The Ultimate AMD Trinity Notebook List

This is a list of AMD Trinity notebooks from Acer, Asus, HP, Lenovo, MSI, Samsung, Sony & Toshiba. AMD's Trinity APU is fairly new so there are not many choices yet but the list is slowly growing. Many of us are waiting for 11.6", 13.3", & 14" Trinity laptops with great displays, tactile keyboards, and attractive designs at reasonable prices but nothing so far has struck the right combination all of these. I will update this list with more Trinity notebooks as they become available. If you know of any that aren't listed here, please let me know and I will add it to the list. Also, if there's any formatting you would like to see done, let me know too.




Manufacturers/Partners

Acer

13.3
14.0
15.6 Aspire V3-551-8664, Aspire V3-551-8809, Aspire V3-551G-7696, Aspire V3-551-8887, Aspire V5-551-8401 (W8), Aspire V5-551-7850 (W8), Aspire V3-551G-8454 (W8), Aspire V3-551-8469(W8),
17.3

Acer Reviews & Previews
Review Acer Aspire V3 551g-10468G50Makk Notebook from notebookcheck.com
Acer Aspire V3 551g (A10-4600M+7670M)
Acer Aspire V3 551g-10468G50


Asus

13.3 U38N, U38DT
14.0 K45, K45DR, K45DR-VX008D,
15.6 X550DP (Richland), K55, K55DR, K55DR-SX055V, K55DR-SAX055V, K55N, K55N-RIN4, K55N-BA8094C, N56DP, N56DP-DH11, K55N-RHA8N29, R510DP-FH11 (W8)
17.3 K75, K75DE,

Asus Reviews & Previews
Asus Vivobook U38DT review from notebookcheck
Asus 13.3-inch U38N Windows 8 VivoBook clears FCC packing AMD A8 Trinity internals by Engadget
Asus VivoBook U38N ultraportable notebook has an AMD Trinity CPU by liliputing.com
ASUS U38 at IFA 2012 HERE and HERE
Asus A55N-SX008 by ITsvet.com
ASUS K55DR - Games (DIRT 3, Deus EX HR) by NBcenterTV


CyberPowerPC

13.3
14.0
15.6
17.3 Fangbook Evo

CyberPowerPC Reviews & Previews


Dell

13.3
14.0
15.6 Inspiron 15 (W8)
17.3

Dell Reviews & Previews


Gateway

13.3
14.0
15.6 NV52L06U, NV52L08U
17.3

Gateway Reviews & Previews


HP

13.3
14.0 Pavilion g4-2029wm, Pavilion g4-2149se, ProBook 6475b, Pavilion g4-2235dx (W8), Pavilion 14z-b100 Sleekbook (W8), Pavilion g4-2320dx (W8),
15.6 ENVY dv6-7210us (W8), ENVY m6-1105dx (W8), ENVY Sleekbook 6-1110us (W8), ENVY Sleekbook 6-1010us, ENVY Sleekbook 6z-1000, Pavilion dv6-7029wm, Pavilion dv6-7010us, Pavilion dv6z-7000, Pavilion dv6-7114nr, Pavilion dv6-7115nr, Pavilion g6-2006ax, Pavilion g6-2123us, Pavilion g6-2235us (W8), Pavilion m6-1035dx, ProBook 4545s, Pavilion g6z-2200 (W8), ENVY Sleekbook 6z-1100 (W8), ENVY dv6z-7200 (W8), Pavilion Sleekbook 15z-b000 (W8), Pavilion TouchSmart 15z-b000 Sleekbook (W8), ENVY 15z-j000 (Richland), Pavilion 15z-e000 (Richland),
17.3 Pavilion dv7-7010us, Pavilion dv7-7115nr, Pavilion g7-2069wm, Pavilion g7-2051sg, Pavilion g7-2053sg, Pavilion g7z-2100, Pavilion g7-2235dx (W8), Pavilion g7z-2200 (W8), Pavilion 17z-e000 (Richland),

HP Reviews & Previews
Review HP Pavilion Sleekbook 15z-b000 Notebook by notebookcheck.net
Review HP ProBook 4545s C5D26ES Notebook (A4-4300M) by notebookcheck
Review HP Pavilion m6-1050sg Notebook by Konrad Schneid (translated by Mark Llewellyn), 10/14/2012
HP Pavilion M6-1060SM (A8-4500M+7670M) by ITsvet.com
HP Pavilion m6-1000 Review (HP m6-1035dx) by Student Buying Guide
HP Pavillion g6 (Korea)
HP ENVY Sleekbook 6z Review: Is Being Thin Enough? by Charles P. Jefferies, NotebookReview Staff (Thursday, July 19, 2012)
Proper Envy 6z review by funbun
Envy 6z Initial Impressions by kaivorth at overclock.net
HP ENVY Sleekbook 6-1010us quick review by paulnelson88's
HP Envy Sleekbook 6-1010us review: A low-cost ultrabook alternative by COMPUTERWORLD
HP Envy Sleekbook 6z Review by Engadget
HP Envy Sleekbook 6 Review by CNET
HP Pavilion m6 Review by CNET
HP Pavilion m6 1035dx (AMD A10 Trinity) First impressions, teardown pics, schematic request by Ianas
HP Pavilion dv6z-7000 (AMD A10-4600M) Trinity Review by T2050
DV6z-7000 AMD A10-4600m Crossfire Performance (with 7670M) by Confuzzled77
HP Pavilion dv7-7010us A10-4600M Trinity by suhlash
HP Pavilion G6-2123us (A6-4400m) Review by abaddon4180
HP Pavilion g7-2051sg Review by Notebookcheck
HP Pavilion g7-2053sg Review by Notebookcheck
Trinity has dropped by ForeverZen
HP Pavilion dv6 Service Manual is wrong, APU is NOT soldered to the board by Futureperfect


