8gB RAM Samsung Series 9 np900x4c Teardown

UPDATE: 7/12/2012----------------
I wrote up a comparison of this 16gB Samsung Series 9 15" Ultrabook to the Asus Zenbook Prime here. I also compare it to the Macbook Air here.
Below you will see how to upgrade the 8gB RAM to 16gB.
You can also upgrade the mSata SSD by following my instructions, here.

Make sure to check out the world's first ultrabook docking station that I designed and produce personally on my tech gadgets (product ideas are often user-submissions/crowd-sourced) 3d-printing site, techneesh!
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I bought the np900x3b knowing it would be significantly outdated in a matter of weeks by the Ivy bridge model. I also was told it could be upgraded from 4gB to 8gB RAM by the Samsung rep. While I could live with the former, finding out the latter is untrue was a dealbreaker for me.

Further, coming from the (now-seemingly) hefty Dell XPS 15Z, the 13" Samsung was almost too small and light! It slides around in my backpack's laptop sleeve and its screen size is too drastic of a downgrade from my 4x 22+" monitors at home.

Enter the np900x4c. Picked it up at a local BestBuy (they only had one other, and were the only store in Michigan to have it) for $1399 on June 10th, 2012.

Initial reaction: when did 3.5 pounds get sooooo heavy??!!
It looks pretty beastly next to the 13.3". Pictures below of both laptops with the back cover removed.

Differences:
1. Sandisk SSD instead of Samsung (after multiple benchmark tests for the Sandisk using Benchme, it shows slightly (5-10%) slower speeds, much more unreliability in score, and 2-3x the access time (around .4-.7ms instead of Samsung's .2ms)
2. The power cable turns 90 degrees where it plugs in to the s9
3. thicker/heavier
4. more battery
5. more ports
6. 15" screen is same brightness and resolution as the 13.3", but logos appear slightly blurry. Text is crisp, but some logos seem blurry to me. Viewing angles look good.
7. User-removable RAM!! 2 slots (see pics below)

 For those that don't know, you can actually upgrade to 16gB of RAM for around $70 (amazon.com). Even if the tech specs say the laptop won't support it, it probably will. I'm usually pretty good with 8 but if you need to have multiple VMs running simultaneously, the upgrade may be for you.

 Be careful when removing the insulating tape - it wants to steal the Sandisk sticker.

 Series 9 on top of Series 9.

Bottom line:

If you want a desktop replacement that's also very portable, the 10-hour battery life 8gB ram 3.5 pound np900x4c is definitely for you.

If you want something to plug into your tv for netflix, take everywhere, and browse the web, the np900x3b or np900x3c are both excellent choices.

Note: both laptops (the np900x3b and the np900x4c) run Diablo 3 beautifully :)
Just turn down the graphics settings all the way for the 3b.

Per Alessandro's request, I took some shots of the x3b and x4c side by side. It was dusk and the x4c was closer to the window so there's a bit of potentially biasing glare. I will take more shots tonight with even lighting (and when my girlfriend isn't using her x3b ;)

Even while I was taking the photos I didn't notice much difference, but it does seem the viewing angles are worse on the x4c. I spent the last 5 minutes in very awkward head-cocking poises trying to discern a difference, but I'm still kind of baffled. They look very similar in person, but in the photos... well, you'll see.

 It's possible the screen dimmed on the x4c due to power settings here. I will take more photos and ensure that doesn't happen later tonight.

UPDATE: I took more photos. While it is evident the x3b/c has a much better panel (PLS) than the x4c, I'm still pleased enough with the x4c to keep it.

If folks are interested enough, I may even upgrade it (Samsung np900x4c) to 16GB of RAM.

I believe one reason it may look less sharp is due to the gamma/color settings. I saw this snippet of a review on Amazon that sounds worth a try:
"UPDATE: I just played around with the display settings and got it to look not so horrible: Right click on desktop and go to Screen Resolution > Advanced Settings > Intel Graphics and Media Control Panel > Graphics Properties... Change it to Advanced Mode. General Settings > Color Enhancement Change the Color drop down menu to All Colors, adjust the Contrast and Gamma settings until a photo looks as normal as possible. My settings are:
Brightness: 31
Contrast: 40
Gamma: .7
Hue: 0
Saturation: 5"

Per Alessandro's second request, I took some photos head on of the two screens. Then I adjusted the color settings on the 15" and took some more, then adjusted again, etc.

It's weird that by default the clouds look more purple on the np900x4c. I kind of like that better. But it is not hard to see the overall quality of the PLS is much better - particularly with the vertical viewing angles. If they made the 13" with 8GB of RAM, I would probably choose that. The screen quality is still quite good in the x4c, so I think I'll hold onto it until (if?) the Zenbook Prime with 8GB of RAM comes out. Which I'll probably have to then return because it will be too high resolution.