Upgrade time - replaced a 2012 NP900X3C-A03US with the 2016 NP900X3L-K06US

I bought my NP900X3C-A03US in late 2012 and it has been a faithful companion - I travel a lot and I really appreciated its thin profile and light weight, along with the decent battery life (if managed well). Over the years I had a few minor issues with the computer, but no show stoppers. Lost a few rubber feet, developed a few screen anomalies (dead pixel, stuck on pixel, and some hot spots).....

I decided it was time to start looking for a replacement for my trusty travelling companion. I considered a Dell XPS 13 but after checking it out in person several times, I decided to roll the dice again with Samsung. At first I wasn't enamored with the silver color vs blue, but decided I could live with it. I also was skeptical of the gloss screen vs matte, but again, decided I would order it and see what I thought.

First impressions - wow, this thing is light...and I mean this is compared to the NP900X3C which is only 2.55lbs. Second impression was that it felt "cheap", but that wasn't the right impression. The lighter chassis coupled with a different texture on the surface at first feels weak, but after spending some time with the computer my view is shifting...it's not "cheap", it just really is light. There IS more flex in the main chassis as well as the screen assembly as compared to the older model - probably due to the different alloy. Construction is very good - on par with the older model - fit and finish is outstanding aside from the additional flex.

So far the glossy screen has been a non-issue, but I haven't tested lots of different environments as of yet. It is more fingerprint prone than the matte screen, but the glare hasn't been a factor as of yet. The switch to Win10 + the higher resolution has taken a bit to adjust to the scaling / zoom options to get things to look crisp but not too small....I'm getting it sorted.

Not a lot of bloatware on the base install - Norton, Skype, an office preview, and the typical samsung software.

Overall - I'm happy so far. My first trip is next week so that will be the proof - it will test screen glare, battery performance, weight, etc....

 

First gremlin - the right speaker doesn't work...meh.

Oh, and first usage of the screen in moderate sunlight - yes, it has more glare than the old matte one, but it's not terrible. I've used a few computers with MUCH worse screens, but its nowhere near as anti-glare as the older screen.

 

Did you run the speaker test (right click on the speaker icon > Playback Devices > Configure?

I would next reinstall the audio driver just to make sure it is not a software issue. However, someone forgetting to connect the speaker during assembly is not unknown.

John

 

I haven't dug in yet. Good suggestions on the tests and drivers. Tempted to pop the bottom off and take a look though. I've had my X3C open and apart several times, in fact I'll be doing a screen unit swap later this week so the wife can have it and not deal with the pixel issues.

 

If you look inside (which is what I would also be tempted to do if the software checks don't fix it) then please take some internal photos.

And make sure your screwdriver is in good condition so that everything looks good in case you do have to give the machine back for replacement / repair.

John

 

So turns out the right speaker does work, it's just REALLY quiet compared to the left one. I verified this with the speaker test. Oddly, when using headphones, the right earphone is a bit quieter than the left one as well - not to the extent of the physical speakers, but still a difference.

I didn't get a chance to update drivers as of yet - lost power today and it just came on. Too late to do much more exploring.

I will take pics - both physically the 2 machines to compare / contrast externally, but also if I pull the back off. I have a nice set of Wiha drivers, so I will make sure to not mark up the screws. One nice thing with the silver case is that the screws are silver and not painted like on the blue chassis models. Less of a risk marring the paint on the screws.

 

Got a chance to investigate the speaker issue more and take some pics - here are some good comparisons between the 2 models. Physical size, they are nearly identical. Last pic is a clue as to what was wrong with the speaker (its fixed now)

Older laptop showing its age - marks and mars on the blue exterior
Keyboard layout and touchpad also nearly identical - only minor changes

Stacked shot - ports are identical as well (both sides)

Bottom view of new computer only - screw pattern is the same as well
Hard to see in the pic, but clearer in person - there's a slight dimple/bump in the speaker grill

 

Shot of the layout with cover off - I have closeup pics if that's of interest.



