The Samsung Series 9 15-inch (NP900X4C) improves upon the original 15-inch Series 9 in almost every way. Summary: The Asus GL552VW performs well, runs cool and quiet in pretty much every situation, and the IPS screen is a pleasure to look at. On the other hand, the build. Discover the elegance power and speed of Series 9 ultra thin & lightweight ultrabooks featuring high brightness and power plus charging! But Samsung's latest Series 9 laptop isn't quite an Ultrabook--it's. Samsung Series 9 NP9. X3. B Review: An Ultrabook With A Great Display. The Samsung Series 9 NP9. X3. B is Samsung’s top of the range offering in the 1. NP9. 00. X3. A which was released in early 2. It is expected that the Ivy Bridge version (NP9. X3. C) will be the same except for the upgrade to the new Intel platform. Get access to helpful solutions, how-to guides, owners' manuals, and product specifications for your ATIV Book 9 Plus Windows Laptops NP940X3GI from Samsung US Support. Samsung ATIV Smart PC Pro 700T - 11.6" - Core i5 3317U - 4 GB RAM - 128 GB SSD overview and full product specs on CNET. News; The 10 best Ultrabooks of 2017: top thin and light laptops reviewed; The 10 best Ultrabooks of 2017: top thin and light laptops reviewed. The Samsung 850 PRO SSD redefines storage with the world’s first drive based on 3D VNAND flash, offering exceptional read/write performance, reliability and power. Overview. Build & Design. The NP9. 00. X3. B builds on the experience with the NP9. X3. A that Samsung released in early 2. My first impression, on unboxing, was that this notebook is not just thin, it is anorexic! The chassis thickness is about the same as a CD case and the display is about half a CD case thickness. Fortunately, thinness hasn? The whole machine is built from aluminium alloy. The main chassis is very rigid and, while it is possible to bend the display slightly, this does not cause ripples on the screen. The hinges are smooth and firm with no hint of wobble. The label on the box says the colour is ? Most of the time the colour seems to be black but, under some lighting conditions, it appears to be a very dark blue. The paint finish is matte, so gone are the problems of fingerprints on the glossy finish that beset some previous models. Samsung have, however, provided some contrast to black by providing three shiny metal highlights. One is a narrow strip around the generously sized touchpad (which is very slightly recessed into the palm rest), another is a strip wrapping around the front and sides of the chassis and a third is a matching strip around the edge of the display. There is also a shiny metal ? Samsung? The overall impression is one of quality. As with many ultrabooks, there is no provision for user access to the inside. The metal base is secured to the main chassis using 1. The intrepid owner may, however, choose to carefully remove the screws and lift off the base. I couldn? t resist taking a look inside to see how a computer can be squeezed into so little space. The inside is dominated by the lithium- polymer battery, each side of which is a loudspeaker. Then, surprisingly, there are two fans both serving the CPU. The two Wi- Fi antenna are in the yellow area between the fan exhausts, the Intel Wi. Fi card is adjacent to the top left corner of the battery and the SSD is adjacent to the top right corner of the battery. The various ports, with the exception of the power socket, appear to be directly mounted onto the board. Ports and Features. As is often the case with ultrabooks, the NP9. X3. B is not generously endowed with ports. All together, there is one USB 2. USB 3. 0, an audio jack, a gigabit ethernet port (for which a dongle is provided) and HDMI and VGA ports (which need special dongles). There is also an SD card slot. The SD card slot is under a flap on the right side (but those thinking that this can be used for storage expansion should be aware that a card in the slot sticks out from the side of the computer). The power jack uses an unusually small plug. There are three unsatisfactory compromises associated with the ports: (i) the need to buy a special dongle (which are currently expensive and hard to find) in order to connect to any external display; (ii) the power plug blocks many USB devices from fitting into the adjacent USB port so users may need to carry a USB extension lead; and (iii) the area of the ports gets very congested. There is a need for a simple 9. The display is reported to use Samsung? PLS technology, which is similar to the better- know IPS, and provides much better viewing angles than the normal LCD panels. To demonstrate the difference in display quality, I put the NP9. X3. B alongside my Lenovo Think. Pad T4. 