Samsung Q70 (13.3")

This French site mentions a Samsung Q70:

The most significant feature is the 13.3" screen. Someone in Samsung has finally realised that Sony needs some competition in that size range. At present there is nothing about the Q70 on the Samsung download site, but this UK site says it will come in stock on 6th June.

There's no indication of the size and weight.

John

 

wow santa rosa comes with two hot chicks

 

i aksed some supplier... n they said.. the price it likely gonna be around the top end of £800). maybe they'll update the price by next week...

but seems it gonna be another good choice for the consumer.

 

That looks like the same sort of price range as the Q35 and Q45 which suggests that it will be more of an alternative to the Sony C series than the Sony SZ series.

However, I hope the Q70 comes in below 2kg and has decent battery life. That shouldn't be impossible. A 13.3" display will almost fit in the Q35 if the bezel around the display is reduced (at the sides it is 19mm compared to 14mm on the X60 series). Rearrange the hardware so there is no battery sticking out at the back and the extra size of display can be accommodated without any significant weight increase.

Unfortunately, that first model of the Q70 has a relatively power-hungry CPU and GPU so I think it would be struggling to get to 4 hours with a 6 cell battery unless is has some clever power management.

John

 

Hi, I have been talking to the owner of www.freerangepc.com, Jackie French, about how she's one of the only suppliers to have it registered as a product, and she informed me today that her supplier and Samsung have pushed back it's release from the 6th of June to the end of June or early August. The email's are below.

When asking her about how she had information it existed.

Sorry, I know it's not a good source, but information none-the-less.

 

Thanks. I will merge this into the Q70 thread.

The fact that nothing has yet appeared for the Q70 on the Samsung download site would tend to confirm that it is not yet ready.

On the other hand, maybe Samsung are keeping this one as a surprise. There wasn't a hint about the Q70 at CeBIT but potentially this could be an important addition to their range in a relatively uncrowded market segment. Personally, I want the Q35 with a slightly bigger display (ie a 5 hour battery run time), but I'm sure others will want a high-powered machine and accept a 3 hour battery life. I will need to wait for a version with integrated graphics.

Samsung UK like to keep everyone (including themselves?) in a state of uncertainty about product availability. At the beginning of last week no one was sure when the R70 would arrive, then it suddenly appear in stock. So it is possible that the Q70 might appear in June.

John

 

Just emailed me again saying that the suppliers are saying 3 of July now.

Toby

 

NEW INFORMATION

Detailed Spec List

IS THIS NOTEBOOK SILVER OR BLACK???

 

whoa....are the palmrests brushed metal?

 

Nice pics. I think we now know more about this model than Samsung themselves!

It looks like a slightly bigger Q45, but that's not surprising since they clearly are going for a family styling.

Shame they couldn't get it under 2kg but at that weight it sits between the two Sony 13.3" models provided they don't use the 90W PSU.

I thought they might get the battery included in the chassis since they have more space. (Does the front-back dimension include the battery?).

But why isn't the touchpad a widescreen version? One of the Q35's strengths is the generous touchpad when means that the computer is usable without a mouse. Or is that picture an artist's impression? And they have just dropped in the Q35/Q45 keyboard although there is sufficient width to add a set of navigation keys on the right side.

I hoped they would find space for another USB port.

Apart from those comments, I would prefer a version with the T7100, Intel GPU and a big, preferably hybrid, HDD. Unless they have worked wonders with the power management for the Nvidia GPU, this version of the Q70 may struggle to reach 3½ hours. I want 5 hours.

I do wonder whether those pics are all correct. Some show a bevel edge along the front and some do not. I doubt if it is brushed metal palm rest. More likely a silver paint job.

It will all get clearer in time.

John

 

nice info... but i do think this is the artist impression of the model... cause of the different finishing of the front end edge.. but after all... i do like the look of it.... if its really how they will look like... but from the pics above... the one with the champfer on the front edge is not the real model... the one with flat front end edge finishing is the model rite...

cause if you compare the first pics with the second n third... its differ too much... but it is the same for the fourth one... but this is really nice model...

