Samsung 9 Series laptop (ZX310 / 900X3A) unveiled

Why do you feel it's pointless to compare the two? (serious question) Can you be specific?

Thanks.

 

Just picked one up from a local best buy. Seems like they're coming in, even if it shows online that it's not available in store. The Best Buy I ended up getting it from had a display model and 1 in stock, even though it said online that it wasn't available at that specific site.

Will hopefully be doing a normal use battery run down test on windows 7, then doing it on ubuntu after some battery life optimizations. Will post my results in a few days.

 

buydig.com and beachcamera.com up the price to $2099.00.

Can't believe they can get away with this.

 

I know what you mean. Honestly i'm getting sick and tired of people comparing this to the MBA or win7 vs osx. Who cares! At least now we have a choice and I hope more companies move in this direction. Life is about having a option. How about they create there own thread. This thread is about the Samsung 9 and not about apple or osx. I do agree that the price is a little higher but i'm happy with my purchase. Not every product is going to be 100% to anyone. I'm sure the revision model will be much better with a powerfull processor and bigger ssd but for now this is the option and I like the direction that samsung took unlike dell adamo which failed in my opinion. Also not to mention that a similar size sony vaio would cost much more.

 

You're right though.

Latinracer

That's $400 over MSRP. Simply insane

 

Holy Moly!

True! Although I think I'm gonna take another look at the MBA.

 

I think the Series 9 vs Air is a fair comparison. Nearly the same size, weight and price point. The fact that air runs OSX is part of the comparison. Some people need windows specific programs, and to them OSX is out. I don't see why some people get outraged at this comparison.

With the sandy bridge cpus, the discrete graphics would be switchable. You wouldn't notice much decreased battery life unless the discrete graphics were turned on for more graphics-intensive processing.

 

1. No discrete Graphics card!
1600?
At this point in history not even a small nvidia or HD throw in to boost Slow graphics (1/2 s fast as old AIR) !!!!!

2. Played with one in Best Buy.
Very good Brightness.. BUT...
"64.7 gbs Free of 99.9 GBs"

WHERE Is the 128gb ssd?

99.9 gbs would imply a 110gb SSD. (10% disct)

FRAUDULENT Advertising and NO reviews point this out.

Liars and Shills.

Overall preformance (including graphics) No better than 6 month old apple with 2 gen old processor.

When in stock, look for prices near 1000.

 

It has a recovery image on the drive. Look again. There are two partitions.

When Apple does their refresh of the Air there will not be a discrete GPU. The Air has an integrated nVidia GPU which is no longer allowed by Intel on their new iProcessors.

There is no way a discrete GPU is going into a laptop this thin.

This is an ultraportable, not a ten pound "desktop replacement".

This is what a laptop should be. Desktops should be replaced with desktops.

 

Unfortunately as long as people keep buying them at that price they'll squeeze for every dollar until the availability increases and then the price will drop.

 

Have you seen the graphic benchmarks, it beats the MBA in many test. Who needs MBA "dedicated" with onboard is as good or better.

Intel Graphics HD3000 vs NVIDIA GeForce 320M/330M GT - Real Benchmarks and Comparison - MacRumors Forums
Review Intel HD Graphics 3000 graphics solution - Notebookcheck.net Reviews

It is 128GB. If you have ever bought a PC, you might notice that there is a recovery partition that keeps a backup of the whole system just in case you need it. If you delete it, you will get more space.

 

The Sandy Bridge HD3000 isn't good at all. Anandtech's review of the old MBP 13 (running windows, slower cpu w/ nvidia's 320M) and the new MBP 13 (w/ the HD3000) shows the New MBP13 getting beat in all games tested except for Starcraft 2.

The MacBook Pro Review (13 & 15-inch): 2011 Brings Sandy Bridge - AnandTech :: Your Source for Hardware Analysis and News

 

In addition, storage manufacturers quote capacities in decimal while computers count in binary (where 1k (1,000) is actually 1,024) so 128 x 10^9 (the manufacturer's claimed capacity) is only 116.4GB when reported by the computer.

John

 

No it didn't. I got a $349 Vostro V13 because of the Adamo.

