The 2012 Samsung Series 9 13.3" (NP900X3B)

I updated the Graphics Driver and found my Windows experience index (WEI) score dropped from 5.7 to 5.5. Is that indicates that the old driver is better than new one?

old driver ver: 8.15.10.2559
New driver ver (from Easy software manager tool): 8.15.10.2622

Is it worth paying attention to WEI score at all? I will appreciate anyone sharing their experience on this! Thank you.

 

I would run WEI again. It is erratic. And even if you get a lower score on the re-run I wouldn't trust the result unless supported by another graphics benchmark. However, there is a small chance that Intel might have throttled back the performance for a stability reason.

John

 

One thing to remember about the WEI run is that it uses the High Performance power profile. Before running the WEI, make sure to set that power profile back to default settings if you've altered it.

 

Looks like nobody has reported any info on running Windows 8 on the ss9 since March, so in case folks are interested:

I put Windows 8 on the np900x4c, and it has been running so well that I've left it on as my daily driver. Performance is identical to Win7 if not better, and overall UX is pretty fantastic.

Only driver I installed was touchpad, and everything has been working flawlessly.

In case folks feel they've upgraded everything and want to try something new, give it a shot. Haven't done an official rundown yet but it feels like I'm getting more battery life, too.

See a video on my blog, here.

 

I'm waiting for the RTM bits before I try it on the Sammy. Since I have a MSDN subscription, I figure it won't be long now.

 

So, you do not have keyboard backlighting or such?

 

release to mftr - is this before general public?

October 24th is official date, in case ppl want to know (MS rep told the room during a Dev Boot Camp I went to in Ann Arbor).

 

The General Availability (GA) date is October.
Release to Manufacturing (RTM) is really soon. The RTM build is likely already locked and in final testing.
After RTM, Microsoft will release the gold bits to the download servers for ISVs, OEMs, Volume Licensing Customers, and MSDN or TechNet subscribers. That will probably happen in the next couple of weeks. The 8/8 date would be smart.

So yes, RTM is months before GA and many of use will be running the released product VERY soon.

 

My CPU temps seems a bit high. It idles at around 50C with ambient room temps about 26C. And this is not passive cooling on "silent mode" either. While I was doing an image backup, the fan was running pretty high. What are you guys getting for your temps?

 

I think there's nothing wrong with 50C on idle assuming the fans were running slowly or not at all and the outside of the case is not uncomfortably hot. An image backup could well cause a lot of CPU work in which case the fans would speed up. What temperatures were you getting? IIRC my X3B is below 80C under full load which is fairly conservative for the CPU but may reflect concerns about the external temperatures.

John

 

I just picked up a brand new (NP900X3B) from the microsoft online store; I noticed on the samsung support site for this model, there are tons of different drivers and updates.

Where should I start? Is there a way to install everything I need at the same time?

 

Run the Samsung Easy Software Manager that should be installed on your computer and let it figure out what needs to be updated. If ESM does not prompt for a BIOS update then download and run the Samsung BIOS updater program which checks for any BIOS updates and will, with your permission, download and install any BIOS update.

John

 

Just received my NP9003X from MS Store online (no more 3Xs in stores, so no 20% off, but got X-box to sell for maybe $125. $875 not too shabby for this nice piece of kit. Still getting used to things but I HATE the touchpad! I downloaded the latest driver (forget the version, but it's dated May 18, 2012) from the Samsung Support site (Easy Software Manager showed nothing for the TP!) and it at least made the TP usable (before the new driver, couldn't even point the cursor, just jumped all around the target - ycch!) but still this is entirely unacceptable; biggest issues:

1) Scrolling is awful, whether one finger (which I prefer) or two. It's jumpy, sometimes starts to scroll down, then jumps ups, then down again. I've varied just about everything, from speeds to scroll formats (inertia, no special effects, etc.) to turning on just one finger or just two finger, but nothing takes the jumping away. If I increase the scrolling speed to something I'm used to (using Sony Z13 for past year) it gets even more jumpy and the speed is hard to control.

2) Two finger tapping is a disaster - everytime I go to two finger scroll, it first brings up the menu - ie, interprets it as a two finger tap, then scroll

3) Pointing is either too slow or if faster speed it's all jumpy

4) No palm check adjustment and about 1/3 of the time when I'm typing I find the cursor has moved away from where I was

I can't believe so many are using this machine and loving it with these problems, so please tell me what I'm doing wrong, how I fix these problems. I searched the thread but all I saw was recommendations to update driver and change a few settings that didn't help much.

Many thanks. I am very impressed with many aspects of this product - especially design and build quality - but it's going back any day unless I can get this resolved.

One last thing: I hadn't heard complaints of the keyboard, and especially the spacebar, having a loud, metallic sounding clicking noise; is it my unit, or is that just a characteristic of the machine?

