Samsung ATIV Book 9 Plus - NP940X3G

Samsung wrote that it will come for sure,
but they still can not tell when. :-(

 

No. Not for video editing and much more.

Read the thread. Only the SSD can -perhaps- be changed.

I would (and will) wait - or choose an alternative (but which?).

 

It mainly affects multi-tasking doesn't it?
Waiting is exactly my problem, I'm starting at the university in October and need a notebook by then.. So there's no real alternatives except a MacBook Air I guess?

 

Because of the low screen resolution the air is no alternative for *me*.

 

I received my laptop from amazon ordered on 9/8. Best laptop I've seen. Solid build, great screen - gloss doesn't bother me, fast HDD (Toshiba). My only complaints are the screen is smaller than I expected. It's 13.3 in, but in a 12 in frame. It will take a little getting use to. 15 inch would be perfect IMO. I had about 70gb free left on the HDD. Would be nice to have a 256, but that can be upgraded. I ordered a 2tb external HDD for 100bucks to store all of my pics/vids onto. The mouse trackpad pinch feature is not as smooth as using the touchscreen.

If anyone can't wait, I have another Samsung active 9 plus for sale I purchased at the Microsoft Store I'm returning

 

So let me phrase it this way: For a consumer, who mainly wants a well crafted ultrabook with long battery life, high mobility and the new processor generation the Ativ Book 9 is kind of the only choice right now right? I think I'm fine with the small SDD because i have a desktop Pc, and the 4gb of RAM is not a big deal to me either because I haven't experienced much improvement when i upgraded my desktop to 8gb. I am even fine with setting the resolution to Full HD on the Ativ Book as long as most Windows Apps aren't optimised for that resolution. For me the competitors can't compete with the beautiful design of Samsung. Apple's not an option for me either because I just don't like Apple products.. So my only choice left is buying this

It surely does have some flaws for that price but as there is no real competition right now and I need an ultrabook soon I won't be able to wait for the improved Haswell generations :/

 

If you don't know whether or not you need 8GB, you probably don't. How much do you have now, what does task manager say when you're pushing your machine? There are many scenarios that will not work with 4GB, probably the most common is running VMs. Others include heavy video/imaging processing or number crunching. If you're a hoarder who keeps open dozens of tabs at a time 4GB may also be insufficient.

 

On my desktop pc i have 8 gbs right now and I just checked it with VLC, Itunes and some other programs open (severalb tabs in Chrome) and 3,5 gb are being used right now so I think my only use for my 8 gb is when I'm gaming and I probably won't on an ultrabook

And sry but I just don't have time right now to browse through 135 pages, has Samsung answered to any Emails asking if the 128 gb SDD can be changed later?

 

Yes I think it all comes down to personal requirements. I have been following this thread for a while now and I'm pretty sure the AB9+ is one of the best quality "ultrabook" available right now. The only thing is that 4GB is not enough for my needs. I was really, really tempted by the Sony VAIO Pro 13, but now I realized Sony rushed the product to market and I kind of lost faith in Sony. Also, I would have liked a 1080p screen and not really more than that, as Windows 8.1 is still not amazing with ultra high resolutions. The Yoga 2 Pro seems interesting but the fact that the keyboard lies directly down when flipped is something I don't really like. I know the keys are locked but still... I like the way the Thinkpad Yoga will work, the keyboard will retract inside and will never be in direct contact with your desk. I also checked the XPS 12 from Dell... but my heart was not there, darn that thing is ugly! I also know about the Acer but it looks too much like a Mac, and I'm suspicious about the quality.

So anyway, for me only these are possiblities:

1) Wait for a 8GB version of the AB9+
2) Wait for Sony to fix their wifi problem with Sony VAIO Pro (but I don't like the way they are (not)handling the problem...)
3) Wait for feedback on the Yoga 2 Pro, after October 18th
4) Wait for the new Surface Pro with 8GB + i7
5) Forget about ultra portable and get a Lenovo Carbon X1

One last thing: people complain about Samsung being so slow. I'm sorry but I'd rather have a company like Samsung who takes the time to fix problems before going to market than Sony who rushes incomplete products out of the door. I know it's frustrating to wait for a product, but to receive a BETA product you have to debug and send back many times is much worse in my opinion.

