Samsung 15" Series 9 NP900X4C with Ivy Bridge CPU

Insight UKs ETA for the NP900X3C has just slipped to 1st June. Previously it had shuffled along a week or so at a time.

John

 

Heh, and now it's jumped back to the 25th April - this Wednesday!

Pretty sure they're just rolling dice...

 

They've got fed up with updating the ETA. It now says "discontinued".

We could hope that this means that A01UK is dropped before it ever arrives and an A02UK arrives with a better spec (eg i7 + 256GB) at the same price point.

John

 

That's what I'm waiting for! But for the price, it should have the PLS screen and Win7 Pro. Or an option to get them.

 

I was looking at the Samsung N900X4C Series 9 Notebook - Samsung UK - FEATURES information this evening. I also looked closely at the pictures and noticed a couple of differences to the Sandy Bridge US version.

First, the intake vents on the bottom are gone. There's also only one exhaust vent along the back edge. Either someone decided to photoshop the bottom, or there was an engineering change.

Second, the UK version is advertising a different screen that the currently shipping US model. They are clearly playing up the 400 nit brightness. Maybe they changed over to the PLS screen?

 

The photos they have are for a US model - check out the keyboard - US layout, not UK.

That would be a good thing!

I hope.

 

Zoom in on the pic of the bottom side - it's clearly labeled as NP900X3B.

 

LOL. That's funny. More Samsung hijinks.

 

The illustrations of the bottom in both the B and C user guides are the same. My guess is that there would be air vents. The air has to come in somewhere before it it can be blown out by the fan otherwise the cooling efficiency will be seriously reduced.

John

 

I just wish that somewhere was on the side or another back port. Putting them on the bottom is the single worst engineering mistake these manufacturers make. It's a friggen laptop ... LAPtop - to be set on the lap - plugging the intakes!

My latitude d630 has them on the bottom and when they get covered, it heats up and halts. Bah.

 

If the photo isn't photoshopped by marketing, then it's possible the engineers felt there was enough of a draw across the components without the need for the slits you see on the Sandy Bridge models. Maybe Ivy Bridge machines also run cool enough.

If they are truly gone, that is good news.

 

17W TDP is still 17W although the better power efficiency of IB should means that it uses the full 17W for less time (but alternatively will run faster under full load).

It would be possible to use one of the vents on the back as the air inlet and the other is the exhaust.

John

PS: Insight UK now says "1 expected on 08/06/12" (which is 8th June in UK date format)

 

Details of the X4C are now on the Samsung UK website. The photos of the display show impressive viewing angles.

Insight UK's latest oscillation on the delivery is one available on 2nd May while Laptops Direct currently says "Earliest Delivery: Monday 28th May". I find the latter more plausible.

For those who are excited by the reference to the 400 nit display, I would point out that the entry for the X4C at notebook.de indicates a 340 nit display.

John

 

That's one ******* nice computer.

 

And a hotter one, apparently.

Ivy Bridge Temperatures – It’s Gettin’ Hot in Here | Overclockers

 

i saw the s9 13" at bestbuy today, must say its a sexy laptop but idk why but the build quality didnt seem great.. maybe its just me lol. the asus zenbook 13in was also next to it and that seemed alot better in build quality. is it just me and the fact that the asus was next to it or do other people also feel this way? btw is the current s9 also 100% aluminium?

 

I'm not convinced that issues found when overclocking desktop CPUs will also be issues for 17W notebook parts.

The current 13" S9 is metal except for a small panel between the hinges where the WiFi antenna are located. I haven't noticed any build issues with my S9 - everything fits together nicely and it feels very solid. It is possible that the 15" S9 will feel slightly less rigid because of bigger size but similar thickness.

John

 

Pretty sure those are 3D renders, so aren't really representative!

 

Looks like these puppies wont be out to the public any time soon!

insight.uk website stating 8th May, and other sites stating end of May. at this rate, we will be able to get them in 2014!

Come on Samsung, you release a project on the 10th Feb, start selling in Asia, but nothing for us in the Europe, = Very upset customers. I am actively looking at other laptops now. Will be cancelling my order

Really bad customer experience, and I haven't even god one in my handset yet!

 

Insight currently thinks ETA 8th June. Don't blame Samsung, blame Intel for late delivery of the Ivy Bridge chips. I think Samsung are also not happy: They designed new models and then had to put Sandy Bridge hardware inside as an interim fix. News reports such as this quote Intel as saying that the ultrabook CPUs will arrive a little later. X4C in UK sometime before the end of June looks feasible. I think that the UK is somewhere near the front of the queue for this model.

John

 

Engadget just posted an article about the refresh coming:

Samsung teases Series 9 Ivy Bridge Ultrabook, leaves availability in the ether -- Engadget

 

I see that there is now an NP900X4C-A01AU which is a little different from the UK and CA versions because it will have the i7-3517U CPU (1.9 to 3GHz). That's a CPU I would like to see offered in UK.

The display is described as "Combination of HD+ (1600 x 900) screen resolution and SuperBright 400nit LED screen that produces 16.7 million colours (vs. 262k standard), enables amazing picture quality and easier viewing in sunlight." This does smell of the PLS panel (the claim about the 16.7M colours should also apply to the 13.3" display) but we won't be sure until someone sees it.

John

 

16,7 million colors is standard, 262k was standard for 2inch display cellphones 5 years ago or so.
Don't know what this stupid description is about

 

I think you will find that while the video card feeds the display with 8 bits per primary colour, a lot of lnotebook displays reduce the 8 bit input down to 6 bits for display purposes. See here and here. HWiNFO reports that my NP900X3B's display is 8 bit per primary colour.

