The 2012 Samsung Series 9 13.3" (NP900X3B)

S9 x3B and x3C uses a standard mSata SSD. See this thread for FAQ on the S9: http://forum.notebookreview.com/samsung/654389-samsung-forum-sticky-list-find-most-popular-threads-here.html

 

Officially, nothing in the Series 9 is user-replaceable because it involves unscrewing the base. However, there are no seals and the swap is easily done. You can see the inside of the X3B in my review and there's more discussion of the mSATA SSD options in this thread. Micron / Crucial mentioned 512GB when they announced their mSATA SSD range earlier this year but how soon they will be available remains to be seen.

John

 

Thanks - nothing like a picture to understand what's required!

I haven't read the whole thread yet, but it looks like it shouldn't be hard to a fresh install of Windows 8- just a matter of finding the drivers from Samsung.

I've always had ThinkPad/IdeaPad laptops - and going to Samsung, just doesn't "Feel" right - especially after the experience earlier today with their customer support. The Series 9 900X3C does seem like a great laptop - but pricey, especially considering I'd need to upgrade the SSD immediately!

thanks,
bert

 

Not looking very hard... There's a thread dedicated to SS9 SSDs:
http://forum.notebookreview.com/showthread.php?t=672173

 

I was very surprised to find that the X3B/X3C support tap-to-click for the left "mouse button"
on the trackpad on a hardware only level, with no drivers installed.
In other words, during a Windows (or even Linux) install, you don't have to physically click the trackpad
to register a left-mouse-button click.
All you need to do is tap.
I have NEVER seen this before on any notebook prior to trackpad driver installation.
Right trackpad button clicks do require a physical press of the trackpad on a hardware only level.
Impressive!

 

That would explain why the left button is responsive immediately the computer boots / wakes up but the right button / other gestures takes more time.

John

 

A couple weeks ago, John mentioned the above quote for a WiFi speed problem I was having. Would this product from Amazon: Amazon.com: TP-Link TL-WN722N 150Mbps High Gain Wireless USB Adapter: Electronics help with the wifi speed?
Keep in mind I use a Linksys G Router with Tomato installed.

 

That's the same adapter as I bought. I've just done a quick test (using speedtest.net) with my X3B and it gives 50% to 100% better speed than the internal WiFi. The signal strength is one or two bars better. I had bought the adapter as backup for my X4C for which the internal WiFi is noticeably worse than the X3B.

John

 

SS9 Owners, if you are having WiFi speed issues, you must buy this TP-Link USB adapter:

Using speedtest.net:
Before the adapter I was getting downloads between 2-4 Mbps.

With the adapter, I am getting downloads between 10-13 Mbps

So for me anyways, I am getting 4-5x the speed. Amazing for less than $20 from amazon.

 

Hi. I recently bought a used Samsung series 9 NP900X3B- since I don't really need ivy bridge yet. I really love it so far, but there is one small issue that has been bugging me - the trackpad on the notebook feels almost loose, and makes noise when I just tap on it (not pushing it down)

this video is pretty close to what it sounds like.
Samsung Series 9 2012 TouchPad Noise - YouTube

Is this normal? Or should I return the laptop and try another one (bought online).

 

Sorry, wrong thread.

 

If it feels loose then something isn't right. If it sounds loose then maybe Windows is giving some extra sound effects. Try muting the audio (Fn+F6) I get no sound when lightly tapping the pad but if I push down hard it will click.

John

 

No, it's not a problem with the audio - it actually feels loose when I tap it (the touchpad moves up and down when just tapping it - not pushing down on the right and left click) I'm assuming that it should feel more solid to the touch?

 

Checking my X3B's pad I observe: The pad doesn't push down at all along the top edge but once I move about 1/3rd of the way down (towards the front) then the pad becomes clickable across the whole width, but I have to push much harder than a normal tap to get it to click. I would propose that the test for whether your pad is loose is whether the top 1/3rd moves.

John

 

About the adapter:
Does it increase the actual speed or only the signal? Would a full 5 bars signal benefit from this adapter?

 

Assuming that you are referring to the USB WiFi adapter, it's more for boosting the signal strength. As the signal weakens the transfer rate drops. It's possible that it may boost a strong signal connection by having two WiFi devices running together. I'll have to research that, but not today.

John

 

How would this adapter be different:
Amazon.com: TP-Link TL-WN822N 300 Mbps High Gain Wireless N USB Adapter with 2x 3dBi Antennas: Electronics

BTW, without any adapter I am getting 30-32 Mbps with my X3B and Speedtest!

 

That adapter looks to be faster but more bulky.

How close to the router and what signal strength does InSSIDer report?

John

 

Looks like -30 range, and I am very close to the router, anywhere from 10-50 feet average,
all single story.

