Samsung Series 7 NP700Z3A-S05 or NP700Z3C-S02US

I'm looking to buy a laptop for my son that starts college this year going for accountant. He needs it for light editing and watching movies. He will play games but minimal. I'm thinking about buying it from the Microsoft store with xbox 360 and selling the xbox 360 for $200.00 essentially paying $800.00 for the laptop.

I'm on the Microst store and cant not determine which one to get and what the main difference is.

Samsung Series 7 NP700Z3C

DISPLAY | 14.0 in LED HD non-glare SuperBright (1600 x 900)PROCESSOR | Intel Core i5-3210M 2.50 GHz with Turbo Boost Technology up to 3.10 GHzMEMORY | 6 GB DDR3 1600 MHzHARD DRIVE SIZE | 750 GB SATA 7200 RPM + 8 GB SSD for cachingOPERATING SYSTEM | Windows 7 Home PremiumPC TYPE | NotebookOPTICAL DRIVE | DVD +/-RW SuperMulti dual layer (S-ATA)MEDIA DRIVE | 4-in-1 memory card readerAUDIO | SoundAliveVIDEO | Intel HD Graphics 4000 and NVIDIA GeForce GT 630M with up to 800 MHz DDR3 GDDR5 graphics memoryPORTS | 1 USB 3.0 • 1 USB 2.0 • HDMI • Headphone output/Microphone input combo • RJ-45 (10/100/1000)BATTERY | 8-cell lithium-polymer (up to 7 hours)*CAMERA | Integrated webcamWIRELESS | 802.11a/b/g/n • Intel Wireless Display (WiDi) capable (separate adapter required)BLUETOOTH | YesDIMENSIONS | 12.70 x 8.80 x 0.93 in (322.58 x 223.52 x 23.62 mm)WEIGHT | 4.56 lbs (2.06 kg)COLOR | Silver


Samsung Series 7 NP700Z3A-S05
DISPLAY | 14.0 in LED-backlit SuperBright HD+ (1600 x 900)PROCESSOR | Intel Core i5-2430M 2.40 GHz with Turbo Boost Technology up to 3.00 GHzMEMORY | 6 GB DDR3 1333 MHzHARD DRIVE SIZE | 1 TB SATA 5400 RPM with ExpressCache 8 GB SSDOPERATING SYSTEM | Windows 7 Home PremiumPC TYPE | NotebookOPTICAL DRIVE | Slot-load DVDMEDIA DRIVE | 4-in-1 memory card reader (SD/SDHC/SDXC/MMC)AUDIO | HD Audio with Mic Noise Suppression SoundAliveVIDEO | Mobile Intel HD Graphics and AMD Radeon HD 6490M with 1 GB shared graphics memory (switchable graphics)PORTS | 1 USB 3.0 • 1 USB 2.0 • HDMI • Headphone output/Microphone input combo • VGA via included adapter • RJ-45 (10/100/1000)BATTERY | 8-cell lithium-polymer (6.5 hours)*CAMERA | Integrated 1.3 MP HD webcamWIRELESS | 802.11b/g/nBLUETOOTH | YesDIMENSIONS | 12.80 x 8.90 x 0.93 in (325.12 x 226.06 x 23.62 mm)WEIGHT | 4.56 lbs (2.06 kg)COLOR | Brushed AluminumOTHER | Model number: NP700Z3A-S05

 

The 3C is a newer model and is the better of the two. It comes with Ivy bridge and a 630m instead of Sandy bridge and a 6490m.

 

Thank you for the very fast response.

would it be worth the $200.00 to step up to this

Product Height .94"
Product Width 14.2"
Product Weight 5.3 lbs.
Product Depth 9.3"
Processor Brand Intel®
Processor Intel® 3rd Generation Core™ i7
Processor Speed 2.3GHz (with Turbo Boost up to 3.3GHz)
Battery Type 8-cell lithium-polymer
Display Type High-definition widescreen LED with SuperBright technology (1600 x 900)
Screen Size (Measured Diagonally) 15.6"
Cache Memory 6MB
System Memory (RAM) 8GB
Type of Memory (RAM) DDR3
Computer Hard Drive Size 1TB
Optical Drive Double-layer DVD±RW/CD-RW
Optical Drive Speeds Drive speeds not specified
Direct-Disc Labeling No
Digital Media Reader or Slots Yes, digital media card reader
Graphics NVIDIA GeForce GT 630M
Video Memory 512MB GDDR5
TV Tuner No
MPEG Yes
Built-in Webcam Yes
Modem None
Networking Built-in Gigabit Ethernet LAN (RJ-45 connector)
Wireless Networking Wireless-A+B+G+N
Bluetooth-Enabled Yes
S-Video Outputs None
Audio High-definition; SoundAlive
PCMCIA Slots None
USB 2.0 Ports 2 USB 3.0; 1 USB 2.0
IEEE 1394 FireWire Ports None
Parallel Ports None
Game Ports None
Laptop Weight Ultraportable (5.5 lbs. or less)
Battery Life Up to 9 hours and 12 minutes
Pointing Device Touchpad with scroll scope, flat type and gesture UI
HDMI Output Yes
Blu-ray Player No
Operating System Platform Windows
Operating System Windows 7 Home Premium
System Version 64-bit
ENERGY STAR Qualified No
Best Buy PC App No
Graphics Chip NVIDIA
Backlit Keyboard Yes
Drive Capacity 1TB
Graphics Card NVIDIA GeForce GT 630M
Wireless Display Yes
UPC 036725736887

