Samsung R70 (15.4" widescreen)

Details of the Samsung R70 are starting to emerge.

One UK website is giving this information.

Price: £759.99 inc VAT

Samsung AURA R70 T7100

Built to the highest specification and finish, the Aura notebooks make a truly positive lifestyle statement.

* Intel SantaRosa Centrino Core 2 Duo Technology
* Genuine Windows® Vista Premium
* Ultra Sharp 15.4" display
* 6-in-1 Memory Card Reader
* Instant on Multimedia
* Integrated Webcam 1.3MP
* Weighs just 2.74kg

Processor Intel Core 2 Duo T7100 (1.8Ghz)
Memory 1GB (1x1Gb)
Hard Disk Drive 120GB
Optical Drive DVD Super-Multi Dual Layer
Graphics Nvidia 8000 128MB
Networking 10/100 802.11g SuperG
Display 15.4inch WXGA SuperBright
Operating System Vista Home Premium

n.b. Available from early May.

For those who can read German, you can get the full user guide from the Samsung download site.

Perhaps someone with good bandwidth can download this common language user guide and tell us if it gives more details.

The download site is well-stocked with drivers and software, so we can assume that the computer will be available for the Santa Rosa launch date.

John

 

John, I have downloaded it yesterday and it contains an .exe file. I have not installed anything, because I was expecting some other format.

 

I have downloaded the equivalent manual for the Q45. It uses flash with animated page-turning. It's not dangerous.

John

 

Oh, no. I was not thinking about being dangerous! I was not sure if it was installing something or not and I was not really up to it. If it is isolated with no software installation, then, no problem, I will try it out. Thanks.

PS. Well, the zip file is corrupt. Can't try the Csetup.exe anyway, for now!

 

In studentbook.de they say they will have more details on the processor of this R70, May 10th:

* 15,4" WXGA Glare Display (1.280 x 800)
* 2 GB Arbeitsspeicher (2 x 1024 MB 667MHz)
* 160 GB SATA 5400 UPM
* Nvidia GeForce 8600 256 MB
* DVD-Super-Multi Double Layer
* 100/1000 Ethernet
* Original Windows® Vista™ Home Premium & Microsoft® Office 2007 trial
* Diamantschwarz

Expected price: 1.099,- EUR

http://www.studentbook.de/r70-serie.html

 

I'm now back at the end of a decent internet connection and downloaded the big User Manual zip file. it's the same as for the Q45, different languages and fancy books with turning pages in Flash / Shockwave (there's an exe file, a main .swf file and many other smaller .swf files in each set).

I attach the R70 specs from the English language version of the guide. I have my doubts about whether the card slot is PCMCIA. One interesting feature in the manual is the TV antenna socket. There will be a version with an integrated TV tuner but there's a note saying that if you have this, then there's no Bluetooth!

John

 

Thanks. I've given up trying to download the file. It never comes right. It finishes frequently before it is really finished.

 

John, where did you find the note saying that DVB-T and Bluetooth couldn´t be combined in the R70 ? The specs just say that some components are optional but there is no such note.
Specs also state that PCMCIA will be of type I and II.

 

The note about TV and bluetooth is on page 60 of the User Manual. A copy of that page is attached.

Regarding the card slot, I would expect Express Card to be standard issue on these new notebooks and I would not be surprised if that is what is actually in there in the R70 and Q45 (it is there on the R20). Perhaps the people who prepare the manuals could not see the difference from the outside so they didn't change whatever was in the manual which they started from.

John

 

I also had that problem where I was for the past few weeks. Note that PDF versions of the R70 manual are now available in French and German.

John

 

You´re absolutely right with the Bluetooth / Dvb-t issue, now i also found this note on p. 62 of the German pdf manual, which btw has been available for download since last week.
Well anyhow, i´d prefer having bluetooth on my future R70, an absent dvb-t wouldn´t bother me too much...

As you´ve mentioned the Express Card on the R20 i get your doubts about the PCMCIA Card in the R70. I wasn´t expecting Samsungs staff not to be accurate in their manuals. But let´s be patient and wait till next week...

 

Another UK listing of the R70. The RAM is shown as 1 x 1GB, which will make upgrade to 2GB relatively painless. Unfortunately, the specifications page is currently blank.