 

Could not agree more. For me - like for most (I guess) - this is not about getting a 9 or a MBA. For me it is about Samsung, Toshiba, Sony or Lenovo. A switch to a niche operating system like OS X is not on my agenda, as I have been happy with Windows operating systems through out the years (and I am still on XP). However, I have noticed that a number of friends have made the switch and appear to be happy. But they now have to stick to apple hardware. My experience with my iPhone has shown me, that Apple truly likes to keep an Orwellian control over the user's experience. Not for me. I like the freedom of choices that comes with Windows ...

 

The only relevant similarity is that they're both very thin? You might want to think about that statement a little.

I'm sure the 9 Series is similar to many other laptops in some respects. The laptop to which it is most similar, though, is, of course, the Macbook Air 13".

I'm not sure what you're trying to say. The 9 Series uses a low voltage processor, as does the Air.

I'm labouring the point here because not comparing the 9 Series to the Air is simply unreasonable. Samsung clearly intends the 9 Series to compete with the Air, and comparisons between the two are helpful for prospective buyers, of which I'm an example.

 

I would argue that the 9 Series has more in common with Asus U35F and U36JC and Vaio Y 13.3" than the MBA. Yes, they are both ULV procesors but over 2 years apart, which is a big speed difference. If you just look at two blonds and ignore everything else inside, yes they are the most similar.

 

Seems to me that the comparison is fairly appropriate. The primary selling points of the 9 series are the design, thinness, great screen, big touchpad, ssd, and power comparable to a laptop. All of which are also the selling points of the MBA. Having a processor one step up from the core 2 duo isn't that big a difference, certainly when the core 2 duo (in the mba) also has a gpu and the i5 doesn't.

I hate osx, but even so, I'm considering the mba alongside this as it's not that big a deal to simply install windows on a mac and use it like that. Granted, the reverse isn't really true (if you love osx).

 

Hey I have a quick question:

I'm thinking of buying the laptop (well actually I already pre-ordered it on Microsoft Website) but I'm also considering Alienware m11x R3 (or R2 if R3 is just a rumor). What do you guys think? I just want something with good performance and portable laptop [for some gaming](will Alienware m11x be too thick and heavy? its 1.99 kg while the samsung 9 is 1.3 kg) and the screen is only 11" while the samsung is 13"....

 

The Samsung will feel a lot lighter not only because it is lighter (2/3rds of the weight) but because it is heavier. However, I don't think that gaming graphics was on Samsung's list of design features although the new Intel Sandybridge graphics is encroaching on dedicated GPU territory.

John

 

I got rid of the the M11x because 11inch screen is too small for my taste. I just couldn't deal with it. If you're going to play video games I suggest going with the m11x.

 

Here's a very nice video review of last year's model. If you want portable gaming, m11x will undoubtably be better than samsung series 9. I'd wait for the sandy bridge version, of course.

Alienware M11x Review - Tested

 

Looks like the 9-Series is garnering a lot of attention. Looking forward to NBR user reviews.

 

Funny.
It would be a bit too close to my current OLD system

I have a Fujitsu 14.1" s6510 (later model is now 6520).
Mine has
t7700
4gb memory
1gb Turbo memory
80Gb Intel X25 SSD
A Brilliant screen.
On/off/on to full reboot in 34/35 secs

and is 14.1".. and weighs 3.7 lbs.
Or 4 lbs with modular/2nd battery -or DVD drive in battery slot.
Option not on new samsung.
Is the size of of most 13.3", including sony.
I paid $800 NEW 2 yrs ago on ebay where Fujitsu sells direct New or Refurb at less than Half their website prices.

Used to have 12.1 Dell e4200 (Only comes with SSD) which weighed 1kg or 2.2 lbs.

Both comparable in weight and performance for their sizes.

Hardly a miracle at this point in history to have a 13.3 weigh 2.9 lbs, but I admit it's spiffy but not until it's about 1000 or less.

 

Thanks a lot for ur replies!

I also checked out the Samsung website on the user reviews for Series 9 (theres not enough reviews yet but..) they say that the trackpad died on one of them and that the laptop didnt meet one of the user's expectation. So i'm thinking about cancelling my pre-order from microsoft store and wait for more reviews or for the Alienware m11x r3 to come out!
: )

 

Currently using the 9 series on ubuntu 11.04 beta 1.