AHA! that is a orphan screw that localized on the cone of the right speaker. Luckily, the speaker was undamaged - no tears or dents. I scoured the board looking for a missing screw, but they are all there.

Removed the offending screw and the speakers work as expected. Headphone effect was clearly a red herring and might have been the mixing in the movie I was watching.

 

Thanks for the update and the photos. Perhaps that screw caused the slight hump in the speaker grille.

How does the fan noise of the X3L with only one fan compare with the X3C with two fans?

With only one fan, the X3L should have space for more RAM. It's a shame they didn't provide two RAM sockets but I guess that would add to the thickness.

The smaller battery is also a step backwards. Is the battery thinner or is there a gap at the ends?

John

 

Yep - I'm sure the deformation of the speaker grill was from the screw - the pressure from the screw being pressed on by the cover was keeping the speaker cone from moving - muting the speaker. Glad I figured it out and not worth contacting Samsung about IMHO.

Fan noise is no different on the X3L - if anything its quieter. I agree its a shame they don't provide more RAM sockets, but do prefer thin vs more RAM. I use my laptop for light work and have a workstation on my desk both at work and home that I can remote into if I need to do any heavy computing.

As for the smaller battery, there clearly is space they could have put a larger battery in. So far it hasn't been a detriment though - I was at the office for 11 hours yesterday and used the notebook for about 5.5 of those hrs - light usage - wifi on, screen mid-brightness, web/email/document viewing. Got home and still had ~40% battery left.

 

FYI - screen unit swap on the NP900X3C went well. Snagged this item

http://www.ebay.com/itm/161872359379?_trksid=p2057872.m2749.l2649&ssPageName=STRK:MEBIDX:IT

and it was an easy direct swap. Powered right up with no issues.

 

Helo Boykster

Thanks for your review and photos. I've purchased the same notebook (NP900X3L-K06US), and i am still fighting with the battery, maximum duration till now is 5 hours..., battery remaining time decreases 11% in 30 min. However i uses the brightness at max just because a difficult reading the screen due to my age.

Before i own a np900x3c (ativ book 9 plus) with a 40Wh (or 45Wh?), but a much better battery perfomance.

Does you know it this battery (30Wh) can be replaced to a better one?

 

Samsung give these notebooks brighter displays than many other manufacturers but that extra illumination is a big power drain. At full brightness it's probably more than the rest of the notebook. You can see for yourself by using a program such as BatteryInfoView to see the power drain when running on battery and then varying the brightness from minimum to maximum. I would guess a power drain of 4 to 5W under light usage at minimum brightness and possible double that at full brightness.

There is no potential to put a bigger battery into this notebook: Samsung, in their infinite wisdom, opted to reduce thickness and weight (which probably make better advertising material) rather than give users the benefit of extra run time on battery.

John

 

I run at about 65% brightness most of the time if I'm on battery. As of now, I believe John R is correct that there is currently no battery upgrade available. For me so far it hasn't been an issue, but I can understand how if you require the brighter settings it could be an issue.

 

Here is Lisa's review:
0.9kg, 15W Skylake i5 and the same decent input and output devices the Series 9 had, that laptop looks like a serious candidate to replace my IvyBridge machine. Shame they achieved the awesome weight by just reducing the battery size.

 

Actually, Samsung considerably lightened up the body panels as well.

 

Yep - the body panels are definitely different than the older models. Some good, some bad - lighter for sure, but feels a bit flimsier as well. More flex than my older machine, but not unacceptable.

 

Yes, it's not a katana blade of supreme rigidness like other Samsung 9 series models. The price we pay for the extreme light weight.

 

Well, I've been living with this notebook for a few months now, and I like it, but I don't love it as much as its predecessor. I do love the lighter weight however, so I've stuck with the new model trying to get over the warts.