20s (NP9. X3. B on left, Lenovo T4. Another commendable feature of the display is that it does not noticeably wash out and lose colour and contrast at high brightness. The backlight also appears to be relatively uniform. Samsung claims that the display is 4. While I cannot confirm the numbers, I can confirm the brightness. Full brightness is too dazzling for use inside: 5/8 brightness seems about right and is similar to 1. Lenovo Think. Pad T4. Samsung provides the facility for automatic control of brightness but, as with every other notebook I have used that has this feature, I find it annoying and turn it off. Samsung have packed a surprisingly potent pair of speakers into the slim chassis. The specifications say 2 x 1. W and the volume is enough for a small room. The downward- facing speakers appear to benefit from the computer being on a table top so that the sound can be reflected upwards. However, while I have come across many worse speakers in larger notebooks than this, the bass is still lacking. Keyboard and Touchpad. The keyboard is of the increasingly popular separated key type. Travel is limited due to the slim profile of the computer but it is not uncomfortable to use. I would have preferred to have small depressions on the top of each key to help centre my fingers, rather than the smooth surface, although hitting the edge of a key still causes it to register. As is common for the keyboards on this size of notebook, some functions are either absent or are accessed using the Fn key. As is normal for a European keyboard, the left shift key is small to make space for one extra key. The keyboard is backlit (a feature I miss on the Think. Pad T4. 20s) with four stages of backlight brightness. While the backlighting is not bright, and at full brightness there is some light leakage round the edges of the keys, it is effective. There is an indicator light on the Caps Lock key and also on the F1. Unusually, Samsung have also provided an Fn Lock key with its own indicator light. Other Fn key functions are F1, to enter the Samsung Easy Settings program, F2 and F3 to control display brightness, F4 to switch display devices; F5 to turn the touchpad off / on; F6, F7 and F8 for audio mute and volume controls; F9 and F1. F1. 1 to enable the silent mode (it reduces the CPU speed to minimise fan activity). The Elan touchpad is enormous compared to those I have used previously with an area about double that on the Lenovo T4. It? s not so much a small navigation device but a multi- finger playing field. The whole pad is about the same size as a 2. There are no separate buttons but the bottom part of the pad can be used for both moving the pointer and be pressed as a button (left part = left button, right part = right button). I am still getting familiar with the full range of supported gestures. One problem I have encountered is that pressing the left button area can cause the cursor position to move while the 2- finger tap to emulate a right button click doesn? I miss having on the T4. Although it is better than many, perhaps another driver update or two will further increase the touchpad usability. Samsung Series 9 1. NP9. 00. X4. C) Review. When we first reviewed the $1,4. Samsung Series 9 1. Ultrabook, we marveled at its slim and light design, spacious 1. However, the speakers sounded a bit flat, and the keyboard and touchpad didn't impress. The latest model of the Series 9 1. NP9. 00. X4. C, features the same svelte design and adds an updated Ivy Bridge Core i. CPU- -all for $1. How much better is this refresh? Design. Why fix something that isn't broken? The NP9. 00. X4. C looks just like the previous ultraslim 1. Series 9. The notebook sports the same fingerprint- resistant, bluish- gray aluminum unibody and graceful, tapered design. Measuring 1. 4 x 9. NP9. 