The 2012 Samsung Series 9 13.3" (NP900X3B)

I'm in the UK, and took it directly to Samuel King... What happens next with you will dictate what I do now, I guess.

But when I do take it in again or send it via courier I think I will follow your lead on the screen dump and P R page from launch.

 

1. When does your one year warranty expire?
2. Run some more full charge (to 100%) / discharge (including the battery calibration) cycles to deliberately try to wear the battery further.

It is quite plausible that the service people don't know about battery wear and how it can be checked (I had to explain to the support person how battery wear is defined and can be checked). They probably charge the battery, see that it goes to 100%, then leave it to drain and if the computer runs for a few hours consider it to be fine, not knowing that the computer originally ran for an extra two hours.

Question for those who have received replacement batteries:
Does HWiNFO also show a charge cycles value in the battery info?
One of the newer X4C owners has this info whereas my older X4C (and X3B) batteries do not.

John

 

My warranty expires at the end of March, so I have a month or so to play with. Or 3 months considering I get 90 days after taking it to the repair centre.

I might be around Angel on Friday, and if so I'll take it in and sit down one of the engineers and try to explain the problem to them properly.

 

I made the attached PDF of the Samsung Press Release in case they pull that page. I consider it to be crucial evidence which influenced my purchase decision. The point is that the battery is claimed to have a much longer life than normal notebook batteries (and I would note that after 8 months my X4C battery is still at 0% wear although i haven't run a recent calibration).

View attachment Samsung U.S. News X3B Battery Claim.pdf

John

 

My X3B, with both the old and new battery, does not show charge cycles value.

 

My new battery doesn't show it. Never checked before. Thanks for the software.

 

I love this laptop but having Windows 8 on it has been absolutely infuriating. Is there a guide somewhere on WHAT drivers are recommended, like the Asus ELAN touchpad drivers, things like that since Samsung is apparently unable to update their site with actual Windows 8 drivers?

I'm tired of half of my laptops features/functions/toggles not working.

Should have never updated to this stupid OS.

Edit: Oh, wow, it looks like the Samsung SW update actually works now. Thanks Samsung, a bit late though.

 

I take it you didn't see SAMSUNG PC Windows 8 Upgrade before you jumped off the cliff?

 

Hmm, just got this email from Samsung:

 

It seems that Samsung are trying to wriggle out of their obligations.

1. Check the warranty document provided with your X3B. I don't recall seeing any reference to a 6 month warranty for the battery (and my X3B is waiting for battery replacement after 11 months).

2. Look for my previous post with Samsung's claim that the battery in the X3B would retain 80% of capacity after 3 years. I'm sure a court would find in your favour if you mentioned that your purchase decision took account of that battery life claim (it was definitely a factor in my decision to buy the X3B).

Alternatively, you have to chase the retailer mentioning Sale of Goods Act and fitness for purpose. We also have reason to believe that some of the X3B were shipped with a sub-par battery in which case latent defects legislation could be pertinent and would over-ride any warranty conditions.

John

 

wow, stupid samsung not only in Russia, but in UK too))) this is not user-replaceable battery, so warranty = 1 year

As for my story with samsung - they finally take my x3b under warranty and will replace the battery shortly (new battery model - ba43-00350a). hope I will get my laptop back soon.

 

Thanks for the advice.

I've taken a screendump of HWinfo showing battery wear at 28%, and their claim regarding battery life, and will drop it off to the repair centre tomorrow.

 

I had a phone call today to say that my replacement battery was expected into the service depot (Digicare in UK) tomorrow. I was told that it is not the original part, which is no longer available, but an alternative part. I'll report back next week on what part number it is.

John

 

I contacted Samsung asking for a battery replacement as I have 30% wear and this is what they told me...:

"Thank you for contacting Samsung Customer Support.


I am sorry to hear of the problems you are currently having with your charger and the battery life on this item.

In order to preserve the battery and extend its life expectancy, it is recommended that the battery is allowed to fully discharge every few weeks. If the item is constantly used on charge, this will damage the battery. The battery is a consumable item and unfortunately we are unable to replace it for you. As you are still getting three hours usage out of it, I would not imagine it to be a big problem and I would suggest that you perform the battery callibration regularly.

Can you please try the following to improve your battery life.

. Remove All Power Saving Schemes.
. Restart The Machine And Enter The BIOS. by tapping F2 while rebooting
. When You Are In The BIOS Use The Right Arrow To Move Across The Section Titled BOOT .
. Use The Down Arrow Key To Go To Battery Calibration.
. Press ENTER And Follow The On Screen Instructions This Will Recalibrate The Battery .
. This Process May Take Between 20-30 Min .
. The Battery Will Need To Be Recharged With Machine Turned Off For About 1-2 Hours"

I'm shocked ...