Lenovo

13.3
14.0 ThinkPad Edge E435, IdeaPad S405, IdeaPad Z485, IdeaPad Y485 (China),
15.6 IdeaPad N586, ThinkPad Edge E535, IdeaPad Z585, IdeaPad Z585-261729U, IdeaPad P585-4575H4U, G505s (W8),
17.3

Lenovo Reviews & Previews
Review Lenovo IdeaPad N586 Notebook (A6-4400M) by notebookcheck
Review Lenovo IdeaPad Z585 Notebook (with 7670M) by Notebookcheck
S405 available for order from here here and here
Lenovo IdeaPad S400 (S405) Hands-On: Great Keyboard, Soft-Touch Chassis by Laptopmag.com
IdeaPad S405 Hardware Maintenance Manual & User Guide by Lenovo
IdeaPad S405 Previews here & here
Lenovo ThinkPad Edge E535 Laptop Review by notebookcheck.com
ThinkPad Edge E535 - 3DMark Scores by Snapple37
Are there going to be any Thinkpads offered with AMD Trinity? by CheddarTrek
Lenovo ThinkPad Edge E435 & E535 – Preview


MAINGEAR

13.3
14.0
15.6
17.3 NOMAD 17

MAINGEAR Reviews & Previews


MSI

13.3
14.0
15.6 GX60, GX60 (W8),
17.3

MSI Reviews & Previews
MSI GX60 Review by notebookcheck
MSI ships GX60 gaming laptop to the US, gives us high-end AMD gaming for $1,300 by Engadget
*The Offical MSI GX60 Owners' Lounge* thanks layjohn
Pre-order your MSI GX60 1AC-021US with Windows 8 HERE or HERE for $1,200.00
MSI GX60 Gaming Notebook Announced by notebookreview.com
The GX60 brief test (Chinese) thanks to rmacgowa for finding this
MSI GX 60 mit 7970 Thread
GX60 Features Comparison with G55 from pc1formatik.com
MSI GX60 France Pre-order estimated date 11/09/2012 from pc1formatik.com


Packard Bell

13.3
14.0
15.6 NX.C17EK.003 (UK), NX.C17EK.002 (UK),
17.3

Packard Bell Reviews & Previews


Samsung

13.3 Series 5 NP535U3C-A01US, Series 5 NP535U3C-B01US
14.0 Series 5 NP535U4C-A01US, Series 3 NP355V4-S01CA,
15.6 Series 3 NP355V5C-S01UK, Series 3 NP355V5C-A03UK, Series 3 NP355V5C-A04UK, Series 3 NP355V5C-A05UK, Series 3 NP355V5C-S01US (W8), NP365E5C-S01US (W8),
17.3

Samsung Reviews & Previews
Samsung Series 5 Review: AMD at its Best Discussion By Jerry Jackson, NotebookReview Editor | Thursday, October 25, 2012 | 975 Reads
Review Samsung Series 5 535U3C Notebook (dual channel memory) Tobias Winkler (translated by Liala Stiegitz), 10/15/2012
14.0" Samsung Series 5 535 (A10-4655M) review by CNET
15.6" A6-4400M Samsung NP355V5C-S05DE Review by notebookbcheck
Samsung 5-Series Unboxing & Review by Baseballfan19946-YouTube
Samsung Series 5 NP535U3C Thread by Thierry19
Review Samsung Series 5 535U4C Notebook by notebookcheck.net
User Review of the Samsung NP355V5C S01UK by d_brennen at overclockers.co.uk
Samsung Series 5 Slim – Trinity-flavored Portability by Jason Marges at HardwareZone.com.ph | Product reviews | Technology News | Blogs
Ultra-thin notebooks and Samsung 535U3C 535U4C: AMD Trinity in by Alex Drozhzhin at 3DNews - (25/07/2012)
Samsung NP535U3C-B01US Mini-Preview by davidricardo86


Sony

13.3
14.0
15.6 VAIO Fit 15E SVF15414CXB (W8)
17.3

Sony Reviews & Previews


Toshiba

13.3
14.0 Satellite L840D-BT2N22, Satellite L840D-ST2N01, Satellite L840D-BT3N22 (W8),
15.6 Satellite L955D-S5364 (W8), Satellite S955D-S5374(W8), Satellite S955, Satellite C855D-S5237, Satellite L855D-S5220, Satellite L850D-BT2N22, Satellite L855D-S5242, Satellite S855D-S5256,
17.3 Satellite L870D-BT2N22, Satellite L875D-S7210, Satellite L875D-S7232, Satellite L875D-S7332 (W8), Satellite L875D-S7342 (W8),

Toshiba Reviews & Previews
Review Toshiba Satellite S855D-S5256 Notebook by Steve Schardein, 10/16/2012
Toshiba Satellite L855D-100 by DinSide.no
Toshiba Satellite S955 thin-and-light by Engadget
Toshiba Satellite L855d-s5242 by Mark Kyrnin
Toshiba Satellite S875D-S7239 17.3-inch Laptop PC by Mark Kyrnin


