New Santa Rosa notebooks from LG

Hello everyone,

My name is Brian, I'm the PC Business Manager for LG Electronics Canada. We are currently designing our new Santa Rosa notebooks, and we want to know what you are looking for in a notebook. What do you use your notebook for? Are you a gamer? Casual internet surfer? Office user? Student? What is most important to you? What is your hot price point? What kind of specs do you want? 2 GB RAM, 160GB HDD, NVIDIA? What kinds of promotions do you like best? Bundles? Mail in Rebates? What works for you? Where do you buy? Online? Big box stores? Small retailers? I'd love to hear from anybody.

Thanks, and I hope to hear from you.

 

Before I post mad requirements, you sound like you have some clout... will LG ever be available in the UK?

Otherwise I'm off sulking and not posting And are you really from LG?

 

Yes I am from LG. Currently we are not expanding our notebooks into the UK, but that does not mean we never will. I am not involved with the global operations, only Canada, so I can not say for certain. Thanks for your reply though, I would still appreciate any feedback you can offer.

 

it would be nice if you could make a 14" notebook with a decent gpu....essentially like the lg s1, but more portable. you guys should also expand into the u.s.

 

But make it as pretty and light as the T1 =)

I'm moving this thread to the LG forum.

 

A lighter version of LG S1 with Gloss coating will be nice and with a more durable bodywork.
(You should also send these to Iran too )

 

Hi Brian_from_LG,
I'm glad to see someone from the OEM actually taking the time and asking customers for specs.
Here are my thoughts:
First and foremost, to suit everybody's specs needs, laptops should be more configurable. Although that probably means the purchase has to be made online, ppl would appreciate the fact that they would only pay for what they want.
For a university student like myself, the most important things in a laptop are reliability, and power consumption. I don't consider the raw processing power of laptops a very important issue because there are higher and lower end products - but reliability and power consumption should be taken into account for every laptop.
I would think for a casual user, the price range should be around 1000, but once the laptop hits the gaming range (dedicated graphics card, decent cpu) I'm expecting 1400 and up.
I think the current norm for memory (with vista) is 2Gigs RAM and 100 Gigs HD. But then again, everybody's needs are different, so that takes us back to the configurability issue.
As for promotions, I personally really hate mail-in-rebates, as I tend to forget about them. So bundles or instant rebates would be appreciated.
I think the majority of ppl are still buying from big box stores for laptops (my friends and myself included). But I think more and more people are moving to online because online offers way more choices for configurations.
If you can take these into account while building your new Santa Rosas, it'd be much appreciated.

 

I want the LG T1 with:

high res screen

2.5" HDD (solid state would be best)

decent graphics (just the best you can cram in there)

And just updated versions of the rest of the parts. I would have bought one if the screen res was higher.

And price? My favourite price is 1800, but 2100 is fine for an initial price.

 

Hi Brian. Very timely that you should ask, I'll be in the market for a new laptop in the next couple months. I've pretty much narrowed my choice to the LG S1 seeing as it's the only machine out there with keypad and WSXGA+ 15.4" screen. I don't need all the processing power, so I'd be happy with a P1 or F1 if higher resolution was available (Canada).

What do you use your notebook for?
I will primarly using it at school (MBA), and for average web, email, etc. Some basic photo and video editing. I won't use it for games (I have a console for that), but possibly Second Life, etc.

What is most important to you?
1. Screen size and resolution. 15.4" widescreen is perfect for me. And SXGA+ resolution is a must since I'll be using speadsheets alot. Just a personal preference, but I found it very difficult to find in mid price point.
2. Numeric keypad, a must for me.
3. Standard memory. I can deal with an average processor, but 2GB RAM is minimum for me.
5. Other specs: Processor, HDD, graphics, sound. I'm fine with average (but up-to-date) on all.
5. Design/styling. I perfer all-black designs, I find them more professional. Not a deal-breaker for me, but a significant preference. Optional would be a good idea.

What is your hot price point?
$1500 would seem ideal for me. Although I find that high res screens are only available in $2k+ models with the highest processors, vid cards, etc.

What kind of specs do you want?
2 GB RAM - YES
160GB HDD - 100GB is fine for me.
NVIDIA - The graphics card isn't important to me, as long as the machine can fun Vista without bogging down.

What kinds of promotions do you like best?
Pure $ off MSRP or instant rebates!
Bundles? - OK, but rarely include something I really need or want.
Mail in Rebates? - Dislike them very much! Although I would take them over a bundle package.