Oh and I also specifically said that I use it mostly on Battery Life Extender,,,

 

You need to get on the horn and wave the warranty at them and escalate to a manager if necessary. These email support systems first priority is deterring any actual service.

 

I would add:
(i) Run the recommended calibration a few times with full charge between each discharge. Most likely the wear will increase further. The recommendation to fully discharge the battery every few weeks is appropriate to nickel-based batteries.
(ii) Point out that when this model was launched, Samsung claimed that the battery would still have 80% of its original capacity after 3 years (work back up this thread to find my post with a link to that claim). The failure of your battery to perform in accordance with the advertised longevity indicates that the battery is defective and has lost capacity for that reason, not because of normal usage.

This is my new battery as provided under warranty:



10% more capacity than the old one and zero wear as new (after fully charging the current capacity rose to 46258 mWh).

The label on the new battery:


And, for comparison, the label on the original battery:


John

 

Thanks John! Just sent mine in for battery as well and hope to get the same results!

 

Thanks for the replies. When I first sent them an email I specifically said "when the product was released Samsung claimed that after 1,500 recharges it would only lose 20% of its capacity", which I assume is equals to 3 years of use.

 

First do the recommended calibration. Then, assuming the wear does not decrease, I think it is useful to emphasise that you consider the battery to be defective because of (a) you have only put it through a small fraction of the claimed charge cycles and (b) it has failed to get close to Samsung's claims. It is also pertinent to point out that the claim for impressive battery longevity was a factor influencing your decision to purchase the computer.

The next step may be to point out that other X3B owners have had similar problems of excessive battery wear and their batteries have been replaced under warranty. Also, the replacement battery being provided is a different model (one feature I noted is that the cells of the new battery are made in China - the same as for my X4C which is not yet reporting any battery wear).

If necessary, you can continue the dialogue even after the 1 year warranty period is over provided that the request for the replacement battery was made during the warranty period.

Which country are you in?

John

 

I'm in the UK, London. I replied them saying that my battery seems defective and since I'm still under warranty and their claims were not met, I'm entitled to a battery replacement. I bought my X3B in the end of April during the VAT cashback period so I've got some time.

 

The variability in responses from the Samsung UK support is surprising.

If Samsung don't want to cooperate directly then you can refer the problem to the retailer. Sale of Goods Act and fitness for purpose are two phrases that come to mind. The retailer may be more willing to agree that the battery is defective due to excessive wear (relative to the advertised claims) and then arrange for the replacement.

John

 

I've got a text from the repair centre asking to call to arrange collection...

Not sure if they did change the battery this time around.

John, did you get a new charger along with the battery? And did they let you keep your old battery?

 

1. I had to send the charger in and the same one came back. I don't know why the US folk have been sent an additional charger.
2. I didn't get the old battery back. Remember, on paper, it's not a user-replaceable part and it does have a value for recycling.

John

 

Urgh, lots of headache from Samsung. I spent 45 minutes on the phone before I got through to the customer services department.

Tomorrow I get to phone them again (oh joy!), and will try to get them to accept the issue of Battery Wear level and authorise a replacement battery.

 

Well, my battery wear finally showed up. It was stuck at 3% since the beginning, but now it's at 14%. And until recently I have rarely used it off the plug. The question is whether I should submit the service request now or push it to 20% first (I purchased in July 2012)? I believe the guarantee was 80% capacity after three years?

 

I would get the wear up to at least 20%. You may find you can achieve it through running several full discharge (including the calibration to fully drain the battery) / full recharge cycles.

John

 

Yeah you're probably right. I'll try that a few more times. Thanks.

 

This is starting to resemble a never ending nightmare for me. Getting this battery replaced is not easy...

However, after spending at least 3 hours on the phone with Samsung over the last few days, I spoke to someone who was willing to let me send the laptop into digicare. Which brings me to this:

I'll send them the P R release and accompanying info about my battery wear level (28% last time I had my laptop, will be able to check tomorrow).

I'm not about to take this lying down though. If this doesn't work, I'll see if John Lewis are more willing to oblige.

 

That looks promising although it shouldn't be such hard work. Put a screen dump of the battery info from HWiNFO in together with the Samsung announcement.

Digicare should be arranging the collection and return - they send a box into which you put the computer + PSU and give it back to the courier.

BTW, I did a run-down test on my new battery yesterday. It managed 4 hours of video play back compared with the 2 1/2 hours that the old battery could manage immediately prior to being sent in. The higher capacity of the new battery is a useful bonus.

John

 

Thanks for the info.

As for the run-down test, what were the variables: Battery Saver enabled or not? HW assisted playback or not, resolution of video, and brightness of the screen?

Anyway, the battery life you were seeing with the old battery is similar to how it is for me, and 4 hours with a video run-down test is what I'd expect from the increase to larger battery cell and no wear level problem.