Biggest issue I've had may or may not be hardware related - I've had a terrible rife of windows10 crashes / lockups lately. The only reason it might be software to blame is that I am running Classic Start Menu to make things look more like Win7 since I really can't stand the Win10 start menu...much better than Win8, but still not a big fan. I may do a test and re-image back to factory and leave Classic Start Menu off to see if that's the issue....

Other minor niggles - screen is beautiful, but the gloss can be an issue, and the higher resolution can also cause scaling issues for some applications. The body panel flex usually isn't an issue, but the palm rest area feels a bit less rigid at times. Durability of the finish on the outer panels isn't as good as the older blue model either - it picks up small scratches much easier than the old anodized finish. Touchpad feels a bit less precise, and I there don't seem to be settings to tweak the resolution other than pretty gross settings. In Win7 I could access the driver level tweaks...not so in Win10 on this hardware.

 

Hey boykster, I'm in a similar situation as you. I have a NP900X3C, it's close to perfect but it only has 4GB and the left fan makes weird loud noises, so I'm looking for a replacenement. Surprisingly, even after 4 years after release, it's hard to find a solid alternative!

I just bought the Thinkpad X1 Carbon, but it's unpleasantly big, has loose hinges, and the display is not as bright. So I'm gonna return it.

The Dell XPS 13 is another option, but it also doesn't have a bright screen and I don't like the design and the inside coating (looks like it might leave marks after touches).

So right now I'm considering either 1) replacing the fan and suffering the 4GB while waiting for something better, perhaps the next Chromebook Pixel or 2) the NP900X3L, my biggest worry is the glossy display, how bad is it?

Couple of other questions: Can you lift the lid with one hand? How much does the flimsier body affect everyday use? Does it get hot as the X3C?

 

Hey aligee,

Just saw your post - sorry for the late reply. I'm still fighting with BSOD regularly on this badboy; don't know if its the hardware of the OS/drivers/bios, but its driving me nuts. as to your questions.

No, you can't open the lid with one hand, the lighter body makes it not possible..the base lifts up.

The flimsier body isn't a big deal for usage, but more for durability. The top cover scratches/scuffs way easier than the old one. The palmrest is actually a bit more comfortable as the edge isn't as sharp.

Heat so far is OK - haven't had any issues with overheating or it being uncomfortably hot.

I don't think I'd give a thumbs up recommendation for it though based on the stability with Win10....I'm actually considering going back to my old model for travel. I had this one crash 3x while working with a customer. Was a real pain.

Oh, and the shiny screen isn't that bad - you get used to it after a while....the brightness and clarity is a step up over the older screen for sure.

 

The crashing has gotten so bad that I've done a full factore wipe / restore three times and its still unstable. I filed a support ticket with Samsung yesterday as I'm convinced there's an issue with either the SSD or the memory as the crashes happen all the time. I even had a fatal error while doing the factory reimage...grr

I'm really considering ditching this altogether and getting an HP Spectre

 

I will say that Samsung support is prompt - called me today and arranged to ship the laptop for service. 7-14 days with no computer (I have the old one) and I'm still ready to pull the trigger on a replacement HP or other if necessary.

Wonder what the resale value on a 5mos old unstable laptop is

 

Normally, they will get the computer back to you much quicker than indicated but that may depend on whether they are willing to just do parts replacement or want to do a more thorough diagnosis. However, not as good as Dell's business service which will send someone with replacement parts on the next business day.

John

 

Yeah, ship it to a center isn't as nice as Dell for sure. I had a great experience with Sony laptop service a few years ago as well - sent a tech to the house to do in-home service within 48hrs of reporting the issue.

Laptop is on its way - clock started today. I'm hoping for a prompt turnaround - I leave for Europe in a couple of weeks and I'd like to have my lighter computer working for that trip....

