Samsung Series 9 NP900X3C Review Discussion

This 13.3-inch Ultrabook is all business with its gorgeous anti-glare PLS display, 256GB SSD, Intel Core i7 processor and backlit keyboard. Read on to see why we like the Series 9 so much.

Read the full content of this Article: Samsung Series 9 NP900X3C Review

Related Articles:

• Samsung Unveils New Series 5 and Series 7 Slate PCs
• Samsung Series 9 NP900X4C User Review
• Samsung Series 9 NP900X3B Review: An Ultrabook With A Great Display
• CES 2012: Samsung Unveils Series 9 Mobile PCs and Series 5 Ultrabooks

 

Wow that is a beautiful display. I think it's a very nice looking notebook, but it does seem kind of pricey. Thanks for the excellent review as always.

 

I just read the review and saw you stating that there is an option for 8GB of RAM. Is this a mistake or was this option announced at some point? I'm asking as I can't find any mentioning of this on the Samsung homepage.

 

Very good question. An 8GB RAM option on the 13" Series 9 would be welcome but I wonder if the reviewer didn't look closely at the RAM arrangement. Unlike many ultrabooks, Samsung provide a soldered DDP RAM package which works as dual channel (hence the good 3D graphics score), but is not upgradeable.

John

 

The star rating seems to have absolutely no correlation to the review.
How can your conclusion/summary be:
"The Samsung Series 9 is one of the most well-rounded Ultrabooks we've seen with excellent performance, decent speakers and a great display"
and then give it 3 STARS out of 5? Makes no sense.
I read the full review, and it would have seemed to warrant somewhere between a 4 to a 4.5 STAR rating.

Blasting an super-thin, super-light Ultrabook (thinner and lighter that a Macbook Air) for being non-upgradeable just is ridiculous, IMHO.
This is not a desktop replacement, or thin-and-light where you open panels with access to the entire guts, and go after it with your tools.
This is a what-you-see-is-what-you-get notebook.
Yes, it has 4GB of RAM, and could possibly have 8GB, but that is it.

In fact, it is more upgradeable than most of its competition, since it actually takes a standard mSATA SSD!! You can buy any mSATA SSD of any size, open the unit up, drop it in, and you are done. Compare this to the Lenovo X1 Carbon which has a proprietary SSD, and many other units that have similar proprietary SSD's.

Also, I don't find the trackpad clicks to be loud.

My gripe, if anything, would be that the keyboard could be better. The Air, arguably has a better keyboard. I, like most, have not seen an X1 Carbon, but it undoubtedly has a better keyboard.

Bottom line:
I enjoyed the review, and found it quite accurate.
I can not make heads or tails of the star rating.

 

Maybe an inherent dislike of ultrabook?

Thinkpad X1 is probably lower in many categories than this machine and got a higher star rating. And I am a Thinkpad owner of multiple machines (but do not own any ultrabooks and have tried both). LOL

 

That pretty much kills it for me. Looks like a winner otherwise.

 

Except that it isn't true, at least on the units that I have tried.
I understand that noise is subjective, but I don't find it loud at all.

Also, since you can tap to click, or tap to right-click, there is no need to physically click the trackpad at all. I don't.

 

Gotta say, Samsung has done a great job re-entering the US Notebook market.

Great industrial design on their high-end laptops.

Not in the market for a notebook right now but if I had to buy a notebook Samsung would be on my very short list of acceptable brands by me. They are one of the few manufacturers that believe the large bezels are ugly too, which they are. (other brands acceptable by me being Sony Z or Apple).

 

Thanks for the comments!

8GB of RAM - I got those specs off of Samsung's site:
http://www.samsung.com/us/computer/laptops/NP900X3A-A03US-specs

Yes - my other significant gripe is the need to use dongles for everything save USB. Not a big deal usually, but I can't count on always remembering to take them.

Yeah the star rating ... it's something I fill out and don't have a whole lot of control over past that. Ideally we'd have a more scientific system. Ignore for now.

