Samsung 15" Series 9 NP900X4C with Ivy Bridge CPU

Even though all of them are listed as titan silver color, they're actually "mineral ash". You can't even buy a silver S9 like some of the CES videos show.

 

You could buy an aftermarket 256GB and 4GB dimm for $300 then ebay the 128GB (maybe get $100 back). Seems like a hassle, but if you don't need the i7...personally I would get all three, if only they were available for the 13".

 

So, of the three previously listed, how are the two i5's different? That bestbuy link indicates that for 1399 you get 8 gigs of RAM.

 

Mineral Ash is the only colour available. All S9s are Mineral Ash which is a Black/Greyish Blue. All pictures online are either a Silver (not for sale) or Mineral Ash which looks either Black or Greyish Blue depending on the light.

 

I just left Best Buy. They had one on display. Wow! These things are unbelievable. The lid is sooo thin, but firm. The trackpad was working fine. The keyboard seemed good enough to me. I rebooted it - crazy fast.

I get mine on Tuesday, but from what I saw, I'm very impressed.

Oh, I also played with a Toshiba, Dell and Asus... none even compare.

 

FYI,

The full specs are on the Samsung USA website now. See the following:

Specs - Notebooks NP900X4C | Samsung Laptops for the Ivy Bridge model.

and

Specs - Notebooks NP900X4B | Samsung Laptops for the Sandy Bridge model.

When you do the side-by-side comparison, you do notice some differences. I know the USB 3.0 number is incorrect so even seeing one mistake erodes my confidence in the rest. Why is it these web marketing people can't be detail oriented? Isn't that their job for heavens sake?

 

How was the screen? Specs show 400 nit, which is better than previous 15inch specs.

 

Seemed fine to me, but I only had about a minute to play with it. I snapped a picture with camera phone, but the flash was on and didn't get to take another. Also, I don't know how the brightness was set. I'll post more about it on Tuesday.

 

Thanks!

I think a lot of us are also curious if Samsung has changed the screen from the sandy bridge model. Especially if it is a PLS screen like the 13". Were you able to compare the two side-by-side? How were the viewing angles on the IB 15"? I was in Best Buy yesterday looking at the 13" (SB version), and it blew away all of the other displays in terms of colors and viewing angles.

 

Hmm interesting, this is the first time I've heard of this. If you're able to get any pics, please post. There's never been a pic of any gold ones, even at CES.

 

You're talking about the S9 that's 2 generations old? I hope you realize this is the 3rd gen with IB processor, not interested in the first S9 no matter what color it is.

 

The NP900X4C is now in stock at a bunch of different retailers in the UK!

LaptopsDirect - Samsung NP900X4C Core i5 Ultrabook NP900X4C-A01UK - Laptops Direct
eBuyer - Samsung 900X4C Laptop - Laptops | Ebuyer.com
Kikatek - Kikatek.com | (NP900X4C-A01UK) SAMSUNG - CONSUMER NOTEBOOKS 900X CI5/3317UM 8GB 128GB SSD 15IN NOOPT W7HP64 EN

Next day delivery available as well...

Edit: welp, just saw was beaten to it. Bleh!

 

It has been for about a week if you scroll further back up this thread.


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It looks like Samsung was holding a large stock until the VAT refund deal expired (check the small print, but I think it said that claimants had to take delivery by 6th June although Amazon says "buy", not "receive").

I also see that ebuyer's spec says a 340 nit display.

John

 

Wouldn't surprise me if they did exactly that. But, counting up the numbers from the suppliers, looks like there's less than 1,000 units available in total... wonder how many they're expecting to sell.

 

They were probably holding back stock on the new inventory to get rid of the old. That and waiting for the official Windows 8 upgrade period to start. Makes sense if you ask me. Having a promo to clear inventory is a time honored tradition.

 

Samsung themselves still list it as 400nits. Of course, brightness is only part of the story, and viewing angles can be at least as, or more important...

 

Small print on Samsung site says you need to purchase by 23:59 on 6th June and submit your claim by 7th July.

I ordered the NP900X4C on 3rd June so (a) I get new stock Ivy Bridge (b) I am within the Win8 upgrade period (not that I want the cruddy thing anyway) and (c) I qualify for the VAT rebate.

If they want to argue, they can - I work for a leading law firm...


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Out on Amazon and Bestbuy for US Guys, $1399 so actually cheaper than the "B" version (it's MSRP on Samsung's site so not a sale)

 

Did they list the brightness on the sandy bridge model? Does it seem like this spec has changed? I seem to recall seeing a review which listed the 15" brightness as lower than 400nits.

If Samsung brings the 15" ivy bridge with an improved screen, it removes my main reservation on this model.

 

On the Samsung UK site it says the NP900X4C-A01UK is 400 nit and has a 170 degree viewing angle, which surely implies PLS? I'll know when mine arrives Thursday.


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I looked at the NP900X4C-A01US a few minutes ago at the BestBuy near me. The specs on the box say 400 NITS. The side and top down view of the screen seem to indicate it isn't a PLS screen but it did seem improved over the NP900X4B.

It's really hard to tell without have the machines all side by side, checking settings, measuring brightness with a calibration sensor, etc.

Hopefully someone will do a comprehensive review, make the needed comparisons, and do some measurements.

 

Unless I am missing something, if it's hard to tell whether or not it's PLS without a calibration tool, then does it really matter? Surely it's 'good enough' if you can't tell?


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I would use the calibration sensor to measure the brightness and see if it's really putting out 400 NITs uniformly across the screen. Screen angles and colors can be done visually using some side by side comparisons of other devices with known qualities.

