New Samsung Q210 / P210 notebook (12.1")

Samsung have posted the manual for the NT-Q210. However, the file includes an English language user guide for the Q210 / P210. I would assume that the P210 is a business version of the Q210 in the same was as the P400 is the R20 in different clothing.

The Q210 is an evolution of the Q45. The most noticeable difference is that the battery no longer sticks out at the back (a change already seen on the R410). The Fn key has moved away from the corner of the keyboard (also already seen on the R410).

The headline dimensions of the Q210 are slightly bigger than the equivalent numbers for the Q45 (which lacked the protruding battery and the feet). The actual overall dimensions may be slightly less. The weight, at 1.95kg, is very similar.

So, what is new?

There's an HDMI port; 3 USB ports (but no Firewire port); ExpressCard slot; and the Intel GM45/PM45 chipset with either the Intel GMAX4500 or the Nvidia 9200M / 9300M graphics. The card reader is only SD/SDHC/MMC and it has moved to the side, over the optical drive.

The RAM is all under the keyboard but the user guide contains detailed instructions on the keyboard removal.

Key extracts from the user guide are attached.

John

 

There are some photos and more description here.

If it looks like this it will have some style.http://www.hardmicro-fr.net/uploads/images-thumbs/3991.jpg

John

 

Google found this page when I searched for the Q210. The headline may say Q45 but the description says:

It says available within 14 days but has a price that is the high side of £800.



The red stripe along the front looks nice.

John

 

The Q210 is now listed at dabs.com for just over £600. None in stock and no detailed specifications, just:

If the other information is correct, this will have a dedicated GPU so there will still be a market for the Q45 for people who want the long battery time.

John

 

Price seems to have raised, £706.98 inc vat now.

Nice that it has HDMI too!

 

More Computers is listing two versions:

Q210-FFF0UK @ £613

NP-Q210_AS02UK @ £715

None in stock although a restock date of 28th July is shown (this same date is used for all their new Samsung models).

Maybe Dabs had originally put the price of the cheaper version but now have the code for the expensive one. The main difference seems to be the CPU.

John

PS: 23rd July: ETA given by More Computers has slipped to 4th August.

PPS: Overclockers shows 2 of the Q210-AS02UK in stock as of 30 July.

 

Hi there, new poster here as i'm buying my first laptop (always had one from work, but now leaving my job) and i'm going to purchase this one i think. I've found it in stock at "LambdaTek". Now i've never heard of these but i emailed them and they assured me that they have 10 currently in stock


Q210-AS02UK


Q210-FSS0UK

There is also the first review of this machine out here


I plan on ordering it tommorow, i'm going to risk that lamdatek place as they are so much cheaper than overclockers (who by the way only have one more of these in stock). I'm ordering the higher spec model.(A better overall view of the specs can be seen on the ocuk description here)

I will post pics, benchmarks etc. once the laptop arrives.

*EDIT* Order placed, should arrive Monday

 

I think we will find more places listing the new Samsung models during the next few days. Dabs has model AS02 at a reasonable price and shown as 3 to 5 days.

Thanks for the link to the review. However, why they are comparing it to the Q70 and not to the Q45 has me baffled, except that the UK Q70 had dedicated graphics while the UK Q45 had integrated graphics. They report a 4 hour battery life under light usage so, if people want more battery time then the Q45 is a better choice. The first look at R510 has already shown that the new Intel chipset / GPU can give very good battery times and I hope that Samsung will also be offering this option in the Q210.

Anyway, we will be interested to learn what you discover and await further updates with interest.

John

 

Trusted Reviews has today posted their review of the Samsung Q210 and have awarded it their coverted "Recommended" award.

The article can be found here.

 

Thanks for the heads-up about the review. Trusted Reviews are very consistent in their approach. That P series CPU is giving 5 hours on battery in one of the tests. The cheaper T series will be worse.

One commendable detail is the marking of the ports around the edge of the top. I'm sure I suggested that somewhere but won't claim ownership of the idea.

Something not mentioned in the review is the power supply. I hope it's not one of the big 90W units.

