Samsung 15" Series 9 NP900X4C with Ivy Bridge CPU

Thank you for the prompt update.

John

 

Having similar issues with wifi after update. Let me know if you find a fix.

 

Run the ETDAniConf.exe program in the installer package and it may offer you this screen:



If that doesn't give you the required effects then you may want to experiment with the FourFingerMove entries in the registry.

John

 

Will try. Just got a 162MB trackpad update. Anybody installed it and found some news?

Don´t realy know how to fiddle with that. I went to the Elantech folder, but did not find the .exe-file there!? What is it you think I´d be able to do?

 

You should find ETDAniConf.exe in the installer package. Probably the easiest way to get it is to use the Save Setup file option in SW Update which saves the installer package in a folder in a location of your choosing.

ETDAniConf.exe allows you to select whether 4-finger swipe up and down are enabled. The actions appear to be pre-defined.

John

 

I'm going to try your color profile, thanks.

Is anyone here using the 900x4c with the Windows 8? If yes, which are your impressions? Did you notice any change in performance and battery life?

 

I believe Thors.Hammer did a comparison between W7 and W8, but it may have been on the 13". He found a negligible improvement in battery life. W8 tends to perform better than W7 in resource usage and in shutdown/boots times, but with rapid start enabled the difference is again small. I really don't believe their is a performance reason to make the switch. It all comes down to whether you like metro or not.

 

Correct. I have not made a comparison on the 15" Series 9. I probably won't if Samsung doesn't change the 15" screen to PLS.

Regarding the differences on my 13.3", I do like the fact WIFI reconnects MUCH faster after resume from sleep when using Windows 8. That little convenience alone has kept me on Windows 8.

 

So I installed the new elan touchpad driver....now I cannot find the touchpad settings menu, it is no longer under control panel

 

It should be there. If it isn't then try reinstalling the Elan driver.

The alternative is to find one or more of "ETDSimpleUI.exe", "ETDAniConf.exe" or "ETDSimpleUI_Win8.exe" and make a link to the one you prefer to use.

John

 

Are you looking under the Control Panel | Mouse settings? There should be a Touchpad tab and options button there.

 

After installing a new Touchpad driver........ I turn off Tap-To-Click..... and now every time I reboot the laptop, Tap-To-Click is turned back on. I need this disabled.... has anybody else run into this?

 

Actually it just turned Tap-To-Click back on for me without even rebooting.... annoying.

 

In SW Update... does anybody know what the difference is in the files listed under the Save Update Files button, vs the files listed once you drill down into the Find Model button? Do either of these involve downloading new files, or is it just listing files you've already installed or something?

Also, how do these files listed in SW Update with Export possibility compare to backup Software/Driver files in the Samsung Recovery

 

Please do not cross-post again. The punishment is that people will ignore you.

See my reply here.

And learn to edit your posts rather than making new posts.

John

 

I checked both control panel under mouse with no luck and I tried typing in the .exe files still no luck. Might try to re install some how

 

A nice review of the NP900X4C from PC World Australia:

Samsung Series 9 laptop review (15in) - reviews - Notebooks - Ultraportable - PC World Australia

 

How are you liking yours these days?

 

My wife is using it and she loves it.

I am still using the Thinkpad W520, but I am waiting for the next Samsung 15" Series 9 model to come out with the same weight, a better screen and a 512GB SSD.

 

Check this out:
Samsung announces new Series 7 and Series 9 laptops in Singapore - Crave - Notebooks - CNET Asia

Finally, Samsung has also upgraded its Series 9 laptop with a 1,920 x 1,080-pixel screen. This highly portable Ivy Bridge-class notebook weighs just 1.16kg and has a fast SSD that allows it to boot up in less than 10 seconds. Prices start at S$1,799 for an Intel Core i5 version with a 128GB SSD, and go up to S$2,699 for a Core i7-powered model with a 512GB SSD.

EDIT: Unfortunately, no mention of the 15" inch model

 

Just as unfortunately, these things only come with Windows 8, which is a non-starter for me. Even more pertinently, I wish Samsung would offer a business-class version of their UltraBooks, with an optional docking station. With a 512GB SSD I might even consider dumping my Dell mobile workstations for something like that...

 

13" Series 9 with 512GB has been listed on Amazon UK since January but I've never seen it in stock. The better news is that we might be able to buy higher capacity SSDs before long.

And, on a different subject,get the newest (19 March) Intel WiFi driver. It has given the performance of my 6235 a push in the right direction.

John

 

If you purchase W8 Pro, you are entitled to downgrade rights. A thunderbolt dock would be great.

