New Samsung Series 7 Laptops Arriving Soon Discussion

I looked up the exact phrase they used. "thinnest 15-inch PC on the planet." As the "I'm a Mac and I'm a PC" ads make clear, the MBP arguably isn't a "PC," even though it's a personal computer

So Dell's statement was accurate, just more limited in scope than some people realized.

 

Great timing! My current notebook needs replacement (actually it doesn't, but I want a better/faster one ). I'm probably going for the 15 inch 7-serie with the 6750M .

 

the big issue would be heat coming from these laptops as they are thin and i don't see any large vents in it.if it can handle the heat problem then it will sure be a winner.

 

I'm assuming it's like a MacBook Pro, where the rear hinge actually conceals a large vent that's only open when the laptop is open. After I cleaned all the dust out of mine, my heat hovers at 75-79 degrees Celcius while playing Starcraft II. It feels hotter than that, because the case transfers heat to your hands so well, but those temps really aren't all that bad for internal components. My understanding is that the current MBPs actually run a bit cooler than late 2008 models like mine.

So hopefully the Samsung's will be the same. Toasty case, but not blistering heat on the CPU and GPU.

 

Everyone telling about its thickness.
But what I have seen from various images online the laptop screen is of poor quality.

1. brightness is too low
2. viewing angle is really poor

Also
3. I think it does not have a BL keyboard too
4. serious doubt over its sound quality as compared to Dell XPS 15

 

You haven't seen the laptop in person yet and you come up with such conclusions. That is just stupid. If you actually looked at the images and read a few articles, it clearly states or shows that the laptops have backlit keyboards. The quality of the screen cannot be judged through images and not before screen calibration to your preference. Wait for the reviews instead of spouting unnecessary nonsense.

 

Well, agreed.
But request you to see the pictures below.

Picture 1: A screen comparison between MBP and Samsung
Picture 2 & 3: Images of the screen at different angles


Picture 1:





Picture 2:



Picture 3:

 

Anyone know anything about the speakers on this machine?

 

From what I've heard, under the left palmrest. I think the MacBook Air does the same thing. Not great for audiophiles, but...um...at least it has a speaker?

 

I am pretty sure audiophilies would be either using dedicated speakers or headphones.

As for the comments about the screen brightness, we're not even sure what brightness level it was even set at for those photos so we can't really give that judgement out. But, what we do know is the screen is suppose to be 300nits, which is right about the norm for screen in its class(I think the 13in MBP, is around 270-325 or something).

 

Can hardly wait for its release and a NBR website full review. Will have to wait to see how well it handles the heat, how quiet the cooling fans are, and how long the battery will last with the NBR battery test. It looks like a winner so far from the specs and numbers.

 

Hmmm, I may have finally found the replacement for my aging (but beloved) ASUS U6V. That 14" model is pretty darn close to what I'm looking for. And for way under my budget, too. I almost feel guilty spending so little. I wonder if they'll allow any configuration before shipping?

 

Bravo, well put! Dirty little secret: "plastic" is a catch-all for any of millions of polymers created by modern science many of which are stronger, more durable and far more "high tech" than garden variety aluminum or magnesium. The highly prized "carbon fiber" used on some high priced notebooks is, by another name: plastic! Calling the casing "plastic" tells you nothing about its durability, weight or structural rigidity. Also, aluminum easily scratches and dents while plastic is more likely to stay new looking for years. Metal is also a "heat sink," causing the exteriors of metallic notebooks to be hotter than non-metallic.

I agree that Samsung likely used plastic in part to save cost, but the cost difference is not as much as you might imagine - look at all the $700-$900 aluminum notebooks out there now. I think the other considerations noted above may have been equally or more important in the choice of materials.

I'm just so ecstatic that Samsung is finally going to knock Apple on it's ahss and no patent court in the world can claim they copied the design!

 

Notebook manufacturers should do what firearms manufacturers do, and call it polymer I agree though, plastics, when the correct type is used, can provide greater durability, shock absorption, and weight. I'd take a plastic (on the outside, though admittedly Mg alloy on the inside) Thinkpad over an aluminum MBP any day.

