Samsung 15" Series 9 NP900X4C with Ivy Bridge CPU

Anyone know if/where the elan touchpad registry keys are documented?

 

This "washed out" image quality has been characteristic even of the Samsung series 7 15" that I reviewed several months ago and I wholeheartedly agree with you after trying a NP900X4C the other day. I'm chuckling at the fact that you're one of the few truth-reporters among all the Samsung Ultrabook hype. I say Bravo to you!

Even though the NP900X3B & NP900X3C have the PLS display (better viewing angles), if you spend enough time on them, you'll notice they also suffer from this "washed out" contrast / image quality (5/8 brightness is the least bad, so still not great).

 

Reviews of the old 15 incher reported questionable sturdiness of the hinge. Can any owners of the new one comment on the quality of the hinge on the new one?

 

The HDMI specification for the micro connector limits it to 1080p.

This thread contains some useful info. The Elan website doesn't have much to offer.

You'll have to experiment and write the much-needed guide.

John

 

Thanks John, I came across somebody saying he got a resolution of around 2000x1000 (numbers where somewhat higher than 2000 and 1000, I can't remember them, but not up to 2560x1400). It seems that he was lucky and the standard is plain full HD.

That is disappointing, a mini Display Port would have been much more useful then

 

FYI... I have done the same thing, however due to the order of the partitions on my drive I couldn't just expand the C: drive into the unallocated space. This was because the hibernation partition was in between it and the original recovery partition.

So, to make it work I had to also remove the hibernation partition, expand C: to to take up all the space and then re-enable Fast Start through the Easy Settings interface to prompt it to recreate the hibernation partition (or something like that as I faffed about with a few things and it took longer than it should have).

I am still interested in the idea of a fresh install, however for the life of me I cannot get my machine to boot from a usb stick. I've disabled fast boot in the bios, the bios shows a device on the USB HDD option and I've set that first and no joy to date even though the usb sticks I've tried will boot in an older machine I have here.

Any suggestions for other options to configure in the bios or tests to do with the the usb sticks to ensure they are working as expected?

Thanks.

 

Someone else said on here they had to disable the SSD in the BIOS to boot from USB - sounds rather odd to me, and then of course you wouldn't be able to install Windows.

Have you tried altering the boot order in the BIOS?


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Yes, set it to boot from USB HDD as first device, makes no difference and it doesn't even seem to pause to think about it. Neither the Windows 7 bootable USB stick or Acronis Bootable stick work which makes me think it's a configuration issue of some sort.

 

When you first power on where it says F2 for BIOS F4 for Recovery - what options do you get on F4?


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Also make sure you boot from the USB2 port not USB3, ie NOT the blue ones.

I think F1 is the keystroke to select boot options but not 100% sure.


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I get an error for F4, I assume this is because I no longer have the recovery partition and when trying to boot from the USB2 drive it still doesn't work, bit frustrating but not a deal breaker, I'm just a fan of being able to clean install my OS as it's very hard to get rid of all the extra fluff from OEMs.

I'll see if I have any luck with an external CD drive (not that I have one lying around) and if that works the result is ultimately the same, just not as convenient.

Cheers.

 

It can be done. I did a clean install on my X3B using the Windows disc provided by Samsung in a USB optical drive.

As already advised, go into the BIOS and put the optical drive above the SSD in the boot order and disable the Fast Start which skips any devices above the SSD in the boot list.

Once the recovery partition has been zapped then the F4 SRS option is no longer valid. Nor will the SRS software install. I hope you used SRS before wiping your old Windows installation to make a backup of the drivers and software. Cyberlink YouCam, used for the webcam is not available as a download.

John

 

Thanks John, I'll see how I get on.

I haven't wiped my current install yet and I do have an Acronis backup of everything as it currently stands so worst case I can put that back on, looking at YouCam it's not something I would use so no biggie if it disappears (although it's possible to purchase a much newer version if necessary).

Just have to find an external DVD drive now...

On a side note, is it possible to remove the F4 message on startup?

 

Aye, was totally committed to buying this notebook until I discovered that it had VGA instead of DisplayPort.

I'll have to wait the NP900X5 I guess.

 

When I looked at the HDMI specs, it does look like they allow for resolutions above 1080p. They have support for 4K which is WAY above 1080p. I just assumed incremental resolutions would work. Apparently they don't and I blame the royalty issue with HDMI.

DisplayPort is free and works.