Vizio

13.3
14.0 CT14T-B0
15.6 CT15T-B0
17.3

Vizio Reviews & Previews
Vizio CT15T-B0 Review by Computer Shopper
Vizio refreshes its PC lineup: all new models have touchscreens, quad-core CPUs (engadget) inlcudes 14" and 15.6" A10 models

Top Most Wanted (Under Construction)


AMD Trinity APUs_Bulldozer-Piledriver_TOP by davidc646, on Flickr

 

AMD Mobile Trinity APUs

Notebooks with AMD Accelerated Processors
List of AMD Fusion microprocessors - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
CPU-WORLD


AMD Trinity APUs_Bulldozer-Piledriver by davidc646, on Flickr



Interested in setting up an AMD Eyefinity multi-display setup with your APU? Here's some great information:
AMD Eyefinity FAQs
A MD Eyefinity Technology - Recommended Adapters
White Paper | DisplayPort™ 1.2 Technology AMD FirePro™ V7900 and V5900 Professional Graphics


Trinity and Llano APU 3DMark11 Scores, thanks to Atom_Anti ( 1, 2)

Single vs Dual Channel memory performance difference in Trinity (iGPU) thanks to kaivorth at overclock.net

Read Me

AMD A10 4655m Benchmarks thanks to the_mask and esrever over @ semiaccurate
How well AMD Trinity A6-4400M, A10-4600M and Llano A8-3550MX APU perform in real world? Performance and Power Consumption Test thanks to Atom_Anti
Mobile CPU: AMD A10 and A8 against Core i5 and i7 (Llano, Trinity, Sandy and Ivy Bridge) by HardWare.fr - Le Guide du HardWare & de l'Optimisation PC
Second-Generation AMD A-Series APUs Enable Best-in-Class PC Mobility, Entertainment, and Gaming Experience in Single Chip Press Release
Five Things You Need To Know About The Second Generation AMD A-Series APU by Chris Hook (June 28, 2012)
Trinity laptop buyers beware... you NEED dual channel memory. by Mad Pistol at Overclock.net - An Overclocking Community
Trinity APUs are not working with existing Llano laptops --> Tested with Dell Vostro 3555, thanks to Atom_Anti
Trinity in Review: AMD A10-4600M APU by Notebookcheck
AMD Issue Reporting Form - Report Catalyst bugs straight to AMD, thanks link626
OpenGL with dGPU in Dynamic Switching [AMD], thanks xAcid9


Follow AMD

AMD - Product/Service - Sunnyvale, CA | Facebook
AMD (AMD_Unprocessed) on Twitter
AMDUnprocessed's channel - YouTube
AMD RSS Feeds
Amd, Amd | SlideShare

 

This is a great idea. I've been scouring the internet for Trinity notebooks and this way they'll all be here.

Maybe we should also include reviews of the notebooks if we find them or direct to the discussion threads here in the forums.
Here's one review

HP Review HP Pavilion g7-2051sg Notebook

Review of the HP Sleekbook with the A6-4455M APU in Cnet. Review in Engadget.

Good news everyone!
(You just read this in your mind with the voice of Professor Hubert J. Farnsworth from Futurama)

Notebookcheck.net already reviewed the Lenovo Thinkpad Edge E535 and despite the APU having problems and not using Turbo - something that could be faulted to the test unit - it got a really decent score of 81%!. I wonder what the score would be if they didn't had those problems. It's the first Trinity notebook with a 4-star rating and obtaining it in such a demanding review site just makes this result the more impressive.
For those who don't know Notebookcheck.net probably makes the most comprehensive notebook reviews around.

Lenovo ThinkPad Edge E535 Laptop Review.

After reading yet another review were the AMD APUs didn't shine I just have to wonder why the hell review websites aren't receiving review units with the most powerful APUs and with mature drivers? The bad results that APU powered notebooks get are usually derived from the reviews being of the weakest APUs and because there always seem to exist glitches with hybrid crossfire or something like that.
Is it that hard for AMD to instruct their partners to send review units with no dedicated graphics and the A10 APUs to review websites?? If all they did was that, there would exist a much more positive word of mouth about Trinity APUs.
For example, there's already a bunch of reviews of the Samsung Series 5 13,3'' ultrathin with the A6 APU, yet no review of the 14'' ultrathin with the A10 APU which is a lot more powerful and would probably shine a lot more in reviews.

Samsung NP355V5C S01UK user impressions.

Packard Bell Trinity notebooks:
A10-4600M model
A8-4500M model

 

This is very helpful, looking for something new with Trinity myself so, perfect guys.
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cant wait to see reviews of the MSI GX60

 

I went to Wal-Mart today in hopes of seeing the new Vizio computers but ended finding this guy instead. I only had 20 minutes to mess around with it but I liked what I saw so far. Its not perfect but its one of the most attractive Trinity laptops currently available, imo. I took some photos with my crappy Samsung Replenish camera and I touched them up a bit for appreciation. So here's my mini-preview on this very cool looking but otherwise expensive Trinity ultra-portable.

Walmart.com: Samsung Silver 13.3" Series 5 NP535U3C-B01US Laptop PC with AMD Quad-Core A6-4455M Accelerated Processor and Windows 7 Home Premium with Windows 8 Pro Upgrade Option: Computers

$699.99 + local tax or avoid the tax and buy from Amazon.


Display_20120711_01 by davidc646, on Flickr

View the rest of the photos here!