 

Unfortunately, we are starting to get a significant amount of redundant questions on this thread regarding 4gb RAM, SSD size and upgradability etc. which have been answered over and over again ad nauseam. I ask that you all please read through at a min the last ten pages of the thread before you post. I can almost guarantee the answer to your question will be there. Also, pay close attention to Kitejumpings posts. He has put the AB9+ through extensive testing and has posted insightful and thorough answers to all of your questions.

 

Thanks Dave! I think you are right (preference and cost). My Amazon account just updated with a ship date of Oct 16-21. For now I will just let the order stand and keep watching to see if the price drops between now and then. If it does not and the ship date really is going to be a month out I think I'm leaning more toward the Y2P with it's 8GB especially if I can get it for less.

 

I've actually been thinking for a few days that the AB9+ may deserve its own, proper (and properly named) Owners Lounge thread. This thread was created long before release, and contains 100+ pages of discussion, speculation and chatter before the first Haswell unit was shipped. It's understandable that newly joined members don't read up before posting questions (though they still should).

Instead of morphing this thread into an Owners Lounge for the AB9+ (which is starting to happen) we could keep this thread for general chat about upcoming Haswell models, and have a "proper" Owners Lounge thread with an informative opening post that summarizes the most common questions. The following are excellent examples of such Owners Lounge threads:

http://forum.notebookreview.com/sam...unge-np770z5e-np780z5e-np870z5e-np880z5e.html
http://forum.notebookreview.com/sam...book-9-13-3-ivy-bridge-np900x3e-np900x3f.html
http://forum.notebookreview.com/sam...wered-ativ-book-9-lite-np905s3g-np915s3g.html
http://forum.notebookreview.com/samsung/650581-samsung-15-series-9-np900x4c-ivy-bridge-cpu.html

This would require that an AB9+ owner creates the thread and is willing to take ownership of the Opening Post. I think it would be OK to simply copy and/or summarize some of the excellent information already posted here. Of course always give credit where it's due.

This is merely a suggestion. The discussion and information posted here lately has been excellent, and I hate for it to drown in a huge pre-release thread.

 

We are of similar mindset! I'm concerned about the 4gb and SSD size and know that my impatience to get a new computer is going to have me hating it later if I don't make a wise decision. I would not consider myself a POWER user as I don't use VMs, video editing and such, however I typically have 20 chrome tabs, Outlook, Word and excel (each with multiple documents open). On my HP it typically is using 4-5GB however my Toshiba usually runs at 2-3GB. I typically go through computers about every 18 months because by then they are running very slow and I am ready to toss them out a window. I travel fairly often and thin/light is one of my biggest considerations.

And I agree, that Dell XPS is UGLY!

 

Why don't you try Internet Explorer Metro, Internet Explorer Desktop or Firefox? They are perhaps less trendy than Chrome but at least as good.
You can get an Adblocker in all but IE Metro.
All is not lost though you can get peerblock or good host files infusions.

 

Good idea!! All the talk about when Amazon will ship and when the 8/256gb arrives can stay here. Just create the tread and I´ll be there.

 

Yes I have the same problem, I am so impatient to get my ultrabook. I am using Jedi meditation techniques to stop myself from buying something now. It seems many products will come to market in the next 3-4 weeks, especially with the arrival of Windows 8.1. I think you don't really need to be a power user to *require* 8GB. In my opinion, in 2013, 8GB should be the minimum memory on any laptop, especially ultrabooks that cost usually more than $1000. But it's just a matter of opinion. It seems for you the AB9+ is even more a contender because you don't run VMs. I need to run VMs and resource hungry java editors so 4GB is a no-go for me. My heart really wanted the VAIO Pro. I used to have a VAIO Z (which cost $3000 at the time) which I really liked, but the new Pro is evidently not of the same quality at all.

