Samsung 9 Series laptop (ZX310 / 900X3A) unveiled

The ssd can be upgraded. We just need to wait for someone to provide a 256GB option which will happen at some point.

I don't have any wifi issues but i'll be doing some test at home tonight.

 

Hmm... just saw noticed that the Core i5-2537M chip set has a very low GPU frequency speed (Only up to 900 MHZ), unlike the other Core i5 that can go up to 1,300 MHZ.

According to benchmarks, games like Starcrat 2 will only have 17 FPS on medium settings. I was under the impression that it was playable on medium settings with the Samsung Series 9.

The other i5s with higher base MHZ fetch up to 33 FPS. A world of a difference when compared to 17 FPS.

.... not all Sandy Bridges are the same.

Can someone confirm?

 

I Own one 900X3A for 10 days now.(france)
I can confirm:

+ : Very light and thin, solid construction, very bright display panel, speedy SSD and the whole system is realy quick. Totaly silent, nice light keyboard. Very good battery life... i m sure you can get around 6 hours if you use low usage, and brightness...

-: Weak Wifi, hope it will be fixed with a driver update....


For the track pad, changing default parameter make it works very well...
for the VGA, usb to vga is the solution, and i bought a Micro HDMI>HDMI also, it works flawlessly on videoproj.....

Finger prints, i think it will pass... when the entire surface will be cover by fat..

 

What comes to wifi issues, I have noticed a serious drawback on my brand new 900x3a: HDMI interferes wifi connection and sometimes drops the connection totally, especially if using a weak network. When I turn the monitor off and back on, the wifi connection recovers and drops again respectively.

I have tried using different cables, APs and external monitors in several places but the annoying effect remains. Some old Macbooks apparently had the same problem. Is this just this particular computer or can someone replicate this?

 

With the purchase of my 9 Series for $1608.99 shipped via Tigerdirect.com:

Pros:
It's an ultraportable (thin and light!) with speed fast enough for daily office work as I don't do gaming.
With notebook laying on my bed all day, I get about 48C in temperature.
Backlit keyboard is very useful, screen is super bright.
Trackpad is nice! No need to two finger scroll when you can use one finger (chiralscrolling)
Use smoothscroll extention in Chrome to get same scroll effect as Macs/firefox/opera (settings: 300, 60, 800, 3)
4.5-5 hours of battery life of moderate use.
No fan noise.

Con:
Webcam sucks with the lighting. I use webcam login with Luxand Blink! and I must have adequate lighting to login via facial recognition. I have to use a program like Cyberlink YouCam to adjust the light settings. Still is an issue because it doesn't save the settings. Have to readjust it each time you want to use the camera. Anybody know a way to configure this? I can't find a software or driver for this webcam as Samsung states Windows 7 has the driver already, no need for a software.
With all my programs installed, I have only 50GB left. Sucks!
Wifi distance sucks as well! LOL Being maybe 80ft away from my wireless N router with 18MB connection downloading at 1800kbps normal, it drops down to 5-20kbps?

Others:
I bought a Samsung SE-S084D Slim Drive that's perfect for this. Almost same size, design. No need for AC adapter since USB power works for read/write.
Bluetooth mouse from Microsoft is coming in soon as well..

Overall I'm satisfied. =)

 

I've been surprised by the comments about the Wi-Fi. I don't seem to have a problem with my wi-fi, even in areas where I know that there is only a very weak signal in my house. The connection doesn't drop out.

FWIW, I have a Broadcom 802.1n Network Adapter installed in my laptop. I assume that it is the same for everyone, but thought I'd add this information just in case something has changed for the model.

I wonder if the relative orientation of the laptop to the router makes a difference with that metal top.

 

The Broadcom should be installed on all Samsung 9 laptops. I do hope a driver update fixes the problem.

Anyhow, i can confirm everyone elses problem with the laptop. I tested this morning 6 feet away from my router and had flawless speeds. when i went about 15 feet away, my signal strength kept adjusting and my speeds kept falling and not recovering.