John

 

Hi


I got this Today from overclockers, I kinda figured I have paid about a £20 premium from them.... as it is coming up as £690 where ever I looked, and it was £712 from them...

Anyway here is my mini review...

I like the red stripe, it is a marmite thing i can tell, you will either think ooo tacky or ooo nice....

Or as my Wife says "what is it for" anyway, red stripe aside it looks the part, though bewarned I am allready annoyed at just how much it shows your fingerprints, you know it is bad as they supply a cloth, I am not sure whether to just say forget it and let it look smudgey or keep cleaning it each time I touch it... the lid I can understand, I do wish they had not put the gloss around the K/B.. but that is nit-picking...

once I booted up, took a wee-while to let the samsung do it's back-up think, 12 mins to be precise, it auto partitions for you, and drops a restore image on the partition, which is a nice idea, however I am still not sure about Vista, everybone in my body wants to wipe it and start again with XP, however I dont know if the new centrino2 is better with Vista or XP, any ideas? I will stay with Vista for now, it got a Vista score of 4.4 which I thought was fantastic, I have seen £1800 laptops get less. the screen is Lovely, the K/B took a bit of getting use to, but only because my Wifes Fujitsu 12.1 inch K/B is just fantastic, but I used it for a hour on my lap whilst watching Monk, and it never got Hot on my legs, and now the K/B is fine.. there is a lot of samsung guff on there, a lot of it seems kinda pointless, I will see if other users wipe theirs and start again..

1 thing to be careful off, is when picking it up, I allready pulled the front of the dvd drive off, it clipped straight back on, it just clips in there, which I can see is gonna be a bit of pain, just need to program myself to pick it up on left side if only using 1 hand.

I hope this helps, in conclusion very nice laptop esp for price... it is very quick, but only had it 1 day so not bogged it down yet with all my crap...

just got to see if I can face Vista.....

I agree with trusted reviews 8/10 seems just about spot on, especially for the fingerprint marks...

oh and it is a small power unit. About the size of a pack of ten cigerettes in length and about 2 inches in height

 

Thanks for these comments.

Can you measure that PSU - it sounds amazingly small -and its power rating (19V? , 3.75A?)

Vista's strength, IMO, is SuperFetch which, after a few days, will load your applications faster because it is caching them in spare RAM. The downside of that is that putting the computer into hibernation takes much longer than XP.

John

 

Hi

The powerpack is

in cm, if you want inches let me know

length is 10.5
width is 4
depth is 3

it is quite small, it is 19v 3.75a

I just compared it to my wifes fujitsu u9200 which is a 12.1 inch laptop, and it is a lot smaller, I am well impressed. it is really small..

if i can be of anymore help, just let me know.. i can take pics etc if you want

 

Thanks for the PSU details.

That looks to be a new design of PSU that is rated at 70W (previously Samsung used just 60W and 90W PSUs). I just checked the 60W PSU and it is 10.5 x 4.5 x 3 cm, so the new 70W is slightly smaller than the old 60W. Perhaps someone in Samsung read the reviews of the previous models and put the complaints in an action list.

Is the mains power connector for the PSU 2 pin or 3 pin? The latter always has a much thicker and heavier cable. If the former, does it have the double insulated symbol (one square inside another square)?

I hope that Samsung use this new 70W PSU for most of the new models and make it available as an affordable spare part.

John

 

Hi

It is a 2 pin connector and it does indeed have the double insualted symbol, I have also noticed it remains amazingly cool, even whist charging.

any more questions feel free to ask

 

I expect some people will be interested to know how it performs. Can you run PCMark05, 3DMark05 and 3DMark06 from Futuremark?

Which hard disk have Samsung used?

John

 

hey just come in from work and it's finally here, just charging my camera and trying a few things. I will then post a full review/test run.

 

Just contemplating purchasing this Samsung Q210 and wanted to ask how was the service (how long it took to arrive) and how is the actual product from Lambdatek as they don't seem to include any detailed overview of the spec other than a brief description at the top of the page.
Lambdatek sure seem to have the best price for this notebook at the moment hence the interest from me.
Not interested in full review/test run at the moment just on purchasing queries from this particular website.

