The 2012 Samsung Series 9 13.3" (NP900X3B)

Well, this is my brief review on S9. I didn't use it extensively since I'm only setting it up for my sister. I lug around much bigger e6520. lol

Anyways,

Pro: I'm just listing these as they come up in my head. No order of importance should be inferred from the order of the list.
1) Screen: I'm very impressed by the screen. My sister used to use Sony Z and I have e6520 with 1080p screen, which gets good reviews. S9's screen is as good as the other two screens. I like the color and viewing angles. I downloaded some 1080p music videos to test it, and I'll be pretty happy to use this screen for a long time.
2) Sound: Very impressed by the power and volume. I used to have Fujitsu's T2010, and its volume was so low that I couldn't watch movie without headphone. S9 is much thinner and it manages to blast out very powerful sounds.
3) Power Adapter: Very tiny especially compared to my e6520 power adapter.
4) Fast boot and speed: Well, it does have SSD. So I'm not surprised by its speed.
5) Silent: I didn't do any intensive gaming. I only played 1080p movie as an "intense" workload. I didn't notice the fan much even though "silent mode" was not on. I don't know how it'll react if I try to run BF3, but again, this is for my sister who doesn't play game. So for her needs, this is a silent comp.
6) The packaging: Well, I really liked how they packaged the laptop. It was packaged better Sony Z which cost at least $700 more. It was in a very nice, sturdy black box that felt high quality.

Con:
1) Keyboard: The keyboard is shallower than the other laptop. I think once you get used to it, it won't matter much.
2) Trackpad: Don't expect Mac like trackpad. You have to do some tweaking in the touchpad settings to make it usable, or else, you'll feel frustrated.
3) Color: I wish they kept the first gen S9's color. Not a big fan of Blue Black color in laptop.
4) Very picky about booting devices: By far, S9 is the most picky laptop with booting devices. It initially didn't even boot from my 3 usb dvd-roms. I did some mix-matching and burned dvds at the lowest speed with new ISOs, and it finally worked. But it still wouldn't boot from my Sandisk MicroSD with USB adapter with Windows 7. They all worked fine with my other laptops. Frustrating, but I'm not using this laptop as a development laptop trying out Linux and other stuffs, so it's not a big deal.
5) lack of accessories: This is not a major seller in the US, so the market for the accessories are pretty non-existent. I wish they had some sleeves that will fit it perfectly, but as far as I know, such sleeve doesn't exist. I probably have to import one from Korea or buy one for Macbook Air.
6) Two usb ports: It's an ultrabook, so I can't expect much. So this is not a deal-breaker. I just have to get a usb hub.
7) 1 year warranty: Seriously Samsung? You used to offer 3 year warranty on your first gen s9. Now you price it higher, and you only offer 1 year?

Overall, I like this laptop despite its initial booting hiccup and awkward touchpad. Is it worth the price? I think $150-$200 less is more apt price for this laptop; however, considering the lack of a decent ultrabook that is as good as this one with good screen, design, sound, and keyboard, I don't think it's a ripoff, especially when it was just introduced to the market.

Two quick tips:
1) If you are buying one in the US, make sure to use the cash back sites. I will not link one, but you should probably be able to find one for the online retailers that are currently selling S9. I managed to save around $90. Not so shabby.
2) You do not need to buy Samsung's overpriced hdmi to vga adapter, which retails for $35-$50. You can simply get a hdmi to dvi cable for like $7 and a hdmi to micro-hdmi adapter for like $3, and it still works like a charm.

 

I was under the impression that the new series 9 did not use the faster ssd?Is nice to know that it does! Have you done a WEI test yet? If so, can you share please. Thank you.

 

They're everywhere !!!

Samsung.com Channel Checker

Except Amazon.com. The CS reps at Amazon informed me they have them in stock and to call in. I told them to send me a link.

 

I've still got mine, boxed up and ready to go though. Tempting however, $400 is a lot to save.

 

I hear ya. How much time do you have? If it were me I'd wanna try the new drivers first. The Dell guys are workin' like dogs to make this thing right. They seem to have a lot riding on it.

 

About 1 more week... Already submitted my request for a return, so I'll see how it goes. It looks like the fan still runs, just quieter. I suppose the main things that I can't change are the fact that its heavier, thicker, and display isn't as good.