John

 

Sorry if this was answered earlier in the thread, but is there an estimate for the US IB release date?

 

jr.com did something unexpected and added a $70 rebate to the NP900X3B and NP900X4B. Considering they have had a hard time keeping units in stock, it seems odd. Might be a hint. Might not.

 

I hope so... the microsoft store just started selling the 900x4b-a02, so I'm not really certain what's going on.

At least I could finally go to a store and try it out! They had a display model and it was pretty sweet. I'm wondering if it's worth waiting for the ivy bridge version...? The only reason I could see waiting is if it had a brighter or somehow better display, and if the improved graphics matters... Battery life should be about the same, correct?

 

good to see an i7 model come out finally (especially seeing as I live in Australia!)

still hard to consider buying with the 128ssd however. its going to be a decision between this and the refreshed xps line. Maybe go the samsung if the screen is like the 13inch plus I can find a 256/512 msata

 

Someone pointed out that the Korean Sandy Bridge version (NT-900X4B) is advertised with a 400 nit panel. I've found these videos. The top left video is looking down on the screen and it doesn't look too bad. Also at about 07:45 in the bottom right video there is a view of moving the screen when it is on and the viewing angle looks impressive. That's the best indication so far that the 400 nit panel could be IPS. What do you think?

John

 

What's worrying for UK users is that Samsung have removed the 900X4C from their site:

Ultra Portable Notebook Computers | Mobile Computers | Laptops - SAMSUNG UK

It used to be available here:

SAMSUNG

Still appears in the search index when you search for it but product page doesn't exist:

SAMSUNG

Hopefully just a glitch...

 

Perhaps they are updating the web page. We can hope they are improving the specification.

In the mean time this site has moved the ETA to 31st December.

I'm in the comfortable position of having the 13" S9 to use until I can be sure that the 15" is a better fit for my needs (ie faster CPU, more RAM, bigger SSD and the PLS display)

John

 

Hopefully that somewhat conspicuous date is just a placeholder for "we don't know"...

 

On the plus side, sites that previously didn't list it or didn't have a date are now all saying "15th June" (same as Insight).

Isn't that WWDC day? Perhaps Apple twisted Intel's arm...

 

So anyone know the price gap roughly between a X4B and X4C ?
Is it worth it to wait and have to pay a lot more rather than pick up the X4B now?

 

The X4C is more attractive if you can afford to wait a couple(?) of months. It will have a faster CPU / graphics etc and may have the better display. And, perhaps by the time they ship Samsung will be including the 256GB mSATA SSDs that they are busy selling to other notebook manufacturers.

John

 

I can wait but Im worried about the price gap

 

Once the Sandy Bridge Models are out of the way then Ivy Bridge models will come in a similar price point (but a bigger SSD might push the price up). The best clue I can offer is that the NP900X4C is advertised in UK at less than 10% more than the current NP900X3B. The price differential in the US between the X3B and the X4B is similar. An i7 CPU and 256GB SSD are likely to increase that differential or, once the initial rush is out of the way, the price of the model with the basic specs will drop.

John

 

The plot thickens... Samsung considering a 13-inch, 1080p, PLS panel, display snobs get their hopes up -- Engadget

Samsung is purposely leaking information to stall sales of competitive machines? Sure seems like it at this point.

 

Maybe, just maybe, if Samsung execs and marketing would take their heads out of their collective asses, announce some dates and specs instead of being coy and downright stupid about this... Well, not going to hold my breath. That new Lenovo is looking appealing and maybe I wait just to spite Samsung for this brain damage.

 

FYI,

Amazon.com has some new interesting listings for the USA.

Amazon.com: Samsung Series 9 NP900X4C-A01US 15.0-Inch Laptop: Computers & Accessories

Amazon.com: Samsung Series 9 NP900X4C-A02US 15-Inch Laptop: Computers & Accessories

Amazon.com: Samsung Series 9 NP900X4C-A03US 15-Inch Laptop: Computers & Accessories

Things are starting to get really interesting now.

 

I'll have the A03: The 1.9GHz CPU means the i7-3517U, plus there's the 256GB SSD. All I need is the PLS panel and a -UK version.

John

 

Yea, I am really hopeful.

 

That's the one! Decided there is no way the X1 will have 2 sodimms so this is definitely my new laptop... Come on Samsung UK... Please?

 

Holy crap! It's already listed, but you can actually order it now and they'll ship when it's available. Good thing is they'll only charge once it ships. Are these prices MSRP, or is it just Amazon's preorder prices? And does anyone know amazon's price guarantee policy? Meaning if we order now at this price, they'll ship at this price even if the notebook prices increases once it it actually stock, BUT if price decreases when it comes back in stock, then we'll get the lower price, correct?

The A03US model looks pretty sexy, the specs are maxed out with an i7, 8gb memory, and 256gb SSD.

 

I would imagine they'll price match during the return period (30 days). The A03 is exactly what I expected to see price wise.

Buying the A01 in order to save money on upgrades is going to be hard until 256GB mSATA drives are plentiful and cheap. I don't see that happening soon.

I am not buying anything until I see the next announcements from Dell and Apple.

 

Heck ya! Me, too! US version, tho!

Anyone know how Amazon is on returns? e.g. the trackpad is bad, like many have been, and an exchange is needed.

 

AND.... Win7 PRO

 

and a good chance of having a TPM chip.

 

Fingers crossed....

 

I hope 13" versions will follow shortly.