Samsung ATIV Book 9 Plus - NP940X3G

There seems to be a lot of conflicting reports on when this laptop will come out. Anyone have a more definitive source on when it'll be released in NA?

 

Amazon UK currently expects stock on 17th August. That is plausible.

At present the NP940X3G is listed in SW Update's database but there are no drivers / software. Once they appear in the database then it's probably an indicator of cleared for production. Which countries are at the front of the queue is another matter.

John

 

I don't see how they can release it before they at least have drivers that are compatible with 8.1. With that resolution though, 8.1 should already be on the machine.

 

If they were ready to release it they would and just set the default scaling at 200% much like MS sets the scaling on the surface pro at 150% out of the box. That is not a show stopper for not releasing it.

 

for what it's worth, i dropped by a samsung experience shop in my local best buy and asked what the release date was on the AB9+. the younger samsung floor rep didnt know, but he got his manager over who said it would be out in ~3 weeks. i asked whether or not we should expect the i7 version to be available at the same time, and he said he wasn't sure, but believed it would be. hopefully he wasn't getting it confused with the lite version, but i took this as good news.

 

12 hour mark should be achievable me thinks, but I am betting on 10 hours, which is more than enough for me, I really want to get a laptop, I keep looking at MBA 13 but then that screen is stopping time and time again. I thought that Samsung's panel will be using IGZO tech thus achieving a much better battery life than others whilst keeping a high res profile? I could be wrong however. I am still tempted by MBA13 or the Samsung's 740U3E but I guess one is TN and the other is IVY (battery life). Frustrating for the consumer on both ends !

 

You can now preorder the ATIV Book 9 Lite in the US for an outrageous $829 directly from Samsung themselves.

http://www.samsung.com/us/computer/pcs/NP915S3G-K02US

 

That's cheap compared with the £599 for the UK version with the touchscreen except that price includes 20% VAT. The UK also has the non-touch version for £100 less. That's a big price difference for a touch screen.

John

PS: We have a separate Book 9 Lite thread.

 

That's very promising for the 9 plus that was announced on the same day. Even if they don't release at the same time, it means we can probably expect pre-orders to go up on Samsung's site well in advance.

That's a nice-looking machine, and the price is certainly right. It'll be interesting to see how "Quad-Core Processor (1.40GHz)" holds up compared to Haswell.

 

It will perform worse than a sandy ulv i5. I think it's overpriced actually. 720p, AMD silicon, heavier than current generation, worse battery life/build quality. Considering you can get an ivy i5 for $100 more, I don't know why you wouldn't. Unless you have to have touch.

 

$800 is a ridiculous price for a plastic, AMD 3.5 lb machine with last-gen battery life. lol @ that being the "cheap" version

By that standard, I'm expecting the Plus to also be priced at a ridiculous amount

 

$800 seems reasonable to me. Processor power would be my only concern at that price. That aside, I'm not seeing any other laptop in that price range that strikes me as meaningfully better, especially with such a nice form-factor. Frankly, if it has the same excellent touchpad as previous series 9 laptops, to me that alone makes it better than a lot of the other $800 Ivy Bridge laptops out there. $800 for a slim, attractive, touchscreen SSD laptop actually strikes me as quite a solid price, the tradeoff presumably being the processor.

I'm sure the 9 plus will be quite expensive. Start with what the recently-released 1080p Ativ costs, then add for the higher-res screen, touchscreen, and additional RAM. I'll be thrilled if I can get it with a 256 SSD for under $1600, and I expect more.

 

the laptop is not attractive. its plastic. you probably think the gs4 is attractive. why would any get this when its barely cheaper than the series 9

 

Is it confirmed that there absolutely WILL be an i7 256GB model for the Plus, or is it still just a rumor? I assume the matte screen option is a rumor as well. To have a 13.3'' i7 256GB Matte (non-touch) Haswell 1080p or higher would be absolutely perfect.

 

be prepared to pay 2 grand USD for that.

 

There will be an i7 plus model, at least in the US, presumably with 8GB and either 256GB or 512GB. ATM, there is no hard info on a non-touch/matte option in the plus, nor a confirmation of the 15" refresh. Sensibly, there should be both as there is strong demand for those machines (maybe greater demand than for the plus as spec'd). It may take lackluster plus sales to spur samsung on though.

Maybe the first day of release, there is a heavy penalty to pay to be a samsung early adopter. I would certainly wait for the reviews at least.

 

Okay, what all-metal, slim, SSD, touchscreen laptops do you think are dramatically better for $800? Anything below that price seems to mostly be spinning drives and heavier machines, so that processor would have to be pretty terrible for the Lite's "proper" price to be much below $800.

Yes, more expensive laptops are nicer. But, that's often how it works.

Eh, I'm skeptical it'll start that high. Those SSD and processor specs are available on premium 1080p machines for $1700. I'd be surprised if Samsung thinks the screen is a $300 upgrade. That said, if the trackpad is good and battery life is over 10 hours, I might jump even for two grand. I'm tired of waiting for a Haswell laptop without significant compromises.