Build Quality: My first impression was that the build quality seemed excellent. The materials felt high quality and the exterior was sturdy in my hands. There was no flex throughout the chassis and the weight of the laptop felt chunky for being so thin. It just did not feel flimsy. The display hinge was stiff and did not feel wobbly at all. The case was well built and like it fit all tolerances. At 3.35 lbs. and dimensions of 12.4" x 8.6" x 0.58" ~ 0.69" this laptop felt really portable and light. This would be the perfect companion for someone looking for a strong and light notebook that doesn't require a lot of power but a balance of features that will get them through their work day.

Display: The display seemed more than adequate for daily use. Horizontal viewing angles were pretty good but vertical viewing angels were not as good. From above, colors became washed out. From below, everything became sort of negative or dark. However, I don't think watching a movie with a couple friends on this laptop would be a problem. Colors seemed vibrant and brightness level satisfactory. Another positive about the display was the matte finish and overall I'd say it was a good display.

Keyboard: One word, shallow! I am now accustomed to touch-typing on my ThinkPad E425's wonderful keyboard and the NP535U3C-B01US's keyboard left me feeling disappointed. My time with this keyboard was short but immediately I understood what all the fuss was about when people all over the internet complain about all these new Ultrabooks and their shallow keyboards. This laptop, essentially a stripped down Ultrabook, was no different. Key travel felt extremely short, especially the Backspace key for some reason, and to make matters worse the oversensitive touchpad interfered with the entire typing experience. I didn't feel like my palm was touching the touchpad at all but apparently even the slightest touch caused the cursor to jump. Lastly, the keyboard was not backlit so that might turn some people off while true touch typist might not even care.

Touchpad: The touchpad was by Elantech. It was overly sensitive, especially while typing. The touchpad could have used some sensitivity/palm adjustment because it made typing a pain. I wanted to give the keyboard a chance, maybe I just needed time to adjust, but the finicky touchpad made typing unacceptable. In the touchpad's defense, I did not have the chance to adjust any of its settings. My hands are not large nor small but somehow my palms touched the very top edge of the touchpad enough that it caused a noticeable aggravation. It caused the cursor to jump up a few lines screwing up the whole process of typing. I wish I could have adjusted some of the settings but I simply ran out of time. The touchpad buttons on the other hand had the perfect click! Not too hard, not too soft but just right.

Sound: The speakers in this laptop are on the bottom and will become muffled in put over a soft surface such as a bed or carpet. If you were to set the laptop on a table top, they can generate a lot of sound! Even with the volume turned all the way up the sound never sounded distorted. Music came out clean, crisp and clear. Don't expect any bass from such tiny speakers but if I had to compare I'd say they were louder than the speakers in an iPad (my friend has one and its pretty loud for its size). Overall I was satisfied with the speakers and didn't think they were lacking but if you want to fully enjoy music or sounds then a good pair of headphones is always recommended with these type of computers.

I/O ports and Connectivity: The port assortment on this laptop is about what you would find on a lot of other Ultrabooks. Its enough to get by but the mini-VGA port might be a problem for some. On the left exists the power connector, a Gigabit Ethernet port, one USB3.0, HDMI, headphone/mic combo port, and a mini-VGA port that requires a dongle which is sold separately. On the right, there's two USB2.0 ports, and a 4-in-1 card reader. One of the USB ports is of the Sleep-n-Charge variety. The wireless card supports 802.11 a/b/g/n and there's also Bluetooth 4.0 for connecting wireless mice or other devices.

Battery Life: I did not do any tests to verify how many hours can be squeezed out of the 45 Wh 6100 mAh battery but a quick look at the Windows battery gauge said 5hr:36min-5hr:41min. Samsung claims the 4-cell lithium-ion battery with give up to a 6 hr battery life but I would like to see some actual tests done to prove what this ULV AMD Trinity chip can do.

Temperature: I had no way to verify temperature readings as the laptop did not have an active internet connection so that I could download a tool. I also did not bring a USB stick with any of my portable tools with me so I can't say what the idle and max temp readings were. I did however play a song in Windows Media Player and the bottom of the case became warm as expected. During light use, it was always comfortable to the touch. I want to take another trip to the same Wal-Mart this week except this time I will come prepared and gather a little more information about how this laptop performance under different scenarios.

Storage: What can I say? It comes with a 500GB HDD. I would remove that for an SSD and use the HDD as an external. It did wake up from sleep almost instantly but I did not time how fast it takes to boot up.

GPU: According to Notebookcheck.net, the A6-4455M's iGPU 7500G is ranked a little higher than my current 6470M/7450M dGPU in my E425.

It's difficult to say if this is true and by how much because there aren't any benchmarks backing this up or proving how fast the 7500G actually is.

EDIT: I almost forgot about paulnelson88's HP ENVY Sleekbook 6-1010us quick review! He ran 3DMark11 on the A6-4455M/7500G and scored a P571. He also added a second stick of 4GB RAM for dual channel goodness and an SSD which caused his WEI to increase by a good amount.

CPU: The dual-core A6-4455M certainly isn't a speed demon but I'm sure it won't have a problem with office or other productivity tasks. I will try to gather some benchmarks and see if I can go run some tests on this ULV APU the next time I visit Wal-Mart.

