To buy the 9 series or not to buy the 9 series

Hi guys

I am in quite a dilemma right now. I’m current looking for a 13” laptop and I’ve falling for the Samsung 9 Series. I have been following the Samsung 9 Series laptop (ZX310 / 900X3A) unveiled thread and after reading about all the problems with the WiFi, software and battery life, I’m not sure this is the laptop for me anymore.

I have given up reading all the 139 pages, but as far I can tell there are problems with the WiFi speed, the graphics/trackpad/power drivers and performance (did I forget anything?).

Some reviews states that the battery will run for 6-7.5 hrs with light use, others 3-4 hrs with light use. Some states that there no WiFi problems and some says that WiFi connection is so bad that connection to the WiFi is dropped all the time.

I have almost given up trying to figure out if I should buy this one or not.
Maybe I should just wait to see what the Asus UX31 will be like.

What are your thoughts on the 9 series?

 

Hi,

I got my 9 this week and I love it.

Yes people have encountered issues but you will ALWAYS have issues with any hardware regardless.

You also have to remember people dont tend to post on forums unless they have an issue / need help.

What one user may percieve as in issue maybe a non issue for someone else. I read all the 9 series thread, but went and bought one anyway.

I have no issues surfing the web in my house, i only have 10Mb broadband and have had no drop outs from my Airport Extreme. In the same location MBP shows full wireless as does the 9.

You can get too tied up in other peoples issues sometimes, I bought this over a Macbook AIR and have no qualms, I had a MBA for a month at work to evaluate so was familiar with that kit but still got the 9.

You can always wait but then when the Asus comes out there will be something else 6 months down the line that will be better.

Carpe Deim!

B

 

I’m not saying that I want the newest of the newest; I just want a 13" lightweight machine that works

How is the battery life on yours?

 

Sorry didn't try to imply you did

Well it has only had 2 charge cycles, the documentaton mentioned the machine comes with no charge (though that is most likely not strictly true)

Battery life seems fine so far, I have not sat and timed how long it actually lasts, the battery meter time in 7 jumps up and down, once it beds in I might get a better idea!

If your uncertain about the Series 9 the MBA is a very viable alternative, but if you want to natively boot it in to 7 (no Mac OS) the boot loader update means it takes up to 20 odd seconds before it even starts booting the Win 7 OS then you got the extra OS licsence cost.

IMO if you want a premium Ultra notebook the only 2 out there atm are Series 9 or MBA, you would most likely be very happy with either

B

 

As someone who has participated in the main thread and complained about the wifi, I still think it's a great notebook for my needs: it has a wonderful screen, great keyboard, is very quiet, very light, and has more than enough power and battery life for me. It also has some nice little features, like the backlit keyboard and even a caps lock led on the key itself, which I appreciate much more than I would have thought.

At the moment the only computer I'd consider instead is the X220 with IPS, and that has a number of problems, as well as a smaller (though excellent) screen. (I don't particularly care about looks or thinness.)

I reliably get just under 5 hours of battery life with regular usage, but I like to have the brightness turned up to take advantage of that screen. I could easily get 5:30 if I wanted, and probably 6 if I were more careful.

 

MBA is the coolest machine on the market right now, but I need to run Windows (my tools only runs under Windows). And I would hate to run Windows on bootcamp. So MBA is, unfortunately, not a option for me

Thanks for your reply.

The only real issue I have with the 9 series is the problem with WiFi. I need to have a stable connection
Have you heard why the WiFi problem occurs, and can it be solved with the Intel WiFi card?

I have been thinking about the X220 as well. Unfortunately there are not stores, there in Denmark, where I can try it. Even though I have a Lenovo T400 (loving it) right now, I will not buy a new laptop without having it in my hands first. Oh yea… The 6 cell battery on the X220 really pisses me off. Why make a battery that doesn't fit the rest of the computer??

 

I never heard anyone saying that their 900X3A has only 3-4 hrs with light use. If this is true, they can get their battery replaced by Samsung - I called their CS and in 3 years, if your battery dropped to 2/3 of what they claimed, you can get it exchanged or repaired. Samsung claimed the battery as 7 hours but I think they will judge based on the max capacity.

I also got Sammies with bad wifi reception but my newest one is definitely OK (still 30% weaker than an HP though). It's stable, even though it's slower. If your router is close by, or no walls in between, you can get pretty fast speed too.

Sammy is a very good ultraportable machine. You just need to make sure you buy from somewhere you can easily return/exchange without restocking fees.

 

I was thinking of buying an MBA over a 9, but the MBA's dont have 2nd gen processors. Also, the Airs are apparently getting a refresh in June/July.

 

I don't think there is anything else that falls in the same category as the Series 9 unless you want to go Mac OS. In which case you should probably wait for the refresh to come out, and maybe wait for the ASUS UX21, Q3/4 this year. For me, I just picked up the 11.6" version of the Series 9 from Buy.com, was on sale for $999.

 

Did you get it yet? If so, does it have the same weak wireless issue that the 13" is having?

 

Arriving this Friday. Will update when I get it. But based on limited reviews from Amazon, the wireless appears fine for the 11.6". I was hesitant but $999 deal pushed me over the edge.