 

The video was an AVI file. The power plan was Samsung Optimized, display on 1/2 brightness and WiFi / BT on but not in use. It was a comparison with previous testing rather than attempt to see how long I could run on battery which I would expect to be more than six hours under light usage.

John

 

Got a call from service center - they can`t change my battery (they already received it from Samsung, 350A 7.4v) untill they get approve from Samsung directly. Main office in Moscow don`t know anything about compatibility of 11.1v vs 7.4v batteries. They sent a request directly to Samsung Korea about 7.4v battery compatibility with X3B
This story gets funny With new 7.4v Battery my laptop can explode

 

That the battery has arrived for you is good news. Polite persistence can have its rewards.

The voltage difference is a valid concern. Let us hope that they get a prompt response confirming that the 7.4V battery is the official replacement for the 11.1V part (which has been discontinued).

John

 

Yay, finally they replace my battery

old

new



John, thanks for your help!

 

You can see the cycle count with both the old and new batteries. Which software (it looks similar, but not the same as, HWiNFO) and which version of Windows?

28% wear with 82 charge cycles on the old battery doesn't match Samsung's battery longevity claims.

John

 

It is HWiNFO, I am just crop images. Old battery was on Win7, which later was updated to Win8

 

If you think that is bad...

 

I am puzzled (nothing new) but I'm also running HWiNFO v4.14-1880 (and latest BIOS P10AAH) and have no trace of the charge cycles.

John

 

I am running the same bios (P10AAH) & hwinfo64 v.4.12-1850

UPD. Do i need to do the battery calibration with this new battery?

 

I don't advise running the calibration until there is reason to believe that the battery is losing capacity. For example, the computer shutting down 10 minutes after the battery gauge says there is an hour remaining. Running the calibration is, in itself, a source of wear.

Also, if you don't normally need the full 100% capacity then enable the Battery Life Extender.

John

 

lol, wear level down to 0 after reboot


Actually I am prefer 100% capacity with 2-year battery life instead of 80% and 4 years (just for example)

 

Not sure why it's not showing the Cycle count.. Maybe it has to do with Win 8?

I got a text from DPD about a delivery which I think is the box to send my laptop to Digicare in.

 

I'm running Windows 7.

Get the computer and power supply ready (I was told to also send the PSU in). Make sure both are labelled with your name and address.

When the DPD person arrives it's then a case of putting the computer and PSU into the box while they wait so there's no hassle of having to arrange a further collection.

John

 

From the looks of it dymo and I are both running windows 8, so the battery charge count could be linked win 8 enabling the reading or something.

And thanks for the heads up about the DPD delivery/collection. Thought the delivery person might be coming back for it, but now that I know I'll get everything ready in time.

 

Order creation 18-Mar-2013 09:14
Product received20-Mar-2013 11:20
Product Repaired20-Mar-2013 16:27

o_0

 

Looks like they had a spare battery in stock. My X3B had to wait a couple of weeks for the battery.

Expect a phone call and/or SMS about when to expect it to be delivered.

John

 

Got the laptop back a few hours ago. I haven't popped open the back panel yet, but it has the new battery 44Wh battery battery according to HWiNFO. The service card from digicare simply says battery replaced.

The whole back story goes like this: I took the laptop to Samuel King twice, and they claimed the engineer got 4½ running windiag so there was nothing wrong with the laptop, and I would see double that under normal usage. As for the 80% wear level claim, Samsung were not bound by it because the press release was on the US site, and with windiag giving them 4½ hours the laptop was working to spec.

Samsung also insisted they could only follow what the service centre said: if they didn't find a fault I couldn't get a replacement. At the most they could get Samuel King (as my local repair centre) to look at it again. After 3 or 4 phone calls to their UK based customer service centre, I got a helpful rep to agree to send it to Digicare with the risk that if they said there was nothing wrong with the laptop I'd have to pay the cost to get it shipped back to me.

Digicare took the laptop on Tuesday, received and repaired it on Wednesday, and shipped it back to me on Thursday. Impressively efficient.

 

Got my laptop back today -- unfortunately it seems they just replaced the battery with the same one showing 11.1 V and 3% wear. My first one was up to 38% after less than 100 cycles... so I guess we'll see how this one does. Wish I got the 8 V like everyone else here

 

Are you in the US? I have managed to get my wear up to 24% with perhaps 25 cycles and will be submitting a claim soon. I was stuck on 3% wear for some time since I rarely used it on battery, I think you have to cycle several times to get a correct reading.

 

Hi everyone,

I have a question that I am hoping you guys can help. I bought this computer last summer and it was working really well. Recently, videos have been lagging a lot. I can't play 720p videos fullscreen (the video lags and the sound gets all weird). I can't play some videos sometimes. Overall, the computer has been pretty slow. Also, wireless drops every few hours or so. The wireless is a small issue compared with the video issue.

Thanks so much!