Conclusion: I really like this AMD Trinity laptop for many reasons. I think it is one of the most attractive designs sporting a Trinity APU. It has excellent build quality and doesn't feel cheap. Its construction feels sturdy enough to take it everywhere. It is light and very thin but does not suffer from any chassis flex thanks to its metal/aluminium exterior. I felt that the display was more than good enough for many uses. Colors, brightness, and viewing angles were satisfactory. The addition of a matte finish on the display is a welcomed one. The small speakers actually sounded nice and loud without any distortion at max volume. Connectivity doesn't pose too much of a problem since all but one port are full size. The mini-vga wouldn't be as big of a hassle had Samsung included the dongle for free. What let me down the most were the keyboard and the touchpad. My first impression of these two key items left me disappointed and wanting more. I hope one can adjust to the shallow keyboard and adjustments can be done to the sensitivity of the touchpad in order to avoid cursor-jump while typing. I also would like to see how this ULV APU along with its iGPU perform under heavy duty workloads. The current retail price of $699.99 seems a bit too high for the performance this laptop brings to the table but you have to remember its not just about raw specs. The slim design, materials used, along with other factors contribute to the high initial price. Personally, I would just wait till these go on sale for $500-600 or less. This might just be a better choice for some than HP's Trinity Sleekbook as that isn't offered in a 13.3" or 14" display size yet.


Pros: Excellent build quality, adequate display with good horizontal viewing angles and a matte finish, great little speakers, good battery life, matte/non-glossy finish throughout the entire case, doesn't feel or look cheap, RAM/HDD can be upgraded

Cons: Shallow keyboard, oversensitive touchpad, performance-to-cost ratio is high (what Ultrabook isn't in this category really?), small fragile-looking power connector

 

Anybody knows the release date for the ASUS N56DP?

 

Wow, $700 and a WEI 'score' (cpu) that is less than a 6 year old Intel core 2 Duo.

What a rip off.

My 18 month old Asus U30Jc is twice the computer this is... (and is probably worth the same amount of money today).

 

Only one AMD Trinity laptop is with eSATA and/or ExpressCard and it's 14". All others are soooooooooo identical SO many laptops, but nothing to choose from.

I need one with eSATA and ExpressCard (however I can ditch eSATA) but 14" is definitely out of scope (ProBook 6475b).
15.6" would be good.

WHY, oh WHY ThinkPad Edge E535 is not a clone of E525 but just with AMD Trinity?! E525 does have ExpressCard AND eSATA...

I wouldn't also mind Glossy display since laptop is mostly used indoor (although not always in my own house

 

Considering that the APU on that Samsung machine only has a TDP of 17W what were you expecting? That's the least powerful APU of the Trinity line-up.
Could you show me WEI scores of ULV Intel Core i3's (Sandy Bridge/Ivy Bridge)? Go check that and tell me if the difference is that big.

From what I read this APU is sensibly two times more powerful than a Brazos E-450.
I really want to read a review about this notebook and the 14'' version.

The Samsung ultrathin looks gorgeous. And it seems you can replace the HDD for an SSD.

 

What was the cost of that Samsung? I am overall a bit disappointed with Trinity. They touted $500 thin notebooks but so far they're still $700 and up, and using the slowest of the chips. There's no reason they can't put a 35W A10 in a slim 13". That's 35W for a decently performing CPU and excellent APU. The GPU portion of the A6's are seriously gimped and no better than an HD 4000 and many i3 ultrabooks cost less than $1000.

Great thread though nevertheless. Thanks for assembling. Would be great if you could add purchase locations if available. +1

 

They have the A10-4655M, and it's being used in the Samsung ultrathin of 14''.
But I agree with you, I would love to see a A10 in a 13'' notebook. Lets wait and see what more will come up and try to keep this thread updated to be the place to go to when wanting to find the adequate Trinity notebook for everyone.

 

I do not care to compare to over-priced and gimped systems.

ULV i3's? Why? When the U30Jc at 13.3" was available so long ago?

With 8GB RAM and an SSD I get more battery life and performance (when needed) than these too hot/poorly designed (from a thermal standpoint) systems can ever possibly offer.

I do not care for the form factor (pretty, oh!). I care for (and pay...) for performance. In a notebook that means battery life and actual HP (no such thing as 'good enough' - that's just an excuse to throw money away).

What I will give the new systems though is how solid they feel - but still not enough for the $$$$/performance ratio to make me buy one - especially once the toy like typing experience is taken into account.

Notebooks, just like supermodels can be too thin - sure they look/photograph like some kind of utopian 'perfection' - but it's embarrassing to be actually making up excuses for them when a real woman (err, notebook) comes along.

 

Considering the significant throttling, heat and noise issues in every single Ultrabook on the market, you're right ;P

I'd much rather prefer a Toshiba 13.3" or Sony S 13.3" type design over an ultrabook. Twice the processing power, less heat and noise, configure at your own will and it's also cheaper.

 

You should compare to ULV i3's because that's the equivalent Intel CPU of the ULV A6 APU. You specifically bashed the APU and not the ultrathin/ultrabook form factor in your previous post.

As for the rest of what you say, I agree with you up to a point. If you pay for performance then obviously you are better served with other types of notebooks. However, that is just on the factors involved in picking a PC. But for most people the performance of ULV CPUs/APUs is more than enough for their daily needs and they may want something more appealing to the eyes as well.

What I find pathetic is that OEMs haven't improved on notebook form factors for a long time and that's why people are looking at ultrabooks.