The quality of the AB9+ looks amazing compared to all of the other brands (beside Lenovo, which I think is a really solid brand). I think waiting for the upgraded AB9+ is the smart thing to do, for you and I ;-)

 

My Ativ Book 9 Plus came in last night and am currently evaluating its uses. I will post some pics a little later as I am at work and running some bechmarks. I did get the Toshiba SSD. Here is my first benchmark. This was my lowest score bench but none were all that much better than this. I am wholly disappointed with these speeds compared to the 1.1GB Read/550MB write I got out of my Vaio Pro 128GB SSD. I am downloading PCMark and 3DMark at the moment and will post results accordingly.
AS SSD Benchmark 1.7.4739.38088
------------------------------
Name: TOSHIBA THNSNH128G8NT
Firmware: HTBAN103
Controller: iaStorA
Offset: 950272 K - OK
Size: 119.24 GB
Date: 9/20/2013 12:03:14 PM
------------------------------
Sequential:
------------------------------
Read: 489.53 MB/s
Write: 95.03 MB/s
------------------------------
4K:
------------------------------
Read: 10.87 MB/s
Write: 25.54 MB/s
------------------------------
4K-64Threads:
------------------------------
Read: 432.50 MB/s
Write: 91.44 MB/s
------------------------------
Access Times:
------------------------------
Read: 0.243 ms
Write: 0.132 ms
------------------------------
Score:
------------------------------
Read: 492
Write: 126
Total: 851
------------------------------

A few observations:
It is extremely quiet even under the fairly heavy load I have had it on(No gaming yet but utilizing 3.4GB of RAM). MiniSD card adaptor works well in the unit. It is hidden from sight when in use but is extremely difficult to remove. Compared to my old Vaio Pro 13, the AB9+ is super heavy. It is amazing how much of a difference that 1/2 pound makes. It does not feel unbalanced, though, and is easy to use one handed while carrying with the other. I REALLY like this device. I am using it at 150% scale(200% is way too big for me as I am used to the smaller icons). Windows scaling isn't the problem it is made out to be. Chrome is not blurry at this scale and text looks so clear ad sharp. Gimp is perfectly usable and I will install CS6 and CorelDraw after work. I did have a small problem with Wifi disconnecting amazingly enough as well as a trackpad that was randomly jumping all over the screen. Once I updated it to the latest Windows and Samsung update it is working without issue. Ask me if there is anything anyone wants to know. I am happy to help.

 

Sheesh. They're really taking advantage of the pci-e interface

 

I am falling in the love w/ this machine. (AB9+)

My biggest complaint about the S7 which I had, and returned, was I couldn't get used to the keyboard and made lots of mistakes typing. The 9+ has none of those issues.

I am a long time Chrome browser user....and was having some issues with scaling and blurry webpages. I changed to Firefox and the clarity is amazing. I will continue to use Firefox for now.

 

Don't put too much weight on the sequential read and write speeds unless you can notice there is a real life slowdown. However. the speed of many of the SSD families improves with capacity.

Young eyes, I suspect. One upon a time I was using an Osborne 1 with a hardware modification to display 104 columns on its 5" display but these days my eyes like the text to be somewhat larger.

John

 

What are you talking about? The screen is 13.3" measured diagonally corner-to-corner, just like any other 13.3" display in the world

 

Hey Leftbrain. Have you noticed any increase in fan noise since you turned the autobrightness off? I turned the autobrightness off this a.m. and now I am noticing more/louder fan noise despite no change in my usage which has been minimal at best (4tabs IE, adding windows charms). Perhaps it has something to do with the power usage being altered without auto brightness enabled?

 

Nope, i don't post there. But i used Thinkpads for years and was a big advocate of matte screens, but i came to realize that in bad light conditions the difference between matte and glossy isn't as big as one might think, the most important variable is that your display has enough brigthness to power through those pesky sunbeams. But when you are in favourable lighting conditions, the glossy display beats the matte in vividness and even sharpness. If the AB9+ display is just like the Ipad display, that would be already OK for me.

 

Can anyone who has an AB9+ comment on whether the wifi issues from previous series 9s have been resolved? Thinking of returning my X3E if so.

 

In case anyone is interested, TigerDirect.com has the AB9+ available now and can even be ordered through Amazon. As of 7:30 pm MT, there are 12 available through Amazon and shipping on Monday. Amazon.com: Samsung ATIV Book 9 Plus NP940X3G-K01US 13.3-Inch Laptop: Computers & Accessories. I cancelled previous Amazon order (that has a 1 month shipping delay) and replaced it through Amazon from TigerDirect because I have a large gift card balance. I hope I enjoy it and looks like Lenovo Yoga 2 Pro isn't in my future (for now ).