00. X4. C remains the slimmest and lightest 1. HP Envy Sleekbook 6z (0. The Mac. Book Pro with Retina Display is also considerably heavier and thicker (4. MORE: Samsung Best and Worst Notebook Brands 2. Rating. Keyboard and Trackpad. The keyboard and touchpad remain virtually unchanged on the 1. Series 9. The travel of the keys is still shallow, and although we were able to achieve a rate of 6. Ten Thumbs Typing Test (slightly above our average speed), the island- style keys offered only a mediocre amount of tactile feedback. Thankfully, Samsung has improved the backlighting. In a completely dark room, we were able to clearly make out individual keys, although the 4. Super. Bright display illuminated the keyboard so thoroughly that the backlighting seemed almost superfluous. The 4. 3 x 2. 9- inch touchpad is just as spacious as before, and features much improved performance. The cursor glided smoothly and accurately across the screen, and clicks registered throughout the surface of the pad, rather than just the lower third. Multitouch gestures such as pinch- to- zoom and three- finger- swipe proved equally reliable. Display. The Series 9's 1. Series 9's jaw- dropping 3. The XPS 1. 5's fabulous 1. Sleekbook 6z's 1. The average ultraportable sports a brightness of 2. A 1. 08. 0p trailer for . Details such as the sweat on Bane's skin stood out in sharp relief, and the bright oranges and reds of billowing explosions popped off the screen. We noticed a bit of pixelation in darker scenes, but not enough to distract the eye. MORE: 5 Best Samsung Laptops. Audio. Watching the trailer for . Turning up the volume to the maximum, Hans Zimmer's swelling orchestral track filled the room. With no subwoofer, the Series 9 lacks some of the . We found the presets helpful in certain circumstances - . After streaming video for 1. Fahrenheit (compared with 8. G and H keys was 9. We consider anything above 9. Ports and Webcam. Port selection remains the same as on the previous Series 9 1. The NP9. 00. X4. C boasts two USB 3. USB 2. 0 port and a 4- in- 1 (rather than 2- in- 1) card reader. The notebook also sports a micro Ethernet port (an adapter is included in the box), micro. HDMI port and mini- VGA port (no adapter included), as well as a combo headphone/mic jack. Using the bundled Cyber. Link You. Cam software, the 1. MP webcam captures stills and video at a maximum resolution of 1. Still, the camera rendered colors accurately and crisply. MORE: 1. 0 Laptops with the Longest Battery Life. Performance. The biggest change for the 1. Series 9 is found under the hood. The NP9. 00. X4. C features an upgraded Ivy Bridge 1. GHz Core i. 5- 3. U processor- -combined with 8. GB of RAM and 1. 28. GB SSD, as before- -that delivers mostly improved performance. On PCMark. 07, a synthetic benchmark that measures overall processing power, the notebook notched a score of 3,7. Series 9 1. 5- inch by 1. By comparison, the Dell XPS (2. GHz Core i. 7- 3. QM CPU, 8. GB of RAM and 2. GB Nvidia Ge. Force GT 6. M GPU) scored 3,5. The much cheaper HP Envy Sleekbook 6z (2. GHz AMD A6- 4. 45. M APU, 4. GB of RAM and 2. GB AMD Radeon HD 7. G GPU) racked up a meager 1,4. Unfortunately, Samsung seems to have exchanged the high- speed SSD in the older 1. Series 9 with a much slower San. Disk U1. 00 SSD. The NP9. X4. C copied 5. 0. GB of mixed multimedia files in 2 minutes and 3. MBps. That's more than 1. MBps slower than the old Series 9, which boasted a lightning- fast transfer rate of 1. MBps, and almost 2. MBps slower than the category average (5. MBps). This speed was on a par with the 3. MBps turned in by the XPS 1. GB, 7,2. 00- rpm HDD with 3. GB SSD cache) and beats the 1. MBps achieved by the Sleekbook 6z (5. GB, 5,4. 00- rpm HDD), but those notebooks use spinning hard drives, not SSDs. We tested two Samsung Series 9s, both with San. Disk SSDs, and saw similar results. However, Samsung told us that consumers who buy this system might not necessarily receive the same SSD. According to a press representative, Samsung chooses . The XPS 1. 5 proved faster, completing the test in just 4 minutes and 5. Boot and Wake Times. Despite its poor transfer speeds, the NP9. X4. C's San. Disk SSD allowed it to boot into Windows 7 in just 2. That's slower than the previous Samsung's blink- and- you- might- miss- it 1. Dell XPS 1. 