Samsung 9 Series laptop (ZX310 / 900X3A) unveiled

I'm not saying that you shouldn't do any upgrades if you want to; I probably will if I determine the need. Just saying that the Series 9 appears to have some different conditions placed on the upgrades.

 

Does anyone know if the 900x1a share the same size tip with any other samsung laptop. The reason is I have a Targus Premium Laptop Charger and when I need a different tip I can request it from Targus free of charge. The 900x1a is not listed on their website yet so just see if it is the same tip as their other laptops.

 

Nice find on the warranty kalahari... I am glad I know that.

I would not, however, allow anyone but myself to get into this laptop and the one thing I can affirm now is that, when its time to get a replacement battery, I can do it without sending it in.

I have spoken to enough Reps in the last week to make my head spin and I am a person with some excellent company 'ins'. Their customer service is horrid and they are not at all prepared for the deployment of this laptop. The guy I spoke with today was the second to tell me that these laptops were not available in Canada and even directed me to the Samsung Canada sight in the Ultra portable area. I then moved him to the performance section and he apologized stating that her had no knowledge of this laptop and cannot find documentation as well.

Its right about now that I miss the original customer service I used to get from dell XPS Support!

On a side note, it appears that all Canada versions come with the Intel 6230 as stock cards...

 

agreed. they don't have to know anything about the upgrades you have done.

upgrading ram, ssd or network card will not void warranty unless you cause damage to any other components. I would advice to keep all original parts so that you can swap everything out before sent for repairs. The same applies for any other laptop or computer. Also don't waste your time with best buy or listen to any of the bs they tell you.

Also note that samsung is really slow at updating any pages with information related to this laptop.

 

Just a heads up to all and be careful when pulling the plug from the socket. My small adapter showed itself as being 2 pieces where I thought it was one and now I cannot get it back together.... These are the perils of being first line guinea pigs eheh.

 

Call Technical Support. They should replace (read send you new) one complimentary. Tell them it was loose from the beginning.

US plug is totally different - it's 2x larger.

 

That really sucks. I ended up with the same on my first samsung 9 that I returned. It was a pia trying to remove it so I gave up before it broke completly.

 

That is the US plug.

 

Customer service... (long pause)

That plug was another hour on the phone and being explained that their new policy for anything that may or may not be physical damage meant that the entire system must be submitted... NOT.

I sent them piks and they will contact tomorrow... Worst comes to worse I will exchange for time #4.

 

I despise the plug and adapter more than anything else on this laptop. Its ridiculously cheap and tacky. On mine, the jack that plugs into the laptop is very ill fitting. I actually had to bend it with pliers to get it to stay connected, but it still gets wobbly and loose and feels very insecure. Essentially, the hole for the jack is too large, but the connector inside is too small...its all like a cheap Nokia phone jack, except the Nokia would fit much more securely.

Now with news that the other end (wall plug) is also very easily broken, it really makes me question the durability of the laptop in general.

I would also like to buy the UK/Singapore adapter, but it seems accessories for the Series 9 are difficult to impossible to find

 

FWIW, my charger came out of the box in two pieces - the charger itself and the US 3-prong plug. It obviously has an interchangeable plug, like the old Palm travel charger.

 

The photo here shows that it is a standard cloverleaf (C8) connector so it is easy to use another cable although I haven't seen a simple plug adaptor that avoids having a bulky cable.

John

 

Regarding any poor Windows performance scores anyone is/was getting; I haven't changed anything and re-did the test last night - 5.9 from 5.0

I think that the experience rating is fairly inconsistent (and therefore unreliable) in terms of how your laptop performs.

Best to get some proper benchmarking software instead, but I think this is now a non-issue for me.

All-in-all, very satisfied with the purchase.

 

Sorry, you are right. Totally forgotten how it's look like when disassembled. I'm joining those in search of a better and faster charging unit for Sammy 9. 3 hours of charge time to get 4 of work - not good.

 

Just got update alert. new touch pad drivers ver. 15.3.6.0 - 5.23.11

 

I saw the two new i7 models of the Series 9 on Datavision's website. What have been peoples' experiences with battery life with the Sandy Bridge i5's vs. i7's? Is it still reasonable to expect that the i7 is going to lessen the battery life comparing it to the i5?

 

Thank you for the info. Ok, I'm installing 15.2.20 from Synaptics download page (they don't bother to update it) and hopefully will get this new version through update procedure.