I was lucky to get the guys at my BestBuy to even open the box and power the machine up. We were looking at the first boot experience screen. They stopped at the user ID and password creation. In other words, I only looked at it for about 2 minutes and this was primarily because I was in a hurry to complete some other errands on my lunch hour. The screen looked fine to me.

After I see what Apple has up it's sleeve next week, I'll decide if I am going to purchase one and look at it more closely.

Until then, maybe someone else will answer everything more definitively.

 

So X4B is Sandy Bridge and X4C Ivy Bridge ?

 

The store is not the best environment to do such a comparison. It's easy to overlook something that you would notice if given enough time. That's where screen specs and review tests can be incredibly helpful. Especially with an attribute like color gamut--I don't think anyone could reliably assess that by walking into a store.

 

What's the difference between NP900X4C-A01US and NP900X4C-A02US. Bestbuy and Amazon list them at 1399 and 1449 respectively. They seem to have the exact same CPU, RAM, wireless, warranty, windows, etc.

Is it just color?

 

Windows Home vs Windows Pro.

 

Thanks for clearing that up. I guess now that the win 8 upgrade window is in effect, and they upgrade you to pro, the 1399 is the choice.

 

That's if indeed you want to upgrade to Windows 8, which is not a given at all. Personally, I will not upgrade, and I would advise you to find out for yourself if Windows 8 really is a viable OS for you. For me, it is not, but your assessment may differ.

 

That is good to keep in mind, thank you for that.

I tried Windows 8 on a virtual machine, and I liked it, but maybe I didn't go in depth enough to discover the problems others have. Are there glaring issues that might bother me?

Thanks!

 

Oh no, not to be misunderstood, if you tried it and liked it, you should be fine. The issue that some people (including yours truly) have with Windows 8 is right on the surface: We feel that the Win8 UI (the Metro Start Screen, mostly, associated with the removal of the original Start Menu by Microsoft) is an unmitigated disaster for the way we work. Minus this issue, Windows 8 does have a number of quite worthwhile advantages over Win7.

 

Wow, you've already written off Windows 8? Isn't it a bit early to be doing that? What are your reasons?

With the apps I am using, I never even see Metro.

 

A user interface that is completely and utterly inappropriate for desktop/laptop computers, and in particular for content creation, which is the kind of work that is important for me.

You mean "applications", right?

 

Apps is an abbreviation in common usage for applications. So yea.

Regarding completely and utterly, I don't think you've had an opportunity to think outside the box. Right now more of my apps are "legacy" applications written for Windows XP, Vista or Windows 7. Therefore when I install and use one, the Metro interface and apps disappear. In fact, I almost never see it during the day.

Swapping to Metro is as easy as pressing the Windows key. Then you can run one of the full screen applications for sports, news, weather, etc. They look pretty damn good if you ask me.

I guess I don't see the problem. You get both environments and each is easily dismissed.

I agree about one thing. The metro clutter is pretty ugly.

This conversation is off topic and has nothing to do with the NP900X4C.

 

Even if you don't want W8, you can get the W7 pro "anytime upgrade" for $70 from amazon. Of course, you would have to install that yourself. But if you're like me, a reinstall is high on my list when I get a new machine.

 

Got my NP900X4C-A03US this morning.

This thing is crazy thin and light.

Win7 Pro.

Nice to have 256GB and not have to worry about freeing space right away.

Screen doesn't seem to be IPS or whatever, but compared to my latitude D630, it is *much* brighter. It has great viewing angles horizontal, but the vertical are typical of an lcd, but I don't care about that.

Keyboard has enough travel for me.

Any questions?

 

PICS OR U LIE

 

Pics will come when I get some time.

According to hwinfo32, the HD is drive model: Samsung MZMPC256HBGJ-000 Rev: CXM12K1Q

 

Yes.

1. Does your model have a TPM chip?
2. Is the keyboard back lighting the same dim "glow in the dark" style?
3. Does the bottom have a single fan intake?
4. Are the RAM slots the standard 204 pin DDR3 SoDimms?
5. What color machine did you get? The Mineral Ash Black with the blueish hue?

 

What Windows Experience Index do you get for RAM, CPU and SSD?


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[*]Does your model have a TPM chip?
Yes.

[*]Is the keyboard back lighting the same dim "glow in the dark" style?
Yes

[*]Does the bottom have a single fan intake?
Dual

[*]Are the RAM slots the standard 204 pin DDR3 SoDimms?
Didn't look, don't think I'll get to opening it for a while.

[*]What color machine did you get? The Mineral Ash Black with the blueish hue?
Yes.

 

Thanks woodpile. You rock.

Interesting it has dual fans now. Before there were two fan intake areas but only one fan was actually present. The other area was simply a breathing area for the RAM.

 

See the image. 6.4

 

It has 2 intakes, but without removing the cover, I don't know if both are attached to fans. If the fan kicks in, I'll put a little piece of paper up to the intakes and see if they both hold it on.

Also, I run in non-silent mode. I enable everything since I run on power. No holding it back.

 

Yea, my question was worded poorly. Most likely it's still two intakes but a single fan.

That WEI score is pretty impressive.

 

I've seen some tear down pics on the Internet recently, it does have two fans. Can't find the link now though.


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Ya, only sub-7 on graphics. I'm going to try the only game I still play occasionally - Warcraft 3. I'm sure it will be fine.

Also, no boatware. It came with Norton Internet Security and some games. I removed it all. It does come with Office 2010, but it's starter edition or activate full. That's getting removed next.

Ugh. Single fan, I'm assuming. Can see the fan in one, the other is blocked.

 

does it have i7 processor?
where did you buy it?

 

See the image.

Got it from Amazon. It's the A0 3US