Thanks very much.

 

The latest touchpad driver is 10.7.17.5 the contents of which appear to be 7th June. You can get that from a newer Series 9 downloads, such as the NP900X4C. Note also that the installer package includes a control panel called ETDAniConf.exe which is more comprehensive than the one installed by default.

John

 

Make sure you start with everything on default settings. That goes for the Control Panel | Mouse settings, the ELAN touchpad settings, and scrolling settings in your browser(s) or other applications. The mouse settings have a high impact to the touchpad settings.

 

I pulled up Easy Software Manager and noticed that there was a system BIOS update under the "driver" section, as well as several other driver updates.

Is there any particular order to install these drivers? Or do I simply just install one at a time, down the list?

Thanks!

 

When starting with a fresh Windows installation it is best to start with the chipset driver, but I don't think you will find that has been updated. I would therefore start with he BIOS and then work down the list.

John

 

has anyone ordered and received the 900x3b in the last week since the microsoft store restocked them? i'm trying to verify what color they have. the website says silver, but a poster here said they were mineral black and had emailed microsoft to ask them to correct that on the website. thanks.

 

That was me.
I told them on the phone.
The NP900X3B-A02 is the black, not silver.
Their description is wrong, and they are not going to fix it.
It won't matter if it is old or new stock.
That part number is a black S9, period.

 

As far as I can tell, the only silver models for sale in the USA are the 15" business SKUs.

See Series 9 15 and Series 9 15

 

Also keep an eye open for the NP900X3D. I think that will also be silver. Google is giving some hits.

John

 

thanks for the clarifications.

 

What is the X3D, touch or just another evolution? It seems pretty quick for a new model already. It also seems to have a glare screen.

 

Until we discover to the contrary, I would assume that the X3D is a magnesium alloy (ie silver) version of the X3C. That's the difference between the X4C and X4D. The X3D specs here look plausible, including the matte display.

John

 

Another difference is a price increase. But for the incremental increase it appears you get two more years on the warranty. It also seems Samsung is using a different set of distributors and resellers in the USA for the silver business machines.

 

So far I am loving my new ultrabook!

I am wondering though, does anyone else have difficulty feel the air flow out of the back vents? When I run a virus-scan, the CPU temps up to ~62 Celsius, causing the fans to kick up to moderate levels. They are audible, which is no problem, but when I put my hands across the back vents, I can't feel any discernible airflow.

Am I just being paranoid?

 

Make sure you didn't turn the fan off. FN+F11 will do that. Other than that I have never heard my fan anyway. At least on the x3c it will, I assume it is the same on the x3b.

 

There are two fans (you can see an inside photo in my X3B review) so they don't have to work very hard. It is possible that the virus-scan is single-threaded so it doesn't load the CPU very heavily. If you want to check further then run HWiNFO64 and wPrime. Then you can check the CPU speed and the temperature when there are 4 threads loading the CPU. You should hear the fan speed up when the temperature gets above 70C.

John

 

I can hear the fans when running AVAST (~62C), but I couldn't feel any airflow with my hands behind the exhaust (or at least, the airflow was so little, I just can't notice it).

I was really wondering if that little discernible airflow was normal. I want to make sure that the fans are working properly.

 

Those fans are not very big so they don't shift much air. That's why my X4C (which, although bigger, has only one fan) gives noticeable fan noise when under load.

John

 

Any chance on you doing a review of the ivy bridge version? I've narrowed my choice of laptops down to 2 laptops: the samsung series 9 13 inch and the sony vaio s13p. Though I'm also considering either the asus u31a or the asus 32vd, however it seems to have bad quality control and soldered ram.
The sony sort of stands out because of his bad screen/good gpu/thickness. I'm still having doubts about that.

 

The 13 inch Samsung Series 9 all have soldered RAM.

 

But Ive read it's upgradeable?

 

The only SS9 2012 that has upgradeable RAM is the 15".

I can see why you might be confused, as I was.

I wrote up some comparisons and also took photos of the innards of both the np900x3b and the np900x4c. The np900x3c is identical to the 3b except for cpu.

Check out the comparison with photos here.

I can also confirm that the 15" works with 16gB RAM.

 

There has been some erroneous information spread by people who may have copied the X3A specs and assumed that because the X3A had socketed RAM then the X3B would have the same but never looked inside.

John

 

I do like this notebook, but I wonder how prevalent are some of the reported issues?

I have this notebook for 2 weeks now and so far I notice:

Occasional grinding noise from the fans when under load.
seemingly alarming battery wear level (already at 9% in just 2 wks, and yes I ran recalibration)
I notice a worrying electrostatic discharge sound sometimes as well, which could be a safety issue.

Maybe its a good idea to have poles/survey on issues affecting notebook models to give better visibility to them?