 

That's a good signal. If I take my X4C to the other end of my house the signal drops to -80 and the throughput drops to around 5 Mb/s. That's when the external adapter has a better signal and can maintain higher throughput.

John

 

In my case, the strength is the same. I only get 2-3 bars regardless but the speed as I mentioned before is 10-13 Mpbs on avg w/ the adapter.

My SS9 is upstairs in a corner room while the router is downstairs on the other end, ~30 ft I would say.

 

hmm I consistently get 33 mbps down with my $10 airlink USB wifi card using my phone to tether (meritline.com)

 

I just picked up a "like-new" condition NP900X3B from amazon and got it today. All looks good except for what looks to be a chunk of rubber grommet/piping missing on the left side of the screen. Photo is attached. Whether or not this aesthetic blemish will make me return it depends on whether or not this is a common occurance. What say you, fellow owners?

 

How much did you pay? Below $799?

 

That's what I paid, plus bloody tax in California, which was a bit of a sour spot.

 

To answer your question, this is not a common occurrence. If you bought this from amazon.com and not from an individual seller, I would contact them and see about an exchange. And individual seller may not have a replacement so you might be talking about a refund.

It's a little difficult to tell exactly what I'm looking at from the shot, but it appears to be the rubber bumper around the LCD panel that prevents it from touching the keyboard. I wouldn't think the missing rubber would cause any long term issues but I wonder what a service tech might say on a warranty repair if the LCD goes out under warranty. They might think you were messing with the LCD and refuse service. That's probably a long shot, but you never know.

 

That's not common. It's a small section so it won't affect the functionality of the strip in stopping the display bezel rubbing against the keyboard / palmrest surround. It's not a problem I would worry about if the price is right. However, if you got it from Amazon themselves then it may be worth contacting them and explaining the problem. They may offer to give a discount because it's not completely "as new".

John

 

Here are some additional photos of the packaging and rubber piece. It's hard to capture and the visual impact of the defect really depends on the lighting. This is from a Zeiss 16-80 so not the best for macros.



For those looking for the Returned Product/Amazon route, this process has taught me that, at least in this example, these units are refurbs even though they're being sold as "Very Good" and "Like-New." The W7 product key has been replaced with one that indicates the models as refurbished, and there are stickers inside the box implying that the manufacturer's warranty does not apply to the product.

Coincidentally today I received an e-mail from Amazon trying to sell me a Square Trade warranty. After all is said and done the savings from the new/full warranty price is less than the risk associated with buying a refurbished product, so I will be returning it and purchasing a new one. At least that way I can be a little more discriminating in aesthetic nuances, like the rubber surround.

 

It's all down to the discount relative to the price of a new one.

John

 

Before you return it, call Samsung support and ask about the warranty status on your machine. You may be pleasantly surprised. Then call Amazon and remind them of their own definition of "as new". Again, you may be pleasantly surprised!

 

Great forum guys! It's good to find such a nice resource.

I got my NP900X3B a few months ago and absolutely love it! As with so many, there are minor issues I wish I could overcome. Hopefully some of you have found a solution for what ails me. I've searched through this (and another) thread for answers and wasn't quite able to find what I'm looking for. It's about a docking/hub solution.

While I have an excellent wireless option in my house, we're a wired family. I use the CAT5 dongle, which isn't the most elegant thing sticking out at a 90 degree angle from my machine. I also tend to leave the power supply attached. Again, a perpendicular appendage. On the other side I have cord going out for speakers...

In an ideal world I'd have a dongle that connected to all 4 connectors on the left side and was in-line to the left side of my machine. It could then plug into a hub behind it which could be connected to the interwebs, power, USB & HDMI. Something along these lines (but obviously larger and with 4 connectors instead of the 1/8" one).



My first question is, does something like this exist? It would clean up my desktop (and line of sight) significantly. If not, I wonder how difficult it would be have made (and if anyone else would want one)?

The other question is about the docking solution itself. On my previous computer I used one of these Kensington universal docking hub to connect everything to and it worked alright. Not great, but adequate. The problem again is there's no power to my machine, so I still needed 2 cords coming out of it to the docking station (USB & power). Are there any more elegant docking solutions?




My ideal set up would be one cord coming out of my machine to a monitor (something like the Samsung Central Station monitors), which then connects to anything/everything else; and that's it. I was thinking of getting a Central Station but don't really have a good feel on how it performs (and I'd still need a power supply into the machine anyway). The reviews I've read are all over the map.

Any guidance on this?

 

One of our members had made a unit which would connect all the cables to the ports on the left side, but I can't find his post.

John

 

I believe it's called the 'S9 Port Saver' and can be purchased from Niche Tech Products for Gadget Enthusiasts and Other Passionate Humans. Photo attached.

