? At this point patience would be smart. Most of us are waiting for the Ivy Bridge models to ship so we can see if Samsung puts a 15" PLS screen on the new models. If they do, that's the ultrabook you want.

 

I have the W520 which is great, but just too heavy for me to lug about. My new plan is to use the NP9004XC with 16GB RAM and an emergency set of VMs on a USB 3.0 drive, but remote into my W520 which will be sitting at home, which I can still grab and take with me if I want to with minimal effort.

Really hoping we start seeing availability in the UK soon... dabs.com have them to order "on request" Samsung NP900X4C I5-2467M 4GB 128GB SSD BLK W7HP64bit 13.3 (NP900X4C-A01UK) - dabs.com

 

Actually... if the Lenovo X1 Carbon comes out sooner... could be a winner Lenovo announces the ThinkPad X1 Carbon, a 14-inch Ultrabook with Ivy Bridge, optional 3G and a 1600 x 900 display -- Engadget - looks great as long as battery life is 6+ hours

 

The site I watch is Insight. Yesterday its latest move in the date dance was from 14th May (ie yesterday) to 8th June. I still think sometime in June looks likely. It depends on Intel handing over the chips to Samsung.

John

 

Thanks! I trust you'll keep us all informed, the question is who will get the first delivery? ;-) "1 expected on 08/06/12"

 

It's always 1. And someone ordered it back in March! However, I'm sure that the 1 is a place-holder and when the computer shows up there will be a big box of them.

John

 

According to the US Lenovo.com site, the X1 Carbon is slated for August 2012. They have not disclosed price but I bet it's going to be north of $1799.

 

Thanks - frustrating being at the cusp of a new cycle... don't think I will have the patience to wait until August! I'll gamble on whichever comes out first, looks like the 900X4C. Hope the build quality is ok, better than Vaio S (had two, sent an SA back recently, flimsy plastic.. poor screen). Love Lenovos... decisions decisions!!!

 

Frustrating? I think you mean exciting!!!

I would not do anything before 6/15/2012.

 

Yeah ok it IS exciting

Can't stand Mac keyboards but guess you mean when Apple announce theirs then others will follow shortly. Apple usually announce products that are available at that time. Cargo cult...

 

Would anyone know if the Korean version NP900X4B has a better screen? IPS?
Sometimes LG and Samsung keep some goodies for themselves, meaning the Korean market. Sometimes the U.S. and Korean versions differ

The Korean 15" version is 400 nit. Is th U.S. version also?

 

Join the club. Lots of members.

 

The Korean model has the NT prefix. The NP900X4B has the 340 nit display but the impending Ivy Bridge NP900X4C is advertised as 400 nit. I've dug around and found this video of the NT-900X4B where the camera is look down at the screen but the colours haven't washed out badly. So perhaps the 400 nit panel is IPS (we all hope so). There are more videos here.

It's time to continue this discussion in the X4C thread.

John

 

Do you happen to know what NT and NP mean?
Is there any way to find out if the NT model has an IPS screen?

 

I don't know the meaning of NT and NP but those two prefixes have been there for some years. The best way to tell if the NT X4B has a PLS (IPS) panel is to look at the vertical viewing angles which are far better than with the TN panels (the screen photos in my NP900X3B review show a comparison). Look at about 07:45 in this video and compare what you see with how your display looks under similar conditions.

John

 

Do these numbers explain anything?
I found them on a Korean website

"SuperBright 400nit HD + LED Display (1600x900) 200nit"

This spec is for the 15" NT models

 

The specs on the Samsung Korea site translate
"15.0 "SuperBright 400nit HD + LED Display (1600 x 900), Anti-Reflective". These are the same words as used to describe the PLS panel in my NP900X3B. So far, 400 nit has proved to be PLS. I haven't tried to understand the technology but I wonder if PLS is better at letting the light through than the TN panels so there is better brightness for a given backlight power.

John

 

So that means it must be an IPS according to that spec correct?

 

Samsung exec admits 15-inch Series 9 could benefit from better viewing angles -- Engadget

This just went up on Engadget.

Samsung exec admitting the 15" could do with better viewing angles seems like odd timing. Would he make this announcement if they were changing them in the IB model? Would he make these comments if they were not changing them?

It seems to me a little like if he is saying this now, and the 4c ships in June, that there must be no display change? Just my interpretation though.

Thoughts?

 

We can't be sure until someone gets their hands on one.

I wonder which version he was talking about. The X4B (which is still be sold) or the X4C (which may, or may not) have started coming off the production line?

It's not inconceivable that they are making 15" IPS but Apple are paying to have exclusive use of it for an unknown period.

John

 

All I have to say is that they'd better ship PLS panels on the Ivy Bridge update. If they don't, all of the reviewers are going to ding them. Especially if the new MBA or MacBook Pro's really do announce and ship retina displays mid-June.

The executive sure put a spotlight on it. They had better have PLS. If they do, it will generate a lot of positive marketing and a reasonable alternative to the Apple hardware.

I also hope they replace that stupid mini VGA port with mini DisplayPort.

 

I doubt that will happen in the near future. However, the mini-VGA port won't get much use when the VGA pass-through dongle costs more (in UK) than the micro-HDMI dongle which includes a chip.

John

 

For me, this isn't about VGA. It's about using my 2560x1440 LCD panel.

 

Is there no one in this thread that owns or knows someone with a Korean model?
To find out about IPS

 

Korea is a long way from the USA and what they make, sell and support there is always different.

June is going to be a big month.

Now that HP and Lenovo have shown their cards, I'm sure Dell, Apple, Samsung will announce new machines and specifications soon.

 

yeah Korea is far, that means nothing in this day and age. Im sure are are Asian people (Koreans etc.) who browse and post on here No luck so far though

Hopefully June will be great!

 

My Samsung NP900X4B was shipped to me and covered with Korean newspaper inside the box. LOL

 

So is it the N P900X4B or N T900X4B? If the latter, the specs indicate it should have the 400 nit display. What are the vertical viewing angles like? (Compare with any other notebooks you have available).

John

 

Something interesting: samsung 9 series 15″ i7 with 256 gb ssd. Only price a little bit high:

Samsung Sens NT900X4B-A78 Series 9 Laptop 15″ i7 2637M 1.7GHz 8GB 256GB SSD

GoodDigitalShop | Samsung Sens NT900X4B-A78 Series 9 Laptop 15" i7 2637M 1.7GHz 8GB 256GB SSD | Laptop | Computer & Networks

 

3 of them on eBay:
900X4B-A78 | eBay

There is another model, A74:
http://www.ebay.com/sch/i.html?_nkw=samsung+9+A74&_sacat=0&_odkw=900X4B-A74&_osacat=0

 

Ready to order in Germany:

Samsung Notebook Serie 9 900X4B A01

 

It's also at notebook.de which ships to other European countries. i7 CPU, 256GB SSD, 400 nit display. it seems to tick all the right boxes except being Ivy Bridge. Perhaps because the Ivy Bridge i7 won't show up for a few months. There's a fairly good chance that one will end up with a notebookcheck reviewer so we might find out more about the display.

John