I have attempted adjusting the setting on the device driver, but nothing has worked for me. In the short term, I've decided to purchase a mini-usb wireless n adapter and turn off the shotty wireless.

 

I wonder if the difference is in my router. I only have a g router. As I said, it works fine without any dropped signal, even in a weak signal area.

Could it be that the implementation of the n protocol is faulty on the Samsung?

 

Micro HDMI to HDMI adapter - It's really small and portable. The only issue is that it's a little bulky enough to not allow you space to connect the Network cable adapter or USB 3.0. I'll have to keep searching for a better one but this will do for now.

Micro HDMI to HDMI w/ lock hole adapter fo EVO 4G XT800 - eBay (item 140511970999 end time Apr-14-11 06:41:22 PDT)

 

Has anyone done this? If so, could you do a short guide how to do this? What are the downsides, if any? Thanks!!!!

 

Requirements

- Acronis TrueImage Home (try trial version) to backup SSD Main + Recovery Partions in windows 7.
- EASEUS Partition Master 8.0.1 Home Edition (Free)
- USB Hard Drive with about 30GB space


#1 - Install Acronis TrueImage Home.

# 2 - Backup your SSD with Acronis TrueImage (Main Partition + Recovery) to your external USB drive.

# 3 - Install EASEUS Partition Master and delete the Recovery partition on your SSD.

# 4 - Run EASEUS Partition Master and merge both partition.

This should give you about 20GB additional space. No downside since you still have the backup image that you can restore with Acronis anytime if you ever wanted the recovery partition back. Just remember to backup all your documents as the recovery will overwrite anything you currently have.

more helpful guides... Make sure to backup both partitions on your SSD. You will have the primary (OS) and the hidden (system recovery).

How To: Hard Drive Backup with Acronis True Image 11 Software (VIDEO)
YouTube - Hard Drive Backup with Acronis True Image 11 Software

How To: How to delete partition?

Using EASEUS Partition Master - Deleting Partitions - EASEUS Partition Master Manual

How To: Merge Partitions
Merge partitions under Windows 7 32 bit and 64 bit for larger drive space.


Please REP +

 

Great - THANKS! Just one question: after you have merged the partitions, to you restore from the SAMSUNG recovery DVD or with TrueImage?

 

Thanks for this - very helpful! I've never merged (or deleted) partitions before. Will this affect the currently installed Windows 7 on the Series 9? Or does it simply just give 20GB more on the C drive?

Thanks again

 

After you merge both partition there is nothing to do since you deleted the hidden samsung recovery partition. If you want to recover everything in the future you can use acronis to restore the backup image. That will give you back both partitions.

It shouldn't if it's done right. That's why it's important to do a full backup of your SSD with Acronis to be safe. The full backup is important in case you want to revert back to run the recovery system.

You should see + 20GB once you merge both partitions.

The goal is to blow away the hidden partition that's wasting space and to merge both without reinstalling windows 7 and loading all the drivers.

 

more helpful guides... Make sure to backup both partitions on your SSD. You will have the primary (OS) and the hidden (system recovery).

How To: Hard Drive Backup with Acronis True Image 11 Software (VIDEO)
YouTube - Hard Drive Backup with Acronis True Image 11 Software

How To: How to delete partition?

Using EASEUS Partition Master - Deleting Partitions - EASEUS Partition Master Manual

How To: Merge Partitions
Merge partitions under Windows 7 32 bit and 64 bit for larger drive space.


Please REP +

 

does this thing have widi enabled?

 

The A02US version has the following enhancements/differences from A03US:

Windows 7 Professional
WiDi
WiMax

 

so how do you access widi or does it automatically detect the presence of a widi adapter?
also is quicksync enabled in this laptop.
im asking for a friend who just got her a new series 9 although i think its the 900x3a model. does this model have widi?

 

900X3A is the whole family. You need to find out the version, such as 900X3A-A02US. This will be on a label on the bottom of the computer.

