Samsung 15" Series 9 NP900X4C with Ivy Bridge CPU

Yes. It's true.

 

I thought it was illegal to sell a Samsung Series 9 machine as new if it was a return.

 

I can't comment abut Amazon US but Amazon UK sells returned items through the Amazon Warehouse.

John

 

yeah.. but there's a big difference between buying from amazon.com and buying from amazon warehouse.

 

i'm pretty sure it's illegal to sell -anything- reboxed/returned as new. I highly doubt most reputable companies would risk that..

ebay on the other hand.. ya just never know. i see a few of the series 9 laptop auctions on ebay that do not accept returns with < 100 feedback. That's just scary.

btw, don't take this the wrong way, i regularly buy things from ebay (but mostly from "top rated sellers").


Edit:
I just placed an order for the a03us model of the x4c. 3-5 weeks delivery. ugh.

has anyone ordered recently and got theirs? how long did you have to wait?

 

I wouldn't be surprised if Intel is struggling to make enough of the i7 17W CPUs. It usually takes several months to fine-tune a new fabrication process. If that's correct then Samsung could be selling more of the X4C if it offered an i5 + 256GB version.

John

 

Well said, while I'd love to be able to order the i7 with 256GB if I had an i5 option with that amount of storage I'd have jumped in already.

Yes I know I could purchase the only 256GB drive available in the UK and swap out the smaller SanDisk but frankly don't want the hassle and chance of invalidating the warranty. Besides I doubt it would be any cheaper than the full blown i7 - 256GB option when it arrives.

As an aside has anyone yet measured the colour gamut coverage of the 15.6" panel ? while my prime concerns are mobility and power for office applications I'm an advanced amateur photographer and the portability for field trips is an excellent side benefit

 

Not even at this pricing?.

John

 

I took the bite, bought an NP900X4C-A01IT, which comes with the i7, 8 GB of RAM and the large SSD. I look forward to receiving it, and I'll keep you posted on my findings. I really hope that the screen is ok, and that the laptop is not too large (the T420s was kind of my perfect size, this one is just 1 cm larger, should be ok, I was really undecided between the 15 and the 13.3, though the RAM limit on the latter and the fact that it could have been too small brought me to the X4C).

Edit: I also hope that the 256 GB SSD is Samsung's one. Has anybody got a 256 GB Sandisk? Do they exist? Am I guaranteed to receive a Samsung SSD?

 

Especially since apple ordered a boatload of them and I'm sure get priority. Usually the i5 and i7 are the same die, the i7 having fewer defects. And you would expect far fewer of these, weibull distributed...

 

Could someone knowledgeable about these things tell me if this is a good solid state drive? From what I have gleaned from you all I think it is, but I thought I should check. It is on a crazy sale for 249 instead of 425.

OCZ Agility 3 360GB 2.5IN SATA3 6GB/S SandForce SF-2281 SSD Drive

 

Is The battery replaceable ?

 

Are you planning to use this with the Samsung? If so, I do not think it will fit, you need an mSATA drive. Please, someone more knowledgeable correct me if I am wrong

 

Thanks very much, I overlooked that part when I saw the price I think.

 

Yeah that one wouldn't work, though I have it in my desktop and have been pretty satisfied. This is the best performing msata on the market currently (plenty more are coming out though).

Amazon.com: MyDigitalSSD 256GB Smart Series SATA III (6G) SandForce mSATA SSD - MDMS-SFIII-256: Computers & Accessories

 

This answer speaks to a question I posed a few pages back so it helps me too. I had called Samsung Canada, and they informed me that Amazon was not a certified Samsung retailer and as such the Samsung warranty would not be honoured, due to the fact that Amazon sometimes sells refurbished items as new.

 

It's not officially user-replaceable (because replacement involves unscrewing the base of the computer) but shouldn't be difficult to replace when the time comes.

The mSATA version of the Crucial M4 is also starting to appear. Look out for part # CT256M4SSD3.

John

 

Ordered my a03us on June 10 from amazon and still haven't had any updates. Eta is still July 10-18.

This site says they'll have more a03us on July 7 however

 

The Samsung USA site lists amazon.com in the shopping area. It would appear the Samsung USA folks deem amazon.com an official retailer here.

 

mySN.de | XMG XIRIOS XESIA | buy Schenker Notebooks - 256GB mSATA-III SSD Samsung PM830 (MZMPC256HBGJ)

You can buy 256gb samsung ssd msata drive from here if you are EU. They also sell Crucial M4 (CT256M4SSD3) there, but why would you buy it if you can get genuine samsung to your laptop.

