Samsung Series 9 - when and where to buy?

Hello,

I'd love to get a nice new Samsung Series 9 (in the darker colours). I've been looking at the NP900X3C series of the ultrabooks. I'm not sure what the differences are in the model numbers following the main code (i.e. A01, A05.. etc)

Sadly, these have gone UP in price - Amazon had them for $1k a month a go, and now they're up to $1.2k. This makes me sad.

In any event - I'll be travelling through the US for about two and a half months, from early May to mid-July.

Could you suggest where I should buy it from, and whether there are any sale periods coming up that I should be aware of?

Thanks in advance!

Also, I've had a look at the Samsung's warranty page. It says that they MAY offer warranty services in other countries. Anyone know more about their global warranty coverage?

 

The -A01 etc., are country-specific (except for UB meaning Best Buy) codes that have no significance if comparing models between different countries. They define a hardware / Windows combination that a country marketing office can order from the factory. In the case of the 13.3" Series 9 the variables are the CPU, SSD capacity and Windows version.

The lowest price Series 9 is the version of the X3D which uses the Sandy Bridge CPU. However, that's in the unpainted magnesium finish. People sometimes report exceptionally attractive pricing at the Microsoft store but stocks don't last long.

The X3E with a FHD display is starting to appear. However, it effectively complements the existing range and is unlikely to push prices down at the lower end. New Haswell-based Series 9 models are expected sometime. My best guess at the moment is in Q3.

The Samsung international warranty works in all countries where Samsung notebooks are sold although service may take a long time if they don't stock your model and have to order in any spare parts from elsewhere.

John

 

Samsung gives one year of international warranty with their products. I bought samsung series 7 laptop from US about 18 months ago and was covered by their warranty in Canada about 6 months before.
Secondly, prices change very frequently and you can search when you are in US.

 

I think I'd be looking at the X3C, it seems to strike a happy medium for me. The FHD display is a bit too expensive.

Do you have any thoughts on when a good time to purchase is for these laptops? Are there any big sale events/dates coming up in the US?

 

Check amazon and the ms store every morning. There will be sales, but difficult to say when (typically every couple months). Sometimes people will post a notice on the forum, but stocks run out quickly. As a point of reference:
The X3D has gone as low as $699+free shipping at amazon.
The X3C has hit ~$850 at MS store as I recall.

 

Point of clarification. The x3d with the Sandy Bridge processor and a single year warranty has gone that low, but the Ivy Bridge based machines have not.

 

Hi everyone - I'm looking to pick up a 13 inch series 9 and I am also a bit confused on the actual worth of the X3B vs X3C vs X3D

Im a med student so I'm at the top of my budget right now, and I don't use my computer for games or any editing, so all of the processors will suffice. Between these, I only care about screen and battery life (which I understand may be affected by processor) and to a lesser extent color and operating system. But I am not really sure if there are other differences between them.


right now on amazon: (are these good prices for these machines? - I would like to buy within the next week or two)
X3B - $900
X3C - $1000
X3D - $840

If im correct:?
B = sandy bridge, win 7
C = ivy bridge, win 8
D = sandy, win 7


What exactly is the difference I am going to see between sandy and ivy? and win 7 and win 8?
Any other big differences?

What are the differences between B and D? Is it just win 8? (The $60 difference is worth it in my mind to avoid buying a apple-silver computer. I'm OK with win 7 or a win 8 upgrade down the line. Am I missing anything?)

Likewise with the B versus C? - I'm not super heavy on my computer (no games, no editing). I have a four year old HP with dual core AMD (cost me less than 1k 4 years ago) - so anything is going to be a huge upgrade, but am I makign a dumb decision by not spending the extra 100 bucks to get ivy and win 8?

Last question - anyone familiar with squaretrade warranties? Its 150 bucks to protect my computer against drops, spills, hardware, etc. for 3 years. Sounds like a pretty good deal to me.

Thanks for the help

 

No, that is not correct and you can blame Samsung.