John

 

Samsung R70-Aura-T7100 Devin mit Intel Core 2 Duo 1,8 GHz
- 15,4" WXGA HighBright Glossy TFT
- 2048 MB DDR2-RAM PC5300
- 160 GB SATA Festplatte 5400rpm
- 256 MB nVidia GeForce Go 8600 GS
- DVD-+RW Super Multi Double Layer
- Wireless-Lan integr.(b/g/n)
- AV Station, Filme ohne Systemstart
- SuperSilent-Mode
- integriertes Mikrofon
- 3 x USB 2.0
- 1 x HDMI (480P,720P,1080i,1080p)
- edles Gehäuse in Diamantschwarz
- Windows Vista Home Premium
- 24 Monate Collect Return Garantie

German Spec. Can get it now...

Got the info from www.notebook.de, thou the price there you find it more expensive..

 

Yes, but this model (NP-R70A002/SEG) has two differences from the NP-R70A001/SUK. It has 2GB RAM not 1GB and the GPU is 256MB and not 128MB. I guess that must be the reason for the price difference, though I would personally go for the cheaper and latter update it with an extra 1GB RAM (the NP-R70A001/SUK has 1GB module and one slot free), as I don't think the 200-300 euros difference is justified (specially if you're not a gamer).

PS. In France with the same specs is cheaper:
NP-R70A001/SEF R70 XEV7100 CORE2D/T7100 1.8GHZ 160GB 2048MB 15.4WXGA DVDRW WVEF 1172,00€
http://www.osinet.fr/code/osicaddy.asp?brand=SAMSUNG+-+NOTEBOOKS

 

Yeah.. but the problem is.. i m a gamer
Anyway, the 8600gs makes me doubt the performance of this dx10... waiting for others to show their face and then i ll make my decision..

 

The laptop is very light with only 2.68kg. Should be similar size and build to the X60. I would love to get one but the 1280x800 is a big no no for me. 1440x900 is minimum.

Why did they build in a PCMCIA slot and not express card??? I am not planing to use either but I think it is odd.

 

There will be a 1680*1050 model of the R70/R71 ! The one shown here is a midprice model !

And according to John Ratsey the possibility for the R70/71 having an express card is quite high (even with the manual telling PCMCIA) !

So better wait till 10th of May, more R70/R71 models will come out then.

Hier ist übrigens eine andere interessante Seite für Notebooks:
http://www.notebookforum.at/f14-samsung-forum.html
(a german/austrian notebook community)

 

I might walk over to the notebook.de shop today. Their main shop is in my home town of Darmstadt. They say the notebook is in stock so maybe I can look at it. I have not seen any shops in Germany list a higher resolution model.

 

The information about a 1650*1050 model came from Samsung themselves !

It´s no wonder that no shop lists it with higher resolution, thats due to the fact that officially no R70/R71 whatsoever has been presented by Samsung....
They are´nt allowed to advertise with a Santa Rosa model before the official Intel presentation of the new Centrino.

Just be patient.

 

Can you get them to run 3dmark06.. at least once??? Pls pls pls...

 

I dont think the 3dMarks will be much different from zepto.
http://www.zeptoforum.com/QuickRev/index.htm

 

Emm... there might be some difference since there might be different type of 8600, in this example we see the GS.. maybe the ones on the Zeptos are GTs.. we never know until later on 10th May.. thx for the link thou.. quite useful

 

Will there be different version of the go8600? I have not heared about that. Samsung has likes to underclock their GPUs...

I will see if I have time after work. They are open till 8pm so I might just make it.

 

It´s also written in the manual that some models of R70/R71 will have WSGXA+ 1680*1050 resolution. See attached jpg

 

Samsung (and most other manufacturers) usually list a range of specifications. Their national offices then decide on the detailed specs for the models to sell in their country. For example the first R20 in the UK was released with the T2250 CPU while in Germany it had the T7200 CPU.

1440 x 900 would be a good compromise resolution and would help the R70 to stand out from the majority of 15.4" notebooks, but it is not listed in the Samsung specs (I would also like to see this resolution offered on the R20).

John

 

Samsung Spain has already included info on two R70 versions:

http://www.samsung.com/es/products/notepc/rseries/np_r70a001ses.asp?page=Specifications

http://www.samsung.com/es/products/notepc/rseries/np_r70a002ses.asp?page=Specifications

 

Thanks for this. Nothing yet on the Samsung UK website, but they tend to be a bit slow in such matters - there are some seriously out-of-date specs for some models.

John

PS: And that site also lists the Q45, which I'll add to the Q45 thread.

 

is there any way to get this laptop in the US? how much would approx. shipping for that be? and would i still pay VAT for such an international order?

