Samsung 9 Series laptop (ZX310 / 900X3A) unveiled

Hi Guys

Ive just joined the "dissapointed with my 9series club" so have found myself here after googling the obvious problems.

Really frustrated at the 'weak/eratic wifi' but Im holding off returning it to Samsung until they have a definate solution that works!

The only issue I have that I havnt found on this thread is that of the 128gb hard drive listed when I check on 'computer' on local disk (C) it states that I have 62gb free of 97.9gb, bearing in mind that Ive only had the Samsung for 2 days and have only added Comodo firewall,firefox,Chrome it seems like a heck of a lot of space unavailable?
Any help suggestions most welcome

 

I can't verify this, but I saw somewhere that the Toshiba Z 830 (not 835) will be available as an i5 with 128GB SSD or as as i7 with 256GB SSD. Again, this might not be right.

All of these Ultrabooks look good, but the Toshiba seems to cover the most bases for me, since I'd really like the backlit keyboard.

 

They have a recovery partition on there which takes up space + your windows install. If you want to clean up some space, do a clean install.

 

Thanks, will take a look at that.

Would the partition and the windows (windows etc only takes up 30+gb on my Sony) take up so much space i.e. 66gb?

 

Just bought an 11.6" with all the bells and whistles but I've run into a couple issues that I thought I'd ask here. Forgive me if it was already mentioned, but at 256 pages I'm still reading through this thread.

Anyway...regarding Samsung's apps, does anyone see an issue with changing the exe's properties to not run as admin to get around teh UAC barrage at log in?

Also has anyone tried using the 6 cell from the 13.3" in the 11.6"? I'm disappointed in the battery life I'm getting. I've contacted Samsung and got some measurements of the two batteries: 11.6" is 246.4 x 91.4 x 7.4mm and the 13.3" is 278.6 x 74.5 x 7.6mm. Other than the mounting holes aligning (which I can probably overcome) they main difference is length. Anyone know if the 11.6" will allow an extra 30mm longer battery? Any pics of the inside of an 11.6"?

Regarding the 20GB recovery partition, is all the same data on the recovery disc? As long as I don't mind booting from disc to recover, any reason to keep the recovery partition?

Thanks

 

@Fandrover,

I suggest looking at the free EaseUS ToDo Backup which will back up the system partition and possibly recovery partition too. I can't try it myself as my S9 is in for repair.

If you can back up the recovery partition, you don't have to do a clean install. You can just make that your D: drive (for your user data or TEMP or ...).

 

@SoundsGood,

Yes, I have found a review that says that the Toshiba Z830 (which is just the business-oriented version of the Z835) will have 128GB or 256GB SSD. So there's conflicting out there but it makes the Toshiba look really good...

Ultrabook time?

 

So I checked the Samsung apps' exe's and they are not set to run as admin, so apparently there is something else going on. Anyway I uninstalled everything except the Recovery app, which doesn't throw a UAC prompt. No major functionality is lost, although I will really miss not having the use of the Fn keys to change screen brightness, etc. Actually looking closer maybe I did lose functionality, anyone know how to adjust the keyboard backlight with the Samsung Display Manager app installed?

Looked through this whole thread and have seen nothing about swapping the 4 cell for 6 cell.

I think I understand the recovery partition now, no need for more info on that.

One other question: I see mention that Samsung switched to an Intel wifi/bt adaptor? Was it just on the 13.3"? My 11.6" is brand new and I have the Broadcom.

 

@augerpro

What's the Build month on your 11.6"? I think the 13.3" were switched from Broadcom to Intel 6230 at least by Jun 2011 (I don't think it was done before that).

If you send it in, Samsung will replace the Broadcom. You just have to figure out if it's worth the trouble.

 

It does - used it to clone my S9's drive

then used it to clone my desktop's drive to a samsung 256 GB SSD, then installed that SSD into the desktop. First time the computer wouldn't recognize the SSD at all, so it wouldn't boot

pulled it out, did a long format on the SSD, re-cloned using EASETODO and 2nd time was the charm

i had tried both True Image Easy Migrate 7.0 and True Image 2012 and kept getting real inconsistent reactions or results but never got either to work so i gave up on them

strange part about EASE TODO Backup, sometimes it reboots into DOS to do the clone, and sometimes it does it "hot" in windows - haven't figured that out yet

and for others considering dropping a SSD into their desktop - all i can say is WOW - same boot up time as the sammy, maybe a few seconds longer and definitely cooler temps internally

bad part, i can't get Crystal Disk Info to pull up all the info on the SSD - it won't show temps and a few other parameters, but does show that it's in Sata 300 which, somewhere on the web, translates to AHCI is enabled (sony vaio offers a limited bios menu and you cannot get anywhere near manually enabling AHCI

 

Where would I find that info? I don't see anything on the bottom or on the box.