 

please do report your experience, im thinking about 2day/overnighting too.

 

Just received my 11.6"! I ordered Tuesday late night w/ 2-day shipping and FedEx picked up from Buy.com at South Bend, IN Wednesday afternoon 2PM, and it was in my hands noon today.

I have not tested extensively, but I can verify this thing (my first SSD laptop) is blazing fast when it comes to start up and installing. I have so far only cleaned up a few bloatware, made a system image and installed MS Security Essential and IE 9 (it came loaded with Norton and IE 8). Programs are uninstalled and installed in a blink of an eye.

Startup (I time from when "Starting Windows" appear to when cursor shows on desktop) took 14 seconds, waking up about 4 seconds.

Most importantly, I DO NOT have the wireless problem that has plagued others. I moved to a different room, seperated by a wall and ~15ft from the router and jumped onto Speedtest.net and got 30.84 Mbps DL and 21.30 Mbps UL. I use Verizon Fios and as a comparison, my desktop, HARD-WIRED got roughly the same speed (30.7/22.3) just now.

The only thing I don't like so far, the power supply. No indication light to tell you when it's fully charged unless you open up the lid. Plug (into the laptop) is very loose, so don't plan on moving it around while charging.

I am going to poke around this machine a little the rest of the day. If you have any question, please feel free to ask.

 

thanks dude. i'm interested in lightweight wifi-on work battery life measurements and how audible it is in a quiet room when idling and under load i.e. flash based movie player or playing a hd movie. audio recording of the fan noise would be awesome

 

I don't have a way of recording this thing, but I can assure you it is quiet, not silent quiet, but quiet and most definitely will not disrupt other people in the room, sleeping or whatever. There are no vents on the sides, all 4 vents are on the the bottom of the case, the third of which (from left) appears to be the hot air outlet for the fan. Hiding the vents on the bottom (as opposed to side) really helps it muffle the sound. The fan noise picks up a little bit when under load (I tried a 720P YouTube video) but the level difference is hardly noticeable unless your ear is next to it. I don't know how to quantify it for you, but bottomline is: unless you are really picky about decibel level, the fan noise should not be an issue.

Battery life: I don't have a good handle on it yet. Since first full charge, I have been using it somewhat intensely for 1.5 hours: WiFi on, screen medium (5 out of 8 bars) brightness, backlit keyborad on, mostly watching videos and downloading/installing softwares. Right now it's 60% left. So we should be able to squeeze out 3.5 hours on normal use and more if you turn things off/down to save juice.

If you press Fn + F1 for Control Center (a one-stop control panel for BT, Wireless, backlit keyboard, etc.), there is a Silent Mode (picture of a laptop with butterfly on it) that's by default turned off. I am still trying to figure out what it does.

 

Be careful with this! As I wrote on the main S9 thread, I had this same issue, a very loose DC jack into the laptop. So, initially, it would just easily come out if I moved the laptop.

However, the problem got worse, so I tried actually bending the jack slightly with pliers to get a more solid connection. This worked for awhile, but two days ago I lost the ability to charge almost completely, unless I forcefully held the plug in place.

I decided to check the display models at local retailers and found the connection on those to be much more solid and stable. So, while initially I thought I had a bad adapter, I now believe it may be a faulty internal connector in the laptop.

Since this made the machine unusable, it is now at the (Singapore) repair depot, so we'll see what the outcome is -- I can still return mine (it is a US model from Costco), but am hoping to avoid the hassle and expense.

Bottom line, you may want to check models at retail to see if the connection is as loose as yours, and if not you would be better served to exchange your unit.

Other observations: fan noise is a non-issue. Battery life (on 13 inch) for typical usage should be about 5 hours using wifi and modest brightness, keyboard backlighting and bluetooth off. Less for video playing or streaming. Get a good microfiber cloth or fingerprints / grease prints will drive you crazy.

 

Mine is the 11.6", and same problem. Last night I plugged it in to charge, when I woke up this morning, I saw the yellow battery indicator was still on after probably 7 hours charging. Perplexed, I turned on the laptop only to find it had 8%! charged. I pushed it in a little tighter and right now it's charging at least, up to 10% after a few minutes. Will see if it's isolated incident or something more serious.

So you are in US and they have you send the laptop to Singapore for service? I am surprised Samsung has no service center in US...

 

No, it was purchased in the US and shipped to Singapore (where I have an apartment). At the time I ordered it was hard to find in Singapore, and it is still far more expensive here (over US$2000). The US would have service of course, but in Asia it is more convenient, I can just walk 5 minutes to the local Samsung service center in the Orchard Rd shopping belt. The warranty is international and they didn't even ask for a receipt.

Personally, if you don't get a solid "click" and tight connection to the charger, I would recommend exchanging your laptop, the problem will likely get worse as mine did. If I had been in the US I would have simply exchanged it, and I may have to return it there if the issue can't easily be resolved here in Singapore

 

Well, thanks for the hint. My problem turns out to be a false alarm. I just had no idea how HARD we had to push to get the "click". It really takes quite a bit effort to push in and pull out that pesky connector.