Update: Installed 15.2.20 dated 3/31/11. Got Scrybe. How can I initiate Synaptics update? Skrybe's update doesn't find anything...

Did you get your update alert from Samsung update software or from Synaptics update?

 

Both processors have same TDP - 17W. Don't expect any visible increase of performance from i7 though.

 

The "Samsung UpdatePlus" program finds these updates.

 

It installs only updates approved by Samsung. And as we all know, Samsung is not in a hurry to keep it's Support pages updated. If you would check download pages of OEMs, you most likely will find more recent drivers for your hardware.

P.S. Checked Samsung Series 9 download page to make sure I'm not missing something. Now we have a great opportunity to try Windows XP on Series 9 - Sammy has just thrown in a bunch of XP drivers. No updates on Win 7 part since January 28.

 

After many years of building/using PCs, I try to stick with the vendor's updates (like Samsung) instead of installing the OEM's version (unless there is a problem with that device).
Also, there is one update for Win 7 on Samsung's Series 9 web site but they appear to be preferring to push those updates. My trackpad driver updated last week and again today.

 

So what modifications of the 900X3A does Samsung offer?

according to:

Search result for np900x3a

it looks like:

Core i5-2537M or IntelCore i7-2617M
4, 6 or 8 GB ram
128 or 256GB SSD

Wimax or no Wimax
Widi or no Widi

Win 7 Home Premium or Win 7 Professional

Any comments?

 

Is NP900X3A-A04US the only version with WIDI? And if its Widi it doesn't have the broadcom card? Because if its Widi the network card must be an intel network card? Am I correct?

 

Hi

Just registered, but I've read this entire thread over the past week or so, and I must say that it's easily the most helpful place in regards of this laptop.

I was thinking of picking the thing up next week, and if I do, I want to immediately throw in the 6230 and possibly upgrade the RAM.

The RAM looks easy enough and I've installed different WiFi cards on other notebooks before, but from the pictures I've seen so far of the S9's internals, I wouldn't know where to start to get access to the Broadcom card.

Is there any place that shows one how to replace the stock WiFi card with the 6230 with pictures, if possible? If it's not available, no worries, but I just wanted to ask before I cracked open this bad boy when I get it.

thanks for any help in advance.

 

You were not looking enough

Take a look at this pic: http://thessdreview.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/05/SAM_09581.jpg
The large red rectangle is what you are looking for - wireless module (two others in red represent antennas).

That's another closer look to the object: http://www.bildedump.no/pics/99f7b017ceb101ec942f72a11ca709ca.jpg

As you can see, the wireless module is blocked by black flat wire. You should remove this wire from it's connector on the right by carefully pulling it up at the end of the flipped "Z".

Now you have a full access to you card. First, carefully remove two antenna wires (black and white) by also pulling it up. Unscrew the bolt with the Philips screwdriver (my Broadcom was attached with only one screw although there are two holes - Samsung saves the screws?) and carefully pull the wi-fi card to the left. It should slide out pretty easy.

Slide your new 6230 (or whatever you would like to install) to the right and slightly push at the end to install firmly. Fix with the screw(s). Carefully connect antennas. Place the black "flipped Z" wire on it's place and attach it's connector.

Enjoy improved wireless signal!

 

It does require the intel card.

There's really no way of knowing from the specs. Earlier in this thread someone reported complaining to Samsung that his model did not meet its spec of having WIDI; Samsung responded that they reserved the right to change specs at any time, etc.

I don't know what they see as the difference between changing the specs and false advertising - in theory they could do whatever they want with any component...hd instead of ssd, older processor, different screen, whatever.

The Canadian ones apparently have the Intel card and therefore WIDI, though the specs aren't any different.

 

Looks like the version here in sweden got the broadcom card (900X3A-A01SE)
And I dont think we will get the other versions anytime soon, maybe never.

Guess I will buy it anyway and replace it with the 6230 card and add 4gb ram.. maybe in the future I will change the HDD if its possible to fit a 512gb SSD.

The 6230/6300 card will automatical give me WiDi?
Intel® Centrino® Advanced-N 6230 – Overview

6300 is more powerful but requier me to also add an antenna and I will lose the bluetooth, guess I will stick to 6230 then.

 

A few high-res inside-shots:
The SSD: http://www.bildedump.no/pics/44d3fa55bc1970670bfc0fa7e0208626.jpg

Wi-Fi Card:
http://www.bildedump.no/pics/99f7b017ceb101ec942f72a11ca709ca.jpg

All:
http://www.bildedump.no/pics/4d60d51be8fff135018ee592b0290adf.jpg

 

Credit to Samsung....