 

The Q35 has a square front edge and the Q45 has a sloping front edge.

Maybe they didn't make up their mind yet! It's potentially a good machine if they can produce a version which addresses my comments. I would like the bigger screen (12.1" is a little small for my old eyes) but I don't want to lose the battery life of the Q35.

I would hope that Samsung see fit to offer some different hardware combinations.

John

 

yeap... just like you said... maybe they dont make up the official design yet... for me... 12,1" is just okay... but like you said... if they can come out this model with good battery life... it will be really great...

 

hrmm...the reason i thought it was brushed metal is that if you look at the last picture, on the left hand corner, you can see striations similar to that of brushed metal...it would be cool if it were though...a girl can only dream.

 

However, the last picture doesn't seem to be consistent with some of the others. I've never used a notebook with a brushed metal finish. I agree it would be nice, provided it is thermally and electrically insulated. I could then use a scouring pad to remove any marks. Somehow, I think the silver paint jobs won't look very good after 2 or 3 years.

I am also getting bored with the all-black colour schemes. The least they can do is colour-coded display backs: Blue for the cold computer with a ULV CPU; green for the low power version, orange for the one that warms up and flame red for the one that gets too hot. And if there is one which combines both the red and blue properties then it has to be purple!

John

 

you can also see the striations on the third picture from the top. i wish there were more computers with brushed metal designs. the asus w2 is by far the most attractive notebook to me. :T

i guess i will have to deal.

 

Cnet have posted a review of the Q70 here and also links to some more comments here.

The model in these photos does not have the bevelled front edge shown on some of the other photos and the review says that the inside has a grey metallic finish (but no mention of it actually being metal). The weight is variously reported as 1.9kg and 2kg. The issue about not having 800MHz RAM is confusing. As far as I know, Santa Rosa does not support 800MHz RAM in notebooks and such modules are not available.

I don't know what it was doing to get a battery life of 89 minutes. That is disappointing considering that t his German review of the bigger R70 got over 2 hours of DVD playback. Maybe the T7300 uses much more power than the T7100, or power management hasn't been set up properly yet. I want the Q70 to get to 5 hours under light use.

The price is shown as £899, so I would estimate around £850 at some on-line sources.

John

 

I agree, the 89 mins is rediculously low considering the technical specifications of it and based on the Korean specs they suggest up to 4 hours on the base model (which is the only one we have access to ATM)

I do know that very often early test models are sent out for "previews" which have all the hardware but ship with early builds of the software/drivers which are not designed to be reviewed. Usually the companies involved are told this but quite often they do full performance reviews anyway and in many cases such things as power management are totally disabled.

Q70 launch has definately slipped btw, something regarding the graphics card availability.

 

I don't think I had previously picked up this Q70 entry on the Samsung Hongkong website. Those image views are the same ones a posted further up this thread and show two different computers. I don't think there is any new information that we don't already know.

There is also this page ( translated from Chinese).

Good to see that they are keeping with a 60W PSU but the working time is unclear.

It looks like the Q70 may be soft launching in China before Europe. I recall the R20 did that.

I haven't quite figured out the currency, but the indicated price is less than a Q35!

John

 

The Q70 has now arrived on the Samsung global download site.

The Quick Guide doesn't have as many illustrations as usual.

There is also a User Manual as a monster 140MB download which includes English, French, German, Korean, Russian, spanish and two versions of Chinese (chs & cht). I attach some extracts.

The Q70 looks very much like a slightly bigger version of the Q35/Q45 and has exactly the same ports. They could have usefully squeezed in another USB port. What about HDMI? They have also borrowed the Q45 keyboard. The second RAM slot is on the main board and not user accessible.

