Next Samsung Series 9 Release

Hi everyone,

After a bit of research, I'm about to purchase a Samsung Series 9 (15", 256GB, Model #: NP900X4C-A03CA). It seems to make sense for someone who travels a lot and will use it for a mix of productivity and multimedia. What I can't find are any rumblings of a new wave of Series 9 laptops - I was wondering
- How do you keep up with news regarding new releases?
- If there are any rumours - I figure that if there might be a new model available within the next few months it's worth the wait.

Thanks so much!

 

According to Samsungs CES presentation, the S9 series will get an upgrade to a PLS or IPS 1920x1080 screen, presumably for both the 13,3" and 15". No details on availbility.
If so, I guess thats worth the wait, since the screen on the 15" is a standard LCD in the current version.

Samsung Series 9 super slim notebook Samsung CES 2013 - YouTube

 

Nothing was shown at CES but someone briefly mentioned that they would bring out a Series 9 with FHD. However, there is no firm info about whether that is the X3 or X4 size or whether the X4 will be given a PLS panel or whether they will put touch screens on those notebooks.

At this stage it's unclear whether Samsung will introduce updated Series 9s before Haswell arrives and then updates the mainboard when Haswell is available (perhaps mid-year).

John

 

Actually they were shown. The 13.3" and 15" Series 9 machines with the 1080p screens were in a section of the Samsung booth. They just got ignored primarily because everyone was covering the Series 7 Ultra and revised Chronos. There is one lousy video of the 1080p Series 9.

Both Series 9 sizes are getting the 1080p screen.
Both will be out before Haswell.

 

Thanks. Did anyone see if the 15" screen is PLS? That's more important for many people than FHD.

I'll watch with interest but will try to wait for Haswell before doing battle with Windows 8.

John

 

The AnandTech article at http://www.anandtech.com/show/6640/hands-on-with-samsungs-2013-notebook-lineup says the Series 9 machines are matte PLS 1080p. I am not waiting for Haswell because I don't want touch on the screen.

 

PLS 1080P is worthless as the current 1600x900 is good enough. IPS is worth waiting for 6 months in my view.

How long do we have to exactly wait for Haswell chip? If it is not too far, I can wait. I want to wait Haswell for the battery life and Series 9 could have the best in Haswell too which could reach up to 20 hrs!!! This is just a guess from the current 9 hrs battery life of Series 9.

 

PLS is the Samsung equivalent of IPS.

I wouldn't be so optimistic. The CPU power drain is only part of the total. If, for example, the CPU (under very light usage) currently uses 50% of the minimum 6W power drain I can get on my X4C then halving the CPU power consumption will only reduce the total power drain to 4.5W which would increase the run time to 13.3 hours. However, the FHD panel increases the pixel count by 44% which makes more work for the graphics.

John

 

I didn't know about PLS/IPS much with your direction and more reading, it even has advantages than IPS according to wikipedia.

If there is no or slight improvement in battery life, it with quality screen, it is worth the wait! Do you think battery life could be reduced by forthcoming screen quality and resolution?

 

Haswell promises better performance and power efficiency but we are running into a situation of diminishing returns as even Sandy Bridge (never mind Ivy Bridge) is good enough for most users. I accepted a speed drop when getting my X4C compared to my previous T420s but haven't noticed that disadvantage in everyday usage (and if a Haswell X4 promises 20% more speed then that will also be barely noticeable). There is the worry, noted above, that the Haswell version will be burdened with a touchscreen which will add to the thickness.

Perhaps one reason for waiting until the Haswell models arrive is that, provided the upgraded current models are still available, one will have a choice (and most likely the IB models will be discounted).

John

 

Tough to say, I've never seen a true one-to-one comparison, but I believe there is about a 10-15% difference between Sandy and Ivy battery life. You may be right that there will be diminishing returns at this point but efficiency is supposedly one of the goals of the platform. Another thing to keep in mind, the 13" should be released with 8GB sometime this year, assuming the new DDP reaches production Q2-3 which is probably about the time haswell will show up as well. Having said that, I'm going to wait till I can get the haswell at $699, which will not be till 2014.

 

It sounds like it might be worth waiting until March for the FHD...but for the Haswell I might have to wait until July-ish. That sound very far away...but I suspect when March rolls around I'll just think "I might as well wait another few months". Also, John makes a good point about choice. I really hope that I won't have to wait any longer than July though.

 

Then battery life is the main improvement to wait for.

I also dislike touch especially if the laptop is not convertible. I feel it is useless to have touch on an traditional notebook like series 9.

I didn't get you on IB models.

 

The Ivy Bridge models will take a price drop when Haswell appears that may more than justify a possible compromise on speed and power efficiency compared to Haswell, while there's the potential nightmare of Haswell models being lumbered with a touchscreen that few of us want.