John

 

and for NP900X3A-A01FR ? a way to find Widi option ?

 

There's no mention of Widi on the Samsung France website. Perhaps it will arrive in the future with a more expensive version of this notebook but adding features that many people do not want adds to the cost and may reduce overall sales.

John

 

As with my laptop in my sig, when you first get your machine and if you didn't reinstall windows when you first got it most laptops that are widi enabled with have software ready to search for a widi device.

My laptop even had widi software on the desktop, you just open it and then it searches for any widi enabled devices. With WiDi it uses your intel wifi card along with your intel cpu and intel integrated graphics. If you got all those 3 then your device is WiDi enabled. you still need to buy an adapter from netgear, since you all got the intel 3000 integrated graphics that comes with your SB processors you would need to get the Push2TV 2000 here( link). The difference between this one and the other version of push2TV is this one supports 1080p resolution as the other one did not.

 

Thanks for this clarification. Intel's website lists the compatible hardware at the computer end of the link. Although the 2537M CPU isn't listed by Intel, I would expect it to work.

John

 

I thought they got the model numbering mix up before its release "900x3a" a01 is 11" ver, a02 is win 7 pro 13" and a03 is win 7 home pre 13" in the US. Then they change it to 9003xa-a02xx (somehow like a02 never made it) and 9003xa-a03xx for the 13" and 900x1a-a01xx for the 11". As for other country the model number is corrected so you will only see 900x3a-a01xx for win 7 home pre 13" (no win 7 pro 13")
In thailand the model is NP900X3A-A01TH (no a02, a03) but there is widi + wimax driver in the site.
You can give it a try here. (click on the link to the right of the word "driver")
????????????????????? ??????????????????????????????? - Series 9 - N Series - Notebook PC | SAMSUNG


And from the promotion vdo (intel processor) widi should be in all i3,i5,i7 2nd gen.
Samsung Notebook Series 9 - Amazing light. Incredibly strong

 

thanks +1 to you and samsungguy

 

so are you saying as long as you got these components you install the driver and widi should work?

 

The 2 numbers at the end are the version number and the final two letters are the country code. A01US can be (and probably is) a different hardware combination than A01UK or A01FR, etc. The various Samsung country marketing offices choose from the list of factory options to create on or more versions that they think will sell in their country. Price thresholds, which depend on the currencies, may be a consideration. A $999 notebook is likely to sell better than a $1025 notebook.

John

 

Amazon is shipping my A02US version today!

 

I check out amazon and it seem like a03us got widi but no wimax and win 7 pro.

 

WiDi may be possible on both models, but don't trust Amazon's specs for the determination- Amazon says it has 3 USB 2.0 ports, when if fact it has one 3.0 USB and one 2.0 USB ports.

 

if i try to install intel WLAN drivers it says no intel wireless hardware found. On mine (A01FR) its Broadcom WLAN.... i think WIDI need all intel components (cpu, graphic CPU, and Wifi Cpu....)

 

Mine just showed up (finally!) and the right side of the touchpad is a lot harder to click than the left. I only get maybe 1 of 2 right clicks. I know the touchpad has issues, but this seems beyond that. The right side sticks up above the case a bit maybe 1-2mm but the left side is flush. It seems like it may have been installed wrong. Is anyone else having this problem, or is mine defective?

 

Here are my first impressions (after 2 days):

pros:
-the screen (my number 1 reason to buy this) is so bright that even when sitting in the sun it is very usable. I just don't like the wide screen format much, but they don't seem to make the old screen format anymore.
-the design is beautiful. the fingerprints don't bother me
-the backlit keyboard is great
-after deleting the restore partition the available disk space is fine.


cons:
- the touchpad gestures sometimes don't work (but I need to play around with this a little bit more to see if the sensitivity can be changed)
- the Wifi seems to be much weaker than on my Thinkpad T43, even weaker than on my iPhone 4. I have to test this in a couple of places to see if I can live with this. Otherwise I will have to return it to COSTCO.