 

This i think you better email www.notebook.de, they can ship worldwide and the laptop is customizable (for a price).. for other company, i m not sure.. probably better to get it from spain..

 

You should not be charged VAT if the computer is being exported out of the European Union.

John

 

Anyone got their R70 yet?

 

Final info from www.studentbook.de:

R70-Aura-T7100 Devin

Prozessor Intel® Core™ 2 Duo Prozessor T7100 1,8 GHz 4 MB Cache 800 MHz FSB
Betriebssystem Original Windows® Vista Home Premium
Speicher 2.048 MB PC2-5300
(2 x 1.024 MB)
Festplatte 160 GB
5.400 UPM
Display 15,4" WXGA Glare TFT
1.280 x 800
Grafik 256 MB Nvidia GeForce Go 8600
Optisches Laufwerk DVD-Super-Multi Double Layer
Kommunikation WLAN 802.11 b/g und n (MIMO)
10/100/1000 Ethernet
Besonderheiten
Protect-o-Edge™-Gehäuse
Software OEM Samsung Recovery Solution II
Microsoft® Office 2007 Testversion 60 Tage
Diamantschwarz
Akku-Laufzeit bis zu 3 Stunden
Service & Support 24 Monate Vor-Ort-Abholservice europaweit
Gewicht ca. 2.700 g
Best.-Nr. NP-R70A002/SEG

http://www.studentbook.de/r70-devin.html

Something here is confusing me. In most websites T7100 is mentioned as having 2MB cache and not 4MB. Which one is right?

 

I'm full of news today:

Samsung Aura R70 Santa Rosa - Exclusive Preview
http://www.trustedreviews.com/noteb...msung-Aura-R70-Santa-Rosa-Exlusive-Preview/p1

 

nice post!

 

Thanks for the link.

So look out for the R70 at under £700. It's good value at that price.

There's no hint about whether the power management changes actually improve battery life. Also, this preview still mentions PC card slot which is what Samsung say it has. But maybe no one has looked inside. It's suprising that the first UK model of the R70 has only 120GB HDD when the R20 was introduced with 160GB.

John

 

Good find, thanks !

The T7100 has 2 MB L2 Cache only ! All other versions will feature 4 MB.

 

In this pictuer it looks like a PCMCIA slot no?


Where did this info that it got an Express card come from?
That they estimate battery life of 3 hours disapoints me. They estimated the X60 at 4 hours and it got less then 3.... either they are doing estimates closer to real world run time or they got a crappy battery inside, or the go8600 is a power hog.

 

1. I would expect that all new notebooks in 2007 would have the express card slot now that peripherals to fit the slot are becoming available. The R20 has express card.

2. The quoted battery life is usually with the lowest specs (integrated GPU, slow CPU, maybe only 1 stick of RAM) but this configuration may never be sold in Europe. My old X60 with T2300 + X1400 could manage 3 hours and I suspect that with an Intel graphics and the backlight on minimum that computer might make 4 hours although the screen would be unusable except in a dark room. My real annoyance is with the X1700 in my X60 plus. After 6 months there is still no evidence that Samsung & ATI are trying to make PowerPlay work so this computer struggles to get past 2 hours on battery.

John

 

Computer:
Betriebssystem Microsoft Windows Vista Home Premium
Computertyp ACPI x86-basierter PC (Mobile)
Internet Explorer 7.0.6000.16448
OS Service Pack -
DirectX DirectX 10.0


Motherboard:
CPU Typ Mobile DualCore Intel Core 2 Duo T7100, 1800 MHz (9 x 200)
Motherboard Name Unbekannt
Motherboard Chipsatz Intel Crestline GM965/PM965
Arbeitsspeicher 2048 MB (DDR2-667 DDR2 SDRAM)
BIOS Typ Phoenix (04/10/07)

Anzeige:
Grafikkarte GeForce 8600M GS (256 MB)
Grafikkarte GeForce 8600M GS (256 MB)
3D-Beschleuniger nVIDIA NB8P-SE (G86)
Monitor Samsung LTN154X3-L03 [15.4" LCD]

Multimedia:
Soundkarte Realtek ALC262 @ Intel 82801HBM ICH8M - High Definition Audio Controller

