Samsung ATIV Book 9 Plus - NP940X3G

Thanks John... I appreciate the humor....but would that imply that this is an error in the MStore description or does " touchscreen" mean something other than I thought? (ie. touching the screen gets response like the a touchpad)

 

The X3E is not touchscreen. One of the reviews on Amazon.com specifically makes that point.

There's some more info about the X3E in this thread.

John

 

Amazing! They seems to like it! Great battery, and performance seems good too. Thou the text in the corner better not be real.

 

Sounding hopeful - however, the reflections from the screen look hideous. Matte non-touch option please

 

The reflections DO look horrible, thou the reviwer did not seem to mind at all. After reading this I can't get my paws on this thing fast enough!

 

Thanks...3 calls to MS and every CS rep said it was touchscreen. Everything on the web ( except the MS site) points otherwise.

Frustrating.

 

Dude, there is no touchscreen option on any series 9 or ATIV book 9 except for AB9+. Feel free to buy the X3E from Microsoft and prove me wrong though. If you do I'll be in line right behind you to buy it

 

I realize that...I called our local MS Store and once he talked to his " in store" Samsung expert...confirmed what you are all saying. I think my point was more that the CSR at the 1-800 # have no idea what they are talking about w/ 3 different sales people saying yes it was...meanwhile the Microsoft online store advertises it on their website with a " touchscreen".

 

WTH is with PC manufacturers. Are you kidding me? That text is etched on? That text better be on a few review units they sent out and not on the ones that will ship at retail. I don't own a Samsung phone and to get to be forever reminded of a couple of crappy software apps that probably will not exist in a couple of years is beyond ridiculous. I mean considering the version of this I would actually buy (8GB RAM/256GB SSD) is going to be closer to $2000, design and cosmetic appeal obviously matters to anyone willing to go up to that price point, particularly on the PC side. Very disappointing if this is on all the retail units.

 

I know that the 4GB RAM cannot be interchanged with this model because it is soldered but does anyone know if the SSD can be swapped out easily? And if so is there a guide somewhere to help point me in the right direction on how to do so for when I get this the first day?

 

Wow, what a tremendously positive review! Is anybody here familiar with the site of this review? Are their reviews typically trustworthy and spot on? I tend to agree with you guys regarding the etched on Side Sync Home Sync lite. What an incredibly arrogant thing for Samsung to do. Either way, sounds like the 1200.00 bucks I paid for this thing may prove to be a great deal (lack of 8gb RAM and 256 SSD notwithstanding). I get the impression that Samsung put a great deal of effort into perfecting the design and utilized super high end components. While not entirely ideal, this may be the reason for skimping on the RAM and SSD in order to release at the 1399 price point. Question is, is this enough of a positive review to renew excitement and stem some of the negativity we all have been expressing lately...

 

The text in the corner does not appear on the same model reviewed here NOMOBILE.RU -. I'm thinking it is a clear sticker or something.

Disappointing that this UK review does not address actual battery life which has been changed in some places on Samsung's site to 7.5 hrs (a pretty steep downgrade from "12 hrs"). The battery life switcharoo is poor marketing conduct and shall be duly noted in this consumer's brain.

I still hold out hope the machine will be upgradable to 8/256. I wish the early reviews would address that too.

 

Regarding "etching", the review says "embossed", so I am really hoping that means "painted on with thick paint" and that it can still be removed.

 

IIRC the shorter battery time is using PowerMark which is a much more demanding test than Samsung's previous test method. However, managing all those pixels must add to the power drain.

John

 

There is a thread for the S9 SSD upgrade that may be useful. All you really need there is a size 0 (myself used 000) Phillips to remove the tiny screws for the bottom panel. Then you can reimage from a recovery-made thumbdrive. I would think the AB9+ is similar. Your biggest issue is whether your model will come with the msata or the new pci-e SSD, so I don't know about first day upgrade.

http://forum.notebookreview.com/samsung/672173-series-9-owners-third-party-msata-upgrades.html

 

I personally think you are better off. I have a Dell 2720 that has 2560x1440 on a 27" display and the text is none too large when using desktop at 100%. I really can't imagine what 3200x1800 on a 13.3 would look like even at 150%.