 

1. Can someone tell me how you measure battery wear or capacity in this laptop? Should I install any tool for that?

2. Is it possible to keep bluethooth off untill needed (because I rarely/never use BT but WiFi is used all the time). If I trun the BT off using easy settings, it turns on again by itself automatically upon waking up from the sleep! My only concern is battery drain from unused BT (by the way, is battery drain from BT is anything significant?)

 

In Easy Settings, turn bt off and check remember setting when system restarts. That will keep bt turned off.

 

I would RMA, this does not sound like normal operation.

Try hwinfo HWiNFO, HWiNFO32 & HWiNFO64 - Hardware Information and Analysis Tools

 

I contacted Microsoft store where I purchased it, and they recommend I speak to Samsung to get their feedback, If Samsung is not helpful or receptive then MS store would rma the notebook for me.

The sad part is that, I like the rest of this notebook's features, and would hate for them to send back one that has issues with the track pad or keyboard, or even worse the screen!

bottom line is that I have little confidence in the products quality. Professional reviews are great, but a sample size of less that 10 may not be statistically meaningful. This is why a user survey in a forum as this of known weakness(issues)/strengths would be beneficial to make manufacturers more diligent in enforcing better quality, or run the risk of poor sales figures.

 

Sorry for your trouble. I also picked up one from the MS Store, but haven't had issues, knock on wood. I would go through MS if possible.

There is going to be quality control fluctuations for any product and a survey might be interesting. Statistically speaking however, it wouldn't have any validity since the subpopulation that visits this forum is by no means random and is far likelier to have issues. Also, I think samsung could care less what we think, they don't have a dell bill presence here. I'm sure everyone who got a sandisk ssd would've appreciated it though.

 

I have had my laptop for a few weeks but I noticed that when I close the laptop lid and it enters sleep (I think) the battery drains pretty rapidly. I left the laptop alone for 3 hours after 80% charge and when I opened it it was down to 74%, overnight I usually have 10% reduction in battery life if its not plugged in. Anyone else with this issue? How can I fix it?

 

Read this thread. Samsung did a half-baked job of implementing the Intel Rapid Start Technology. You have to finish the cooking.

John

 

After playing with my MSFT Samsung NP900X1B for about 2 weeks. Wifi download speed is horrible. FYI i am using the latest 15.0.7.5 drivers. Distance from router (downstairs) to my room (upstairs) is ~ 40 feet

Series 9:
Ping: 35 ms
DL: 3.21 Mpbs
UL: 3.96 "

Ping: 25 ms
DL: 3.02 Mbps
UL: 4.07 "

Compared to Envy 14 Radiance
Ping: 35 ms
DL: 8.25 Mpbs
UL: 4.13 "

Ping: 25 ms
DL: 7.01 Mbps
UL: 4.16 "

Anybody else having the same problem? Any suggestions on how to improve this? Thanks

I love everything about the Series 9 except for Wifi speed. If this isnt fixed I am afraid I have to return it.

 

One thing you can do is to go into Windows power options and set the power saving properties of the WiFi adapter to maximum performance. The other option is to get a separate USB WiFi adapter with a big antenna if you want significant better speed.

However, good WiFi has never been one of the Series 9 strong points. The thin display and metal display back make it impossible to put the antenna in the optimum place (along the top of the display) and instead they are along the back edge of the chassis where, although the cover is plastic, there's still a lot of metal around. It's an unwanted side-effect of the slim design.

John

 

Do you have a NP900X1B or NP900X3B?

 

I have NP900X3B, the sandy bridge version. Must have been a typo.

"One thing you can do is to go into Windows power options and set the power saving properties of the WiFi adapter to maximum performance. "
I already implemented what John recommended when I did the test. So that cannot be the reason.

This sucks. I love this lappy

 

Try this..go into devicemanager and then advance properties on the adapter and change the first value from 20Mhz always to auto. Made a big difference for me. I was never able to attain 300 Mbps with my router before that change. I was lucky to get 40. BTW, ASUS has the same problem. I think this is an issue with the Intel adapters and the software that runs them.

This might help too. 3 Ways to Increase Network Speed via Registry Editor [Windows]

 

If you are not using Bluetooth then disable it in Easy Settings. This has improved the WiFi performance for some people, perhaps because both WiFi and Bluetooth share the same adapter.

John

 

My 2 week old has 14.1% wear

I use my notebook as a desktop replacement so I have the video output to an HDMI monitor and I have the lid set to do nothing when closed in Windows.

But once I start closing and opening the lid it goes quirky. Usually upon reopening the lid my screen transfers back to the notebook instead of the LCD.

On two rare occasions my keyboard was disabled when using external LCD. The other time I was making adjustments to the viewing angle and it would go into sleep mode. Apparently this notebook gets confused when the lid is actually open or not.