 

DigiUK looks to be slightly cheaper and I know from experience their service is good.

There's also SaveOnSamsung, particularly if you fancy a free 3G USB modem.

John

 

Great stuff, much appreciated John,
Even better prices at those two links and free delivery of next day or 4-5 working days with DigiUK

as regards the free 3G usb modem they are becoming free anyway with most of the providers on a 12 or 18 month contract.

but back to the subject..
At the price for the high end spec i gonna have to see what i can build with a Dell M1330 for a similar price.
Any experience with these machines?

And with the 13.3" screen is it correct do you know
that they are weighing in at 2kg as opposed to the 12.1" Samsung Q210 weighing in at 1.95kg?

 

The Q210 (or Q310) is a bit heavier and fatter than the M1330 which was slimmed down as far as possible (perhaps too far). Based on the Q35 / Q45 design, Samsung have opted to continue with providing a big fan which provides good and quiet cooling. I have yet to read of any Samsung notebooks having problems with their nVidia GPUs. If you get an M1330 then I recommend the version with the Intel X3100 graphics. I nearly bought one a year ago but Dell had problems meeting their delivery dates, so I cancelled. I used to have the Q35.

Have a look at the m1330s in Dell outlet. Stock there comes and goes quite quickly.

John

 

Right sorry guys i have been very busy the last 2 weeks barely had time to use the laptop. I will hopefully get to running a few tests etc. at the end of this week.

@John : the hard drive is a fujitsu (will get model number later)

@Dharma : Lambdatek were surprisingly very gd and only took 2 days to deliver(they even sent an email saying sorry about the 1 day delay, which i was surprised at as i thought it would take 2), as for the spec well its the standard samsung spec (the higher one). It came in samsung packaging and then inside a standard blank cardboard box. When i purchased this machine it was not avaliable at those other 2 shops however, as i probably would have gone with the cheapest (which at the time was lambdatek).

more soon

Jamie

 

Well I've decided I'm also gonna take the plunge and and go with the Q210 after weeks/days/hours of research as i think it will be ideal for my needs (big traveller and photoshop user) and at a great price but two more questions before i commit...

Does the difference in processor and cache ie.

Q210-FSSOUK
Intel® Core™ 2 Duo Santa-Rosa (T5750 - 2.0 GHz, 667MHz FSB, 2MB)

as opposed to

Q210-ASO2UK
Intel Centrino 2® Core™ 2 Duo (P8400 - 2.26 GHz, 1066MHz FSB, 3MB)

warrant the extra £100?

I think i already know the answer but prefer to check with people who are somewhat more knowledgeable about these things than i am.

Second question,
is it feasible to get good results using photoshop on a 12.1" screen as i am used to working on a 15".

Thanx in advance for any help regarding this.

Ant

 

The P8400 is one of the newer Penryn (45nm) CPUs and should use less power. If maximum battery time is one of your targets then it may be worth the investment. It should also be a little quieter under load (but there's a good chance that RMClock can drop the maximum voltage on the T5750). The speed difference between the two CPUs is less than 15% and you would need to put the two models side-by-side to see the difference.

It would be helpful if Q210 owners could tell us (i) what the voltage ranges of their CPUs are and (ii) what is the projected battery life under light usage and adequate display brightness.

As for photoshopping on 12.1", it can be done. You will spend more time zooming in and out compared with using a bigger and higher resolution display.

John

 

The P210 has now arrived. No pictures yet, but it has a matte display plus Vista Business with XP downgrade.

John

 

Are we talking about Rock's Pegasus P210, the one that is trying to compete with the likes of Macbook Air and the X300?

 

No, the Samsung P210, as in the title of this thread.

The current Samsung P models are based on a Q or R but adjusted to better match business requirements.

The Rock P210 looks to be the same chassis as the Zepto Notus (link below to my review).

John

 

Hi all. New here

I'm looking for a 12-13" laptop and came across the Q210. After doing some googling, found this place, and also saw that Argos are selling it for £599, here. This is not much more than the internet stores, with the advantage you can walk in a shop and pick one up. I'm very tempted by this, as it seems to have a lot of spec, compared to the Dell M1330, which I'm also considering. How are people finding this laptop now you've had them a while. Is it noisey? Fan noise? And does it come on often? Looking to buy soon, as it's my birthday in a week or so's time

 

Right guys sorry for the slow replies, as I said I’ve been very busy this week. I've almost got those benchmarks’ for you guys. I will post them soon.

