Galaxy Book Pro 13.3 lost USB-C port functionality

[John Ratsey]

I had an interesting problem a few days ago when the front USB-C port lost data connectivity. I had an external SSD attached when the notebook went into hibernation after which the computer wouldn't recognise the SSD upon resume.  There was no trace of the SSD in Disk Management nor in Device Manager. My first thought was that the SSD had died but the SSD still worked if connected to the other USB-C port. I then tested the problem port with my phone and that wasn't recognised either.

 

Google indicated that there is a rare error that if the USB-C hub detects a problem then it can disable the port until it's reset. So I dug deeper into Device Manager and found that one of the USB Host Controller had an exclamation mark by it (this screen capture is after I fixed the problem).

So the next challenge was how to reset the USB controller. Disabling / enabling did nothing nor did an attempt to reinstall the driver. So finally I went into the BIOS to look for any options. None were available. However, after exiting the BIOS without changing anything the port was working again. I therefore presume that going into the BIOS initiates a hardware check which found the port was OK and re-enabled it. This doesn't seem to be a Samsung-specific problem but a feature of the Intel hardware.

[John Ratsey]

I've had another incident on a similar theme. This time it was the Wi-Fi that disappeared and Device Manager showed that the Wi-Fi card had a problem. I can understand it getting a little challenged by a troublesome internet connection and also running concurrently with 4G but it should be designed to handle such situations. I then tried shutdown and restart (no change), visiting the BIOS setup (no change) and finally sleep-wake (which fixed the problem). Clearing these errors seems to be a bit random but the errors shouldn't be happening in the first place.

 

Samsung Update says that the Wi-Fi driver is up to date but it's version 22.60.06 from 27 May 21. The Intel Driver & Support Assistant shows that there is a much newer driver (also newer graphics and Bluetooth drivers but not anything which might be related to the USB controller problem mentioned above). It therefore appears that Samsung hasn't changed its ways from the past when updating its system to show the newer drivers isn't given a high priority.

[Steerpike]

Would your Samsung Galaxy Book Pro 13.3 be the small-screen version of the Samsung Galaxy Book Pro 15.6"? Specifically, my local Costco is selling the 15.6" model with this designation - NP950XDB  for $1300 USD. This is with 1 TB SSD and 16GB Ram, and 11th gen i7-1165G7 processor.  It was super, super light - only 2.31 lbs!  

[John Ratsey]

On 3/5/2022 at 3:23 AM, Steerpike said:

Would your Samsung Galaxy Book Pro 13.3 be the small-screen version of the Samsung Galaxy Book Pro 15.6"? Specifically, my local Costco is selling the 15.6" model with this designation - NP950XDB  for $1300 USD. This is with 1 TB SSD and 16GB Ram, and 11th gen i7-1165G7 processor.  It was super, super light - only 2.31 lbs!  

Yes. The 2021 Galaxy Book Pro 13.3 model code is NP935XDB. The two sizes will have much in common. Notebookcheck has a good review of the 15.6" version. There's a free M.2 2280 slot should more storage be needed. It's intriguing to see how notebooks have managed to shed weight over the years. Just over 15 years ago I bought a Samsung NP-X60plus which was, at 2.55kg (5.5lb), one of the lightest 15" notebooks of its era and it was impossible to imagine how things could evolve to give something better at less than half the weight or thickness. Travel is also made easier by the use of USB-C chargers. The bundled 65W Samsung charger is light for the power rating but the computer is happy being powered by an even lighter 45W phone charger and will work, with a warning, using a 25W charger. If you have any more questions please ask.

 

I've just been away for a couple of weeks with the 13.3 and, apart from the glitches noted above, it performed very satisfactorily (one advantage of 8GB RAM is that hibernation / resume is very fast). The hinges don't have much strength but the display is so light that it doesn't need strong hinges. I thought that the Dell Latitude 7370 which I used to carry was a lightweight machine but this new machine is even lighter to the extent I start to wonder if it's in the bag. I start to wonder if I should have bought the bigger Book Pro for travel as it's the same weight as the Latitude 7370 but one attraction of the 13.3 size is that it's almost the same size as a standard A4 document plus the UK version of the bigger Book Pro has a white keyboard which I see as a major disadvantage as it reduces the visibility of the backlit lettering.

