Samsung Ativ 9 2014 or Samsung Book 8? (A crossroads)

Hello gentlemen and ladies of Notebook Review! US user here! :hi2:

So I picked up a Book 9 2014 edition and I love it, how cool it runs, the battery life, the touch screen. It also plays a few lower end games well (Hearthstone, League, Dota2). I would like a bit of a stronger gaming performance if I can without sacrificing the unplugged battery life of the book 9 (for browsing/movies of course)

While I was searching on what notebook to commit to, I realized that there are no best choices you can just throw money at, and you have to be knowledgeable and select a balance. Its because of this that I am thinking of "downgrading" to the older Book 8 with Ivy Bridge instead of haswell to gain access to the AMD graphics to boost my gaming experience a bit. I guess I am looking for a Jack of all trades, and don't need a gaming rig.

I have heard that a 2014 refresh of the Book 8 is due in the US, however I have not seen much new news or development there on when.

So here are the hard questions:
-Should I wait for the US Book 8?
-Should I dive into the current iteration of the Book 8? Would that AMD give me the boost I am looking for? How much do you think my battery life would suffer "downgrading" from the book 9 (full load, browsing, movies)?
-Any dealbreakers for either unit I should consider?

 

The NP870Z5G-S01US has been listed in Samsung's SW Update database for a while but, like the UK versions of the NP930X5J, has shown no desire to get out of the factory and onto the retailers' shelves. I'm starting to wonder if Samsung decided to implement their plan to phase out notebook production although there's no rational reason to not produce the models they have already developed.

The Ivy Bridge Book 8 has its own thread which should contain all the answers provided you have the patience to go through it. The battery has about 50% more capacity than the Book 9 (2014) so the notebook has potentially a respectable run time as long as you avoid loading the system. However, the more powerful hardware has the capability drain the battery much faster then the lower power hardware in the Book 9.

John

 

You can read more about the Ativ Book 8 2014 refresh in this thread. Despite its Haswell CPU, there is general disappointment about its less powerful Nvidia 750M GPU -- particularly among gamers who who really liked the 2013 Ivy Bridge Ativ Book 8.

As John said, you won't find it in US stores -- though it has been in UK and European stores for some time.

Oh, and welcome to NBR

 

Thanks for the warm welcome, and the information! I am actually satisfied with the Nvidia card in the 2014 edition despite the 800 series being excluded. I am now debating on just ordering an EU/UK version of the laptop and getting the appropriate adapter. The laptop really seems to have all I am looking for, its just tough to trigger pull as I have never bought a device from another localization before.

Anything I should prepare for if I do trigger pull on it? Or is this a common thing to do?

 

Laptops are designed for travelling, and I would assume the power adapter is universal, so you can use it with 110V/60Hz, as long as you have a simple UK-US plug adapter or a separate power cable that fits US sockets. Both of which can be bought at RadioShack or online. You could ask existing owners in that NP870Z5G thread to confirm what is printed on their power adapters. It should say "Input 100-240V / 50-60Hz" or similar.

As for the keyboard, I personally much prefer the UK style keyboard. Even after living in US for several years, I still don't like the narrow Enter key on US keyboards. See the difference in this Wikipedia article.

I don't game myself, and the features of this model would fit my needs just fine as well. The Nvidia GPU may enjoy better driver support than the AMD of the previous model, for which obtaining updated drivers with support for its switchable graphics has been a challenging at times.

That said, I never tried to buy computers in UK for delivery in US. Between shipping, possible customs fees, and the generally higher UK prices (when converting to USD) I imagine you could get some pretty nice gear for the same money from a US online retailer.

Edit: I just searched amazon.co.uk. NP880Z5G (touch) is currently sold out. NP870Z5G (non-touch) is available as submodel X03DE (German), claiming to have AMD 7870 -- which I believe to be incorrect; it's either an incorrectly labeled NP870Z5E (2013 Ivy Bridge model with AMD) or incorrectly spec'ed NP870Z5G (2014 Haswell model with Nvidia). They also list NP870Z5G-X02DE with correct specs (Haswell and Nvidia). Both of these are German, though, with a somewhat different keyboard (including X Y Z keys moved around). I believe other UK retailers have UK models in stock (such as this)

 

Samsung UK prices aren't very competitive. Normally, one can buy a US model notebook, pay for the courier to UK, pay the 20% VAT due on import and still have money in the pocket.

If shipping in the other direction then you should buy from somewhere that can sell the item for export without the VAT. Notebook.de ship to most places but I wouldn't want a German keyboard layout. There is an Italian seller on ebay.com. I wonder what keyboard layout is on the Chinese version. It's probably Chinese + English.

John

 

I wanted to thank you both for your advisement. It's a tough call, but I will settle for the gaming performance I am getting out of the Book 9 2014 refresh atm. It seems going with the original Book 8 would open up some doors for trouble and waiting on a US for the Book 8 2014 refresh might prove to be one of the cases of waiting too long.

For all intents and purposes the touchscreen Book 8 2014 would have been the perfect laptop to me ;_; However sometimes you gotta settle!

I can always sell the Book 9 later if I have to.

If you gentlemen come across links for sellers of touchscreen top end versions of the Ativ Book 8 2014 refresh, please send them my way to tempt me My weak will is likely to change and buy a non US model provided the keyboard layout isn't too far off.

 

I understand, sometimes you have to settle for the one you can get.

Many people will be rolling their eyes to hear the 2014 Ativ Book 9 referred to as one to be settled for: These are some of the most well designed and attractive looking computers on the market today, bar none. But of course they are low voltage, so you will not get quite the same performance as you would from a Book 8 -- although I hear the Intel HD4600 games pretty pretty well for an integrated GPU.

Are you looking at the 13-inch NP900X3G or the 15.6-inch NP930/940X5J? There is also the ultra high-res 13-inch NP940X3G (Ativ Book 9 Plus) which is from 2013, but still Haswell.

 

I currently have this version NP940X5J-K02US Amazon.com : Samsung ATIV Book 9 2014 Edition 15.6-Inch Touchscreen Laptop (Intel Core i7, Mineral Ash Black) : Electronics

I was considering another scenario. I am currently happy with the performance on some games. How do processors effect the integrated graphics? If I downgrade from the i7 to the i5 will I see a frame rate drop? Just curious if that's worth saving 400. If it would kill the framerate though, I might just live with shelling out cash.

 

Notebookcheck has a very useful list of benchmark results which should help you assess the possible performance difference.

Note, however, that there is significant variability in the results due to both differences in the power consumption of individual chips and differences in the cooling systems of the notebooks they are in. You can also compare the results for this NP930X5J with an i5-4200U with your own notebook.

John