Perhaps the Q70 will appeal to people who want something more portable than 14" with moderate gaming capability. However, it doesn't look like the computer I am looking for with the Q35's battery run time but with a slightly bigger display. I wonder if it wasn't shown at CeBIT because it hadn't been thought of! Someone was told to come up with a slightly bigger Q35 but using the same parts as far as possible. This one is aimed at the Sony C series and there is no reason for it to not have a price similar to the Q45. People who want an alternative to the Sony S series will have to look elsewhere.

John

 

The Q70 specs published at freerange PC have changed slightly since the specs posted on 15 May.

The key changes are 2GB RAM (previously 1GB) and 160GB HDD (previously 120GB).

It remains to be seen whether this affects the rumoured price (£850 - £900) or perhaps the improved specs reflect the downward shift in RAM and HDD prices. These improvements will definitely make the Q70 more attractive since these components now match the Q45. Perhaps someone in Samsung realised that giving the Q70 a faster CPU and GPU than the Q45 but less RAM and a smaller HDD did not make sense.

John

 

15 june? or 15 may?

btw... thats seems a nice spec... but with that, does it mean then even lesser battery life for Q70 is it?

 

Ah! 15 May. My sub-conscious clearly wants June to finishing soon so that some of these l new models would arrive.

Lesser battery life with respect to what? Q35 or Q45 or R70?

I'm still waiting for a Q45 purchaser to tell us how the battery life is on that model. I hope that the power saving enhancements of the new Intel chipset / GPU will give a battery life as least as good as the Q35 (5 to 6 hours).

Or the other way of looking at the Q70 is as an R70 in a smaller chassis with a smaller display. So it should definitely have some improvement compared with the R70 which notebookcheck measured at 235 minutes. However, that model had the 8600 GPU whereas the Q70 will have the 8400 GPU which should be more economical.

Something else about the Q70 I was studying was the dimensions. The quoted numbers for the thickness (32.2 ~ 39.2mm) are bigger than the specified thickness of the Q35. However, the profile looks similar and I wonder whether the Q70 dimensions include the feet (the Q35's do not). I am less sure about the Q70's published front-to-back dimension and if that includes the projecting battery. If it does, then it is slimmer than the Q35. But if, somewhere, there is 3 cell battery option (ie no projecting battery) then the dimension could be for that condition. I just hope the weight is with the 6-cell battery. There is no real reason for the Q70 to be much heavier than the Q45.

John

PS: I was also looking at the specs for the GPU. The specs in the published user manual say GeForce 8400M G which is the bottom of the 8400M range. The first post in this thread mentions 8400M GS but other sites just say 8400M. While Nvidia claim that their PowerMizer technology will reduce power consumption on both battery and mains power, the 8400M G has only 8 stream processors compared to 16 in the 8400M GS, so it should use a little less power (and be slower in 3D graphics).

 

The Cnet review says 8400M GS. But then, they also called the Q70 an ultraportable, which it most definitely is not, so I don't know if that can be trusted.

 

Just an FYI that FreerangePCs have put a price up:

http://www.freerangepc.com/uk/samsu...-p-178?zenid=b249727e61969b82913ccb12ac6d4da6

£880.00

 

That's new - I checked a few hours ago. There is a more detailed set of specs. Some interesting points from the detailed specs are:

The NB8M-SE seems to be the 8400M G which is the bottom of the 8400M range. Perhaps it has been selected as a compromise between having something better than the Intel X3100 and not using too much power.

The colour of Silver/grey is interesting. Have Samsung decided to deviate from the black of the R20, Q45 & R70? Previous pictures suggested a silver palm rest area. Maybe the outside is still black.

And an in stock date of Tuesday 19th June:smile: That's only a couple of weeks so they must be on the way.

John

 

I've found some more pictures of the Q70. These seem to be consistent and don't include the chamfer along the front. The outside is clearly shiny black with the silver-grey palmrest and surround to the keyboard. It looks quite nice. If these picures are correct then there is also some grey trim around the outside edge of the lid.