John

 

Source for a March release date?

 

I have not seen Samsung commit to a date. There was no mention of a date in the CES press keynote they did, and there is no date mentioned in the press release on samsung.com.

The dates being thrown around are from reviewers and journalist that were at CES last week. I hope Q1 is accurate.

 

Sounds like a strange date to release, unless it comes with the new low power IB.

 

I would buy the current S9 13" if it at least had 8GB ram and 256GB SSD together. I hope they have that combination with the 1080P display for this next one. Sucks to have to wait until March if true though.

 

That is what Samsung did last year. They first shipped the second generation Series 9 with Sandy Bridge, and later in the year shipped models with Ivy Bridge.

I think they are going to do the same this year. They'll ship machines with 1080p screens and Ivy Bridge in Q1 or really early Q2, then swap over to Haswell and touch screens later in the year.

I could be wrong, but that does seem to be the plan. Time will tell.

 

Sounds about right. I'm guessing 8GB will come in the second wave, but it may be limited to the top tier i7/256GB model for $$$. We assume they will move all to touch because it is an "ultrabook" and intel requires touch on haswell?

 

Touch is fine but it needs a matte Display ! Touchscreens work with foils, so the least they can do is apply an optional matte foil.

 

Hi, guys, FullHD on Smasung 9 will appear in Q2. The same PLS technology. There will be no 2560x1440 drift in 2013. So enjoy the FullHD update in the spring.

 

Agreed. Touch only comes with glossy displays at this point. The X1 Carbon Touch is an exception, only because it has an anti-glare film over it from the factory. I'd take a nicer, matte display that is touch-less over a touch glossy one.

Did you hear Q2 from that one rep on the YouTube video, or elsewhere? I hope he was just wrong. If the wait is that long, it will probably be the Haswell version IMO. Unless they do an early Q2 IB refresh and add Haswell in Q3/Q4.

At any rate, I don't think I can wait until Q2. This X1 Carbon Touch is going back and I might just see if I can get a good deal on the current S9 13" and pop a 256GB SSD in it. Shame they never offered 8GB ram on the 13" and there's no way to add it....

 

^ No touch. Fortunately, Series 9 is not positioned as Ultrabook (has no special sticker).
Info about Q2 is from senior manager who is in charge of tablets and notebooks. No Haswell in sale untill Q3.

 

I didn't think it'd be touch. Thanks for the info. I might just hop on a current S9 i7/256GB model if I can find one cheap. The lack of 8GB is the only drawback for me. That's alright though.

 

I hope Q2 is more like April than June.

Apple could release a Retina MacBook Air by June. In fact, I am surprised they haven't already.

 

Thanks for sharing this info. Q2 starts in April while Q3 ends in September. I wouldn't be surprised if Intel lets Haswell drift a little so they can make more money from Ivy Bridge chips which will have to slide down the price range once Haswell appears. Samsung's current strategy of notebook upgrades mid-way through the Intel cycle smooths the manufacturing and sales.

John

 

Intel considers the Samsung Series 9 to be an Ultrabook(tm).

See the Intel Ultrabook shopping site.

 

While the company itself does not . Of course if nothing happens in between now and the launch of Haswell.

 

S. postponed the idea of implementing higher resolutions due to the fact that they are currently incompatible with desktop win 7/win8 applications. Have no idea how long this "contemplation" will take in fact.

Well, real sales will be in Q2 as said. This FullHD model will have X3E index. Perhaps, mid April-May.

 

I think for most people I would agree with the decision. However, I am quite happy with the Samsung Retina screen in my 15.4" MacBook Pro. I like the 1920x1200 resolution in OS X and I like it even more running Windows 8 in a VMWare Fusion VM at 1920x1200 and using 125% DPI. It looks marvelous. The apps look great.

Therefore, I am looking forward to the 15" Sammy with a 1920x1080 resolution screen.

Since you seem to have a good connection, do you know for sure what screen technology with be used for the NP900X4E ? I am hoping it will be PLS like the 13.3".

Thanks,

Thor

 

thanks, well, I am much more interested in 13", but I'll try to grab some news about PLS on 15-incher.

 

I can't say for certain, but I'm pretty sure there was an ultrabook logo on the palmrest plastic of the X3D-A01 I recently purchased. I am grateful to samsung for not putting stickers all over the laptop like every other manufacturer though. But perhaps samsung will segment the line so that the business (W8 pro) version does not fall into the ultrabook spec while the consumer does and will have the touchscreen. I don't think they'll lose any sales by not calling it an "ultrabook" in any case.