 

Agree. A bunch of german online shops are listing the 9 plus now for 1400EURO which is around 1800USD. I guess that Samsung wont change the price range for their top priced models. Currently only the 15'' series 9 notebook can be configured to be worth 2k (if I am not wrong) and I think that 2k will also get you the highest speced series 9 plus.

The release dates posted in those german online shops are all August.

 

You forgot to add a 1366x768 screen...there are better laptops out there for $829 than this even if it means not getting Haswell. You can buy the ivy bridge version of the np900x3d for close to that if you look around and still get a 900x1600 matte screen. It will be interesting to see what price they put on the plus.

 

Ativ Q rewiev is out, so the 9+ can't be to far away!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qLJCRQikCuw&feature=youtube_gdata_player


In this video you can see the 9+ on the table. I'm waiting for a rewiev

 

Quote from the video: "Samsung is running the display at 1920x1080 HD display resolution by default".

Normally this would mean that the display looks fuzzy with not having the native resultion set.
Will that mean that also the Ativ Book 9 Plus is running 1920x1080 by default because it has no Windows 8.1 yet or will it work like an Apple Retina Macbook?
Or should we count this youtube video more like a presentation with some 'errors' and the resolution was set to 1920x1080 before the presentation for some purpose?

 

This is more of a preview, cannot wait for Ativ BOOK 9+ review, Samsung take my money already

 

Is that a production model? There are still no drivers for either the 9+ or 9Q in the SW Update database.

Could it be material either captured at the 20 June Premiere or selected people were allowed to take models for further scrutiny?

John

 

Probably just leaked from a factory. Full production must have started by now.

 

I'm in the market for a laptop and need it for school within the next month and love the Book 9+ (assuming there's a matte option). I'm really hoping it's at least announced for US release soon. Also, how will battery life be noticeably different from the Ativ Book 9 13.3'' 1080p model? The book 9+ saves 2 watts on CPU power but has a 3k touch screen and claims double the battery life of an average laptop? Realistically, what is the (expected) battery life of both these laptops? Thanks in advance!

 

The review has been ripped down..obviously a leak that shouldn't have happened.

 

There is no known matte version for the US. Stick with what's already available if that is your number 1 priority. With your student discount you can get the NP900X3E-A02 with free 4 year subscription to Office 365 for about $1125 from the Microsoft Store. No doubt the new one will be at least $1400 and have a gloss screen.

 

There should be a significant boost in battery life due to the plus having a larger battery (it is also a half pound heavier) and haswell. I don't think 10+ hours of light usage (compared to ~7 on ivy) is unrealistic. But again, there has been no word on the non-touch/matte option that so many of us are interested in. It may arrive later in the year, but that's of little use if you will be starting school next month. August 17th has been floated as the possible release of the hi-res touch plus.

 

Battery run time will depend on the usage pattern. I was recently reading this Anandtech review of Haswell in an ultrabook. Under light usage the difference may be very noticeable. For example, if 6W average power consumption on Ivy Bridge (a feasible light usage / dim backlight scenario - I've been there), drops to 4W then that's a 50% gain. However, if you like the backlight brighter than the power change is 8W down to 6W which is only 1/3rd. And if you have enough things running that Haswell's power saving doesn't get much opportunity to have effect then the difference is likely to be less.

Haswell also offers much lower power drain during sleep. However, I'm still a little wary of sleeping Windows waking up when in a bag with overheating resulting so I still favour hibernation for longer periods.

I'll be more confident that the Book 9+ is imminent when I see the drivers in SW Update's database. Currently I'm wondering whether there's a large stack on 3/4 built 9+ waiting in the factory for SSDs which have a finished software installation.

John

 

Additionally, Haswell's iGPU should give a good boost when you're watching movies (intel claims 150%). But yes, YMMV. W8 has made sleep obsolete.

 

Is it just me, or did Samsung change the battery life quote on the site?...

Samsung ATIV Book 9 Plus - Superior performance in craftmanship design legacy

 

It says "up to 11 hours" at the moment. What did you think it said previously?

The bits of info on that page that intrigue me are:

(i) The FHD up to QHD display. Does this mean that an FHD panel is a possible option or do they mean downscaling of the QHD panel?
(ii) The note about touchscreen being an option which implies that non-touch could appear.

John

 

Didn't it say 12 before? That;s definitely the number they gave when the machine was introduced last month.

That said, if it can even hit 8 in casual use, I'm still thrilled. It's a little amusing how it's completely standard to assume that battery-life claims will be exaggerated (or outright impossible). I think what shocked everyone so much about the new MBA's battery life is that it was actually accurate to the battery-life claims.

 

Expect the manufacturers to use minimum display brightness (which on my Lenovo T420s is had to read in a darkened room - Samsung seem better in that respect), turn off as many components as possible (eg no WiFi or Bluetooth) and run something that keeps the computer alive but has very low CPU utilisation.