Ubuntu boots up very quick, quicker than Windows 7 by a few seconds. I'll count it a few times and average it out tomorrow. The multi-touch in ubuntu is a lot smoother. The two-finger scrolling works much better in ubuntu in comparison to Windows 7, which allows me to take full advantage of the big trackpad size.

I tried to install touchegg, a project for multitouch gestures on ubuntu, but it doesn't seem to be working on 11.04 yet ... only for the stable, non-beta releases.

 

Here's a bit of math, using some ubuntu utilities to gauge a pretty accurate estimate battery life under ubuntu.

/proc/acpi/battery/BAT1$ cat info
present: yes
design capacity: 6300 mAh
last full capacity: 6100 mAh
battery technology: rechargeable
design voltage: 7400 mV
design capacity warning: 0 mAh
design capacity low: 183 mAh
cycle count: 0
capacity granularity 1: 1 mAh
capacity granularity 2: 1 mAh
model number:
serial number:
battery type: LION
OEM info: SAMSUNG Electronics

Design Capacity x Design Voltage: 6.3 Ah x 7.4 V = 46.62 watts

After turning off bluetooth and doing some minor powertop suggested tweaks, powertop shows that when on battery, I use on average 9 watts/hr, meaning that I'll get around 5 hours of battery life under Ubuntu, give or take a few minutes, during normal use.

I could probably do some more tweaks to get about half an hour to an hour more out of it ... who knows, but there's a statistic for you guys. I'll do the same under windows later on.

EDIT: My normal use equates to wifi on, browsing a bit of web, a bit of word processing, and programming, no media except maybe the occasional youtube

 

Doing the same under Windows 7 after doing a few power tweaks, using BatteryMon, the average discharge rate is ~7.5 Watts/hr on average. Doing the same math and using 45 watts, 45/7.5 = 6 hours.

As I watch the Battery stats change though, some users who just do reading may have the battery discharginaveraging g in the ~6-6.5 watt range for the majority of the time, leading to a battery life around, 45/6 = 7.5 hours. (I would consider this a GENEROUS estimate) as this would probably require you limit yourself to non-flash/javascript heavy sites(a heuristic says that these eat battery life, so gmail, youtube, etc. in my tests, increases battery drain by up to 5 watts), reading docs/pdfs and doing minor text editing.

A reminder that the two tests I did were done under the lowest brightness settings (which imo is more than usable indoors), no keyboard backlighting, no audio playing, windows 7 aero off, no usb devices plugged in.

 

Note that I've not claimed that the 9 series and Air use processors that are identical in terms of performance, though they soon will. Nevertheless, the laptops are similar in numerous respects, as already mentioned by several posters. To give a few, salient examples:

Quality of materials used in construction (it is no coincidence that Samsung emphasises the strengh of duralumin versus "standard" aluminium); quality of display; SSD, or "flash storage", by default; emphasis by Samsung on bootup/wakeup from "sleep" times, much as Apple does for the Air; oversized touchpad common to both; exceptionally slim and lightweight design, with commensurate port limitation; very high asking price; a focus on the "premium" nature of the products; strong focus on "styling" of both laptops.

Having reviewed the specifications of the laptops you mention, they appear very different from the 9 Series and Air, which is no surprise, given the prices they command. Frankly, I'm stunned that you'd say the 9 Series has more in common with them than it does with the Air.

It's not too much of a stretch to say that the 9 Series is essentially a Macbook Air for Windows users, and the above similarities are clear to anyone who doesn't have an emotional response to the mere mention of an Apple device.

 

I think he's just being stubborn. There's no point in trying to argue.

 

Circuit City via Amazon has the A03 for sale.

 

beachcamera.com up the price once again to 2399.00. Looks like they are removed from the samsung site. I wondery why...

 

Ridiculous.

 

The Samsung Series 9 laptop has only a micro-HDMI port for external displays. There is no VGA port on the laptop.

In the User's Guide (p51) it says that you need a "VGA adapter" to connect to an external VGA display, like a projector. I can't find any such adapter (i.e., micro-HDMI to VGA). Isn't HDMI a digital format and VGA an analog one? Does this section in the User's Guide even make sense? Does anyone know of such an adapter?