5 (4. HP Envy Sleekbook 6z (4. Like before, the NP9. X4. C wakes from sleep in about 2 seconds - about the same wake time we've found on other Ultrabooks. Graphics Performance. Thanks to its Intel HD Graphics 4. NP9. 00. X4. C features much better graphics performance than its predecessor. Turning up the graphics to Ultra caused the frame rate to drop to an unplayable 2. Still, the previous model achieved only 1. By comparison, the Dell XPS 1. Nvidia Ge. Force GT 6. M GPU with 2. GB of VRAM, notched 5. The Acer Timeline. U M5, which has the same GPU as the XPS 1. Samsung (1. 37 fps at 1. The HP Envy Sleekbook 6z and its AMD Radeon HD 7. G GPU with 2. GB of VRAM managed only 1. Battery Life. Although you still can't remove the battery in the NP9. X4. C, it offers great endurance. On the LAPTOP Battery Test, which involves continuously surfing the Web over Wi- Fi, the notebook lasted 7 hours and 2. Series 9 and 3. 9 minutes longer than the ultraportable category average. Among the competition, the Sleekbook 6z came closest (6: 1. XPS 1. 5 fell more than two hours short (5: 0. The Acer Timeline. U M5 lasted 7: 2. Samsung. Software and Warranty. The NP9. 00. X4. C comes preloaded with much of the same software and Samsung Utilities as on the previous model of the 1. Series 9. Samsung Easy Settings allows users to adjust battery settings, display and audio properties, keyboard backlighting and other settings. Easy Software Manager downloads and installs updates and drivers, while Easy Support Center can run checks on the notebook's hardware to ensure that it's running at optimal speeds. Third- party software includes Microsoft Office Starter 2. Norton Internet Security and Skype. The NP9. 00. X4. C comes with a standard one- year warranty. See how Samsung fared in our annual Tech Support Showdown and Best & Worst Brands report. Verdict. Although we're disappointed with Samsung's decision to downgrade the 1. Series 9's SSD, the $1,3. NP9. 00. X4. C boasts improved audio and retains the series' svelte design, beautiful 1. If you don't want to forgo discrete graphics, the Dell XPS 1. But if you're looking for the largest screen in the lightest package, the Series 9 1. ATIV Book 9 Plus Windows Laptops NP9. X3. GI . Please note that a portion of the hard drive is reserved for system recovery, operating system and preloaded content software. GB, 2. 56. GBGraphics. Chipset. Specialized CPU - in cell phones, computers, game consoles - that offloads graphics from a processor. Intel. Industry standard for transmitting HD video between components. Micro HDMI. Headphone Out. Yes (Headphone/Mic combo). Microphone In. Yes (Headphone/Mic combo). USB Ports (Total)Universal Serial Bus. Interface standard for connecting peripherals to a computer. USB 2. 0 is high- speed. USB 3. 0. Multi Card Slot. SD/SDHC/SDXC). RJ4. LAN)Terminal that is used to connect a computer to Local Area Networks (LAN) via an ethernet cable. Gigabit Wired Ethernet LAN with included dongle. Input Devices. Touch Pad / Track Point. Surface on keyboard (and monitor) that translates position of fingers to a relative position on screen. Touch Pad (Multi- Gesture Support)Power. Number of Cells / Cell Type. Cell / Li- Po. Battery Life*Battery life will vary depending on the product model, configuration, power management settings, applications used, and wireless settings. The maximum capacity of the battery will decrease with time and use. A security chip that generates an encrypted key to prevent hacking. Yes. Security Slot. Anti- theft system in which a key or combination lock and cable apparatus can attach to the computer. Yes (with slim type adapter)Certification. TCO Compliant. Product certificate given to monitors that uphold certain environmental and technological standards. Notebook 4. 0. Included in Box. Accessories. AC Adapter. LAN Dongle. Software. Microsoft Signature Experience, Samsung Side. Sync. Samsung Home. Sync Lite. S Player+S Photo. Studio, Side. Sync. Home. Sync Lite. S Apps, Side. Sync. Home. Sync Lite. S Player +S Photo. Studio. Samsung. Smart Advisor. Dimensions. System Dimensions (L x W x H, Inch)Length, Width and Height of the laptop, as measured in inches (in.). Battery, lb.)3. 0. Warranty. Warranty. Year Standard Parts and Labor.
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