Update Plus recognized and installed new version of Synaptics trackpad softwae this morning.

70mb.

 

I have now ordered the laptop I really hope I dont have to return it because of the slow wifi, maybe its just software related?

Another question, if I want to connect it to my tv, what adapter should I buy? micro-HDMI to HDMI ? I cant find what HDMI version the laptop has, but I guess its 1.4?

 

I've succesfully added 8GB of Corsair RAM and an Intel Centrino 6200 Wifi card.

Previous WiFi connection speed was 220mb/300mb, I now get a 100% connection. Haven't tested transfer speeds again, but I'm expecting them to be good enough since I didn't really have a problem before.

 

Amazon.com: Mediabridge - High Speed Micro-HDMI to HDMI Cable with Ethernet - 6ft - Motorola Droid X - HTC EVO: Electronics
Works pretty good.

 

It looks like we use different update software... Mine found nothing as well as Synaptics original drivers. According to forum posts, both are outdated. What's the version and date of the drivers you got?

 

Good to hear that it worked. I thought that upgraders were talking about the adding the Intel Centrino 6230 card though? Do you still have Bluetooth?

 

I think most will get it through UpdatePlus, not sure why you didn't.

Touchpad version I got was 15.3.6.0, published 5/23/11 -- same version reported by Latinracer

Previous update on UpdatePlus was Easy Migration on 5/4

 

I heard a rumor that wifi will work if you force your networkcard (and router?) to only work on the g standard.

 

Nope, I couldn't find the 6230 in the UK, but Wifi and WiDi will do for me - I have never had a need for Bluetooth and always have it disabled anyway. I have the old card if I ever do, but not likely.

 

It didn't work for me.

 

Again (check my previous answer to kalahari), in this post http://forum.notebookreview.com/sam...-900x3a-unveiled-post7499276.html#post7499276 Latinracer stated, that he installed touchpad drivers from Synaptics web site. And as far as I understand Samsung Update Plus would not update non-Samsung software. So, either Latinracer rolled back to Samsung touchpad drivers or there is some other method to force an update.

As of today:
Drivers | Synaptics - 15.2.20
Samsung - 15.2.17.3

Not even close to 15.3.6.0. Of course, I can google it, but I would like to find a hassle-free mechanism to have my drivers up to date with all additional features (like Skrybe).

 

for anyone trying to save some $$$ buying the intel 6230.

Intel Centrino Advanced-N 6230 - Network adapter (62230AN.HMWWB)
MacMall | Intel Centrino Advanced-N 6230 - Network adapter 62230AN.HMWWB
$19.99 + Shipping

 

sorry for the delays. The only way to get samsung updates is to revert back to the original drivers like you stated.

 

Strange, since my update definitely came from UpdatePlus on my stock A03-US unit, and was the same 70mb file as reported by "Series 9 Guy". I am currently in the UK, but I doubt that would impact the update. I did manually run UpdatePlus to get the update, however.

 

Anybody know if samsung warranty requires a receipt - and if the warranty would go by the manufacturing date on the bottom of the laptop?

 

$17 off w/ promo code EMCKEHF29, ends 5/30
Newegg.com - G.SKILL 8GB (2 x 4GB) 204-Pin DDR3 SO-DIMM DDR3 1333 (PC3 10666) Laptop Memory Model F3-10666CL9D-8GBSQ

 

Doubt it - the manufacture date is embedded into the BIOS as well.

 

Samsung Parts now has OEM power adaptor for sale.

While some are criticizing (perhaps with some merit) for its for slow charging capabilities, it is small and lightweight, which for me are the top two criteria for an adaptor for an ultra-lightweight laptop.

 

Which is also wrong (at least, in my case): my manufacture/BIOS date is April 30, 2011. I received my laptop in the middle of April. Reseller got it even earlier...

 

Well, I would love to have a second backup adapter with faster charging time as I did with my other mobile electronics. How about a car/plane charger?

 

Why do you need two? Do you have 2Gb x 2?

If yes, don't you want to try HyperX PNP DDR3-1866 RAM since you will have to buy 2 SO-DIMMs anyway?

 

I want to keep the same memory installed and store the samsung one for whenever it might need to be sent for service.

Also buying 1x 4GB samsung memory would cost me close to $60 or so. It makes sense to buy a new pair instead.