I am impressed with their support and commitment to the issues. They know they have a lot riding on the XPS 13. I wouldn't even see Samsung acting as remotely proactive. I even think if I keep the S9 that I would look at getting a square trade warranty. $149.99 for 3 years, not bad. I've got their warranty on a tablet and digital camera.

 

Me too. Frankly I've never seen anything like it. Folks on this forum are reporting the issues and the Dell guy is getting the issues fixed. Pretty impressive.

Ya know, it bugs me that Samsung STILL has not acknowledged the WiFi problem from the 1st gen S9. They absolutely know about it, but won't admit it publicly. It's just not right, in my opinion.

 

Can any of you current owners tell me if you have any creak or "pop" in either if your hinges? It seems to be only my right hinge.

 

Lies, damn lies!!!

 

Neither of my S9 hinges make any noise at all.

 

It doesn't do it while moving the display along the hinge, more so of if you picked it up slightly by grabbing the bezel. Then I hear a "click"... I can't make it do it with the left. Just hope it wouldn't get worse.

 

Many of the portable burners come with a Y cable in case the computer can't deliver enough power from one port. However, every computer I've owned in the past 5? years has been able to power an optical drive from one port (use the plug with 2 wires).

And a couple of other points:

1. To remember which is USB 3.0 (which has a blue tab), there is an "e" in three and an "e" in blue.

2. Pressing the Esc key at the BIOS screen should take you straight to a boot device menu (and a link to the BIOS setup). It's an undocumented feature that i discovered years ago (and assume that Samsung won't have disabled it on the S9).

John

 

Maybe I missed it, but I don't remember seeing or finding Function Lock on the XPS 13.... just noticed it on the S9, awesome.

Edit: Just took out the XPS 13 to give the new BIOS a go. Nope, no function lock. Bravo, Samsung.

 

I spoke with Samsung laptop marketing yesterday and the 15" will be avail mid-April. I also received an ATTO score from a new owner showing the new Samsung PM830 installed in this laptop (128GB) and that it was working at 500MB/s SATA 3 speeds which now means this is only the second marketed SATA 3 ultrabook next to the zen...well kinda.

For some unknown reason, Samsung has absolutely no specifications whatsoever that state that this is a SATA 3 system in their own sites or in retailers. Asus has to have big smiles over this mistake as many people buy the Zen simply because of the SATA 3 speeds seen in the SF SSD and NOT in the Sandisk SSD.

Time for a new lappy...

 

You are forgetting the Dell XPS 13. Unless by "marketed" you meant something else specific....

 

Are any of you running Windows 8? I cannot get programs to startup, no matter what, such as HW Monitoring in the tray. I can manually copy shortcuts to run in Startup, or if a program has it, select in it's options that it start with windows. Nothing seems to be working.

Although other programs like utorrent, network magic, etc all will startup with windows. Is this a windows 8 issue or a S9 issue?

 

Yep. I didn't wanna say anything, but... yep.

 

I ran the XPS 13 and S9 side by side for a bit... shouldn't have done that. No comparison. S9 hands down.

 

Details. We need details! Seriously.

Also, was this with the new Dell drivers, or old?

 

Fan did seem quieter, yet still audible. Have yet to hear the fan on the Samsung.

 

Gotcha. Interesting. But when you say "No comparison. S9 hands down" I'm guessing you mean more than the fan sound. Can you expand on that a bit?

Thanks...

 

I was referring to the display.... I think if you never had the S9, and only had the XPS 13 you of course wouldn't know what you were missing.

 

Oh, I see. Well, I don't see.

 

Does anyone know if either usb port provides enough juice to power an external optical drive alone? I'm thinking pairing this with this samsung bluray burner would be awesome.
Newegg.com - SAMSUNG USB 2.0 External Slim Portable Blu-ray Writer Model SE-506AB/TSBD

 

I have used a single USB for a Asus external DVD drive and it was fine. I have an older Samsung bluray drive coming, so I will let you know about that.

 

Check techradar.com, they just completed their reviews thursday for both the xps13 and new series9 13. Actually rated the the xps higher.

 

Hmmmm . . .

 

depending on what are your preferences. I wouldn't say it's rated higher. in terms of perfomance, yes. in terms of screen, looks and design no.

 

I find it to be just as snappy as the xps13 was. However, the default power plan for the s9 has the Max CPU state at 50% on battery. I've since changed this.