 

On mine there is no difference between the right and left click. I think yours is defective. 1-2 mm is a lot - you should return it.

 

Thanks for the quick response. I called Samsung and I'm sending it back for repairs. Disappointing that they won't cross-ship me a new one so now I have to wait even longer to have a new laptop. Ugh, quality control issues! Datavision, the site I ordered it from, wanted me to pay for return shipping, so forget that.

 

Download speeds tested with speedtest.net:

outside, about 100 feet from Linksys WRT54GL:

Lenovo X61: 9.65 Mbps
Samsung 9: 0.19 Mbps

outside, about 25 feet from Linksys WRT54GL:

Lenovo X61: 8.91 Mbps
Samsung 9: 10.63 Mbps

The drop off is very sudden, as one of the reviews said ...

 

Hm, just recently purchase the Samsung 9 from Costco but have a weird problem. The screen seems to be adapting levels of brightness depending on the image thats displayed. For example, if a dark image is displayed, the screen automatically dims down the backlight, and if a white image is displayed, it increases. It almost seems to be doing this to get true "blacks" and minimize light bleed, but at the same time it gets extremely annoying. Its most noticeable if I have my brightness turned all the way down.

The first thing I thought was adaptive brightness, where the brightness levels auto adjust to ambient lighting levels. But I've turned this setting off completely, and it still does it.

Here's how you can replicate the issue. Turn down your brightness level to the lowest setting. Open up a browser, and go to a white website, ie.google. Make sure you have a dark wallpaper on your desktop, for instance the Samsung one that comes as the default wallpaper. Now minimize your browser, you'll see the brightness decrease. Maximize your browser, you'll see the brightness increase. It'd also extremely apparent when watching movies, you'll see the screen adjusting to the scene, but at times it makes dark scenes to dark and the shifting brightness gets extremely annoying....

It seems to be some sort of dynamic contrast feature but I have no idea how to turn it off, and its extremely annoying. I've replicated this on a friend's Samsung 9 as well so its not just my system. Anyone have any ideas how to turn this feature off? Thanks.

 

this laptop gets hot very fast
i also upgraded to 8gb and formatted the ssd and installed win7 prof.

tracpad was little bit odd initially , now i got used to it works well for me

 

I have noticed the changes in the screen brightness too and I have also adaptive brightness off.

 

me too, adaptative brightness... don't bother me...
And if wifi work very well with short distance, i think it'll be fixe with a driver update... hope so...

for the track pad, reduce the multitouch area in the parameters.... it help a lot. In fact sensitive area goes over the clickable button, and therefor, when you want to click ti detect multitouch... reduce the multitouch area and it'll work really better....
i don't have any difference with right or left clickable area....

 

The wifi chip is apparently BCM43225 (single-band -> cheap?). I have tried with newer Lenovo and HP 8460p drivers which both work out of the box, but the reception is equally bad. Unfortunately, I believe this might be a hardware design issue and caused by the metal chassis, similar to the iPhone 4 antenna problem.

I also researched into the external monitor and wifi interference problem I encountered using a Broadcom diagnostics tool that came with the HP drivers. It seems that connecting any external monitor or television to micro-HDMI instantly drops the connection speed (speedtest.net) to one tenth of the original, rises latency from 30ms to 120ms and increases "congestion levels" from low to high (distance to the router is ~5 feet). However, no increase in noise levels which is very odd. Disconnecting the monitor restores everything back to normal. No one else has these problems?

 

Follow up review:

I wanted to post some comments now that I have used the notebook for over a week:

Overall impression is excellent. The thing really works well.