 

CES 2013. Quite a fresh look. Here is ultra 7, which IS ultrabook:



Series 9, which is NOT:



Thors.Hammer,
as I was told, in Q2 there will be changes only in the 13" model. Sorry. Perhaps you need to wait for the 15" one on Haswell in Q3.

 

Crap! What is it with Samsung? They tease us with the awesome PLS screen on the 13.3" but don't put one on the 15". Now, they say the Series 9 will be getting 1080p screens but what they meant to say is that only the 13.3" will get the love.

What a bunch of boneheads.

Thanks for checking. I hope you and your source are wrong.

 

Well, I asked about PLS only. Will see. Anyway, the number of the series (9) will presumably survive in Q3 . Don't put your hopes aside.

 

So...this year has a lot of big changes! I'll take my chances and hope that we'll see an upgrade in Q2 and there will be a promising outlook for a 15" with a PLS screen in Q3...! Not sure if I want to settle for a 13"

 

Aiga - thanks for the inside info. Is there any way you can find out if the next Series 9 (ideally 13") will have a DisplayPort? It seems stupid that these high-end machines can't drive a 30" monitor, or even Samsung's own higher-end 2560x1440 Series 9 monitors.

 

In terms of I/0, Series 9 on Ivy will remain the same. Only FullHD update follows. I have no info about Haswell machines yet, except that Samsung is going to keep the current numeration of this series on. In a months or two, I believe, we'll get details. Right now they do not want to disclose them.

 

thanks for all the info, Aiga!

 

Looks like the 13" version is being released soon, at least in some countries. Examples in Germany (click "datenblatt", on top of the 3rd frame, to check tech specs), Switzerland or on amazon UK seem to promise delivery (or "release") between Feb 1st and 15th.

At least 2 different versions for sure, i5 or i7, different SSD sizes or windows 8 sub-version.

They seem to share Ivy bridge generation processors, a new case design (i read "ash black". Same case as X3C?), but and 1920*1080 "Superbright" screens. No mention of these being PLS, maybe someone can dig out that info from these links or others (check idealo.de or toppreise.ch to find more stores promising to deliver these in Europe).

The other specs seem to be the same to my un-trained eye, with the promised battery life extended from 7h to 8h. Ivy bridge processors?
Still no 8GB Ram option that i could see, even with the higher-end i7 3517UM-256GB -Win8Pro version to be sold in Switzerland.



In you guys' opinion, does this release mean the X4E is close to get out soon too?

 

That model has crept up on us. Amazon UK is saying 1st Feb and usually they aren't wildly wrong. The mineral ask black is the same as the X3B and X3C. I see there's even a 512GB SSD version (it will be interesting to see how they have done that: a big mSATA SSD, dual mSATA slots, or new format SSD) but, as already noted above, still only 4GB RAM. The Series 9 only got a brief mention at CES but I'm sure that the display will be PLS, most likely the same as on the NP730U3E. Power users may want to look closely at the U3E which can offer up to 16GB RAM.

Google finds nothing about the X4E. We may find it is several months away. It continues to baffle me why Samsung don't build on their advantage of having no competition in the 15.0" size which sits in the big gap between the 14" and 15.6" sizes.

John

 

ETA 18th of February for the X4E-A01SE in Norway, still no i7 series 9 model available in our country.

Not sure if I would actually consider X4E an upgrade over X4C, considering the bad scaling support in Windows.
1600x900 is perfect for 13" imo, unless theres an (i)OS that actually manages scaling well under the hood.

In my opinion Samsung is dropping the ball by not keeping the S9 top of the line, please give us a S9 with a fast SSD, 8GB RAM, Y-series IB low voltage CPU and optional touchscreen

 

Samsung NP900X3E-A01SE Elegant 13,3" laptop med lav vekt

 

I'm guessing "enclosure" doesn't refer to an external dock? Maybe they'll put thunderbolt in the haswell refresh...

 

Intel Ultrabooks seem to be shying away from thunderbolt. It would be interesting if Samsung went there.

 

The X3E is on the Samsung UK website. NP900X3E-A01UK and NP900X3E-A03UK. Amazon UK's availability has changed from "1st February" to "Temporarily out of stock". It's unclear whether they haven't arrived or the first shipment was sold out by the pre-orders.

John

 

What a disappointment

Superbright?! only 300nits Much lower than most other high-end ultrabooks

The old 900X3B/C/D HD+ version has 400nits.

 

I found that 400 nit to be excessive and 5/8 or 6/8 on the brightness setting for the X3B or X4C to be fine for my needs. It's the 200 or 250 nit displays that can be uncomfortably dim.

John

 

Heh, my X4C has all of that, minus that gimmicky touchscreen that I don't want, and, of course, Windows 7, thank god...