 

Why couldn't this have been a 14-15 inch model - same resolution, 2 memory slots and 2 SSD slots ?

15 inches would've accommodated the resolution better and all of the scaling drama would've theoretically been less of a an issue.

 

I recall someone finding some info that indicated that its the M.2 format SSD. At present they aren't easy to find in the retail chain.

The Book 9 Plus has converged on the 15" Series 9 weight but I'd much prefer that Samsung keep the 15" as a functional machine that doesn't rely on (imperfect) display scaling to be usable. And I'd give priority to putting two fans inside the 15" over another SSD slot. The 15" fan noise is noticeable under load.

John

 

I think that's what it's supposed to be as well. I wouldn't be surprised if some regions ended up with msata though (that's what sony did on the Pro). If it does require M.2 be prepared to shell out big $$$ if you can find one.

 

Happy to post a link to another fresh review: Samsung Ativ Book 9 Plus review - Laptop
9/10 from Trusted Reviews

But again; why the text in the lower right corner. My eyes are hurting.

 

Thanks for that link. I've posted a comment asking if the video port they say is a mini DisplayPort really is, and not the Samsung mini VGA port.

John

 

That's a highly relevant question, given the history of these ports. However, on this model I just cannot imagine they would have VGA instead of DP -- otherwise there would be no way to support the internal 1800p resolution on external displays. I believe DisplayPort goes up to 3840x2160 -- though my impression is miniDP maxes out at 2560x1600.

I'll be interested to hear the answer.

 

The Samsung UK specs say it's mini-VGA. However, past experience is that they sometimes do too much copy and past without checking the facts.

We'd like to see the mini Display Port as standard on all the new Book 9s but I can state with confidence that the Samsung VGA dongle fits the port on the right side of my Book 9 Lite.

John

 

Hmmm.... so they've haven't abandoned that mini-VGA on the new models. Of course, the Lite is a different beast, targeting a different audience -- much lower resolution, which can easily be displayed through VGA. With the Plus, I imagine they would realize the mistake the first time they tried to actually connect an external monitor. Or maybe they figured it's only ever going to be used for projectors anyway. Indeed disappointing if it proves to be true on the Plus as well.

 

Question: I wonder how come the reviewer did not say a word about the touch screen which is a pretty major addition to this 9+??

 

Device manager snapshot of the SSD from a display unit at the Announcement Press Conference

480GB M.2 SSD for $560 (on sale lol)

 

Does anyone knows if you reduce the resolution to 1080p, does the battery life improves?

And does anyone know any website that has iCore 5 4th gen vs iCore 7 3rd gen benchmarks, I'm tired of waiting for the higher end 9 plus and might buy this one depending on how big of a performance drop the iCore 5 has against the iCore 7.

Edit: BTW I'm a software developer, and I'll be using Visual Studio, SQL Server Management Studio and some photoshop and I want to know if I'll notice the difference.

 

Well, this is a question I recently asked myself, don't really know but common sense approach I think you would save battery life only in terms of the CPU/desktop experiencing pushing a lower resolution interface, but the display still has to light up each and every pixel even if downscaled, so no savings could come from the display when resolutions is switched i think.

 

Went to my local Bestbuy today and looked at the ATIV book 9 lite. Of interest it had the exact same embossing in the lower right hand corner. It is slightly raised and certainly not etched in. Either way, it is not exactly attractive. Unfortunately, based off this I think its safe to assume the same embossing will appear on the commercial version of the AB9+.

 

See the notebookcheck mobile CPU benchmark list. Haswell does not bring any significant performance improvements at a given clock speed. The 4200U (which it appears will be used in the first shipments of the Book 9+) is currently at #120 in the list and around 20% slower than the top end mobile Ivy Bridge parts. Haswell parts, however, have a slightly lower power rating.

John

 

So would you say we'll be able to remove it?