Even from the start it is obvious certain things about the laptop are very good - screen (superb - no worries about resolution being a bit lower than some others with same 13.3 inch screen); keyboard: great feel despite chicklet keypad - very nice 'give' when typing; ease of use is fantastic - nice to be able to close the lid and open it right up for use - usually takes 5 seconds or so and you are ready to go; sound is fine for a machine this small; speed - as most others have noted, it is plenty speedy for any general type of computing; have not tried games at all

Areas of concern that I/others have noted:

Fingerprint magnet: don't get this one. I never see it in any major way. If you really care about what the thing looks like, it is plenty nice looking and any fingerprints that show up on the case seem like no big deal to me.

Trackpad: this was the one area I was really concerned about early on. I have to say that I have adjusted to this in most ways pretty well. I shut off some 'features' (like touching the trackpad for clicking and horizontal scrolling, pinch and zoom); kept some features like 2 finger scrolling. Overall it is still a little fussy, but it does work for the most part. No major problem as I thought at first

Battery life is fine: I don't think I have ever used it till it is dead, but it looks like I would get about 5 hrs total use with wi-fi on and screen at brightness set about 80%. This is probably better than I first thought and 5 hours for a computer this thin seems great to me.

Size and weight remain very impressive to me. It is so light that it is really easy to toss in a backpack and carry around. Easy to hold in one hand without feeling like you might drop it.

Wireless - lots of comments about limited range with wi-fi. This is something I have not seen. Have a big house and several other notebooks and the wi-fi range on this notebook seems to be about the same range and speed as all the others.

Also, for those who may be interested, I did get rid of the recovery partition to get back 20 GB of HD space (essentially 1/6 of the entire HD). Used the partition magic program others had recommended and it worked fine. Figure if tragedy ever besets the machine will just reload whole OS from the DVD that came with machine.

Ports: OK, it is a pain to have to open the side ports to access USB, but not bad. I am pretty careful putting in flash drives because the ports are housed in the drop down device and not the body of the computer itself. Maybe a little more fragile than most notebooks, but I would not think they would fail unless you really abused them.

Overall, very pleasantly postively surprised.

 

Been following this thread for awhile. I am reallly interested in this laptop and was about to buy it from costco but now it is no longer available from them. So my question is, where can I buy this right now? It's obviously been realeased since people have it but I don't see it anywhere.

 

Based on the pics, it seems like it will be easy to swap for a better wifi card. I did that on my Asus just to get the 5Ghz.

 

I am having the same issues.. terrible.. cause this laptop is amazing, i hope we get a driver update real soon!! if you find something out please post your results.

 

where (in which pic and where) do you see the wifi card? whats a better card to put in its place? this is my biggest concern about the laptop.

also - say the SSD is replaceable. is there any 256gb ssd that can fit in its place? these are the 2 most pressing issues about this laptop!

 

We have photos thanks to this post and its link.

In this photo http://blog.thecompanyofhedonists.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/04/guts-full.jpg the wireless card might be the mini-card forwards of the fan. However, there are only two antenna connectors which would limit the upgrade options.

The SSD uses the mini-card format and 128GB seems to be the largest capacity available today. However, a 256GB version must be coming soon because Samsung's details of this notebook included the 256GB SSD option.

John

 

I have noticed that too. At home I have the router in a central location - no problem, though - unlike the Thinkpad - I won't be able to use it in the garden. But I travel a lot and WiFi coverage in Hotels can be very spotty. This could be the only reason I might have to return this.

I'm afraid this is a design flaw that cannot be fixed with a driver update ...
Does anyone know of a USB antenna that could be used as a backup?

 

Hi everyone, has anyone any clue on how find the converter for the gigabit wired ethernet port?

Could not find anything on samsung web site..

Many thanks in advance

 

You could always try a tiny external USB wifi dongle.

However, I don't quite understand what is the target customer segment for this computer? The 900X3A could have been the perfect travel business companion but for some reason Samsung forgot the most critical points that every real business laptop needs: Working and robust WIFI, VGA for legacy projectors (even an external dongle would do!) and Win 7 Pro. These features would have added max. $100-$200 to the price.

I regret that apparently I have to return Samsung back to the shop and wait for the Lenovo X220. What a pity.