 

@augerpro

The 11.6" don't have the Build date imprinted on back? How about the 9th character of the serial #? That shows the build month on the 13.3" models.

 

So small I couldn't see it: July 2011

 

You know, they may not have switched to Intel WiFi in the 11.6" S9s, since it seems like only the 13.3" folks have been complaining.

11.6" inch owners seem to be happy w/ their WiFi. Repeated requests have been made to have them test their S9s outside of the house (hotel, airport, school, coffee shop, etc.) and to run multiple tests inside the house (to see if the signal fluctuates). I don't know if these have been done or not. All I know is that they seem happier than 13.3" owners.

Sammy's stance may be "if it ain't broke, and if no wheels squeak...", and if they had Broadcom's intended for 13.3" models, they can now deplete that supply in 11.6" models (and then either switch over or maybe never switch at all).

 

Yeah my wifi seems fine in my house and at Applebees for lunch. Tomorrow I'm going to a couple hotels and the airport just to verify.

Question: what is the proper way to turn off the wifi adaptor? I can't use the Samsung app since I uninstalled it. In window's Network Connections I can disable it, but does that actually power it down? Looking to maximize battery life for when I'm using my USB mobile broadband.

 

Improbable as each and every Cdn Series 9 13" has only the Intel and they all have the exact same problem. I have yet to hear of the problem with the 11.6" systems yet which has always made me wonder.

 

Function + F12?

 

No can do. After uninstalling Samsung Display Manager the only Fn hotkeys that work are the volume.

 

@augerpro

I suggest re-installing Samsung Display Manager

When you do any WiFi testing, can you test it at some distance from the router and compare it to another device with WiFi (laptop, smart phone, etc.)?

 

Well I'm glad I did this testing today. This thing is going back. Used an Asus 1001P netbook for comparing. Both started with adaptor on Medium Power Saving. I ran Speedtest multiple times.

At restaurant A the Sammy would not even see the router while inside the restaurant (at least where I was seated). It did see it from the parking lot. I could not get a stable connection, or Speedtest would not run all the way without a hang or disconnect. The Asus was fine and ran 1mbps or so.

Restaurant B I could not get Speedtest to run reliably on the Sammy. When it did it showed about .2 mbps. Upping the adaptor to max power it would run reliably at .8 mbps. The Asus ran fine and was between .8-2.4 mbps. The reason for the large range was it made a difference whether I was holding the laptops, or whether they were sitting on the passenger seat. upping the adaptor power on Asus didn't seem to make much difference when it was on teh passenger seat, still about 2.4 mbps. It did bump up a bit when I held it though, maybe around 1.5 mbps IIRC.

The hotel had 3 access points per floor, so I had to try a couple on upper floors since the lobby was flooded with signal. First thing I noticed though with the Sammy is it only saw half the access points in the first place. Anyway no surprise the Asus was stable 1-3 mbps. The Sammy was fairly stable, occassionally a test would hang for awhile before completing. All in all it ran 20-50% the speed of the Asus.

Back home I tried the garage, kitchen (right above my router), and upstairs bedroom. The Asus got 23, 23, 16 mbps. The Sammy got 2.5, 23, 1.5 mbps.

The whole reason I bought this Sammy was to replace the cheap little Asus. I'm pretty disappointed. I could probably get the battery life to *just* reach what I needed if I was careful, and uninstalling the Samsung apps got rid of the UAC barrage (with some loss in functionality), but I just can't keep a laptop that can't do its basic function of providing me with an internet connection when I'm at the hotel, restaurant etc.

 

Has anyone successfully upgraded he 128GB SSD version to 256GB SSD?

I'm getting mixed results on the part number. I called a local supplier and he looked it up in the system and got BA59-02992A as the part number for 256GB. When I googled it though, some people are saying this is for the 2.5" version.

Can anyone who has actually upgraded to 256GB please confirm\deny?