 

Wow, is it really THAT difficult? I plug and unplug my laptop fairly often, so I don't think I'd like this very much.

 

Yes, it is very "sturdy", but I suspect it might loosen up after a while. Put it this way, if you trip on the power adapter cable, you don't ever have to worry about its disconnecting from the laptop, but you do have to worry about the laptop flying off the table with it.

 

Good news for you. With mine, I could have pounded it in with a sledgehammer and it still wouldn't have clicked into place, but it appears I am one of very few with this problem. Unfortunately, mine has been at the service center for five days and counting, they couriered me a new adapter which is obviously useless without the laptop

In any case, the adapter is one case in which Apple clearly has a 100% better solution...Samsung doesn't seem to mind copying Apple designs, so too bad they didn't do a knock-off of that feature.

 

My charger plug is extremely solid as well. You certainly hear a click sound once it is fully in. I actually really like how secure it is.

 

Consider buying Parallels or VMware for a true virtual machine experience. Agree that if you really want to run both Win & OSX regularly, Bootcamp is not the best solution

 

"A" series vs. waiting for "B" series? Any comments? (B02 now becoming avail on various sites...)

One downside to "B-series" noted is warranty change from 3-years to 1-year. Given that, thoughts/experiences on extended warranties and extended warranty PLUS "accidental damage" coverage? (how delicate is this thing, anyway?) Adds $200-400 to price! (sneaky way to "raise price" while still leaving apparent selling price the same?) Makes that MBA vs. S9 comparison easier, I guess since BOTH now have 1 year coverage.

Perhaps last chance to get a "bargain" A-series or avoid and wait for B-series with improved (?) wifi card?

Any other changes in B-series that anyone knows of?

 

Where is the warranty information posted? I don't see it on Amazon or the Samsung site.

 

Many online stores post that warranty info. Samsung does have that info too -- it's just not that easy to find. Look at the bottom of this page for the A03 model.

 

I am also wondering whether to get a Series 9 the 13.3" model..I have a bunch of concerns and CS wasn't very helpful...

1) I know that there are no physical buttons on the trackpad, but is it possible to make only the bottom clickable and not the entire trackpad?

2) How hot does it get after long use? I have my laptop on pretty much 24/7 and I spend time programming..is it good for long time lap use?

3) I heard there are wifi issues here and there..but is the wifi good enough for close range wifi? or like say 10-20ft?

4) Anyone dealt with Samsung warranty? From the agent they don't have an option for in-home warranty..do they have any option for getting the laptop fixed fast? as in same/next day?

5) I also heard W7 benefits from directx 11..but it only has 10.1..I am not gonna game on it, but will I miss out anything?

Also, does anyone know of any other light 12-13 laptop that will have a 400nit matt display and preferably 9500+ gpu? I hoped higher end series 3 would but after long long research it seems it will be 300nit display max..and it weighs 2x that of the series 9 ..also


I have now a Dell XPS 1340..which gets really HOT, and the display is 300nit which is ok on sunlicght but would prefer better if possible..I use it mostly for programming and graphics design..

Any help would be appreciated..

 

Unfortunately Samsung's website is rather poor when it comes to showing all of the models, and a side-by-side view of the features and specs.

For instance, look at Elegant Design, Sleek Performance - Laptop Performance. Even if you drill down from there on the 13", you can't see any of the newer models and therefore no comparison.

You would think warranty would be an important consideration. Anyone buying one of these machines with a 12 month warranty is crazy. Look at all of the unresolved bugs on this v1 device.

 

@Thors.Hammer,

I agree wholeheartedly that Samsung's web site is rather poor. I don't even bother to try to get my Samsung model info there.

Everything that I've seen anywhere supports that the A0x models have 3-year warranties and that the B0x models have 1-year warranties.

With my credit card purchase, I now supposedly have 4-year warranty on my A05. But, according to pages on Samsung web site, that is voided if one opens the case (to install RAM or do anything else).

 

I just posted in the "main" S9 thread so will not repeat it here but am having a LOT of problems with my trackpad (or, at least, my keyboard- only assume it is trackpad related). Also have a B-series but has poor wifi with rapidly fluctuating signal strength noted, as well.

All and all, NOT happy with experience I am having. Quite disappointed as I really needed a machine to work reliably due to impending travel.... and it would appear that this was not it. I was just hoping that the forum posts were "exceptions" or blown out of proportion. I also failed to follow the suggestion of earlier post in this thread of "just be sure to buy somewhere you can return".
I am going to be calling Newegg tomorrow, anyway, to at least TRY and complain. Worst they can do is say "No" in which case I may contact my credit card company since item I bought was "not as advertised" since it clearly doesn't meet specs or work after 1 week.

 

@DrAloha

Definitely talk to Newegg before returning. They do have a restocking fee but they do say " There is a restocking fee of 15% on all returns for refund (RMA Refund), unless waived by a Customer Support Agent....."

Unfortunately, Newegg also has this link for the Series 9 which basically says you can't return it for refund and can only exchange (within 30 days).

Good luck.