Alex, the guy that report running above 1080p was running linux. I think there were two people running linux that said they had gotten around the 1080p limit. It probably has something to do with Windows adhering to a spec others don't.

 

X5, should it ever appear, is likely to be a 15.6" machine. Perhaps you mean the X4E or X4F (the X4D is already announced).

John

 

Anybody using VMWare or other virtualization on this machine?

How does it perform? Any anecdotal evidence?

Just wondering if I can get away with it as a mobile development option. I know it won't compare to a proper workstation but wondering how bad it actually is in comparison

 

X4D? I can't seem to find much info on it other than that it's made of magnesium, silver colored, and has a 3 year warranty.


Also, it seems Canada's NP900X4C-A01CA (the only model out) is the exact same as the NP900X4C-A01US, but is selling for 1499.99 vs. 1399.99 in US..................

 

I had to disable fast boot in BIOS and repeatedly press F10 at boot to get the boot selection menu, finally allowing me to do a clean install


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I had some of the same problems others have mentioned booting to USB. I had an X3C and X4C side-by-side with the same settings and got different results - very strange. Tried disabling fastboot, using usb2 port, changing boot order, used two different boot images/usb sticks, etc.

The X4C worked fine in all scenarios and using either USB2 or USB 3 port. The X3C would not boot off any USB stick in any port. I finally disabled the SSD (shift 1) in the boot order screen and was able to boot to USB. It does not disabled the SSD as a whole....just removes it as a boot option so I was still able to do my clean install of Windows this way then re-enabled it. Quirky and frustrating but disabling it does seem to be a workaround.

EDIT: Just saw the F10 post at same time. I have been wondering what the hotkey was for the boot menu (not setup) so will give that a shot next time.

 

Hinge seems strong and stable to me. The ONLY problem I have with mine is the display - the vertical angles are not great - like any other LCD. That said, it's not something that would keep me from buying it again. Everything else about it is awesome.

 

I would be interested to hear an answer to this too. Also is anyone running Photoshop/other Adobe Creative Suite software on this machine? How does it perform?

 

Useful info thanks, I'll keep on trying... any other useful information I need for the clean install?

I'm ensuring I have a bunch of the key drivers ready to go and then I figure I can use the Samsung Software Manager to install the remaining ones I want, let me know if there were any tricks you followed to ensure it all went as expected.

Cheers.

 

Make sure you download the wifi driver before you do a clean install, as Windows doesn't find it by default. The rest, as you say, you can download via the Samsung software.

I use mine as my main machine. I use Visual Studio 2010 and SQL 2012 and both run absolutely fine. Both run a bit sluggish on battery mode, I expect it's the power profiles throttling things back - but again, it's workable.

 

I'm currently running the trial version of CS6 Master Collection as I plan to use the machine for some web design and development duties which I am currently using an oldish desktop machine to do (Core 2 Duo, 4GB Ram, 64bit OS) and it struggles on occasion (even with relatively small files).

First impressions are positive, Photoshop opens quickly and moving about in a few PSDs I've previously created is a huge improvement on my existing machine, however I'm not going to be creating gigantic PSDs with hundreds and hundreds of layers so it's unlikely I'll be pushing the machine to it's limits.

 

Just pulled the trigger on the A03US. Eagerly awaiting its arrival.

 

Nice...

Has anyone else noticed the images on Amazon (for the A03US) that show a Mini Display Port on the left hand side of the device? I don't think they mention it in the specifications (I can't say I read them in detail), but it's definitely in the pictures.

 

Micro HDMI.

 

but im assuming you meant the port on the right side. which in that case i think its a Mini VGA. At least thats what it appears to be on the old one

EDIT:
ports mentioned on amazon:
-Micro HDMI port for connecting to a compatible HDTV.
-VGA video output (via optional dongle)

 

Has anyone considered using a DisplayLink adapter to get the higher resolution on external monitors? I know it is not discrete graphics but supposedly the new chips can drive dual monitors at 2560 x 1600.

I'm considering this dock:
Lenovo USB 3.0 Dock | 0A33970 | Lenovo (US)

This is the chip it uses:
DisplayLink: DL-3000 for OEMs

 

Ok. I finally got my hands on the A01US at Best Buy earlier today and, based on this thread, the build quality and appearance, I'm ready to pull the trigger on the A03US. I can't order it from Best Buy since it's not on their website yet and nobody there even knows that the A03US exists. Based on previous posts, it looks like Amazon is the only source that's shipping relatively quickly notwithstanding the 3 to 5 week time frame quoted on their website.