 

I've also bought an LG Gram 17 to replace an all-in-one desktop which is hogging too much desk space. However, I'm still in the process of setting it up so it's too soon to compare the LG and Samsung alternatives.

[Steerpike]

On 3/6/2022 at 3:53 AM, John Ratsey said:

Yes. The 2021 Galaxy Book Pro 13.3 model code is NP935XDB. The two sizes will have much in common. Notebookcheck has a good review of the 15.6" version. There's a free M.2 2280 slot should more storage be needed. It's intriguing to see how notebooks have managed to shed weight over the years. Just over 15 years ago I bought a Samsung NP-X60plus which was, at 2.55kg (5.5lb), one of the lightest 15" notebooks of its era and it was impossible to imagine how things could evolve to give something better at less than half the weight or thickness. Travel is also made easier by the use of USB-C chargers. The bundled 65W Samsung charger is light for the power rating but the computer is happy being powered by an even lighter 45W phone charger and will work, with a warning, using a 25W charger. If you have any more questions please ask.

 

I've just been away for a couple of weeks with the 13.3 and, apart from the glitches noted above, it performed very satisfactorily (one advantage of 8GB RAM is that hibernation / resume is very fast). The hinges don't have much strength but the display is so light that it doesn't need strong hinges. I thought that the Dell Latitude 7370 which I used to carry was a lightweight machine but this new machine is even lighter to the extent I start to wonder if it's in the bag. I start to wonder if I should have bought the bigger Book Pro for travel as it's the same weight as the Latitude 7370 but one attraction of the 13.3 size is that it's almost the same size as a standard A4 document plus the UK version of the bigger Book Pro has a white keyboard which I see as a major disadvantage as it reduces the visibility of the backlit lettering.

 

I've also bought an LG Gram 17 to replace an all-in-one desktop which is hogging too much desk space. However, I'm still in the process of setting it up so it's too soon to compare the LG and Samsung alternatives.

Great info!  I'm currently using the Samsung NP930X5J from circa 2014 (15.6"), and I love it - best laptop I've ever owned, by a long shot. I think you and I corresponded about that model before. I'm looking for a lighter replacement with more RAM (8 Gig is just not quite cutting it for me now, as I have tons of browser tabs open, plus a few apps, all the time).  I also want a bigger screen, though, and the LG Gram 17 is very tempting - but I don't want a '10-key' numeric keypad, and I don't want a glossy screen, so that's why I'm ruling out the Gram for now.

 

I just bought the Dell XPS17, which has a lovely screen, not reflective, and no 10-key ... but it doesn't even have the single column of 'pg up', 'pg dn', home, end - which it turns out I use a lot ! It's also a bit too heavy for my liking.  I managed to blow it up within 24 hours of receiving it (I plugged it into my Kensington universal USB-C 'dock') and it seemed to be unstable after the Dell tech repaired it, so I sent it back.

 

My aversion to the "10-key" is that it shifts the keyboard to the left, and makes for what I see as an unnatural alignment with the laptop - your body has to be shifted to the left, relative to the screen, in order to be 'square' with the keyboard. Plus palm-mis-fires on the trackpad seem likely. If I could convince myself the 10-key is not an issue, then the only other issue is the reflectiveness of the LG screen. I typically sit in a room with quite a bit of light, so worry about the reflections. 

 

So when I saw the new Samsung at Costco, with 1TB and 16 GB Ram, and picked it up and noticed its ridiculous lack of weight, I was very excited!  I presume there's no 17" model on the horizon ... ? 

[John Ratsey]

1 hour ago, Steerpike said:

My aversion to the "10-key" is that it shifts the keyboard to the left, and makes for what I see as an unnatural alignment with the laptop - your body has to be shifted to the left, relative to the screen, in order to be 'square' with the keyboard. Plus palm-mis-fires on the trackpad seem likely. If I could convince myself the 10-key is not an issue, then the only other issue is the reflectiveness of the LG screen. I typically sit in a room with quite a bit of light, so worry about the reflections. 