 

Ok, well ABT shipped my S9 pretty quick and UPS delivered it yesterday. I've spent the better part of yesterday evening and this morning poking around with it. Time to post up my initial thoughts.

The good, build quality is unreal, easily one of the best constructed notebooks I've ever seen, including the Macbooks. Also it is very light, almost to an extreme degree. The screen is stunning simply put. For those wondering about the Wifi, it seems that Sammy did not make the same mistake twice, and I can consistently pick up a strong signal from the two wireless networks I have tried. Battery life seems to be pretty good so far, its just about done now after about 6.5hours of Wifi web browsing, and Office document typing. That is not on the silent profile, with no keyboard lights and screen brightness set on the absolute minimum. I actually prefer the colour it is not plain boring black, but also not an aggressive, obnoxious shade either. Just enough to add some character, I would say the same applies for the chrome trim around the touch pad. I Like everything about the aesthetics of the series9. No complaints here. Keyboard lights when used are nicely uniformed with equal light under all keys, more on the color later however. The touch pad feels great, good resistance, and not sticky like some others I've tried. This thing runs very quiet and cool, even when not using the Silent Mode, I am very impressed. Computer seems pretty snappy, only real slow down happened when I was running MSE full system scan, downloading Win7 Updates and streaming some music from livesets.us. Not too shabby.

The slight issues. None of these, to me, are a deal breaker thankfully. Little bit of a shallow keyboard, it takes a bit to get use to, I'm still working on it. I actually just finished typing a 10ish page paper on it and its just now starting to feel more natural to me. When I first started the S9 up out of the box(which is very nice btw) I was having a terrible time with the touch pad, to the point where I needed to get a USB mouse to complete the setup. It seemed that after a bit of time it got marginally better, but it was not until I uninstalled/reinstalled the drivers then updated to the newest ones over top, that my experience improved. Now its pretty much perfect. I've never been much of a multi touch fan, two finger scrolling and two finger right click are the only gestures that I have left enabled. Now the keyboard light, it's a rather odd shade almost like a "glow-in-the-dark" color to it, I'm not sure if I am a fan yet, hopefully it grows on me. Again its not a deal breaker just something I find odd. The one issue that bothers me the most, is that the hinge for the screen seems a bit loose, I'm worried that over time it will loosen up and not stay at the angle I desire. It stays fine now, It's just something I worry about say a few years down the road.

I'm sure Ill find other things over the next week or so I will continue to update this post.

Also just wanted to thank the members here, and hopefully be able to give something back. You guys convinced me to give this lappy a shot, and I am quite pleased that I became an early adopter, for once....

 

Interesting on the hinge, did you see my post asking about this? If you pick up the unit with one hand on the bezel and one on the lower section does your hinge "click"? Which side? One or both? Mine is the right side. Or are you saying the hinge seems loose to where it won't hold it at a certain angle? Mine seems good there.

 

I don't have any clicking, I just find that the hinge is not as stiff as I would normally like. If I pick it up quickly from the palm rest area, the screen has a tendency to flip open a bit farther. I'm not sure if this is common, its just something I noticed in the day I've been using it. I really hope it doesn't get any worse, as that could be an obvious deal breaker to me and probably others as well.

 

We each have separate "issues" then, so not sure if it would necessarily affect anyone else. I picked mine up like you say and mine is fine. Rather stiff... (TWSS)

 

Could you please expand on it? How much CPU and RAM % were used during those applications? I have some worries about this laptop being a bit too underpowered for me to use as my main computer.

 

I myself would have a hard time using this as my main computer but that would depend on what you intend to use it for. I mainly use this for Email, Web Browsing, Office Documents ect. It's fine for these tasks, my Physical memory topped out at 38% and CPU maxed out at 41% on spikes, averaged about 30% for both. This was done off Battery, and not using Silent Mode. I think this Samsung limits power and resources when on battery. I'm using the Samsung Optimized power settings btw. Off idle 981MBs (about 25% I think) of Physical memory are consistently used by the core system processes. I have 68 processes that run under idle, if that helps.

 

For the record, I'll be waiting for the ivy bridge version.

My main functions are web browsing, itunes, Office, skype, watching HD movies, and with the announcement of Diablo III; I hope the new HD4000 can run it.

 

Hehe, laidback, I wish I have the ability to wait like you, but I find the current SandyBridge good enough for me. I mostly do web browsing, office word/excel, photoshop cs5, music, and videos hd and it has been fine for me. I haven't max out my memory yet. This thing is quiet!