Is anybody aware of a reputable retailer that has the A03US in stock for immediate delivery before I order from Amazon?

 

i searched for a while, but only found amazon offering the a03us, and people in this thread have confirmed amazon does have it. Id go with amazon, i couldnt find any other dealer for the a03. i hope mine comes faster than 5 weeks though.

only other place: http://www.cdw.com/shop/products/Sa...517U-Windows-7-Professional-64-b/2725918.aspx

 

If you scroll about two thirds of the way down the page there are some pictures which show the keyboard and left/right hand side. Enlarge the one showing the left hand side and there is a Mini DP port there.

Not in specifications but definitely in the picture, another case of words not matching the pictures so bit of a lottery in terms of what is real.

FYI... this is the image I am referring to:



Part way down this page:

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

 

Sorry if this has been covered, but how does the SS9 screen compare to the series 7's? I have experience with that one so at least I could get some idea. Thanks.

 

If a Series 9 shows up like that, I'm in.

 

Having done a clean install of Windows, everything has gone back on except that the Samsung Easy Software Manager keeps telling me Intel Rapid Storage Technology driver is not installed. Every time I install it, it fails. I also tried downloading it and installing manually from both the Samsung and Intel sites - it appears to have gone on ok, but as soon as Easy Software Manager kicks in it complains it's not installed again.

Any ideas?

 

Hello all,

a new excited owner of the NP900X4C (SE).

I have backup'ed the original disc content and
did a fresh install of Windows 7 Home Premium.

Now I have everything working, except the function keys,
e.g. keyboard backlit.

I wonder what Samsung utility will enable the function keys?

thanks in advance

Per

 

Why is everybody doing a fresh install? what is the advantage of this?

 

Well for me:

get rid of bloatware
get rid of unnecessary software
get rid of recovery partitions

I know you could uninstall programs and extend partitions,
but I prefer a fresh install.

regards

Per

 

Probably not needed as much on these systems as some HP's I've bought in the past, in fairness. The trouble with lots of free trials (Word, McAfee etc) is they expire after xx days and keep sending irritating pop-ups reminding you to buy them. If you un-install it takes forever and never cleanly removes from your system and slows things down and just feels 'dirty'. When you do a clean install yourself, with just the operating system and required drivers you know it's running as smoothly and cleanly as it can - and it feels snappier as a result.

Now...can anyone help me with my Intel Rapid Restore query above?

I think it's because I left AHCI to 'Auto' in the BIOS rather than forcing it in manual mode. Now I suspect I installed Win7, the drivers and all my apps (5 hours last night) in IDE mode.

I'll try the MS reg fix but if that fails its another clean install, I can't stand throttling back disk performance.

Bugger.


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Lucky escape, MS hotfix worked fine

http://support.microsoft.com/kb/922976

Apply, reboot, F2 - change to AHCI 'Enabled' rather than 'Auto', then boot Windows and watch her fly.

If you do a clean install and leave AHCI set to AUTO it installs Windows in IDE mode, the SSD runs much slower and TRIM functions etc do not work.

Sorted.

 

Been down that road. Don't think I got the hotfix to work either. Good thing windows installs much faster than it used to.

 

Did you install the Easy Settings software package?

John

 

No, I'll try that.

Thanks John.

Per

 

How many folks have one of these? Thoughts? Likes//dislikes?

I wrote up a short review/teardown on my blog, here. And on Amazon, here.

 

Is photo 10 in the blog the X4C battery? I thought 40Whr belongs in the X3?

John

 

Lets see... international traveler, likes dark chocolate covered cranberries, blonde girl friend or wife (maybe daughter), cool shades, no young children around to shatter the screws on the kitchen table...

Did I miss anything?

Nice teardown.

 

I'm guessing this has been asked before, but I'm going to do it again.

What is the difference between NP900X4C and NP900X4D?

Thanks in advance

 

yes!! the michigan ipa!!

 

I did a clean Win7 install with BIOS set AHCI to AUTO, and my
SSD installed as AHCI and TRIM works. (fsutil behavior query disabledeletenotify displays 0)

BTW I got 7.9 in WEI, but my SSD is a Samsung.

regards

Per

 

The X4D uses magnesium alloy, not aluminium, so it is slightly lighter. It might also have an unpainted metal finish. There might be other so far not obvious.

John

 

Does the GPU vary from one model to the next? I m contemplating one of these for my wife, but I d like something that could handle SC2 and Diablo 3.