 

Is this the post you're talking about?

This looks like it basically does the same thing as my Kensington so I didn't see an advantage (other than the additional storage space). It ends up with 2 cords coming out of the machine to it and I'm not quite sure how the laptop gets charged this way...

 

Stupid question, is there a way to adjust the palm sensitivity for the X3B touchpad? I saw something in the X3C thread about palm check but can't find the same settings in the X3B touchpad settings

 

To adjust the sensitivity download the touchpad driver installer package, extract ETDAniConf.exe and run it. The sensitivity control is under "Additional".

John

 

Easy Update Manager has really been ticking me off lately.

The sound driver update wouldn't install for a couple of weeks as it would just randomly disconnect from the server while downloading.

Since then, they added a new graphics driver update (377MB - ?) and the downloads stabilised, but on trying to install the gfx driver, I get a message saying the machine does not meet the minimum configuration requirements. Samsung are so flaky at software.

 

@#1573, Hi Kethiopia,did you ever get the "z keystroke" problem sorted? I have the same thing on my NP900X3B. While the touchpad has improved greatly with driver update, this is the remaining problem for me...

 

I've not used my laptop for about 6 weeks (new baby & not enough time!!) & in that time, for some inexplicable reason, some keys have decided not to work
I've tried WIN 7 safe mode & normal & nothing makes any difference
I've taken the back off & the keyboard connector is attached fully (I don't have a service manual so can't get to the keyboard itself...)
I've also tried a program which allows you to check the keyboard & see which keys don't work - there seems to be no distinct pattern that I can see? (the green keys are OK, the black ones don't work!)



I really don't want to have to take the laptop back to John Lewis for repair (bought early on this year) as it'll mean changing the SSD & I'll be without the laptop just when I'm going back to work

Does anyone have any ideas that I may try?

I reckon it's a hardware fault on the keyboard but I've not touched / spilt anything near it when before it was working fine!!

I'm stumped!

Cheers,

Nic

 

My steps would be:

1. Go into the BIOS, go to the password option and try typing with the problem keys then quit without saving anything (this confirms it is not Windows).
2. Disconnect mains power, disconnect the battery through the little hole in the bottom (see User Guide) and hold down the power button for a minute (this sometimes clears messed up hardware settings).
3. Disconnect / reconnect the keyboard cable (is it that blue ribbon cable next to the battery?). Sometimes an oxidised contact can cause the problem you are having.

John

 

Thanks (as ever!) John,
good idea with the BIOS password - sadly, it didn't work there either.
Tried the power option as you mentioned to no avail & I have already removed, cleaned & wiggled the keyboard cable before putting it back on - and yes, it is the one that comes from under the battery & has a blue pull / align tag on it.

Oh well, John Lewis it is then... :-(

Cheers,
Nic

 

BIOS P08AAH has been released.

Where can I read the changelog?

 

It might be on a computer in Samsung's internal network in Korea. The Samsung support people in your country are unlikely to know what has changed, but you can try setting them the challenge.

John

 

Hi kb62. Yes I got the problem sorted.

The touchpad driver update was causing all the issues so I had to do a system restore to an earlier point to get it working again. After trying the touchpad driver update again I had the same problem so went back to the older driver. Then I waited for a newer version of the touchpad driver to be released and that worked ok.

When my touchpad was working ok I never experienced any problems with the keyboard so it was definitely to do with that.

 

Has anyone been brave enough to upgrade their machine to Windows 8 yet? How did it go and what's the experience like now?

 

I want to delete the 100 MB boot partition or merge it with the C drive. What is the right way to do it?

 

I wouldn't mess with that partition. I'm sure the boot partition is separate for a good reason.

John

 

OK, interesting thanks. What diver are you on now I wonder. I was on 10.7.13.1 but now removed the Elan driver and using the default PS2 driver, to see if there's any improvement...

 

There's a new Elan driver, 11.7.2.1 which is said to be for Windows 8 but actually is for Windows 7 as well. It has some improvements and is worth trying.

John

 

After the bios update P08AAH (NP900X3B-A01US, Windows 7), my system now does not resume to power up after hibernate or IRST upon opening the lid. I have to manually push the power button to turn on (tried toggle both ways, no fix). The system does resume after sleep if opening the lid. Yes, Samsung power fast start mode is currently on. Re-installed Easy Setting, three different versions (1.1.1.4, 1.1.1.6, 1.1.0.41), still same issue... Anyone else have this issue? I am blaming this on the bios update 08, never had this issue before with 07 and previous bios.

Anybody know how to roll back Bios? I have the older bios updates as *.exe, but it keeps saying I have the latest, so it won't let me roll back.