 

UK geeks may be interested in crucial M4 256GB mSATA SSD

CT256M4SSD3 Lexar Crucial m4

£161.92 inc VAT!

 

That's nonsense. Pretty much all of it.

 

Now that is starting to look extremely tempting, I must admit. I’ve had to restrain myself from putting in an order today.
I’m going to try an hold off for another couple of weeks and see if the i7-256G makes a UK appearance. There seems to be availability now in Italy which is encouraging and frustrating and at an excellent price, vs the i5 UK pricing. Making me wonder now about ordering from the EU. Does anyone know if there are any significant differences with the Italian keyboard layout ? Wikpedia seems to show both £, $ and Euro keys but I’m not sure how consistent this might be.

Strange though that Samsun UK still have no updates on their site even for the NP900X4C-AO1UK even though it’s now available from several sources.

 

Samsung are so frustrating. Still undecided between the good screen of the 13 inch and the upgradable and larger RAM on the 15 inch!

Not to mention no news of a version with larger capacity SSD in the UK.

It's been a long wait why can't they provide some info! Do they not know they are losing sales because of these limitations!! Rant over

 

Samsung UK published details of the X4C-A01UK back in April but, for reasons best known to themselves, removed the relevant pages a few weeks ago. Note that there's also the possibility of an X4D-A01UK showing up soon.

John

 

Interesting, the X4D-A01Uk is showing up on the support and product download pages of the Samsung UK site, here: http://www.samsung.com/uk/support/model/NP900X4D-A01UK-downloads

There is a conformance note that shows this model having been signed off by the UK based Euro conformance lab on the 18th May. No reference to specs though

 

Just wondering about the fan inputs and output locations. Has anyone found that its uncomfortable to use on your lap or when not on a desk? Just that it looks like you could easily block the grills?

Thanks

 

Thanks for that, I will be contacting them again and will report back.

 

On lap I haven't had any problems, little heating (and fans revving up) when left on softbed which causes intakes to be blocked blocked.

 

Well, if you plan on buying an Italian laptop you are going to get one at a cheap price (compared to the UK pricing in Pounds). I really wanted to order one with the UK layout, which I had grown accustomed to while being in the UK, but it turns out to be extremely pricey, specially given our bad Euro conditions.

Speaking of the IT layout, you would have the Pound key with Shift + 3, the Dollar with Shift + 4 and the Euro with AltGr + E (at least, my Uni laptop says so). Be warned that the "right" part of your keyboard will be a complete mess, compared to the UK layout, since it hosts five vowels with accents. Those vowels steal the space that in the UK layout is reserved for "[ ]", "=", "@" and "; :". The square braces are accessible in the IT layout using Alt + [ and Alt + ] (where the [ and ] corresponds to your [ and ], we don't have dedicated ones). The curly braces require being Rachmaninov, given that you need to press AltGr + Shift + [ for a simple { (similar trick for the opposite brace). Such tricks for a simple brace drove me to loving the UK layout, and I would not recommend buying the IT one if you don't need it, even though it sounds convenient (though I also can't strongly advise against it, after all it has all the keys you need, plus more, and some are just less accessible) .

I hope I was somewhat clear, it is not easy to describe a layout. If you have more questions about the IT layout, about buying your laptop from Italy, and about Italy, I'll try to help as much as I can

Speaking about the layout topic, does anybody know if it could be possible to buy a keyboard replacement with a different layout and replace the one "bundled" with the laptop. This operation was surely possible with Lenovo's products, but I fear that given the slimness of the Series 9 and its "degree of packedness" it will be unfeasible.

PS: if somebody is interested in the IT layout, I'll post a picture as soon as my laptop arrives at my door (which I hope to be really soon)

 

Not a bit. Heat hasn't been an issue at all on mine.

Still love mine after... 3 weeks? No complaints here. I have 4C-A03US

 

Swapping keyboards used to be easy prior to the introduction the separated key arrangement. Now it appears to require complete disassembly.

Yes, please post a photo.

John

PS: Although I would prefer the i7 CPU there's no telling when it might appear in the UK so I've just pulled the trigger on the X4C-A01UK. I've also got a Crucial M4 mSATA on order. I also grabbed this good deal on a Samsung 2 year warranty extension.

 

What a shame, I'd have loved to swap my IT one for a UK one, guess I'll have to train my fingers again for messy brace combinations

I will, as soon as I get it, no problem!