Where do you buy?
Perfer small/local retailers for the better customer service and (in general) better product knowledge. I don't buy big ticket items online without at least being able to see/try to product first (it's been very difficult to find LG laptops to view/try, and I live in Toronto!).

Although I don't like Dell products, I have to say I got back to them a lot due to the huge range of flexibility in there ordering process. If LG could provide even a fraction of the options I would be very happy (screen res, colours, specs, etc).

Let me know if I can help further. E-mail or PM.

-Brandon

 

I think the only things missing from the S1 was an Expresscard slot, dvi port, and webcam, being the top model I don't think these are unreasonable requests. It would be even more fantastic if all of that would fit into a 14 inch unit or perhaps equip the existing 15 inch model with an 8 cell battery as standard. I am a casual gamer/student but I do not mind paying a premium price for all of the extras. I guess I was looking for the Asus G1 specs with the LG design.
-2 gigs of ram is starting to sound like standard for the laptops with dedicated gpus and vista, and 120 gigs is just that much better than 100...
-Instant rebates>mail in rebates (still waiting...)
-Online customization would be nice since I could not find big box retailers around that carry LG
-Also a minimum amount of pre-installed software.

 

I'm also not from or living in Canada, but I am potential LG notebook buyer (already a client in household appliances) in my country.

I think one of the things I noticed is that LG is not giving in its professional notebooks, like S1 and P1, the chance to choose a model with higher or lower graphics. Professional use varies according to different people and it's a pity someone would have to necessarily choose a model with graphics that make the notebook more expensive, hotter, with more power consumption, etc when they don't need it. So, making the same model with two variations, integrated and dedicated graphics, is in my opinion a good idea.

The other aspect I would refer is definitely including 2GB or at least if you include 1G, make it 1x1GB and not 2x512MB. I bet a lot of people will be choosing LG over other brands for something as simples as this.

Expresscard, 160GB HD and resolution higher than 1280 is definitely something good in my opinion. A HD bigger than 120GB might not be so important if Flash Memory is included.

Are there any dates yet to when the Santa Rosa LGs will come out?

 

***I'd like an S1 version that fits better on the TV furniture, with DVD tray/slot in the front. so I can use it as a complete media system, No more external DVD players/recorders. Video In capabilities would be nice too.

** Preferably with as slots, and ports focused on the back and the front as possible. USB ports in the front and the back instead of the sides.

** A small screen on the fron showing songname, play time etc on the front would be cool too.
** Specs doesnt matter that much and/or it could vary from model to model, but construction and design could use some improvements. (placement for ports and slots) ... A "Laptop" arn't used in the lap very much, so why design it for that purpose, usually you have it on a flat surface, like a desk or something.

*** DVI/HDMI out would be awesome too.

***Good support for use with LCD/PLASMA - HDTV's, so choose the video card and driver wisely. I'm really annoyed that I can't use my TV's native resolution of 1366x768.

*** Better sound card would be good too. I bought an external PCMCIA slot card becouse the built in Realtek one just didn't do it for me. Very high delay on the mic, when recording with an external mic or talking with people over Skype etc.

*** Better driver support and more frquent updates.

*** A really kick ass 17" model with the latest GPU's to satisfy high end gamers, or an accesory like the ASUS X-Thingy.... (don't remember the name) but with good design, not as ugly though. And not that odd shaped.

 

And one more thing, get rid of the Battery and stuff some more power in there. I've never used my laptop on the go, and probably never will. I just use it when I'm stationary and that battery doesnt give me any satisfaction at all, even how good if you quadroubled the Lifetime. External betteries? what about that? Something you attatch to the laptop IF and WHEN you want to use it where there's no power supply. Makes sense to me to have that in your bag at all times. or maybe a battery dockable on the AC/DC adapter instead? Either way using valuable space in the machinery itself doesnt seem wise. You should do a research weather people actually use the battery or stationary with power supply.

 

S1, more durable keyboard, keep the lovely numberpad, nvidia 7700, 2-4gb ram, 200gb hd or 100gb 7200.

 

Some improvements on the Flagship S1 Model would be appreciated.
Mainly, a DVI port instead of VGA, Nvidia 7700 maybe (or 8600), Expresscard, Bigger battery option.

Also, maybe a venture into a business style 14'1 notebook made from mag alloy or carbonfibre or whatever, configurable in processor, RAM and graphics

 

Hi Brian,

I just bought a S1 10 weeks ago and it's been a joy to use.

I would suggest an upgrade of the graphic card for a more potent one with dedicated memory.