Thanks

 

@qsub

My S9 is currently being serviced but I can confirm that drive 256GB BA59-029929A "MZ8PA256HMDR-01000" is the one that is installed in my A05 model.

You may want to see if you can find a cheaper alternative OR (as Series 9 Guy would probably say) wait until mSATA 6Gbps (SATA 3) drives in 256GB capacities are available...

 

I can't really wait as it's a bit urgent. Any idea if I'll need to upgrade or purchase an extra connector? I did talk to a "Authorized" Samsung Service Centre before they stopped replying to me. But he said it uses a different connector which I'll need to buy a upgrade for.

 

@qsub

"Series 9 Guy" would probably be able to answer your question. You can try PM'ing him or maybe he'll respond to your post.

My earlier S9 had the 128GB SSD which was a small chip on a board. The 256GB SSD is larger (and not just a chip) so it's possible there may be connector/adapter difference. I don't know enough to say.

 

@augerpro

Sorry to hear that you've experienced the WiFi disappointment that others of us with 13.3" models have seen.

Thanks for your detailed test results -- that's the kind of testing that I did but I did it with many different configurations. And I did many tests...

You have confirmed that the weak/fluctuating WiFi exists in the 11.6" models too -- that's a question that many people have asked. As I've said before, I'm pretty sure that it's caused the Duralumin casing that has been used.

 

kalahari> yeah I'm pretty disappointed. I REALLY like this laptop. Great screen, keyboard was easy to type with, and even the touchpad worked ok after I tweaked the zone a little. And with the SSD unless you were really crunching numbers it didn't feel any different than good desktop pc. Newegg, won't do a refund (when did newegg get so lame?) but will give me store credit good for a year. So it's going back today. The search for a good 11.6" with SSD goes on...

 

@augerpro

Yeah, I really like this laptop apart from the weak WiFi and fragile power connection. That's why I've been trying to get Samsung to fix for 4 months now... I can still send my 3rd one back before early November.

Make sure you review return policies before you buy your next one... I used to buy, and still do, buy from Newegg but they are one of the tougher ones to return to.

 

Hmm.. I can't seem to find the PM function? Even when I goto his profile? Any ideas?

On the side note, any pictures of the Samsung Series 9 opened up? I found one with the 128GB one, but not the 256GB.

 

qsub,

I actually tried to PM you but I don't think your profile is complete enough. Suggest you review that. Click 'User CP' in top left.

You want to see the 256GB drive? I've actually posted pictures of that in mine See post 7683854

Gads, I'm spending way too much time on this forum for someone who is going to be forced to buy the Toshiba Z835...

 

well i think my broadcom card was getting better speeds than my intel 6230. anyway - i have no idea. wouldn't widi be useless due to low bars? I got a usb adaptor and i am pretty happy with it. Anyone successfully see results by modding the case to add small holes along the route of the wires? or any other ideas on fixing it without hurting style?

 

@critten

The bars should be considered an "indication" of signal strength rather than "measurement/expectation" of what you'll get i.e. not reliable.

No, I don't think that small holes along the route of the wires will help at all. It's the antenna ends that count and they should be far apart (as they are -- they are in the top corners). If you took the back off and made a big hole around the antenna ends and replaced that with epoxy/plastic (as someone had suggested), that would probably work. Maybe if you drilled a LOT of small holes around the antenna ends, you might see a difference?

 

You need more posts with actual content

 

Ughh.. most likely I'll need to get a tray for the SDD.

That looks like a regular 1.8. I wish they just had a service manual for these so I can know the exact PN I need.

Thanks, that makes sense


------

I've have two edited pictures, based on them, it makes me believe I'll need 3 things.

1. New drive tray
2. Actual 1.8 Drive
3. Connector for the drive

http://i.imgur.com/VpTRc.jpg
http://i.imgur.com/jeIzV.jpg

In the second picture, the green is raised so it won't allow you to stick a bigger drive in there.

--------------

 

qsub,

You wanted "service manual" instructions Look at this picture. Doesn't say anything about adapter. Unfortunately, I have no more details or better picture.

 

okay if someone has done this already. I'll just have to go for it.

Thanks for posting

 

The touchpad works fine in the 11.6" models? no double clicking? no random jumping? no randomly lags? no random right clicks instead of left clicks?