The NP900X3D-A01US is Sandy.
The NP900X3D-A02US is Ivy, Win8 Pro

To top that, the A01 has a 1 year warranty. The A02 has a 3 year warranty.

Completely confusing I know.

I would recommend getting an Ivy Bridge based machine. They seem to have the fewest problems.

 

But, if you can get the X3D-A01 with Sandy, W8 for $699+free shipping it would probably be easiest on your wallet. Though, I'd agree black is the better color. The performance gain from ivy is slight, especially under your usage. If you can still find an X3B there is a good chance it will come with a defective battery, but possibly a better SSD. Unless you need it today, I would do some careful shopping as prices do fluctuate, I've seen each of those models at least $100 cheaper.

 

I would add:

1) Square Trade has an excellent reputation and they are more likely to refund your original purchase price than put you through a repair ordeal. They are no longer priced very well, though, so you can expect to pay about 20% of the cost of the computer for a 3 yr ADH wtty. I'm not sure it is as important with Samsung 9s, as they appear to be very well built and are likely to fail early, under store or Samsung wtty rather than in years 2-3. That said, the cost to repair these glued/soldered UBs is quite high, so if you do have a component failure, you might have a totaled machine. I'd probably go with the ST wtty if you don't think you could absorb a total failure in year 2 or 3.

As far as machine purchases, you can also look at Amazon's "marketplace" which sells new and used machines in behalf of others in much the same way as eBay, but Amazon stands behind the sale to a greater extent than eBay. Ebay should be considered too. A refurbished, new in box, or "open box" Series 9 will likely give you as good or better service than a newly purchased one. Check prices, but i imagine you can save $200-$500 off of current list. Also, the only time ST will sell you a wtty for a used or refurb computer is is you buy it at EB or Amzo. You can probably do as well with sales, but it's hard to predict when they are coming. Samsung has set a pattern of discounting the older processor models as new ones come out, so in June-Aug the 90003B (SB) and 3C (IB) should go down in list price by $200 or so, more on sales.

Hope this helps.

 

If someone wants to buy my NP900X3D-A02US, let me know. It was $1400 new in October 2012 and has the balance of the 3 year warranty remaining (~2.5 years).

Specs at Series 9 13.3

 

Thanks for the input

It is a little confusing - and a lot of reviewers don't make it clear at all what the heck they are reviewing. "New series 9 review". put the damn model number in there!

700 for the X3d would be a great deal, but I haven't been able to find anything close to that, which is sort of a blessing in disguise because I really don't want the silver but would be obligated to buy it at that price! Any good places to check for deals? (I check amazon and google every morning)

I think I will be targeting the X3B barring any drastic changes in pricing, but purchase needs to be made within 2 weeks, preferably sooner, so I don't expect much to happen. (My old laptop deteriorated quickly over the past few months and I have some tests that are just too important to worry about computers during the next few months)

Last round of questions - battery issues on the X3b - the X3b thread is like 8 million pages long and since this forum only posts a few posts per page it is un-readable, but i browsed it a little. The battery problem referenced is an early wear issue correct? That I can deal with. If its any sort of issue where the battery is received non-fucntioning, then that won't work as the main thing i need this for is the next three months. What kind of battery life are people seeing to begin with on normal usage with the X3B?

 

Also check the MS store. I believe many, if not all, the X3B were supplied with a defective battery. When new, I was able to squeeze about 5 hours (the X3C is able to get 6 or more). However, it very quickly picked up 30% wear and would only last a few hours. I sent it in for repair and wear has gone from 0.3% to 11% over two cycles. It is unclear whether they replaced or reset my battery. Just something to be aware of, it is covered by warranty, but if you have to mail it in it can be a hassle. I believe the X3C and later models all have a much more reliable battery.

 

Thanks for the advice.

knowing what you do now about the battery, would you still have bought the X3B? I'm okay with one warranty claim with such a great deal, and I study about 12 hours a day so the charger will still follow me around.

Its 80 dollars more for the X3C right now. maybe the headache and win 8 and ivy worth the $80? Battery life significantly better/reliable on X3C?