 

I don't think it's really a "secret." I never really got why people prize "carbon fiber" in laptops so much--outside of computing, carbon fiber (or whatever people tend to call "carbon fiber") has always been just another cheaper synthetic substitute for higher-quality materials. Why people suddenly started marketing it as high-end material for laptops (and why consumers suddenly started believing it) is beyond me. Makes as much sense to laud it as it does to praise polyester

Not that aluminum is any better really. I doubt anyone will dispute that good plastic can be more durable than aluminum. For me, the draw of aluminum over most plastics used in laptops is not longevity or durability (both of which are fairly irrelevant for my purposes), but rather texture and aesthetics.

 

Carbon fiber is HUGE in the sportbike and sports car industry. Very, very highly regarded there. Examples include the Lamborghini Sesto Elemento concept ("the sixth element"...self-explanatory) and the Ducati Desmosedici (carbon-fiber chassis).

 

I don't think it's well suited for laptops though.

 

My Vaio is a mix of Carbon Fiber(CF) and plastic, and I can easily say the build feels nicer than my old ibook G4 which was mostly plastic. Maybe some of it is a placebo effect, or something, but I feel the materials in my Vaio TT to be better than average notebook. Plus, at least in the auto/motorcycle industry, CF allows the machine to be lighter and just as strong.

It's not even in the sports car world, I see many rally based street cars(STI, EVO, S4) with CF hoods, wings, and on the seats either done from the dealer or aftermarket.

 

I'm inclined to believe that the use of fancy sounding materials - or carbon fiber or "duralumin" (Samsung 9) has more to do with marketing (who wouldn't want their laptop covered in the same material as a jet plane - but what if it's exterior stiffness may actually cause greater internal breakage in a fall than a more flexible cover, even plastic, would?) than providing any real benefit to consumers. And the CF used in Sonys is, to the best of my knowledge, just part of the compound in the sprayed-on surface of the lid and other surfaces - ie, the "paint" - rather than integral to the structural integrity of the computer. I'm all for computers that look cooler and are lighter (less weight probably saves a dropped computer more than any fancy material allegedly used for strength), but in the absence of industrial testing (even the "mil spec" tests that Lenovo Thinkpad and HP Elitebooks claim to pass are not validated by any third party), I'm for making mainstream notebooks lighter, show less finger grime, and look really cool, and let the Panasonic "Toughbooks" and the like be made for the hazardous duty - coz they sure are barkin-ugly enough to believe they're tough!

And yeah, every time I close the lid on my sony Z11 and see that carbon fiber finish with the chrome-look "VAIO" logo, I'm glad they went to the trouble to make it look better than one of those ordinary plain aluminum lid with a cutout of a white piece of fruit in the middle.

 

I believe that "carbon fibre" in the notebook context means carbon fibre reinforced plastic. It's not exceptionally rigid but can take more stress than normal plastic without breaking. My first encounter with this material was in the Sony G11 where the flexibility of the thin display was quite disconcerting. However, there were no problems as a result.

My Lenovo T420s also uses a lot of this material although the main chassis is some metal alloy: Manufacturers discovered that rigid mainboards and flexible cases don't work together well - the boards start to crack. One work-around is to keep the mainboard itself very small and have other peripheral boards attached using cables.

John

 

I was considering it until I saw 4GB of it's RAM are soldered onto the mobo... haven't seen that since the PowerMac 8100 ffs.

 

Right, 4 GB soldered to the main board and max RAM of 8 GB = lame.
The SSD memory is also soldered to the main board. No good.
AnandTech - Samsung Releases Series 7 Laptops: Aluminum Body and SSD Caching


Also, the screen is 300 nits -- at least on the US model it is.
http://www.samsung.com/us/computer/laptops/NP700Z5A-S01US-specs

 

How is 8 GB max lame? What were you honestly expecting?

I'm willing to bet you're going to have to replace this laptop far before 16 GB becomes mainstream. Heck, 8 GB is BARELY catching on, only because of cost, not because of need. 4 GB is still the mainstream for "needs". You can get away with 2 GB if you're the average user tbh.