They claim 10 hours for the 15" Series 9 and I suspect I could get close to that working off line editing a Word document with a dim (but usable) display. Once I get on line and have my web browser open (with innumerable tabs) then the run time drops by at least 1/3rd.

Back on topic. Up to 11 hours on the Book 9+ isn't as good as what I would expect for Haswell and the 9+'s battery. Perhaps that QHD display isn't such a good idea - there's a lot more pixels to process. However, it still enough for all-day operation for many people.

John

 

It says the user may switch settings from Full HD mode to QHD+ mode. I assume this does not mean that there will be a Full HD panel but that the MODE how to use the QHD+ panel may be changed - if I am not wrong the kirabook from Toshiba has its own scaling tool to cope with the high res.
Similar for the touchscreen they say that 9 plus will be available with an optional touchscreen MODE. It does not say it will be available with an optional touchscreen. If I understand the word MODE correctly then it means there are different options how to use the device and not that there are different configurations in terms of specs.

That they corrected the battery life may be related to the fact that they finally have the machines equipped with windows 8.1 and were able to actually do battery lifetime tests. Highly speculative though.

 

Yup, I still had the original page opened in a different tab, so here is what it looked like yesterday:

http://i.imgur.com/y0c742r.jpg

 

Yes that's interesting. Translation: Samsung could not achieve 12 hours even under the best use with lowest brightness and doing very little to nothing with the PC. I was very suspect about the 12 hour claim since the haswell powered air had just been released with the same battery performance. But then we are talking a 1440 TN display, a huge battery and OSX which generally is superior for battery management over windows. I think this super high resolution on a small 13" screen and the exaggerated battery claims are too much "me too" against Apple. IMO, if you run this thing at 60 percent brightness doing anything taxing at all you will be lucky to get half of the original claim, 6 hours. Hopefully they can squeeze a reasonable 8 hours out of this or else the super high resolution may be too compromising for the battery.

 

I basically agree. But I think that twice the pixels does not eat twice the power at all times. It depends on the content you display. It is not only the screen that consumes the power but also the hardware and then it comes down to what you do. The increase in power consumption for high res web surfing should certainly be lower than the increase of high res gaming. I guess the 9+ will have some tipping point above which you can get around 10-11 hours whereas for slightly increased graphic performance you may quickly drop to around 7-8 hours.

 

I can about 6 hours out of my 2nd generation NP900X3D-A01US if all I'm doing is email and internet. I would think they will get at least 9 on a Haswell.

 

We'll see. 11 hours would be very impressive with that screen. I can squeeze 7 hours on my X3B watching dvd isos with the screen dim and wifi off. I think you would have to be running very intense stuff to push the plus with its larger battery and haswell under 8 hours. Historically, engadget has gotten very similar numbers to the samsung claims. I am unhappy samsung decided to match the air's weight as the battery life on the old battery/screen with haswell would have been fine with me. I am interested in how the display scales, but I think the gloss will always be a deal breaker.

 

I'm dying waiting for a concrete release date on this. Dell's Haswell XPS 12 is now available, and early indications are that Dell listened to the feedback and meaningfully improved this year's model. I see the Ativ as a better machine, but it'll also be more expensive, so picking up an XPS 12 instead (a neat little machine with a well-executed convertible gimmick) is awfully tempting. Waiting for the Samsung would be easier if I knew better what I was waiting for.

 

Mind you, the testing is a LOT better nowadays. The older testing methods generally relied on MobileMark2007, which used older, less demanding benchmarks and worst of all, 60 nits brightness.

The latest MobileMark 2012 uses latest applications and uses 150 nits brightness. The difference in battery life between the two is significant. One that used to get 8 hours in 2007 would barely manage 5 hours in 2012.

 

Yep, we make a copy of images for our site, definitely quoted 12 hours originally:

Samsung NP940X3G-K01AU 13.3" Core i5 Ativ Book 9 Plus Notebook Win 8 with Touch | Computer Alliance

Also, the Samsung rep said 2nd week of August for the release date, but these dates often slip a bit.

 

Where did you hear that?

 

What?? 2k for a gimmick laptop with 4Gb RAM and ultra-low-voltage CPU? They must be kidding.... No screen is worth that high of premium. I'd consider this machine if it was around 1200$ with 8GB RAM, 1800p and 256GB ssd. What a disappointment.

 

Yeah, I don't think it will be anywhere near that price on amazon. Probably more like $1400. It will drop after a few months as well.

 

EXCUSE ME!!!!! It's 2200.......not 2000!

 

It is quite strange to see that Apple is by far more reasonable with their MBA. Considering that the screen is the major difference between these two machines it is almost ridiculous to go for the 9+ at 2k. And the MBA panel is by far not bad. Amazon UK has listed the 9+ for 1.3k pounds which is pretty much 2k USD.

 

i bet its 1500 on amazon, minimum. maybe more. thats the BASE MODEL on the aussie website. what makes you think its going to be so much cheaper on this side of the pond?

samsung has lost its mind

 

So you're saying that if it were cheaper than any other machine with the same specs, you'd buy it?