(yeah I found even more issues with touchpad unfortunately )

weirdest one is how it sometimes would lag up and wont stop lagging until I put my pc to sleep..and yes usually these things are fixed after a restart but no a sleep fixes it too..if I were to guess I think heat is interfering with it :/

 

I never had a problem with the touchpad, but I only the laptop a week.

 

well here is the thing to look out for...sometime single clicks register as double clicks on the 13" model..mostly when 2+ fingers are on the touchpad

 

I already sent it back to newegg.

 

So I have swapped the Broadcom for the Intel 6230.
The Samsug Service Provider in the Netherlands was kind enough to do a swap of the cards through the mail under warrenty and I will be returning the Broadcom card to them, no costs. Good service and very quick.
It saved me the wait of sending in the entire notebook and it brought me the experience of how to open en close my new notebook. All good.

The result is that it looks to be a bit better/stable in my house (I haven't travelled with it). And this would confirm what others have reported.
I would now rate my satsifaction as "bearly acceptable".
It is certainly not bad for normal browsing (although there are hickups which I think are related to the WiFi going up and down), but one thing we are simply not able to do is work with out picture library (which is on a home server)
Also, still hopefull for a better solution..

 

so after disabling Bluetooth network connection (Bluetooth device PErsonal area in network adapters) my connection speed has significantly increased in speed and connectivity issues have also been better (may still take one extra cannot connect to network but works after that) Getting pretty decent speeds on public wifi- which in my opinion is usable. I would like to see if others disabled this in network adapters would this solve any problems?

Also- bluetooth mouse still works and did not disable the bluetooth completely - Don't ask me but all of a sudden i get 3 extra wifi spots that usually were not on the samsung but on the dell.

update- continues to work after 2 reboots. I did lost Intel's MyWifi thing so WIdi might not work and it took away my 2 extra intel network adapters? Anyway That is a trade off i am ok with. I do know if i re-enable the bluetooth net connection - the wifi adaptor loses the signal of the wireless connection.

Side note: I got my micro wireless n card today today before i found this out. it seemed to not be able to get the public wifi signal as well - but as soon as i disabled the bluetooth thing - that adapter worked equally well. I don't know maybe my issue is different than all of yall- but who knows. All we know is that there should be no problems like this out of the box.

 

Before I did the tests a couple posts back, I disabled BT via the tray icon. Does this power down the device?

 

by tray i believe the bluetooth turns off, but theres a bluetooth network device in network adaptors that when disabled turns of my wifi adaptors and somehow boosts my wifi.

 

Operating from memory as I don't have my S9 right now but are you talking the "Bluetooth Device (Personal Area Network)" that you removed? I think that is installed as part of the WiDi / My WiFi installation -- which I think means that most people won't have that driver.

 

wow critten, this could be a great solution to improve wifi reception, I will try disabling bluetooth!
thanks

 

SSD-related question...

In the Series 9, there seems to be just two SSDs currently being used.
a. 128GB mSATA (part# MZMPA128HMFU, replacement# BA59-02995A)
b. 256GB uSATA (part# MS8PA256HMDR, replacement# BA59-02992A)

The mSATA is a couple of chips on a small board and the uSATA is a 1.8" SSD.

Questions:
1. If I wanted to replace the 256GB uSATA SSD with a faster SATA III one, would this work Crucial C300? It doesn't mention uSATA.

2. Would it be correct to call the Samsung 256GB SSD a "MicroSATA uSATA 1.8" SSD" -- some SSD listings have "brandx Micro SATA uSATA 128GB ..."? e.g. Renice's

3. According to the BIOS, the Series 9 (the NP900X3A anyway) supports two hard drives. Anyone figured out if there is a second connection somewhere on the motherboard?

 

Ugh,

Anyone have the part number for a micro-hdmi to HDMI adapter?

 

If this model gets updated with Ivy Bridge, how much faster do you think the integrated graphics will be?

 

Well, it was AA-AH0NAMB/US (and that's what I've used successfully) but there is now a AA-AH1NAMB/US model (so I guess it's improved?).
EDIT: That's incorrect info from me. That's the old and new part numbers for the "Series 9 VGA Dongle" (or Micro HDMI to VGA dongle).

 

That looks like a micro hdmi to VGA.

I actually need a micro hdmi to regular hdmi. Then I'll use a longer hdmi to connect.

edit: basically this thing - http://hdmiportsaver.nj78.com/uploa..._Type_A___6_inch-SS8yMXRoeVhuTHRXTC5qcGc=.jpg