 

Maybe I should have thrown a comma in there. What I meant was that half of the RAM it comes with is soldered on to the main board, which equals lame. Not that 8 GB of RAM is lame.

 

At least they allow you to add more RAM... unlike some other notebooks out there.

 

What notebooks do not allow you to add RAM?

 

Vaio Z2, Macbook Air, probably every Ultrabook

 

Z2's and MBA's are sub-notebooks, not regular notebooks, and nowhere near the class of notebook the Series 7 is in (size/weight-wise).

I'm pretty sure the last notebook that didn't have upgradable ram was...

 

The Sony VAIO S series also has 4GB soldered + one open memory slot.

 

Then there's another laptop I'll never buy

 

Seeing as 4GB RAM modules are so inexpensive now, I see the soldered RAM as a nonissue, really. Frankly, 98% of users will be fine with just the base 4GB, and most of the remaining 2% will have more than enough RAM once they add a 4GB module.

Overall, attractive laptop, especially the small bezels!

 

Most of the earlier ASUS K series has 1 out of 2 modules integrated into the board too. Makes it a huge pain should that stick fail, you have to desolder it and hope for the best.

 

If 8GB total is not lame, as you say, why is having 4GB integrated bad? If anything, it's one less thing that can go wrong (I have seen RAM slots go bad).

 

Just stopped by Best Buy earlier today to take a look at the 7 Series.
As with other people, they only had the 15.6" version on display
some quick thoughts:

- Palm rest seems to be aluminum, or at least plastic with an aluminum layer on top of it. Some people were worried that it'd be a different color or texture than the rest of the notebook. No worries, its the same.

- Keyboard is pretty solid and firm.. feels like a Macbook Pro key board

- Screen is not as bad as everyone says, I thought it was decent, but I find my Precision M4400 wxga+ screen to be better and a tad brighter.

- the thin bezel is nice, and the notebook is thin. its a really nice looking notebook

- the screen is kind of thin and doesn't feel as sturdy as the rest of the notebook but its not bad either

- this version did not have a backlit keyboard

- some people asked if its unibody. it's not, although it has alot of large single pieces (perhaps the chassis is 3 large pieces?).. I would say its quite similar to the Vaio SA in the way its built, the way the keyboard feels, and the screen. but for those who like to compare it to the build of the MBP.. no its not quite there yet, at least the BB version

 

I posted some screen measurements here.

 

i am looking for a laptop soon, but not ati graphics...i run linux. and nvidia is my choice.....samsung misses the boat for someone like me

 

Closest thing to the Series 7 that uses nvidia graphics would be the Dell XPS 15z. According to the NotebookReview.com review, pluses are the "beautiful" display and the dual-core i7 processor; negatives are the speakers and the keyboard.

Dell XPS 15z Review

 

heh! I would avoid nvidia in linux due to optimus, if you dont get a optimus enabled laptop, then get nvidia for sure

 

What's with hating on Apple and the MBP??? Come on now, everyone can see the blatant copying Samsung has been doing with Apple's products. If anything Apple should knock Samsung on it's butt and teach them a good lesson. Samsung is so much more capable then having to copy and ripp off other companies. I hope they learn a lesson from these lawsuits and become a true leader and innovate in paradigm shifting ways as Apple does. And not just come out with me-too products with bumped up specs.

I'm planning on buying the 15.6" version (non stupid BestBuy version) of the series 7, finally someone on the PC side has got it right!

But even I can see that it's had major influences from the MBP so all I can say is Thank You Apple, you've injected the PC side of the business with some class, FINALLY.

If it weren't for Apple we'd be drowning in fugly boxes from Dell and HP... but look at them now coming out with stylish machines (dragged kicking and screaming).

Alright Samsung, it seems like you're hitting a sweet spot with these Series 7 machines, keep up the good work and introduce some nice upgrades like SSD, higher resolution screens, and higher quality screens

 

I love it's slim and light design.

 

What's the price on this notebook again and how much storage space are we looking at? I think I read it's got a 128GB SSD?