As for the questions, without a doubt the 100 extra is worth it, the p8400 is a superb CPU, even keeping up with my desktop E6600. It uses so little power yet still performs highly its unbelievable. As for the voltage range I’ll get that to you soon.

Fan Noise is non-existent, the only time I have heard the fan so far is when playing games or HD movies for like 2 hours +, even then you really need to put your ear close.

As for battery life, the 4 hours quotes is correct, with Wi-Fi Bluetooth off this is easily achievable. You can easily get 3 hours 20 mins light browsing on Wi-Fi. And I am confident that Intel’s claim of a whole HD movie on one battery charge of a Centrino 2 notebook is correct too (although i'm yet to test HD movies on battery).

Right so another post soon, stay tuned!

Jamie

 

Hi folks,

How easy is it to change the DVD drive in the Q210, could it be swapped easily for a blue ray drive?

TIA.

 

Looking at the overview at the start of this thread suggests there is one retaining screw on the bottom for the optical drive. We need to know the model number of the optical drive so we can check its interface (I suspect that Samsung have continued to use IDE).

At the moment the only IDE Blu-Ray burner I can find is the UJ-225B. That's not one of my preferred brands. However, I would expect more choice (and lower prices) to appear during the coming months. I suspect many optical drive manufacturers refrained from investing in the new formats until the Blu-Ray - HD battle was over.

John

 

Thanks John, after some web trawling I have found 2 separate references that quote the DVD as being a TSST TS-L633L SATA device, see here:-

http://club.cdfreaks.com/2108311-post218.html
http://www.p35-forum.de/board/index.php?page=Thread&postID=68985

Assuming this is correct and if its just a single screw job then I might have a go, looking at the ramspec pdf, it looks as though the keyboard comes out with just 3 screws anyway so either way it doesn't look too bad.

 

Good find re the ODD type.

Let's hope that one of our Q210 owners drops by, sees this and checks in Device Manager.

Thinking laterally, if the ODD uses a standard SATA connector, then it would be relatively to slot in a second hard disk.

John

 

Hi everyone,

Can anyone tell me if it's possible to use this notebook with the lid closed on an external monitor? So basically, is there a setting to prevent the notebook going into sleep when the lid is closed?

Also, can anyone confirm that if i hook the HDMI cable to a monitor without speakers, i can still use the audio out for sound?

apologies if these are stupid questions but i haven't owned a notebook before and you'd be surprised how difficult it is to find out the answers to stupid questions! Also, thanks to everyone that contributed to this thread, it's very useful for prospective buyers such as myself to read through.

Hey guy, you can get the better processor for only £50 more from here.

 

The action on lid closure (do nothing / sleep / hibernate / shut down) is a standard Vista power management option. So you, you can close the display.

I would expect that the audio ports are independent of HDMI. I'm not sure if all notebooks supply audio via HDMI (and I don't know what the Q210 does - the user guide is silent on the matter). Maybe one of our Q210 owners has an HDMI device and can confirm what the situation is.

John

 

John, thanks a lot for your incredibly prompt response.

 

Well the windows audio manager, shows the hdmi as a digital output, so going by that then it should output audio, i'll have to test it on my TV.

And yes the laptop does not go to sleep when you close the lid but with an external monitor connected.

The dvd drive as far as i can tell uses sata.

 

Hi Lotf,

The actual price for the high spec model Q210-AS02UK @ www.laptopsdirect.co.uk is £80 more expensive than the Lower spec model Q210-FSS0UK they are selling which comes in at £569.97
and £75 difference to the low spec model they are selling @ www.Lambdatek.com which is £574.94

If you compare it to the price at Argos then yes it is only a difference of £50 as they are selling the low spec model for £599..