Improve the lid so that it is less prone to scratches (I always wrap my notebook in Microfibre cloth when transporting it in my notebook case but it still has scratches)

Better user manual. (Less generic in description of technical details) Read this board on the S1 about questions if the S1 has an Express Card Slot or PCMCIA slot.

The default screen is fine for me and the dedicated numeric keypad is a real joy.

The Audio portion is exceptional as far as sound levels from the built in speakers. Compared to all the other laptops I have owned since 1987, this one rocks. (Toshiba XT laptop -1987, Dell 316LT 1990, Micron Transport XE, Dell Inspiron 8000, Voodoo PC Envy M855 - 2004, LG S1 2007)

May I suggest that you have your dealer stock more of the basic accessories for your notebook please. I have been trying to located a 9 cell battery for my S1 for the past 7 weeks without success (I am in Canada, Eh!).

The price point, around $2500 with the $200 Rebate is comparable to others when you factor in your standard 3 year Warranty.

I use my notebook for work (Excel number crunching, Powerpoint Presentation to customers - built in speakers works fine for a group of 5 people, word processing, Internet access, bluetooth sync of Outlook with my PDA Phone, and some gaming)

As far as promotion, Mail In Rebates is a negative and I would suggest that the price be discounted from the dealer's shelves.

I have bought most of my notebooks online and do not have a problem.

frenchnew

 

I currently own a LG-S1 and at the moment do not intend to purchase LG again...
the build quality on mine is not so great. panels seem quite loose ever since i got mine.
the thing that really ticks me off is the "was beautiful" paint job. 1 day after removing the protector it was scratched like no tomorrow.
The components are very nice. however the one upgrade I would like to see is an improved harddrive in the 7200rpm category.
also the actual customer service experience is not so hot. imo the hardware is acceptable. the customer service is not. lack of updates and my phone call to LG which went...well no where...

as for promotions? LG has pretty phones...why not do a LG-S1/chocolate cross promo, that would prob get you some nice results. there's my marketing courses for you...

future:
2gig ram as a standard
multiple screen res configs (not everyone needs the premium on super high res)
a vid card which provides good performance but allowing the laptop to have at least 2.5hours of battery (realistic battery that is)
keep the pretty finish, gotta love the piano look.
or... move into that OLED model that was on this site quite a while back. that was a stellar looking laptop. if you can bring that to market i'll definitely be a LG repeat customer.

 

I am a LG customer, and have a T1. These are the things that i would like added or changed about my computer. The option of a dvi or hdmi output for connencting to a hdtv. That or have a docking port that allows for this kind of connection to be added.

Or a third option (that would help out with my current computer) is to build an expresscard docking station with either of those ports to expand my computer with these ports. But you would have to do it right (see failures by belkin and targus) and have the video features work correctly with really resolutions that are useable via the dvi/hdmi ports.

The other thing that i would like is the fan noise that i hear from my computer to be reduced. It seems that when the fan comes on due to high cpu loads that the fan is not consistently on... it goes on/off/on/off overy second or two. It is quite annoying. A steady on fan would be much better.

Other that those two (i would consider small) things, we am very happy with my LG computer so far. The looks,features that were included, and the 3 year warranty were what tipped the scale in favour of LG for us.

Oh, and Brian, if you do work for LG, can you explain why it costs $68 canadian to ship a vista upgrade DVD to someone in canada?

Thanks,
David

 

Light & portable, Long battery life, and maybe on a tablet.

I like the LG C1 Tablet if you could keep it the same form and weight but with a bigger screen and better battery life. Then I'm sold!


Regards,
soda

 

Brian,

I think the LG Z1 is a good notebook. It would be a great notebook, if LG takes out the optical drive or at least make a model w/o one as not everyone uses an optical drive. Give it a LED display if you can and please give us the option of a 9 cell battery. Other than that, it's close to being great.

 

lol why should one person come to forum and ask people.. brian_from_lg is scam

 

The reason for the high shipping cost is due to the fact that we are still very small in the Canadian market. Other manufacturers can do a large volume buy which lowers their shipping cost.

 

I assure you that I am not a scam, although just me saying that will not convince you, but why wouldn't I come to a forum and ask people? If you can think of a quicker and cheaper way to get customer feedback I'd love to hear it.

 

I own the S1 (2.0 Mhz/ 160Gb HD / 1Gb Ram) and I can’t be more happy with my purchase but there is one small thing that keeps annoying me every time I think of . Maybe it’s a silly request but why you didn’t add a small LEGS or whatever they call it under the laptop that can be fold in and out (you can see it under the desktop keyboard) so it can raise the bottom to make room for more cool air to cycle under it?