Datenträger:
IDE Controller Intel(R) ICH8M 3 port Serial ATA Storage Controller - 2828
IDE Controller Ricoh Memory Stick Controller
IDE Controller Ricoh MMC Host Controller
IDE Controller Ricoh xD-Picture Card Controller
Massenspeicher Controller Microsoft iSCSI-Initiator
Festplatte FUJITSU MHW2160BH PL ATA Device (160 GB, 5400 RPM, SATA)
Optisches Laufwerk TSSTcorp CD/DVDW TS-L632D ATA Device (DVD+R9:6x, DVD+RW:8x/8x, DVD-RW:8x/6x, DVD-ROM:8x, CD:24x/24x/24x DVD+RW/DVD-RW)
S.M.A.R.T. Festplatten-Status OK

Partitionen:
C: (NTFS) 70705 MB (52379 MB frei)
D: (NTFS) 71678 MB (71587 MB frei)
Speicherkapazität 139.0 GB (121.1 GB frei)

Eingabegeräte:
Tastatur Standardtastatur (101/102 Tasten) oder Microsoft Natural Keyboard (PS/2)
Maus Synaptics PS/2 Port Pointing Device

Netzwerk:
Primäre IP-Adresse 192.168.178.33
Primäre MAC-Adresse
Netzwerkkarte Generic Marvell Yukon 88E8055 PCI-E Gigabit Ethernet Controller
Netzwerkkarte Intel(R) Wireless WiFi Link 4965AGN (192.168.178.33)
Modem Agere Systems HDA Modem

[See the attached text file for the full information.]

 

What do you want to tell us with this document ?
No explanation is attached whatsoever....

You could have thought about linking this as a pdf

 

Sorry i buy yesterday a samsung R70. this are the devices

 

Be thankful for this extra information about the hardware. This was posted by a newbie who may not be acquainted with the various options for posting. I've put the original post into a text file and just left the first part.

That particular model has a 160GB Fujitsu HDD, Gigabit Ethernet and the Intel 4965AGN wireless.

Towards the bottom of the list it says:

so maybe it does have a PC card slot, although there are also references to PCI Express Root ports (but internal peripherals could be connected to these).

John

 

Thank you for the clarification.

Can you check whether the PC card slot is PC card or is it Express card?

How much did that particular version of the R70 cost?

Many people will be interest in how the R70 performs. PCMark05 and 3DMark06 are useful benchmark programs.

Thank you,

John

 

Sorry, i didn´t want do be rude.
The amount of numbers without any explanation just made me dizzy

Nevertheless i´m also hoping to get more information from bln-canavari about his R70.

 

Interesting news from our french friends:
http://www.laptopspirit.fr/2189/samsung-annonce-aussi-ses-portables-santa-rosa/

Allthough i don´t speak french i understood that a R70 has been presented with a C2D T7300 2,0 Ghz CPU !

And, they also tell about a new X65 (15,4") with C2D T7500 2,2 Ghz and 1680*1050 Display resolution ! Oh, la la, trés bon i tell you !
This X65 sounds perfect!

Did anyone hear about a new X65 ? This is completely new to me

 

Thanks for the French link.

I hadn't heard about the X65, but a look at the Samsung download site shows that various files were posted on 27th April.

I will start a new thread for the X65.

John

 

Can anyone help me with a reasonably priced online reseller of these? The good people at notebook.de can provide me with one, but their pricing is a tad on the high side (shipping is $290 euros alone)?

 

Dabs is now listing the R70.

No real details yet:

£712.99.

John

 

Another listing, but in France:

Portable SAMSUNG R70 XEV 7100 :
Processeur Intel Core 2 Duo T7100 (1,8 GHz) - Ecran 15,4" TFT WXGA SuperBright Gloss - Résolution 1280 x 800 pixels - 2048 Mo - Disque dur de 160 Go - Chipset graphique nVidia GeForce Go 8400 128 Mo / 512 Mo TurboCache - Port HDMI - Graveur de DVD Dual Double Couche - Modem 56K - Réseau Ethernet - Réseau sans fil WiFi - Lecteur de cartes 5 en 1 - Webcam 1,3 MegaPixel - Poids de 2,74 Kg - Microsoft Windows Vista Edition Familiale Premium

1 179,99 €

http://www.rueducommerce.fr/Ordinat...Intel-Core-2-Duo-T7100-1-8-GHz-Ecran-15-4.htm

 

A question for bln-canavari : What sort of battery life are you seeing? I know it is early days, but what does the power management predict as the running time when you pull out the mains power, turn off the wireless and put the display down to the minimum usable (maybe 2 or 3 out of 8)?

What are your other initial impressions of the R70?

John