 

patiently waiting for the samsung np535 with 4655..

hopefully that can run diablo 3 ok (most intensive thing laptop will be used for)

the 14' model, of course

 

Yes I agree as well. I feel that AMD is not doing a good job with OEMs. They were promising a large variety of ultrathins at $500 price points. All I have seen is 2 offerings (Samsung + HP) and they start at $600 for the ULV A6. The LV A10 is even more. That puts it very close to the Competition in terms of pricing. Also, the Samsung A10 LV offering makes no sense because they are selling the Ivy Bridge version for 50 dollars less with an SSD cache (and why is it $100 more that the A6 on a Samsung.) On the HP side, I prefer the 4t because the Trinity model is 15" and too heavy IMO. It barley justifies the decision to go for a ULV or LV.

I thought AMD's strat with trinity ultrathins was good but now I don't know. I wish there were more than two choices! Hopefully there are more on the way this summer or i'll probably go to Ivy bridge.

Nice thread though; I have been checking the news section of google everyday to check for new stuff this helps a lot.

 

Ultrathin/ultrabook form factor is just marketing.

Thinner is not better (actually worse as every single ultrabook has proven so far, including the MBA and other 'sexy' offerings).

Don't believe the marketing hype - you can use a gaming system to do work on - and you can use a .2" thicker notebook as effortlessly as you can the thinner and sexier, but more expensive and high maintenance (most of them can not be upgraded: throw away systems, just like MB's).

What I find pathetic is that OEM's haven't copied the over two decade old ThinkPAD philosophy of the perfect blend of exceptional input devices (trackpoint/keyboard), durability, reliability and performance that still defines the perfect 'notebook' to me today (even as they have let that excellent keyboard standard slide in their latest offerings (bad, Lenovo, bad!).

 

Dell Precision/HP Elitebook?

 

R3d, not precise or elite enough (compared to a ThinkPAD).

 

Ok, that's a nice rant but that doesn't have anything to do with AMD Trinity. :/

 

Not a rant - just an observation.

AMD Trinity is being pushed as the ultimate 'thin/light/powerful' platform (hmm, just like the ultrabooks...) but has seriously fallen on it's face in (not only) my opinion.

To state that my post has nothing to do with AMD Trinity is to miss the big/whole picture of what's shaping up.

 

Ultrabooks, despite what the manufacturers, Intel and the ads lead you to believe, haven't been selling well at all. The PC market (not just desktops) in general has stagnated and Ultrabooks haven't really helped much.

Gartner: PC shipments shrunk by 0.1% last quarter - The Tech Report

 

We can all agree that the selection so far has been rather weak compared to the hype AMD was claiming but Trinity notebooks just started coming out last month so lets give it some time guys.

Officially there's just eight manufacturers that partnered with AMD to build these Trinity-based notebooks so were not going to see as many models as we all would like. Still, those eight are among the biggest in the industry and we can only hope they learned from the first generation Llano notebooks. A lot hasn't change (low res poor quality displays, large notebooks when a lot of us want smaller ones, poor advertisement and marketing awareness, high initial cost) but some things are starting to improve.



And lastly, I don't think its fair to compare a "full-powered" laptop to an Ultrabook/Ultrathin. You must compare apples to apples, and oranges to oranges. Ultrathins focus on being thin, light and easy to transport and they do it well. They might not be the workhorses you crave but they can still get things done. My recommendation, use the right tool for the job! Sure for the same amount you pay for an Ultrathin you could also buy a more powerful & bigger laptop, or even a desktop but I think you're missing the point. I could start pointlessly comparing tablets and smartphones and say that for the price of one of those devices you could just buy a more powerful and complete (i.e. Windows OS, keyboard, standard ports, etc.) laptop or, heck, even a low budget desktop.

We get your point, we know you want ultimate performance for your money and that's fine. No one is disagreeing with that because I'm sure we all want as much bang for our buck but you must understand that not everyone wants what you want or thinks like you do.

A lot of people buy things simply because it looks cool! Or they think it will make them look cool to others (impress). For example, thousands of people buy cars because they look cool, look fast, look classic, look luxurious, look classy, look elegant, or look well engineered. A lot of this comes from influence from marketing but isn't that the point of marketing? All these companies are just trying to sell you a product and its working. Their marketing has paid off and they win. With computers and cars, many people ignore specs because to them its whats on the outside that counts. You and many like you on the other hand are at the opposite end of that spectrum, and thats fine too but no ones trashing on your choice because you choose a spec-oriented, heavier, thicker and more powerful computer than what someone else might need. And for the majority, a lot of these ULV, LV, and SV Trinity APUs ARE more than enough because what they do are not what you do. I myself am still amazed by the tablet craze but its very similar to this point I'm trying to make. For many it works, for others it doesn't but there's enough options out there to satisfy just about all of us.

 

Agreed. It's just that at AFDS they made it seem like they're were quite a few ultrathin design waiting to be released this summer but only 2 have been released. Hopefully some OEMs can get it right.

 

Check these photos out. The smallest of the bunch is a Sony laptop (most likely will use the 17W APU) 2nd from the left, followed by the Samsung Series 5 535 13.3"-14" notebooks and a similar sized Asus (probably the 14" K45). The rest look like 15.6" or bigger.

 

Yup that's what I was talking about.

Thanks for pulling up the pic.

 

AMD Trinity hasn't fallen seriously on it's face. For what it is suited it's actually a decent platform.
It has great battery life and good iGPU performance with good enough CPU performance.

Also it's not being pushed as the ultimate thin/light/powerful platform. Show me where AMD has stated that. If you can't back up those claims then you are just trolling.

AMD always stated that AMD is directed to as something with more balance between the GPU and the CPU and that they want to offer flexibility to the OEMs instead of forcing them to stick to specific guidelines like what Intel is doing.
Probably that's a counter-productive strategy since it seems that OEMs are using that flexibility to release ty notebooks and absorb the profit margin given by the savings of using the APUs instead of the Intel CPUs.