Use Google to translate this page on the Samsung.cn site. Then click on the orange "+" under the little pictures to get a bigger version.

In case this link doesn't work, 6 of the 8 views are attached.

John

 

This really isnt making my decision on which laptop to buy any easier

I have around £700 to maybe £1200 tops and I keep changing my mind on which one I like from day to day.

If it is as the pics you posted then its quite tempting. Just not sure if its big enough (then the other part of me says it will be easier to take around with me...)

EDIT: actually this model doesnt seem to have a webcam built in, so it pretty much rules it out for me.

 

The real benefit of going bigger than 13.3" is if you get a display with more pixels. Otherwise the pixels just become a little bigger. for a given internal hardware set, a bigger display will reduce the battery life because it needs more power for the backlight.

The 12.1"-13.3" size range are definitely more portable than 14.1". One consideration is that they are less in need of their own bag. The Q70 is only slightly wider (1/2") than the Q35/Q45 because Samsung have reduced the space around the display.

I'm not worried about the webcam.

Looking again at the Chinese specs, I see something which translates as

Does this mean that it has a brushed aluminium palmrest and not just some paint?

John

 

A straight translation : aluminum alloy palmrest

No words there mentioning it is "painted/coated" aluminum. It does mentioned 'piano painted something", I believe that is the back of the cover.

 

but from the pictures... it seems it have the polished surface for the palm rest... if it is aluminium... thats something nice to see... but i think one of the pic kinda differ from the other pics.. maybe because of the pic not so bright... but that pic seems like the palmrest kinda black... but nvr mind...

but after all... what i really interested is the palmrest finishing... its look somehow good...

 

I tried to translate using babelfish to translate the specifications... so i got "silver ions keyboard" same goes when i translate the words 系统恢复软件, 银离子键盘 using google translator...

but after all... that really nice finishing....

 

There's a review of the Q70 at Cnet.co.uk

James

 

1 hour 29 min with a 6-cell ? Even with everything at the full setting, it doesn't sound right for an ultra portable.

 

Thanks. We had previously noted the cnet review.

They didn't seem to be over-enthusiastic. Their review model had the 8400M GS GPU whereas it seems that the first version to arrive will have the 8400M G (the difference is 8 pipelines, not 16).

I would expect a version with a more power GPU to follow. Samsung have avoided slimming the computer which means that the cooling system can have a big (and quiet) fan which can handle a more powerful GPU. I haven't tried the recent Sony SZ but I understand that it gets somewhat warm underneath.

For me, the one lost opportunity I can see on the Q70 is to have not provided a bigger keyboard. Pricing is in the range for the Sony C series but with a computer which is significantly lighter.

John

PS: DigiUK have amended their website to show "nVidia GeForce 8400M GS (128MB DDR 3 Dedicated) 256MB TurboCache", so I presume they have received some updated specs from Samsung.

 

The Q70 is now listed at DigiUK.

Since DigiUK don't normally list new products until they are imminent, I enquired and was advised that they now expect the Q70 to arrive next week (but this could change).

The only way to be certain about what's in the box for a Samsung notebook is to get one, so I have placed my order.

John

 

Hi there

I have been told they will be in on the 3rd week of June at £875. Stock usually comes in on the Tuesday.

Best Wishes

Any equiries welcome

 

It's plausible if they had the CPU and GPU both running under high load. It works out as about 35W power drain.

My interest is whether the Q70 can get down to around 10W under light load.

John

 

lol... thats really nice... so now you will have like 3 samsung laptops already... looking forward to see the pictures from real product... hopefully they will arrived next week... cause what i'm really interested is how the palmrest look like actually...

 

Wow, I'm waiting for a review! Even though I live in the US and won't be able to get this here, it seems like a really nice notebook. I'm interested to see how well it stacks up with the competing Asus W7s and Sony SZ, plus the new XPS M1330.