 

Can you post the link to the 15.6"? My suspicion tells me that's a best buy model (i7 + 630m combo), whereas you could get the 700Z5C-S04 (i7 + 640m combo) from the Microsoft store for the same price. From what I've read, all of the 14" and 15.6" models have the same display. They're not horrible, but they're definitely not the best. If you can't decide between the 14" and 15.6", I'd get your son's input on the size he wants. If it were me, and I didn't plan on any heavy gaming, I'd probably go with the 14". If I wanted to do heavy gaming, I'd probably skip over the 14" & 15.6" and go with the 17.3" Chronos (NP700Z7C). It costs a fair amount more, but it has a vastly superior display, incredible audio, 650M and quite a few other better features.

Edit: My advice is to go to a best buy and compare them with one another. It's time consuming, but it'll give you a good comparison.

 

Yes it is the best buy model. He would like the 15.6 the problem is I don't get an xbox at Bestbuy. He said he would be fine with a 14 inch but if I can get a 15 inch for the same price then yea I would jump on it

 

Then get this - Buy Samsung Series 7 700Z5C-S04 - 15.6 inch notebook PC with Intel Core i5 processor, HDMI, and Intel Wireless Display - Microsoft Store Online

It's the same price and comes with a slightly smaller HDD, but it comes with a much better GPU than the best buy model.

Edit: Ohhh you said "would it be worth the $200.00 to step up to this", so I assumed the best buy model was $1200. Looks like it's $999. I'm thinking lol

Edit2: If you're willing to spend $1000, definitely get the model I linked above and sell the Xbox imo. I have no idea why the link says i5 as it clearly comes with an i7. BTW my reasoning is that the Microsoft store Z5C has a 640m, while the best buy model only has a 630m.

Edit3: One last thing. Because you're in the $1000 territory, I would definitely consider the Asus N56VZ-RB71. It's slightly thicker, but it comes with a 650m, has a very good quality display, is 1920x1080, and it's on sale at Micro Center for $1000. It's 15.6" and is equivalent to the 17.3 Samsung I mentioned above.
Micro Center - Computers, Electronics, Computer Parts, Networking, Gaming, Software, and more!

 

Same here. I ordered one a couple of days ago from the MS Store (and it included the free Xbox).

Will your son be taking the laptop out and about? If so, he might appreciate the smaller size and lighter weight of the 14". Not a huge difference, but still.

 

would a mac book pro non retina for $1050.00 be on the same level as this

 

Not if you're talking about the 13", which I assume you are with the price. 13" MBP only has integrated graphics (HD4000), so it would go something like this based on specs.

Asus N56VZ-RB71 i7/ 650m 2GB ddr3 vram ($1000 - Microcenter linked above, but not quite as thin) > 15" MBP 2.6Ghz/650m 1GB ($2200) > 15" MBP 2.3Ghz/650m 512mb vram ($1800 less any discounts you can get. GPU is better than the NP700Z5C, but only has 512gb vram) >= Samsung NP700Z5C-S04 640M ($1200 at MS store less $200 for xbox) > 2.3 GHz Samsung NP700Z3C-S02US 630m ($1000 at MS store less $200 for xbox) > 13" MBP i7 2.9Ghz no dedicated gpu($1500 less any discounts) > 13" MBP i5 2.5Ghz no dedicated GPU ($1200 less any discounts). You can game on the HD4000 a little, but it won't even keep up with the 630m in the 14" Samsung. If I were on your budget, I'd at least look at the Asus. It's 15", has a beautiful 1920x1080 screen, and a 650m with 2gb ddr3 vram. Sure it's slightly thicker and heavier coming in at 6lbs., but there is just nothing in its league for the price.