 

Repair took 5 days from receipt by them to shipment back to me. ~2 weeks total time including shipping (I sent it UPS ground, so it took 4 days in transit). Work order shows they replaced the mainboard - assuming the issue was likely a memory problem and since it is soldered onto this board they just replaced the whole board.

Nice thing was they didn't have to wipe the SSD, so my settings and programs are still all good - that's nice. So far so good, no BSOD's, but it will take a week or more of regular usage to really gauge that things are fixed

 

Just an update - the repair appears to have fixed the issue. I guess I just got a lemon with the speaker issue (screw stuck in it) and the mobo/memory issue. All good now, been using it intensely and haven't had a single issue.

 

Recently got mine
What I did: backup win10, gpt >>mbr, installed fresh win7
couldn't find driver for: ACPI/MSFT0101
maybe someone knows what is it

 

is this laptop compatible with SSD PCI Gen 3 NVMe?

 

I know this thread is almost a year old but I was also thinking of upgrading my NP900X3C to a like new NP900X3L. Was wondering if I would see any substantial difference between the two since my primary usage is email, Excel spreadsheets, Word Documents, browsing Chrome and watching videos.

I was having a lot of Windows issues with my laptop for the past 6 months which is why I started looking at new computers. The machine was so slow and unresponsive and I just assumed it was time to upgrade. Before buying a new machine, I did a complete reinstall of Windows 10, replaced the dog Sandisk U100 (128gb) with a Samsung EVO 850 (250gb) drive and also upgraded the Wifi card to an Intel 7260. The computer is running like a champ, very snappy but it still is almost 5 years old. I would love to have the 8gb of RAM in the NP900X3L but I'm not sure if its worth the expense. Two things I love about my NP900X3C are the build quality and matte screen. I can't say I've ever had a laptop built any better (including my old Macs) and the matte screen is still beautiful, even though its only 1600 x 900. From what I understand the lighter NP900X3L may not be as solid and its screen is more of a gloss design. I did check out the new NP900X3N at B&H and its way too light and flexible. It feels like it will break or bend if ever mishandled. Its not the same build quality of the old Series 9.

If I get a newer machine, I'll give this one to my daughter but she could still wait a year or two before getting her own computer. My issue is I really love the old Series 9 design and the NP900X3L seems to be the last of that line. I find the Samsung model scheme very confusing so if there are other options I would be open to suggestions. Thanks.

 

I recently replaced my 5 year old NP900X3B with a Dell Latitude 7370. The 7370 is a fan-less design with a Core M CPU of similar speed to the X3B's CPU but the overall machine feels snappier due to overall platform improvements (plus 8GB RAM). The 7370 is about the same weight as the X3B and Dell used the space not needed by the fan to provide a keyboard with good travel rather than squeeze the thickness. You might want to check the 7370 stock at Dell Outlet. Look for the FHD panels (which are non-glare) but are very good quality. The UHD panels increase the power drain.

John

 

Thanks for your reply. I'm not familiar with the Dell 7370 but it looks interesting. Unfortunately, it looks to be more than my budget.

 

Did you check Dell Outlet + the Dell Outlet twitter feed for coupons (can be up to 30% off although 15% is more common)?

John

 

After about a year of trouble-free usage, my laptop is starting to blue-screen again...ugh. Not as bad as last time around, but I'm considering either the new 13.3" 2-in-1 or a Dell...

 

End of an era - my Series9 recovered from the BSOD bug, but the charging port starting being flaky a couple of months ago. I was on a business trip and it decided to stop charging part-way through a multi-day trip where I was giving presentations daily. I had to limp through the next few days being miserly with battery life. I was able to get it working again intermittently by blowing air into the port and limped along for a few more weeks, but decided yesterday that I couldn't rely on it for upcoming travel and replaced it with a 2016 model HP Spectre x360. I will definitely miss the light-weight nature (the HP is 1lb heavier), but will welcome the sturdier build of the HP and hopefully better reliability and charging.