 

For Micro-HDMI to HDMI I have a cable. no dongle needed.

The RJ45 connector for an Ethernet cable is thicker than the bottom half of the notebook,
so I don't know any way around a dongle for that. The notebook would have to be thicker!

Trackpad clicks are not needed if you use tap-to-click for left and right buttons.


As for the max memory being wrong, and the link to your specs being for the X3A and not the X3C (or even X3B),
why don't you correct Page 2 of the review, and list it as 4GB maximum memory?

Forum members ask every day if this notebook can go to 8GB and have to be told no.

How long does it take to change an "8" to a "4"?

Here are the Samsung specs for the notebook that you reviewed:
http://www.samsung.com/us/business/laptops/NP900X3C-A04US-specs

I feel really bad - I think that you wrote a very good review, and I don't want to be critical of it.

 

Unfortunately that link is for a different earlier model, not the x3c that was reviewed. Would've been nice though.

 

Hi.

Got this yestarday, and Im pretty happy.
There are though a few things.

- Touchpad (?)
- WIFI

Touchpad clicks are loud, and also to sensitive (can be adjusted). The touchpad click buttons are also way to far apart from each other. By that I mean if you navigate using your forefinger/index finger (what do you call it?  and rightclicks using your thumb, you may experience problems.
This is because when right clicking with your thumb your move will move as you drag it along the pad.
But Ive managed to edit my sensitivity settings so this actually isn’t a problem any more.
Just saying..

Ive also noticed some random clicks happening, without me doing anything.

WIFI:
My old Lenovo T61 (Intel AGN4965) does full download WIFI (70mbps) without problems.
My new NP900X3C does maximum 45mbps wireless. Ive tried both 2.4ghz and 5ghz, same result.

Why is this?
Are there still issues with the WIFI card? I though they fixed this after the first models.
Are there any settings I should check out ?

 

The WiFi on the original Series 9 had problems with the antennae placement / shielding which Samsung has partly addressed in the newer models by having plastic over the antennae (which are between the hinges). However, this is not as good a location as having the antennae along the top of the display, which isn't possible given the thin design. It also seems that the Intel 6235 combo WiFi card is an under-performer and not as good as the previous 6230. You can use the Intel driver update utility to check for the latest driver.

And for further discussion I would suggest you continue in the X3C thread in the Samsung forum. The Series 7 WiFi thread may also be worth reading.

John

 

hello,...Anybody got any problem with keyboard's vibration/noise playing music etc. on the samsung new series 9 (2012)? mine is very noisy...whatching video etc...
please, try this test-audio-sample 400mhz(see bottom link) and let me know if u get a strong noise from the keyboard. thanks
www.dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/14100148/track55 - 400.mp3

 

Just bought the Series 9 and having problems with the touchpad which stops working. You have to turn on and then off 3 times before the touchpad activates. Becoming quite a pain and of course Technical Support say that no one else is having that problem.

 

Have you used Samsung's SW Update program to make sure your drivers are up-to-date? As Samsung support should know, having a rare problem doesn't mean that the problem doesn't exist (and they would never admit that a problem is common!).

You might get more suggestions if you join the discussion in the Samsung forum. Choose the right thread for your model.

John

 

With updated firmware, these will run 16GB. FWIW.

 

Please explain how updating the firmware will get round the problem of the RAM being soldered on the mainboard.

John

 

Please explain if you've opened an X3A or X3C and seen RAM soldered to the MB. Both the X3As that I'm travelling with have two socketed slots for RAM, and I've never seen a Series 9 with soldered RAM.

 

The X3A has socketed RAM, the X4C/D has socketed RAM, but most of the Series 9s have soldered RAM. See my X3B review for a photo of the internals of that notebook. The X3C (which this discussion relates to) has an identical layout but updated CPU and chipset. The twin fans (which result in a relatively quiet notebook) mean that a single soldered RAM module is used. This was a dual channel DDP module in the X3B / X3C but some newer versions of the 13.3" Series 9 have used a single channel module.

John