 

Compare

PassMark - Intel Core i5-4200U @ 1.60GHz - Price performance comparison

to

PassMark - Intel Core i7-3537U @ 2.00GHz - Price performance comparison

 

Thanks guys, sad that this 4th gen of i5 doesn't have any significant performance boost over the i5 3rd gen, guess I'll be waiting on some performance reviews for this laptop before buying.

 

Yeah, I think so. Perhaps with a blow dryer and a straight blade. Not sure I would want to chance it though.

 

Yeah, intel wasn't going for performance gains, actually trying to achieve the same performance at lower power (haswell takes the TDP from 17w to 15w I believe). There was a slight bump from the ivy i5, which is good since they have decreased power usage as well (biggest difference is under very light load though). Unfortunately, it looks like the AB9+ screen may eat up those gains under moderate use.

PassMark - Intel Core i5-3337U @ 1.80GHz - Price performance comparison

 

For some reason, the reviews out there right now don't seem genuine. Why is that?

 

I get a mild impression of that as well. What would the angle be though? Also, I read some of the reviews for other laptops on the second site and they seemed pretty legitimate. Would be nice to see some reviews from U.S. sources soon though. Maybe Lisa Gade at mobiletechreview...

 

The review seems too good to be true. I mean they are not in-depth reviews and yet they gave the laptop 5/5 and 9/10? Where arel the detailed battery drain and benchmark statistics? Still waiting for Engadget's, Lisa's and Anadtech's reviews.

 

do we know when this is available for purchase?

 

It's available for purchase, it just doesn't ship yet

 

Don't forget about The Verge and... Notebookreview

No details on / screenshots of scaling either (only mentioned in the verdict), but what can one expect when so many companies get their testing devices only on a provision that they write 'good' reviews..

 

I also wonder if those first "reviews" were in a race to get something out.

Notebookcheck does some of the best in-depth reviews.

John

 

I have a good feeling none of these reviews are real yet. They don't show you much pictures and they are very small. Also, why don't we have Windows Experience Index, no screenshot of the CPU details etc. Nothing like that, and you would think, if they really had the machine in their hand all of this was just 5 minutes. I suspect the pictures currently available were taken previously at events and now used.

The funniest thing is the the things they talk about is all what has already been mentioned that can be determined by just looking at it or briefly handling it an expo. Also they seem to have thrown in some random specs like up to 512GB SSD to make it sound like they have info. There are two speakers, down firing, and they then add something like 'has a punch to it'.

So in short, these review sites are just trying to get traffic for adsense money.

 

I wouldn't worry about waiting for this one if there were a tiny LCD touchscreen thing I could plug into a USB port. I guess it would effectively be a 2nd monitor. Does anyone make something like that for all the non touchscreens out there?

Also, it would me nice if the trackpads could automatically turn into small LCD screens so there would never be the need to reach for the monitor and smudge it up. I'm pretty sure no one has that technology, but i think it would be useful.

Meh. I'm just frustrated at the wait here and the lack of a higher mem model.

 

I hate to equate this thread with a sexual experience but there is going to be one hell of a climax when someone in this forum gets the first 9+.

 

I bet people will get more excited when the high spec model (i7/8/256) becomes available for purchase (if ever).

 

That's what she said !

 

Or will it be an anticlimax? I still can't see the cause of all the excitement about something that is heavier than the older models and has a display resolution which is only usable if you hold the screen about 4 inches from the end of your nose (a position that is somewhat awkward for typing!).

John

 

That's assuming there is no such thing as dpi scaling. I agree Windows and Windows programs are pretty darn poor in this regard, but it's good the hardware front is finally willing to break the chicken-egg situation.

I've been working on a Sony Vaio Z 1080P for years and I've really enjoyed the benefits of the higher resolution. During CAD work the high dpi allows for much nicer edge lining, while font rendering is also much improved (just set Chrome, etc to 150% zoom by default and you'll have the 'normal' website site) for other work, like DTP. Another joy, using programs like Excel, is being able to switch between viewing lots of information or just have a comfortable view by zooming in/out.

I can see some would prefer to stick to low res options for some reasons, but could they please stop discouraging the manufacturers that finally took a risky step and just buy one of those zillion options with a low res panel?

 

Those statements are contradictory. The predecessor has a 1080p panel.