If you need to give presentations, you might want to be aware of this limitation. Many older digital projectors only have VGA ports.

Many thanks.

 

At least HDMI is standardized. I'm surprised they even have non-USB ports on this thin puppy.

 

Thanks for posting that Circuit City was selling through Amazon - supposedly in stock. Therefore, crazy as this is, I cancelled my order through Amazon and ordered through Circuit City on the Amazon site (exactly the same cost). Still can use Amazon gift dollars I earn through my Visa card. I admit it felt strange to be ordering through Circuit City, but hopefully it will work out well.

 

FWIW, Costco is selling the Samsung Series 9 for $1549.99.

I've had this laptop for a couple of days and I hate to say it, but I'm slightly underwhelmed. Yes, it is nice and thin, but really beyond that, so what?

It's noticeably slower than last year's Sony Z. The screen's resolution is only 1366X768. The Window's Experience rating (only 4.6 for a iCore5!) is dragged down by the graphics chip. I don't think that there is any TRIM support for the solid state drive or, at least, Samsung support couldn't find any mention of it. Without TRIM support I worry about the wear balancing of the solid state drive.

More importantly, the battery isn't user replaceable and to prolong the battery life, Samsung recommends that you only charge the battery to 80%. That, of course, significantly shortens the run time between charges.

I also can't run a VGA projector from this laptop because it only has a micro HDMI port. Given the large number of old projectors out there with only VGA ports, this is a serious liability for me.

Don't get me wrong. YMMV. This Samsung Series 9 isn't a horrible laptop, but for the price, I guess I was expecting more. I think I might be taking it back to the store.

 

What about a setup like this? I'm sure you can find the adapter cheaper.

HP HDMI to VGA Display Adapter | HP® Official Store

+

Micro HDMI to HDMI Adapter for MB810 HTC EVO Droid X - eBay (item 320644207946 end time Apr-16-11 23:57:22 PDT)

or what about usb to vga adapter for second screen?

 

That's a great idea! I'll look into it. Thanks!

 

Kinda bummed out that this model did not include the Intel® Wireless Display like I was told at CES. Maybe the i7 core will have this option.

 

I'm sure there are more option but they work pretty well.

FRYS.com | SIIG USB 2.0 TO VGA JU-VG0012-S1

 

I'm afraid I don't know anything about that. The laptop is a near miss. I suspect that the 2nd generation will be much better.

 

Many thanks for the suggestion.

 

I've almost decided to buy this laptop once it reaches Sweden as I'm looking for a light laptop for studies, programming, and simple gaming (The most demanding would probably be Left4Dead).

Unfortunately, the great performance of Sony Z comes with a price. It costs twice as much as 900X3A, at least in the country I live in. I don't think Samsung were trying to compete with that one at all. About the TRIM support... I haven't been able to obtain information about this either. I talked with someone from Samsung's support team, and he didn't know.

One thing I've been worrying about revolves around how well it handles heat. Does it remain cool in most situations (excluding games, of course)?

 

Wow thats ridiculous. I just received mine from them but bought it when the price was ~$1600. I'm loving the laptop, but they won't be receiving my business ever again.

 

The cost for my husband's Z and my Samsung were roughly the same, but we could buy the Z at our university bookstore, so maybe they offered a price break.

Yes, I even talked with Tier 2 support about the presence of TRIM control. He didn't know, but he was supposed to get back to me about it. Still haven't heard from him, but will let you know if I get any information.

This laptop gets warm, not hot, just with light processing. This Samsung is really designed for email, word processing etc. For that, it is just fine.

 

It is my understanding that the A02US model does have WiDi.

 

is the ssd user replaceable? i currently have an Asus U33Jc and was pondering to switch to the ZX310

 

I like beach camera as a reseller on Amazon.com. Never bought anything from their website.

 

I just tried left4dead last night and didn't get any lag with high settings and connected to wifi.

I ordered a macbook air 13" sleeve from amazon. Hopefully it will fit and i'll update everyone. Ordered also the adapter for the hdmi from ebay.

I need to upgrade the memory for vmware. Hopefully someone will have the guts to open this system up to let us know if you can upgrade the ssd and memory.