John, do you know whether offering only one year of warranty is legal in the EU? As far as I know manufacturers should provide two years of warranty, where the first one is serviced by the shop where you bought the laptop and the second one by the manufacturer. Does the one year warranty refer to the second year I mentioned above?

Furthermore, the credit card that I used for buying mine gives me an additional year of warranty on anything that I purchase, hope that works and it is not an ugly scam.

 

Do you known of a place where I can buy the batteries ?

 

ordered mine from Amazon on 6-7. Currently winging its way toward me and due to arrive 6-26

 

Yea yea, we know. Rub it in.

FYI, I contacted one of the local resellers that is listing the NP900X4D-A01US to check on their stock. They are supposed to have the new magnesium silver model the second week in July. It also comes with a 3 year warranty.

 

This still seems to be country-specific. I know that Samsung notebooks bought in Germany have 2 years warranty as standard but UK only has only one year.

I don't think anywhere is selling spare batteries yet. It should be 2 or 3 years before there is much demand (and therefore availability of supply), particularly if you use the Battery Life Extender option.

John

 

The UK Sale of Goods act covers items for 6 years. It states that items should be fit for purpose.

One would expect a high value item like this to last for years and if it failed due to no fault of your own then you would have legal recourse to get the item repaired.

Interestingly you would deal with the retailer and NOT the manufacturer (once the manufacturer warranty has expired). Of course most retailers would point you to the manufacturer trying to wash their hands of the issue - I find a gentle reminder of the Sale of Goods act normally sharpens their act up

 

I think the 6 years is for latent defects which can take some time to appear. Proving after, say, 5 years that something breaking is a manufacturing defect rather than fair wear and tear can be challenging. I work on the principle that there will be less need for argument if there is warranty coverage.

John

 

In case anyone is choosing between the Zenbook Prime and SS9 - go with Samsung.

Asus vs. Samsung

 

Thanks, this makes me much happier of having pulled the trigger on the X4C. From other sites reviews, it seemed that the Zenbook succeeded in having the best display between the two. After seeing those pictures, I clearly favour the Samsung!

 

Did you have both displays at full brightness? 400 nit is far brighter than I would want to use indoors. It's also interesting that with mSATA becoming almost standard that Asus have opted to use something different.

John

 

Alexcriss,
Thank you for taking the time to provide a really comprehensive description of the IT keyboard layout.
Despite the prospect of the i7 and 256GB SSD, its sounding like the IT layout may be a compromise too far, however I would be interested in seeing some pictures when your machine arrives.
Hope the wait is not too long and that it meets your expectations.

Rgds Mark

 

Thanks Triskite and very useful comparision. The X4C appears to be a little oversaturated colour wise with a lot of purple in the clouds. Does it appear that way to the eye or is this an effect of the camera capture ?

Were either of the displays colour profiled ?

Rgds

 

Both were at full brightness. I use 400 nit daily indoors as my LR and office both have very large windows.

Yes I did mess with the 15" color settings somewhat. See my other post near the bottom. By default, the 15" does still seem a bit more purple for some reason. I did not touch the Zenbook's settings.

Hope this helps!

 

I'd like the 3 year warranty, but the 4D only has "128GB Hard Drive Capacity" and "Intel® Core™ i5-3317U Processor".

I like my 256GB and i7.

The angles on this aren't great, but I use it for coding and stuff, not video or anything. I also use flux and have it set at 75% brightness. Works for me.

 

See Specs - Series 9 NP900X4D | Samsung Laptops. I believe it has the same specs as yours?

The resellers listing them on their sites have the price jacked up to around $2000 USD. Delivered to my door that puts the price at the same price I pay for a MacBook Pro Retina delivered.

Someone has some really good weed.

 

Here's my response to the spec wars:

16GB Samsung NP900X4C. 256gB upgrade coming soon. The wei and overall performance is fantastic~ I'm pretty baffled that so many of you think you need the i7

 

My first post from the X4C. My initial impression, after spending nearly 3 months using the X3B, was the size of the beast. Plus the not-so-good display. However, after (i) reducing the brightness; (ii) updating the BIOS; and (iii) using the ClearType tuner it now looks better. I'll do a display calibration in the near future.

I had a frustration when trying to boot Acronis from a flash drive. Putting the USB above the SSD in the boot order and disabling FastBoot was not enough. Trial-and-error revealed that F10 brings up a boot device menu which then got the computer to boot from USB.

Has anyone got the Intel Rapid Start control to work on this model?

John

 

As someone who bought this and then sent it back, how do you find the keyboard compares with that on the 13?