If you don't like them for what you perceive as not bringing enough performance per the price then why are you ranting in this thread instead of looking for more powerful Intel CPUs?

 

Okay guys - fine.

I'm not ranting, just trying to give the other side...

All I will say is that it is not out of the question to want the highest performance, the best design (best for cooling the selected components to prevent burns and throttling...) all at the lowest cost.

'For what it is suited it's actually is a decent platform' is an excuse for the existance of these systems, not a complement - not at the prices they're being offered to us at.

I don't want to use a performance notebook just for my high performance needs - I want to use one even for the menial tasks like checking message boards. To use a thin/light version at 1/3 (or less) the power for the same price is ludicrous to me - no matter how pretty it looks, or makes me look or makes me think others think I look.

So, good luck to all - sorry if I offended - but I thought this was a thread to discuss the good and the bad of the AMD Trinity offerings.

 

Review of the HP sleekbook with the A6-4455M APU.

I liked the real world benchmarks that CNET used. The Sleekbook actually doesn't look bad compared to the competitors they used. And despite mentioning poor power efficiency in the bad, the fact is that in the end of the review he complimented the great battery life of the notebook.

 

Wow, over 6 hours of battery life running full screen video?

 

And video is actually one of Trinity's weaker points as far as efficiency goes.

I'm wondering how well those single module chips would fair with both DDR channels filled.

 

Yeah I saw that reveiw. From what I know, the Trinity APU's are supposed to get better battery live than Intel CPUs. The 25w A10 should be about the same as Intel ULV. That's why I think it would be a really nice solution to Intel ULVs because not everyone needs that much CPU power.

I actually think that the Black-Silver HP Sleekbook with Trinity is a good deal, but it's too bad it is the 15" model. It would also be nice to have a better screen option. I think that AMD would have been better off if the OEMs were not always aiming it towards budget users. If they released a premium model with AMD at the same price as the Intel budget model, AMD would definitely have a chance. Sadly, I don't see this happening. =(

BTW, Does anyone know if trinity really sees such a huge performance leap from adding more dual channel memory? I have heard this a few times and I wonder it it's true. I guess it makes sense though since the iGPU probably uses the RAM as a frame buffer, thus requiring more memory than an Intel.

 

It does. And its quite significant, particularly for the GPU. Intel's microarchitecture for their HD4000 relies on on-die cache access whereas AMD relies on the DDR channels for memory access so a dual channel configuration speeds up the GPU quite a bit. The CPU gets a decent boost on both AMD/Intel, but AMD sees a much bigger gain from dual channel RAM than does Intel.

It should be anywhere from 10-50% depending on the task, mostly in that 20-30% area.

If you buy any AMD fusion product, before you do any sort of user aftermarket upgrades, make sure you toss in another stick of RAM at the fastest speed the processor can support (1333mhz in the case of the LV/ULV Trinity chips) and make sure it's dual channel.

 

I don't even need to see it at an Intel budget model price, all I'm hoping for is something with an A10-4600, a small form factor, and at least a 1600x900 screen.

Would be a great alternative to some of the Intel ultrabooks with discrete GPU coming out, some are touting a discrete video card for gaming but its a GT620m or 640LE that I'm not sure would outperform A10-4600 by itself.

 

I'm not so sure about that... according the NotebookCheck the 640m LE scores in the 1300s and 7660G gets around 1150 in 3d Mark. It also scores significantly better in the game benchmarks that I saw. It also appears to be slightly outperformed by the GT 620m in Anno, Diablo 3, and Alan Wake.

However the Trinity would definitely win for performance per watt because of the lack of a discrete card.

You can check it here:

7660G: AMD Radeon HD 7660G - Notebookcheck.net Tech
GT 640m LE: NVIDIA GeForce GT 640M LE - Notebookcheck.net Tech
GT 620m: NVIDIA GeForce GT 620M - Notebookcheck.net Tech

 

Yeah I get confused on the LE as seems always claims of some inferior fermi version floating about, not sure.

Either way I'd love to see an option to get a higher end laptop with the top of the line Trinity cpu in it.

 

Yo dawg! So I heard you like butterflies? Well we put some butterflies to go with your Trinity APU!



$498.00

Walmart.com: HP Butterfly Blossom in Linen White 14.0" g4-2149se Laptop PC with AMD A6-4400M Accelerated Processor and Windows 7 Home Premium: Computers

HP Butterfly Blossom 14" Laptop PC, Linen White - Walmart - YouTube

This is the first Trinity g4 notebook and its really something else. Either way, its going on the list!

 

The horror.

Yep, basically this just confirms that the OEMs want to screw AMD.

 

Yea not my style either. Some girls would probably like it, my friend said she liked it.


Anyways, I thought about a current comparison between HP's ENVY Sleekbook 6z-1000 vs Samsung's NP535U4C-A01US & NP535U3C-B01US. Engadget's Sleekbook review made me interested. Price-wise the HP wins by a good margin but you do make some compromises in my opinion. The Samsung are lighter, thinner and a mostly unknown battery life but probably a better overall build. They also come with matte finished displays, which i prefer. I'd be interested to know which keyboard is best, maybe someone can vouch for the HP. I've personally typed on the 13.3" Samsung and it was very shallow. I'll probably check out the HP at best buy to get a personal feel myself. Hope the display is decent too. I would add a second stick of RAM and my 830 ssd with either one.