I do agree of having an external more life battery instead of the detachable one since my S1 on AC most of the time ….

Scratch resistant Piano Black cover….


Ohh another thing:
A BETTER tech support plz,,,,

 

Thank you for your answer Brian, doesn't make me any happier about the cost, but at least its an answer.
My suggestions are probably way out there. I guess i'm generally with the rest of people: better battery life is a nice feature and more options/customizability when purchasing.
Another thing might be to make the website more user friendly and FASTER.

 

I'm really happy w/ my notebook , But I would love to see some accessories for sale, for example, what happens if I lose my AC adapter, it kinda worries me .

I'll buy another LG notebook depending on the warranty service (I wish that I'll not need it), because sometimes that scares me.
OK, maybe what i mentioned wasn't in your questions, so now ill talk about your first post.
What i search in a notebook is: GPU!!! and then the CPU/memory ram.
I use my notebook mainly for college but I love to play during holidays and stuff like that. The screen resolution is quite perfect, is something that I love (1680X1050).
I would love to buy the e-notebook w/ OLE screen and that stuff.
I also think that a 14" notebook with a ATI X1700 or GeForce Go 7600/7700 and 2gb of RAM would be perfect.

Ahh yes, and a DVI.

 

I truly love my S1, here is what I'd like to see in the next model:

1. Direct X 10 compatible graphics
2. Better driver support !!!
3. 2GB Ram in one slot
4. More battery options
5. More accessories
6. More options/customizability when purchasing
7. Like bo3adsa said : SCRATCH RESISTANT Piano Black Cover - if it wasn't for the scratches it would be the most perfect notebook ever made!

 

Love my S1 I purchased last August, but I echo the sentiments of some of the other posters in that LG needs to make accessories (e.g. batteries, car/ac adapters, docking solutions, etc.) more available. I have been looking for an 8 cell battery ever since my purchase and can't locate any in stock. Being an owner in the U.S., it is nice that we have outlets like MilestonePC and NCIX to deal with, but even they don't seem to be able to get the accessories.

 

Hi Brian, it's nice to see LG representatives come to the forums and actually interact with prospective/current customers.

I'm going to be a student in college next year, and I'll be in the laptop market. I live in the U.S., but I can always order from Canada without any real customs problems. Here's what I've been looking for, and problems with your current S1 that keep me from considering it as a notebook:

- 14.1" notebook similar to the S1, with more portability, but not sacrificing too much performance.
- Better battery life. 2:30 on the S1 is just not enough.
- Astronomical cost.

With that in mind, here's what my ideal laptop would look like, which Lenovo/IBM and Asus both provide:

- 14.1" WXGA/WXGA+
- 1-2 GB RAM
- Core 2 Duo T7200 or Santa Rosa equivalent
- Geforce 8600 or equivalent (DX10) when it comes out
- At least 3 hours of battery life (4+ would be ideal)
- 160 GB 5400 RPM HD standard
- All your other goodies (bluetooth/wireless/etc.)
- Less than $2000 U.S.

 

Easy enough to solve: send your credentials to a moderator and let them chime in on your behalf.

Regardless of your claim, I'll take the bait:

Thin: (under 1" max all places)
Fast: Santa Rosa chipset
SSD or Hybrid drive
Magnetic power latch (does only Apple care about hardware?)
Slot-load optical drive

Actually, here's a post:

http://www.urbanpuddle.com/articles/2007/04/26/laptop-hardware-depression

 

I agree with all that, my next notebook will be a lg by the end of this year. Battery life worries me a little, but its better then my current situation (staples lost my battery)

 

Yes, the S1... 1st of all, i m in germany.
What i want list

1.DX10, no crappy low ends, at least a 8600 or a HD2600, and not lowly clocked... at least should be at normal midrange clock like other manufacturer (especially ASUS)
2.Would you pls pls launch a Vista Ultimate OEM versions over here... or better, the XP pro multilanguage as default.
3.I like the macbook's hinge, or the sony TXs, got something similar?
4.Ultimate accesorries like a Docking station with a PCIe slot for desktop GPU... I don't really mind if the output display is on another LCD or not, i just want it connected to a new connection source, like a new pcie docking port so the desktop card would function without memory hiccups... If you have this, you ll pull quite some buyers from Asus
5.Nearly forgot, SLOT LOADING DRIVES as default!

P/S: (If point 4 is really doable, at point 1, i wouldnt mind having a low end dedicated DX10 GPU)