 

Ahh, yes, I hadn't thought of that! If they included such a port, it would be easy to create a docking solution; even third-party solutions might be feasible and work fine.

 

is 15.6.1.0 the latest driver?

 

Yes, dated 19th March 13.

John

 

John

Did you install just the driver or the whole PROset package? And what improvements did you notice? Any downside?

I've just set up my X4C the way I want it and have been impressed with the wifi performance thus far (compared to 2 year old Latitude) but could always use a bit more signal/speed.

Bill

 

Most people recommend just installing the driver.

I haven't noticed any downsides. Throughput is better and I think it is quicker to restore a connection after sleep / hibernation. It also addresses problems such as discussed here. The 6235 is now almost as good as the older 6230 in my X3B.

John

 

Hi,

have you experienced any issues regarding the combo jack mic+headphones?

I am trying to see if I have a problem on mine. When I connect an headphone with mic incorporated from my nokia phone, the mic does not work and the headphones are very low.
Everything works well (good sound) if I connect my headphones from the iPOD (no mic incorporated).

Have you experienced something like this?
Is it probably some compatibility issue between the headphone connectors and the combo-jack ones (I suspect is this)?

Thanks,
RF.Sonic

 

I've just tried a Samsung combo earphone / mic with the Skype test call on my X4C and it worked as expected.

Make sure that you have pushed the plug fully in.

John

 

Hi,

that was my first thought and I really did it, but with no luck.

With these combo headphones/mic there are four connectors (gnd/left/right/mic) and I suspect that some combos have different dimensions that are not fully compatible with the samsung X4C one. Just a thought...

BR,
RF.Sonic

 

I agree, there could be small dimensional differences that sometimes matter. Perhaps you should invest in a genuine Samsung unit. They aren't so expensive.

John

 

Hi guys,

I've just bought a 900X4C-a01uk, so far really enjoying it.

I'm about to buy a new 60" Samsung TV and will be using it as a monitor, already have wireless keyboard and mouse so the laptop will sit in the corner most the time unless I want to use it in bed etc. Will then hook it up with an external HD and my router so I can watch movies / internet surf from the comfort of my own Sofa.

I've been testing it up until now on an old circa 2007 LG 37" TV that has an HDMI port with mixed results. Have tried all manner of resolutions, I think it's a bit old for 1080 as it shakes no matter what refresh rate I try (even did 25hz interlaced). Got it working okay on 720p, but the edges are lost. I can amend this using the Intel Graphics Horizontal / Vertical scale but the more I mess with it the more it flickers.

I can get it fairly stable with say You Tube at 720p on all video sizes apart from full screen, as soon as I click full screen starts intermittently flickering on and off. Saying that it just lost signal as I typed this on half screen lol

I'm using a HDMI cable Type A (Normal) to type D (Micro) v1.4 malarkey three meters long from eBay. I couldn't see a specific HDMI adapter to convert the port from micro to normal. What are most of you guys doing if using HDMI, same as me with different ended cable?

It might just be a case that the TV is rubbish or the cable is rubbish. I just don't want to fork out X amount on a new TV to find out I can't get the picture to play right. What do I need to look for in the TV tech spec to see if it is compatible, just resolution? Or would you suggest a better method (not using HDMI) like using Intel Wireless Display with adapter on the TV etc? Handy these come with it as I wasn't sure from the outset.

Appreciate any insight and excuse the long post.

On a side note for ref my WEI scores are similar to those posted before and I'm also running the lamer Sandisk SSD 128GB, as follows:

Processor: 6.9
Memory: 7.4
Aero Graphics: 6.4
Gaming Graphics: 6.4
Primary hard disk: 7.5

I'm considering getting a friend to help me tomorrow and to do a clean install of windows and deleting the recovery portions to free up some space, worth while?. Where is a good place to backup these days or just use an external HD? I've been using old rubbish up until now so want to do it properly. Also what bloatware is worth keeping, easy settings, SW update? Delete the rest? I plan to use VLC and delete WMC & WMP.

Thanks all and to everyone that posted prior to me especially John as you helped me decide on this laptop without even knowing it!

Toby

 

Thanks. It's what i'm running, and I second that it seems to be a much improved wireless connection.

 

Hey. I have a Samsung TV and I am using the short adapter cable. From what the guys here have said it keeps connected to the laptop better because the adapter is a thinner cable and less likely to leverage itself loose. That being said, I've never tried the cable you have. My TV looks great connected to the laptop. I have no real issues or complaints.

 

My 2 weeks old NP900X4C is already having screen problems
There is vertical line on the LCD screen which goes away when I apply some pressure on the front, a few inches left of the Samsung logo.