My HP ENVY Sleekbook 6z-1000_$718.56 by davidc646, on Flickr

HP ENVY Sleekbook 6z-1000
B2S72AV
Coupon Code: NBM8468

First the 15.6" HP coming in at $718.56 ( $686.39 shipped with the 320GB HDD!) It comes with the A10-4655M, backlit keyboard, and my personal choice of bluetooth. It is 0.78" thin, 4.75lbs, has a 4-cell battery that gets upto 6 hours of battery, 4GB 1600MHz DDR3 RAM (single dimm), 500GB hdd,


VS

NP535U4C-A01US $899.99 shipped

The 14" Samsung can only be found the cheapest at $899.99! $$ $$ This includes a DVD player/burner (2nd storage device option) and 8-cell battery, 0.69" thin, 3.99lbs, 750GB HDD, 4GB 1333MHz DDR3 RAM (single dimm), & a non-backlit possibly shallow keyboard.

VS

NP535U3C-B01US $699.99 shipped
Smallest, lightest, weaker performing APU, cooler temperatures hopefully than the 25w chip, no dvd player like the HP, non-backlit shallow keyboard

 

If you care about performance, don't get the A6 Samsung. I would wait for a 33% coupon and just get a dv6z with 1080p/backlit keyboard for $700 if you absolutely want Trinity, but it's heavier than the sleekbook.

 

Congrats for your new Sleekbook 6z with A10-4655M. I'm also thinking on this machine, looks splendid, good quality and very sleek. My concern is the glossy screen and hard drive capacity. If I'm correct cannot take 9mm HDD and not sure if has mSata port or not? Later you can confirm that...
My another favorite is the M6 which thicker than Sleekbook, but still 20% thinner than DV6z. No HDD capacity problem and use 35W Trinity, while screen still glossy and 720p. Hope customizable model coming soon at HP's website...

 

Trinity is the theme here. The optional 1080p displays are a very reasonable option. I agree, the dv6z would be great for someone looking for the most bang for the buck sort of speak but we have to explore the other options too.

Sorry for the confusion. I did not buy it (although i do wish I had it for review). I was just comparing the current A10-4655M notebooks for the sake of the thread.

Say I did want the 25w A10 which is on par with some of the 35w APUs, I was simply pointing out that the HP's Sleekbook seems like a better choice overall than the Samsung 5 Series. Unfortunately HP and Samsung are the only two option right now but I probably would go with the one with the better keyboard (my guess is HP), better thermals, and lower price (again HP). From a subjective point of view, the HP is bigger, heavier, doesn't have an optical drive bay for a 2nd hdd/ssd via caddy, and a glossy display. However, imo the HP wins because it has better audio, an optional backlit keyboard (which many say is actually pretty good), and can be configured to cost a lot less than the Samsung. I will admit Id much prefer the matte finished display in the Samsung which seemed pretty good but i would still want to see a side-by-side comparison of the display qualities.

 

HP Pavilion G7Z-2100

Windows 7 Home Premium 64-bit
Quad-Core AMD A10-4600m Accelerated Processor (3.2GHz/2.3GHz, 4MB L2 Cache)
1GB AMD Radeon (TM) 7670M HD Graphics Discrete-Class
750GB 7200RPM Hard Drive
Microsoft (R) Office Starter: Reduced-functionality Word / Excel (R) only, not PowerPoint (R) / Outlook (R)
No additional security software
6-Cell Lithium-Ion Battery
17.3-inch diagonal BrightView LED-backlit HD display (1600 x 900)
SuperMulti 8X DVD + / -R/RW with double layer support
HP Webcam with Integrated Digital Microphone
802.11b/g/n WLA
Standard Keyboard
FREE Upgrade to 500GB 4GB DDR3 System Memory (1Dimm)
HP Home & Home Office Store in-box envelope

$ 620

Number of coupon NBQ1148

 

Why they put a discrete gpu like the 7670M that is barely better than the A10 APU ???? It pushes the price for nothing. It's not as if the asymetric crossfire was working in real world.

 

Actually people were seeing 5-10fps increase in games that support it (bf3) with the k53ta that had an a6-3400m and ati 6650. If the A10 igp really is that much better then there should actually be an increase

 

Well, the HD 7670m is compatible for CrossfireX configs with Trinity, and it has been showing decent performance gains in supported application. However it is very driver limited and most things are not optimized properly.

 

FAbulous work davidricardo - ! I'm in for the ride.

very keen on that 25w variant...

Yes.
so, to amd's credit [though this is a TERRIBLE launch from a Product Management viewpoint... I left them some feedback on their blog], the timing is good as the New College Student niche is one of the few bumps in sales volume that these OEM's most fight over. So, good prices, good configs, and if they get it, a little buzz all toward the end of summer break is a good thing

Anyone know what the yield looks like?

 

Supposedly the yields are fine. The issue AMD currently has is that there are few decent notebooks with Trinity processors. As you can see from the OP's first post, there's only been a few laptops released with these chips and they're either too expensive, really cheap and crappy quality, or just a poor configuration.

There really are no current AMD notebooks that make me say, "I want that." Something with an A10, 13/14" screen size and decent resolution/quality screen under 4.5 lbs would change my mind, though.

 

For some reason there's plenty of 13" notebooks with 35w ivy bridge, but nobody uses 35w trinity. I'm beginning to suspect that intel has a hand in this. Or maybe AMD just isn't pushing the manufacturers hard enough for smaller notebooks.