I also recognize that if the battery isn't working well, people flock to the internet forums to figure things out whereas the people who don't have problems don't come on here just to announce it, so its hard to gauge whether the battery issue is a 1/100, 1/10, 1/2 kind of issue.

 

Yes, the battery is the potential serious drawback with the X3B. The 11.1V AA-PBXN6AR battery seems to suffer premature wear while Samsung claimed there would be at least 80% capacity remaining after 3 years. We don't know whether all of that type of battery suffers this problem or maybe there was just a bad batch (but a big batch since users in more than one country have been affected).

The good news is that the 7.5V AA-PLXN4AR battery is compatible and may be provided if the battery is replaced (it also has about 10% more capacity). The bad news is that it's a lottery whether that battery will be provided. If the service centre can find a new or refurbished original X3B battery then they will tend to use it. The 11.1V battery has cells made in Korea while the cells of the other batteries are made in China. No X3C owners have complained about battery wear and my X4C is at 0% wear after 10 months.

John

 

thanks - sorry to be a total idiot, but when you say check the ms store, do you mean physically go to a Ms store? online they have 2 samsung computers offered

john - ive read a bit of your posts about the battery - should i just bite the 80 bucks and get the X3C? - it does have ivy/win 8 which i don't particularly care about but is a plus.

I really haven't looked into the X3C as much as the X3b so I don't know if there are other issues im unaware of

sorry for the edit/add on - does the X3C come with a 3 year warranty or a 1 year warranty from samsung? because then I wouldn't really consider buying the square trade at that point, and it would effectively be cheaper. Sorry I cannot keep these model numbers straight

Thanks

 

If it's only 80 bucks difference then I would vote for the X3C. The CPU is a little faster and more power efficient so you'll get an extra hour from the battery. You also avoid the potential X3B battery issue which would cost more than that amount to replace.

I'm in the wrong part of the world to know about the MS store offers. Perhaps, if you were in no hurry, it's a matter of signing up to newsletters and then pouncing on the right offer. Maybe MS get in a crate of surplus inventory at a big discount so they never list them on the normal website.

John

 

I was trying to look up what a battery would cost if it totally died on me and I failed miserably. Probably worth avoiding the whole issue for 80 bucks

Thanks a ton for the insight. Think its gonna be the X3C

I edited my last post I think while you were mid reply - What is the warranty like on the X3C? - I've heard some people throw around that the ivy bridge comes with a 3 year manufact. warranty - is that true for the X3C? I was looking into a square trade for the X3B but if I don't get the square trade and and have 3 years with the X3C then it would be cheaper.

Apologize for the turbo posting this afternoon - I'll stop holding this website hostage once I've made a purchase

 

Samsung provides three year warranties on some of the models they deem the "business class" notebook. See Series 9 | Samsung.

There is a thriving third party service and support market. The incremental $200-300 USD you pay Samsung for the business class machine could be used on a SquareTrade warranty.

The decision is probably who you think you'll get the best service from. I have no experience with Square Trade.

 

Samsung normally give a 1 year international warranty. Some models aimed at business (eg Windows Pro) have a 3 year warranty. Germany (and maybe some other parts of Europe but not UK) have a standard 2 year warranty. It's always a headache deciding on whether or not to invest in an extended warranty. I managed to get an extra 2 years for my X4C for the equivalent of $100, but if it cost much more then I wouldn't pay.

So far, X3B battery issues excluded, the Series 9 have been relatively trouble-free. The X3A is now 2 years old and doesn't get much recent discussion here (which I consider to be a good sign) and Samsung put a lot of effort into further improvements when developing the newer models. Loose hinges is my biggest long term worry. The extended warranties don't cover the battery which, in spite of Samsung's claims about the improved battery longevity, is still considered to be a consumable.

John

 

Yeah, at the current x3c price it is $164 for a two year extension of the manufacturers warranty and three years of drop/spill coverage. I would probably do it if it was a true warranty but once they have paid out their purchase price they wash their hands of you so I don't think that's really worth it, as I am far from careless with my electronics.

I appreciate all the help - gonna pull the trigger on the X3C any day now