 

I got an AB9 X3E and an AB9+ X3G and I've been comparing them carefully. My X3E had very bad WiFi problems even with updated Samsung drivers. Lost connection regularly and I would have to reset the WiFi adapter, etc. I updated the driver with the latest Atheros version and that helped, but it was still problematic. On the AB9+, I have had absolutely NO WiFi issues. It has been completely rock solid with daily use in a number of different locations.

 

I haven't noticed any wifi issues with the ab+. The Microsoft Store has 20 in stock and you can get it in a couple of days with 2 day shipping. I have one I'm returning since my amazon order came through even though it estimated 1 month shipping.

I turned autobrightness off and have notice no fan noise. My fan doesn't even come on during regular browsing. Noticed it only when doing the benchmark tests. The display is much better than the IPAD.

 

Found two new reviews:
-) from Russia and quite in depth, Google translated: Review of Samsung ATIV Book 9 Plus: ultrabook with the best screen / Hi-Tech.Mail.Ru

-) from Laptopmag, one of those reviews you aren't sure they even touched the machine, but quite a few interesting benchmark numbers: Samsung ATIV Book 9 Plus Review | Windows 8 Laptop Reviews

 

There's a fanless, albeit heavy, 13" ultrabook (hybrid tablet) arriving with the HP Spectre 13 x2. They are using a Haswell Y-cpu (i5) with up to 8GB RAM and standard Win 8 (no RT). I find it interesting how "fanless" suddenly pops up in some otherwise obscure hybrid notebook, and not in at least one decent, mainstream model. Manufactures are just too lazy to build a decent fanless design (heatpipes, or liquid cooling).
For some reason manufactures think fanless/Y makes only sense in tablets (that then "happen" to have a keyboard option). Not so. I guess 8GB/Haswell Y would be reasonably powerful for the average user, and then good bye noise, in any circumstances. It's funny how they sell vacuum cleaners making it a point that they are "silent" even though they are in use for just a couple of minutes and you need not concentrate when using them, and at the same time they never make it a sales pitch that a notebook is silent.

As a rule,I never trust a notebook as soon as it has a fan. Time will come when it will kick in more often than you initially thought, be it because of more demanding software, non-removable dust (?), heat in summer, heat from the battery while charging (or even when AC is simply plugged in), or because you get to use it on your lap/bed and the vents are blocked/bad thermal environment and so on). On the other hand, the Vaio P used to have issues because its fanless design caused throttling all the time, AFAIR.

HP lays claim to the first fanless Haswell PC and the first Leap Motion laptop

I plan on having both the i7 AB9+ and the i7-4500U UX301LA delivered here and subject them to identical load and scenarios and see what happens on each. It's impossible to make up an opinion based on reviews, even with objective measurements, or on user's optionions that tend to be contradictory.

---

On another note, please keep in mind that diskmark will produce very different results if you happen to change the amount of data written/read (100mb, 1GB etc.) I was shocked when I noticed this, the discrepancies were enormous and I couldn't really tell why, but they do acknowledge this on their website.

--

 

Thanks for the bench..however, mine are significantly different than yours for some reason. I did upgrade to windows 8.1 rtm.

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
<ASSSDBenchmark
XmlFormatVersion="1">
<Information>
<Name>TOSHIBA THNSNH128G8NT</Name>
<Firmware>HTBAN103</Firmware>
<Controller>iaStorA</Controller>
<Size>119.24 GB</Size>
<DateTime>9/21/2013 12:39:29 PM</DateTime>
<BenchmarkVersion>1.7.4739.38088</BenchmarkVersion>
<Mode>MB/s</Mode>
<Note />
<Signature />
</Information>
<SeqTest>
<Read>489.21 MB/s</Read>
<Write>443.81 MB/s</Write>
</SeqTest>
<Random4K1TTest>
<Read>13.08 MB/s</Read>
<Write>36.62 MB/s</Write>
</Random4K1TTest>
<Random4K64TTest>
<Read>660.59 MB/s</Read>
<Write>141.60 MB/s</Write>
</Random4K64TTest>
<AccTimeTest>
<Read>0.187 ms</Read>
<Write>0.111 ms</Write>
</AccTimeTest>
<Score>
<Read>723</Read>
<Write>223</Write>
<Total>1311</Total>
</Score>
</ASSSDBenchmark>

 

I got my AB9+ from the MS store. This is my first purchase from them. One of their " selling points' is how they configure the computer they send to you with as little bloat as possible. I concur. In all the laptops I have bought over the years this one came with very little ( if any) bloatware.