 

So when I saw the new Samsung at Costco, with 1TB and 16 GB Ram, and picked it up and noticed its ridiculous lack of weight, I was very excited!  I presume there's no 17" model on the horizon ... ? 

I share your dislike of glossy screens and the numpad but considered them to be acceptable trade-offs given the Gram 17's other attractions including a 16:10 WQXGA display. I hadn't previously noticed the reflection problem but have just checked and it's there. Similarly the 13" Samsung has a glossy screen but it hasn't caused me problems perhaps because modern panels are brighter than those of 10 or more years ago. I hope I'll be able to adapt to the Gram 17's offset keyboard once I get it into serious use. My last encounter with a notebook with a numpad was the Latitude 5570 which had the touchpad lined up with the spacebar leaving insufficient space for my left palm to sit on the palmrest. I found this to be uncomfortable so it was rehomed and I got a Precision 5510 which was more comfortable to use. The Gram 17 has more space to the left of the touchpad. I share your bafflement as to why Dell didn't include a column of navigation keys on the bigger XPS machines and would have preferred if LG had done this. I briefly looked at the specs for the XPS17 but it appeared to be overpowered and too pricy for my needs.

 

There's no mention of a 17" version in Samsung's announcement of the Book2 Pro notebooks. I suspect that the market for 17" notebooks is thought to be relatively small but now that they no longer weigh a ton then I expect more people could be interested.

[Steerpike]

5 hours ago, John Ratsey said:

I look forward to your thoughts on the LG!  I see there are no posts over there yet. 

 

[Steerpike]

On 3/4/2022 at 7:23 PM, Steerpike said:

... Specifically, my local Costco is selling the 15.6" model with this designation - NP950XDB  for $1300 USD. This is with 1 TB SSD and 16GB Ram, and 11th gen i7-1165G7 processor.  It was super, super light - only 2.31 lbs!  

My Costco (Bay Area, US) is now selling this with a $300 discount - so $1,000!  I'm tempted to pick it up as a truly 'carry around' laptop! It's even lighter than my 13" Macbook Air which is a delight to carry. 

[John Ratsey]

1 hour ago, Steerpike said:

My Costco (Bay Area, US) is now selling this with a $300 discount - so $1,000!  I'm tempted to pick it up as a truly 'carry around' laptop! It's even lighter than my 13" Macbook Air which is a delight to carry. 

That's a very tempting price, even though it has the numpad. It's time to (re)read the notebookcheck review. There's an empty M.2 2280 slot should you need more storage capacity.

[Steerpike]

27 minutes ago, John Ratsey said:

That's a very tempting price, even though it has the numpad. It's time to (re)read the notebookcheck review. There's an empty M.2 2280 slot should you need more storage capacity.

Yes, I read that review already. Very promising! 

 

I took another look at the 'store model' yesterday, and I noticed the display was already bent slightly. But I was able to bend it back 🙂 .  I look after my tech gear very well, but I wonder how much bending stress it can take in, say, a backpack? 

 

Have you noticed the fan kicking in much, during light use? 

[John Ratsey]

23 minutes ago, Steerpike said:

Yes, I read that review already. Very promising! 

 

I took another look at the 'store model' yesterday, and I noticed the display was already bent slightly. But I was able to bend it back 🙂 .  I look after my tech gear very well, but I wonder how much bending stress it can take in, say, a backpack? 

 

Have you noticed the fan kicking in much, during light use? 

I also wondering how much bending these thin notebooks can handle before something breaks. It's unlikely to be the electronics as the boards are relatively small and joined by ribbon cables. My 13.3 goes into a neoprene sleeve when it's travelling and the display is supported because it's closed against the chassis. It's possible the display will be pushed against the keyboard and get marked so putting a sheet of paper between the two could be prudent.

 

My 13.3 is very quiet unless put under load and then it's more of a purr than a whine.