There is a bluetooth bug where if a User Account is set as standard, the bluetooth device would disappear. Keeping everything in admin is fine.

For Intel Rapid Start Technology where the system hibernates, does it only initiate when you press the power button to hibernate or does closing your laptop lid to sleep, work too? I can't find too much info online.

I just found this online actually, wonder if it applies...

"
Intel Rapid Start Technology gets your system up and running faster from the hibernation mode.
How to put your computer into hibernation
To put your computer into the hibernation mode, click the Start icon and select Sleep. The
computer will enter the hibernation mode after it remains in the sleep mode for 75 minutes.

Note: If Intel Rapid Start Technology is incorporated, you cannot put your computer into the
hibernation mode by clicking the Start menu and then selecting Hibernation.
"

 

What "color" is glow-in-the-dark? Any color can glow.

 

I mentioned in an earlier (way back there) post that I am looking for best battery practices to protect the longevity of this permanently installed battery. I have been doing much reading, and found the best info on ars technica: Ask Ars: What is the best way to use a Li-ion battery?. The summary is: frequent modest discharges are better for li-ion batteries, and don't top it off (if you can stand the performance hit). Sounds like you want to charge to about 80%, and discharge to about 40%. Both extremes-- full discharge and full recharge, shorten the lifecycle of the battery. For CPU intensive work, heavy gaming, best to plug in if you can. With that in mind, I have enabled the battery throttle in the bios (can't remember what it's called), and am running battery bar, with it set to alert me when the power gets to 40%. Any comments from those in the know would be appreciated.

 

I haven't seen the laptop, but typical old-fashioned glow in the dark looks similar to this:

 

My take: the backlight is not strong, and has a tint to it, greenish/blue. (Hmmm... this is beginning to sound like a trend...) Hence, more like "glow in the dark," which gets it's glow from chemicals and not wattage. It's not quite bright enough for me, especially along the function key row. But some may prefer it, as I have heard complaints about backlighting being overly bright. Definitely not a deal breaker. My love-affair continues.

 

Wife and I were looking up something today, she wanted the S9 to look for it sitting besides me... handed it to her, she was wow'ed with the weight. Really is so light. To put it into perspective, I had a transformer and transformer prime with the keyboard dock. Those together, the tablet and dock (both versions) way more than the S9. Amazing.

On the battery and discharging, I find it odd that Samsung even has the 80% setting. I would think that the battery would not overcharge anyway? Most batteries today will charge to 100% then cease, drop back down to mid 90%, then charge again, repeat....

Not sure about the 40% logic; I would find it that I would hate have to worry about it that much. I just want to use it and enjoy it. If the time ever came that I needed the battery fixed or replaced, I'll look to my Squaretrade warranty if I'm outside of Samsungs 1 year (pfft).

 

Sorry my description of the color was a bit vague but Soundsgood pretty much nailed, it its actually quite green. I find it perfect illumination for use in the complete dark. Overly bright keys are a bit annoying(to me). Also I've found the power to be quite adequate, Sandybridge and 4GBs of RAM seem to be coping quite well with my usage so far.

 

I just noticed that if you register your laptop with Samsung, you get 3 extra months on your warranty.

Support - Series 9 Notebooks NP900X3B | Samsung Laptops
Samsung

 

The wisdom is that the extra effort and heat generated to get the battery to 100% charge isn't good for its health. One of the good things about Lenovo is that their Power Manager software lets the users define their own settings for the charging.

You will be lucky to get a battery replaced after a year of use unless you have a warranty that explicitly provides for longer.

John

 

I registered online but it is only showing 12 months for my warranty.

 

You only get 12 months for a warranty.

 

Click on the links; it says an extra 3 months. I haven't registered myself yet.

 

Well, I just registered online and received an email immediately that extended my warranty by three months. Glad to have it.

As for the battery- I was starting to feel a little neurotic about it, so I appreciate hearing the more relaxed perspective. My habit of old was to never think about it, and just buy a new one when the old one started to crump. The fact that this one is not easily removed made me feel more concerned. I think I will leave the 80% limit in place, and try not to worry too much about anything else. Hopefully by the time a new battery is needed, somebody on these boards will have cracked this thing open and installed it.

Boy oh boy is this a great computer. I'm just amazed.

 

But do you like it?