My Windows experience # is 5.4 Brought down by the Desktop Graphics Performance.

 

Oh yeah, the machine is perfectly usable; it is just the spec lover in me that finds it disappointing. Yes, I am young enough to have to google what the Osbourne was and to know that I am younger than that machine before searching for it. As far as my eyes though, I am technically blind before corrective lenses. I have just gotten used to smaller text and such. I am also an extremely observant person and I notice minor differences, especially in color, that others often miss. My second run down of multiple SSD benchmarks are a little better. Here are a couple of runs:

AS SSD Benchmark 1.7.4739.38088
------------------------------
Name: TOSHIBA THNSNH128G8NT
Firmware: HTBAN103
Controller: iaStorA
Offset: 950272 K - OK
Size: 119.24 GB
Date: 9/21/2013 1:13:42 PM
------------------------------
Sequential:
------------------------------
Read: 486.84 MB/s
Write: 450.26 MB/s
------------------------------
4K:
------------------------------
Read: 11.08 MB/s
Write: 28.61 MB/s
------------------------------
4K-64Threads:
------------------------------
Read: 527.52 MB/s
Write: 112.07 MB/s
------------------------------
Access Times:
------------------------------
Read: 0.256 ms
Write: 0.142 ms
------------------------------
Score:
------------------------------
Read: 587
Write: 186
Total: 1070
------------------------------

-----------------------------------------------------------------------
CrystalDiskMark 3.0.2 x64 (C) 2007-2013 hiyohiyo
Crystal Dew World : Crystal Dew World
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
* MB/s = 1,000,000 byte/s [SATA/300 = 300,000,000 byte/s]

Sequential Read : 467.905 MB/s
Sequential Write : 439.163 MB/s
Random Read 512KB : 379.402 MB/s
Random Write 512KB : 284.389 MB/s
Random Read 4KB (QD=1) : 11.961 MB/s [ 2920.2 IOPS]
Random Write 4KB (QD=1) : 46.850 MB/s [ 11438.1 IOPS]
Random Read 4KB (QD=32) : 148.403 MB/s [ 36231.1 IOPS]
Random Write 4KB (QD=32) : 109.613 MB/s [ 26761.1 IOPS]

Test : 500 MB [C: 38.7% (40.4/104.4 GB)] (x5)
Date : 2013/09/21 13:13:50
OS : Windows 8 [6.2 Build 9200] (x64)

3Dmark11:
Generic VGA video card benchmark result - Intel(R) Core(TM) i5-4200U CPU @ 1.60GHz,SAMSUNG ELECTRONICS CO., LTD. NP940X3G-K01US
Generic VGA video card benchmark result - Intel(R) Core(TM) i5-4200U CPU @ 1.60GHz,SAMSUNG ELECTRONICS CO., LTD. NP940X3G-K01US

Ice Storm and Cloud Gate:
Generic VGA video card benchmark result - Intel(R) Core(TM) i5-4200U CPU @ 1.60GHz,SAMSUNG ELECTRONICS CO., LTD. NP940X3G-K01US

Photoshop does not scale well on Windows 8 at this res. Gimp does a lot better amazingly enough. We will see what 8.1 does to fix this.

 

Windows 8.1 won't be the final solution. It simply makes the hooks available that applications need in order to properly scale for higher resolution displays. The applications themselves need updated to take advantage Windows 8.1

 

NP940X3G-K04US with i7/8GB is now on Amazon, from a third party, so buy at your own risk. Shipping is 3 - 5 weeks. I suspect the price should drop to $1799 once it becomes readily available.

Amazon.com: Samsung IT 13.3" Core i7 4500U 128GB 8GB NP940X3G-K04US: Electronics

 

I need a little help.