But if one looks closely at the processors one can see a difference.
saveonsamsung website details the high spec processor as:-

Intel Centrino 2 Core 2 Duo P8400 - 2.26 ghz, (3MB Cache 1066mhz FSB)

Whereas Laptopsdirect detail the processor as:-

Intel Core 2 Duo P8600 2.26ghz, (2MB Cache 667 mhz FSB)

Thats just confused the hell outta me.
Misprint?

 

I think Laptops Direct have got the P8600 bit wrong. Everyone else has Q210-AS02UK with the P8400. So you can buy from them and then send it back because it hasn't got the advertised CPU (but be forewarned that their Customer Services isn't as competitive as their pricing).

John

 

BTW, I take it the nvidia 9200MGS is not 'faulty' like the ones in the Dell M1330?
I'm still tempted to walk into Argos and pick one of these up.

(BTW, my limit is £600, hence not lokking at the higher spec cpu).

 

The nVidia GPUs may be potentially faulty. However, the problems arise under certain conditions of repetitive temperature variation. I've yet to read of any problems with the nVidia GPUs in Samsung notebooks. This is probably an unexpected consequence of Samsung always providing generous cooling systems. It's the thinner notebooks like the Dell M1330 which have smaller cooling systems and a bigger share of the nVidia GPU failures.

If there is a rash of GPU problems with the Q210 then you can register an extended warranty at any time within the first year of ownership. Or maybe Samsung will follow HP and give a blanket warranty extension of the GPUs for the affected models.

Perhaps one of our Q210 owners can download Everest and report on the temperatures when the Q210 is under load.

John

 

I've seen at least 3 retailers offering this around £650, I was initially looking at Overclockers but they now seem expensive at £714, perhaps if I hang on the price will drop further, I presume the spec of all the AS02UK machines is the same?

 

Yes. That's the way they come from the factory.

John

 

One more (maybe silly!!) question, since you mention 'thinner laptops'. Is the Q210 considered thick? Or is it just that the M1330 is thinner than the norm?

 

The M1330 is thinner than the Q210 and that thinness is one reason why Dell was overwhelmed by the demand. Without measuring up everything in the size range it is difficult to define normal. I used to have a Q35 and was originally disappointed by the thickness, but in time I came to appreciate the relatively large and quiet fan (I've now got a Toshiba R500 in my collection. It shows how thin a 12.1" notebook can be (complete with optical drive) but does a good imitation of a jet plane taking off).

John

 

Thanks for you help John. So is the M1330 noisey too?

 

I haven't had my hands on one, but I understand that they have at least their fair share of problems with the nVidia GPUs. So, even if they aren't noisy, they don't get rid of enough heat fast enough (perhaps changed with the latest BIOS update). Maybe the M1330s with the Intel GPUs are fine.

John

PS: The slot loading optical drives look nice but are less versatile (no 8cm disc support and no LightScribe).

 

I see no reason to buy the the dell over the samsung unless you really want to shave off like 4mm or something, dell are still using the old centrino technology. Therefore you will get better performance out of the samsung and much longer battery life. And as far as I can see the dell works out more when you spec it as similar to the samsung as possible.

 

For me the thickness of the Samsung is my only concern, I am upgrading from a 3 year old Asus W5 (W5360A), this comes in at 305 x 220 x 29.8mm vs the Q210 at 304mm x 226mm x 36.7mm, is that 7mm going to make it feel like a beast in comparison to my W5?

I am not considering the Dell as I want to go for a Centrino 2 system, the other machines I am considering are the Sony SR19 or Z11 but these are far more expensive and don't seem like good value for money.

 

I'm still hanging on to see what the P210 will look like and what kind of reviews it gets.

I was more than ok to get the Q45, but was happy that the Q210 had a better spec, especially with HDMI, the 9200GS etc. However, the glossy inside is really holding me back - I had reservations about the glossy outside on the Q45! What do those of you who have got your hands on a Q210 think, now that you've lived with it for a little while?

Is it worth waiting for the P210? Which annoyingly, costs more for less, though still cheaper than a similar Q45, and with better graphics. And with TWO versions of windows I simply don't want instead of one. I'd appreciate any advice people can give me, especially about the potentially tacky shiny Q210 finish!

Cheers
Rob