 

Hi there

I've been having some "whiny" noise from my computer when it's plugged-in. When it is not, noise is gone. Is it OK? Any of you any idea on this?

 

Sure. Probably is the best.

Do you know any model with a good price/quality?

RF.S

 

I use this cable with my X3B if you can find it in the UK. Works fine. There are plenty of no-name cables that are just garbage.

Amazon.com: Mediabridge Micro-HDMI to HDMI Cable with Ethernet - (6 Feet) - FLEX Series High Speed: Electronics

 

Thanks for the reply. What age is your Samsung telly? I think my current issues are due to my current TV being so old, it has HDMI, but I think it's struggling with the resolutions despite my best efforts Just every now again the screen flickers and then comes back when on 720. On 1080 it shakes so can't be used at all otherwise it gives you a headache lol!

Ah thanks man. This is the cable I bought:

HDMI V1.4 Type A Connector to Type D Micro Cable Lead for Camera / Tablet - 3M | eBay

Seems to be same specs as your one, and from what I've read HDMI cables either work or don't should be no difference kind of thing. I'm popping over to a friends tonight to do a clean install and free up some space on my Series 9 so will try the HDMI out on his newer telly and see what happens

Those who have done a clean install, what did you keep / junk? I find it a bit confusing when you can amend everything via windows and then Samsung give you the option to do it also. Like with Easy settings. I take it SW update is useful as it checks driver updates all the time, as opposed to having to go to device manager in windows?

Great bit of kit though, nice to be back in the 21st Century!

 

My diagnosis is that there's a problem with connector joining the display cable (which goes through one of the hinges) to the display. It might not be plugged in properly and is likely to get worse with time. I would contact the retailer / Samsung about replacement/repair.

That sounds like a version of the "CPU whine" (actually caused by capacitors vibrating when changing power state) although, in your case, the capacitors might be on the power board. Getting it fixed will depend on having someone in the service centre who can also hear the whine.

I would recommend using a short adapter cable like this (note that the picture is OK but the description is wrong) together with a standard HDMI cable. The advantage of this adapter cable is that it is quite thin and flexible and reduces the risk of a thicker, less flexible, standard cable over-stressing the micro HDMI port with the risk of breaking it off the board.

John

 

The TV is a 2011 6400 Series. The issues you describe are nothing that I have seen at all. Maybe followup with John's toubleshooting for your laptop.

Here is the adapter I ended up buying.

 

Hey, that looks familiar.

 

Thanks. If it's not a problem, I can live with that. From your reply, I guess it is not. Though it might be a bit annoying at times.

 

See if it gets any worse.

John

 

Yeah I bought one of those thanks John good idea.

All is well, I tried mine on a friends newer TV and it was perfect quality via HDMI.

I've also done a clean install of windows and have removed the recovery partition and all the bloat ware apart from Easy Settings which you need for the top keys to work.

When I bought the laptop it had only 54GB, now I have 84.2GB out of a possible 119GB with no partition and Windows 64 installed + a few utilities:



Result! Just gives me a bit more room to work with program wise and everything else I will put on an external HD. Still deciding between a NAS Drive and a normal external hard drive, pending how much I'll need to move the laptop.

Any of you using the Intel WIDI feature? If I go down the NAS route I'll probably utilise the WIDI and get a Netgear PUSH2TV display adaptor. If I don't I'll just use the HDMI cable and leave it plugged in. Curious to know peoples experience with it, pic quality, lag etc

T

 

You have this other option for expanding the storage.

WiDi has caused a few headaches but I think I saw something that suggested that the latest Intel graphics driver improves the situation.

John

 

Hi there,
I have a 24day old Samsung Series 9, and just recently I've noticed that if the screen has been put for a while and I move it in any direction, there is a small squeak that follows.
When I move it after that initial squeak, the squeaking is gone but if I leave it at that position for, say 30 seconds, then there will be another small squeak upon repositioning.
I contacted Samsung and NCIX (Store where I bought it) and samsung said it is willing to send it to a service center and told me to see if NCIX would be willing to exchange it. But what I'm wondering is if it's normal for laptops to have a small squeak, am I being too sensitive?
Or could this lead to bigger problems later on and I should address it sooner than later?
Thanks!

 

I don't recall anyone else reporting this problem.

Where does the squeak come from? The hinges? The loudspeakers?

John

 

Great write up. Is this the one?

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Crucial-CT256M4SSD3-256GB-mSATA-Internal/dp/B0085J17UA

Consider it bought if so, stop making me spend money

You know your write up re IRSTRT version 2, is this something I should grab or is it covered in windows update?

Same goes for Easy Settings 2.

Thanks again, legend!