The biggest hog of GB is something called "User Manual".

Two questions:

1. I can't even figure out how to access it. I am a newbie Windows 8 and the usual program list is elusive to me.

2. Do I need the User Manual? Can I delete it and pick up some GB space?

Thanks

 

Swipe from left to right to reveal the charms bar or use the Windows + C button. Search for User Manual. It's not needed and can be deleted. You can remove it by uninstalling it from the Control Panels. Everything can be done using search, so search for "uninstall". Biggest GB hog is the recovery partition taking up ~13GB. You can create a recovery disk and delete this partition.

The price of the i7/8gb is crazy - over 2K. With only 128GB HDD - way not worth it. If Amazon discounts it like the i5, the price should fall around 1600 which still is pretty high.

 

Would you mind going into detail or giving me a link detailing how one would go about to delete the recovery partition and create a recovery disk? Thanks!

 

It fits, kind of disappointing they didn't include ac from the factory, but it was an easy upgrade.

 

1. Create a recovery disk first by going searching for "recovery" and selecting Create a recovery disk. You'll need a USB with at least 16 gB.
2. Follow these instruct. to delete the partition:
How-to delete the hidden recovery partition on Samsung 9 Series laptop - ESX Virtualization

 

It's great that you ask BEFORE deleting the Recovery partition: We get questions here all the time (sometimes several each day) from members who FIRST deleted their Recovery, THEN discovered they would like it back.

Check this post for guidance. The discussion before and after that one have some more details.

I recommend F4 booting Recovery to create the backup instead of doing it from Windows. Also, the factory image backup may not fit on a 16GB stick when you include the Recovery software -- making it bootable, which is the important part that some miss.

 

I finally got to play with mine today. Here are my order stats, for anyone keeping tabs:

Ordered from Amazon August 18
Complained via chat September 10
AB9+ received September 16 (upgraded to one day shipping)

I am enthralled with my new toy, and have spent the last couple of hours typing on it. So far, I do like the keyboard. I am a big user of control-backspace, home, and end. I'm not a huge fan of the idea that the latter two require the Fn key, but I will survive, I suppose. The main things for me are that the spacing of the keys is adequate, even for me (I favor the wave style keyboards), and the touchpad doesn't seem to accidentally activate while typing.

I honestly haven't had it long enough to review much else, and I'm on about 3 hours of sleep from coming back from vacation, so I am about to crash. I just wanted to update with my official order/shipping dates from Amazon.

Have a good night, everyone!

 

I was harping on the small amount of ram in the configuration but I just also thought about the bare minimum amount of hard drive space (128 GB). My goodness.

If they made smaller SSDs, would Samsung have put that in there ?

Samsung sells this resolution as some sort of novelty type item and not as a serious computing machine apparently, and I'm sort of disappointed that it's selling so well. I would hate to see other manufacturers start shipping new configurations with the bare minimum and non-upgradable.

Also, does the graphics component have it's own ram or does it steal from that 4GB ?

 

I wait still for i7, 8GB and 256 SSD.
If Santa Clause can bring it? Hope earlier.
...and cheaper than 1800

 

Man why does it take Samsung so damn long to refresh their laptops with the new Haswell, I know they already released the Book 9 Plus but how about the rest of their laptops?

 

My girlfriend want this but come on 128GB ssd only... And I read somewhere that replacing the ssd on series 9 void the warranty, is that right?

 

Economics 101 - Supply and Demand. If you don't want it, don't buy it. There is no reason for you to criticize those who do want it for buying it. There is a market for 4GB/128GB SSD highresolution ultrabooks - and that its plenty for a lot of people. Can you just try to deal with that? It's still a fairly serious computing machine. 4GB is extremely functional and I can store my media elsewhere, as needed.

 

If you put the stock ssd back, Samsung will never know that you opened the laptop so it won't void your warranty if that ever becomes an issue.

 

IF you are careful with the screws and don't make any obvious scratches that is.

 

Nobody is attacking the customer
I personally demand more from Samsung
...and other companies.

 

I think what he also is saying is that alot of the people in this thread, who owns the computer and others, are sick n tired of hearing people complain about it. Samsung is not reading on this forum.