 

At present, it appears that Samsung are aiming at value for money rather than cutting edge design. Pricing, at least in UK, is close to the Sony C series but with a better spec and less weight. The Sony S series will still provide a slimmer and lighter package but with a massive price premium.

I like the look of the Dell M1330 but I don't know what the pricing will be like and I have yet to be convinced by slot loading ODDs. The Asus W7 hasn't yet arrived in UK which limits my choice in this size range.

Be assured that I will be sharing my findings about the Q70. My current expectation is that it is a Q35 with a slightly bigger display and new hardware inside.

John

 

Its really not that big of a difference. A bit noisy when loading/ejecting discs, but more aesthetically pleasing.

I expect that the VAIO C is more expensive in Europe, because you guys can get it with the Go7400 over there, right? So it would be around the same price as the Asus W7 approx?

I think the Q70 looks very nice, even if they are aiming towards value more than style. Its not really that sleek, but its good looking.

 

My reservation about slot loaders is the hassle about retrieving something which refuses to come out because, for example, a paper label curling up at the edge.

You are right, there is a Sony C with the 7400GPU. At DigiUK the price is almost the same as their price for the Q70.

I await with interest to see how the Q70 looks. Hopefully before the end of next week.

John

 

Quote from a Samsung press release dated 29th May 07:

This confirms the brushed aluminium palm rest, but is it the dream machine?

The same press release also discusses some other models - take a read.

John

PS: There is a very brief review (preview?) of the Q70 at Conita. " .... looks and feels a bit heavy .... impressive display .... "

Also some more info at Sprint (French) including some pricing.

 

as for me... the aluminium palm rest maybe my choice... but not the overall look of it... at least what i can see from the pictures... but i'm waiting for the pictures from you john... take few pictures when you received it... the review can come after that...

 

Wait, has the GPU been confirmed yet? Because the press release says 8400G, the Cnet review says 8400GS?
Or will you only know for sure once you actually get the laptop in your hands?

 

You'll have to wait another week. I will drop a few pics in this thread (I've just got a Canon S3 camera which should take better pics than the little Ixus 60).

DigiUK got info from Samsung that it is the 8400M GS. However, the only way to be sure what is in the box is to open one. It took Samsung UK about a month to agree that they were shipping the X1700 GPU in the X60 plus and they have never agreed that it has a 120GB HDD. What I want is a weak GPU and a small PSU.

John

 

Meh, G vs. GS will only net you a ~10min gain in battery life. I would definitely take the 30% better GPU performance over that relatively small gain in battery times.

I agree with you about the PSU though. Large ones (like my Sony's) are a pain to carry around; adds friggin 25% to the weight of the laptop....

 

yeah... i can wait for that... btw...lil bit off topic you have any review made for your canon S3? seems like very solid device...

i suppose they don't need to go for bigger PSU right... about the GPU... is there any chance we can change the "default specs" to the one we need for any model of samsung notebook?

 

The majority of info for the Q70 indicates a 60W PSU but in one place it said 90W. The R70 has much the same internal hardware and comes with a 60W PSU so there's no obvious need to put a bigger PSU with the smaller computer. But Samsung are full of surprises!

"solid" is a good description for the S3. The 12x zoom lens is excellent. The image stabilisation work, there are more controls and buttons than on a car. The weakness is the LCD. The viewfinder is another LCD so you can always see the image full sized. If you want a better LCD then get the S5 which is just released (and 50% more money). At the clearout price the S3 is excellent value. But it won't fit in your pocket.

Do a Google for "Canon S3 review" and you will find several detailed reviews.

It remains to be seen what versions of the Q70 appear with time. I would expect to see one with the T7100 CPU and a lower spec GPU (it's what is on offer in China). My guess is that someone in Samsung UK thought it would be better to have the launch model with higher specs, probably to put it in a different price range from the Q45. Maybe something different will appear in Germany.

John