Samsung X1 coming up at German IFA conference

Samsung will start marketing a new model next week, what it calls the lightest and thinnest 14-inch notebook of the world: the widescreen-notebook "x1", which will have a weight of only 1,7 kg (3,7 lbs), optical drive included. The design is kind of weird though - having no palmrest, the keyboard sitting right at the front.

http://www.notebookjournal.de/news/313

 

I can't read that, but it looks like a 19" notebook, oh my!

 

The correct link to the 14" notebook is http://www.notebookjournal.de/news/312

 

Sorry for that mistake. Indeed there are two different models anounced. One 19" notebook with detachable sceen and a well designed 14" notebook. Both feature widescreen displays.

Here are some pictures:

14" widescreen
- 3,7 lbs (1,7kg)
- 13,5 hours battery life (I guess this means two batteries 4 cell / 8 cell)
- dual layer-dvd-drive opens on top
- srs sound
- dvd and cd without booting
- ir-remote (pc-card size)
- at least 3x usb 2.0
- optical 5.1ch S/PDIF audio output



19" widescreen
- 9,7 lbs (4,4kg)
- 1680 x 1050 screen, 280 nits, 600:1 contrast, 10 ms



... detached!

 

Trust samsung and their breakthroughs


I think it may be harding using that keyboard on the 14"...

I would of thought of Panasonic's wristrest CD drive but up there?

Hmmm

 

the samsung 14 model is interesting.. at least you can't complain "the palm rest is too hot"

 

Because there is none? lol!

Brian/ABaxter, get us a review!

 

Well i think they dropped palmrest and touchpad to make the 14" model slimmer. Its supposed to be "less than a thumb" thick. And the marketing guys are not that stupid they market the missing palmrest as "Superrelax design" which should be more comfortable and ergonomic.

 

I kinda like the palm rests. Definetly would feel awkward.

 

I am gonna get hands on both new models next saturday - if there isnt much more information out then, i will give you more details about how it feels.

 

just a quick question:
on the x1 - where exactly is the touchpad supposed to be?

 

There is no touchpad. It uses a button- located in the middle of the keyboard. You'd operate it like a joystick and the buttons are right below the keyboard.

 

oh yeah.. so now we're going ibm... hmm - i think quite some people will have a problem with this. but i guess it is better than a small touchpad.
well.. time will tell - as always.

 

I will need to explain to my gf that I am not getting any masturbation. It is just a Samsung’s design use my stuft as an “palm rest”…….

 

The 14" looks very nice.
Anyone knows when Samsung is going to sell notebooks in the US?
I know I can get it from some importers, but the price is too high.
Why we here in the US are always stuck with ugly and old-fashioned stuff?
Notebooks, digital cameras, DV, cell phones, cordless phones, etc.
Everything sold to Americans are uglier and bulkier!
Even the same model digital camera, they sell 5 or 6 colors in Asia and Europe, and here we have only black and silver!

 

LOL!

The last two comments made me chuckle a bit - good job guys

Stop lurking while you're at it ^_^

And about the Cellphones, it's kinda true. I regret not buying a SIM-card phone, my cousin came back from Hong Kong this evening, and wow - he upgraded his cell phone from some crappy Nokia to some sweet LG Digital Camera + Rotat-a-phone

 

I'm very impressed with the 19" model (with the exception of the resolution). I particularly like how you can detach the screen and do what a lot of people are doing with the XPS2: turning it into a mobile desktop by using a docking station and a wireless keyboard. This design replicates exactly that functionality. I hope that Dell offers a similar design once it unveils its 19" notebook.

Edit - I have gathered that this model will use an Nvidia GPU, but the article didn't specify which. Does anybody know?

 

From the picture it looks like the design of the X1 address the issue of hot palm rest by relocating the housing of the HDD to the front instead. Since the notebook is very slim, there shouldn't be a problem for not having a palm rest if you are using it on a desk; but definitely will prove to be difficult if you use it on your lap. Now my only question is, if they put the HOT harddrive next to the HOT battery and that's all next to the LCD, would that burn the color right off just like how most computer parts do if you leave them expose to sunlight for a long time?

I love the 19" it's soo darn heavy
:Samsung!:

 

Actually the 19" is not heavy at all.
It is 19" and ONLY 9.7lbs.
How heavy is those 17" from Dell, HP and other brands? almost the same as this Samsung 19".

 

well, the answer to the heat problem is very simple since more details about the x1 are popping up: it features a ulv 1,2 ghz p-m 753 processor - soj it is probably fanless.....

 

Actually, the Dell is "only" 8.5 lbs, and considerg the inclusion of the 6800 Go Ultra and all the necessary cooling components, that's small for what it is.

I'm still wondering what card this 19" model has. The most specific I've seen so far is simply "high end Nvidia." That could be the 6600, the 6800, the 6800 ultra, or a 7XXX...

 

Whoa. Now this is one slick machine. The Sony X505 had me drooling but this one even more so! 14", < 4 lbs, AND DVD burner?! Say it isn't so!

Enough the the shock value.

Question: What are the rows of keys on the right and left side of the 14" model for? (Please say there are independent Home/End and PgUp/PgDown keys!)

Also, LeonX or anyone else who has had a chance to play with these machines, how does the keyboard for the 14" model feel? Is it closer to IBM? or not? I've never had a chance to play with a Samsung laptop and now that I'm looking at their lineup, all I can say is too bad they don't sell in the States!

 

Found the answer to my question. The left column of keys are for the function keys and the right column of keys include Insert, Delete, and some of other quick-access keys. It looks like the keyboard is more cramped than a normal 14" notebook would be.

http://www.dynamism.com/x1/image013.jpg

 

Here you can find also some more images of the Samsung X1 keyboard and how it's keys are constructed. Note how ever, that those threads are written in german, but maybe the images speak for themself (scroll down the page and click on an image you are interested in, in order to see them in a bigger size)...

http://www.notebook-foren.de/board/showthread.php?t=2763

 

Well I got the first review sample two days ago - have not opened the box yet. But if you have any questions post it here - I will have a look on the notebook tomorrow!

 

Maybe you just write a review for notebookreview ... and get paid!

My questions: display quality, brightness, keyboard quality, how comfortable to use the unusually placed keyboard, the build quality, how sturdy the notebook feels (so thin one, and 14"!), is the chassy magnesium alloy or plastic, and finally how fast it is in typical applications and benchmarks.

Btw, hoh.de already offers X1 on their webpage (your competitors?).

 

Well, I am journalist, not a notebook-seller. ;-)

 

Quick answer after having it used for an hour:

display quality is excellent although it is glossy and it mirrors everything in front of it. I am not a big fan of glossy screens but I guess you can get used to it. It is very bright (defenitely above 200 nits) but slightly blueish. The viewing angle is not great, the display dims very quickly if you dont look straight at it especially horizontally.

Keyboard has a good response - and the position is less a problem than I thought. It has some advantages and some disadvantages. I will answer that question probably in a complete review. For now: You can use it as laptop, using your legs as handrests. What I hate are the keys on the left (F1 to F12) and on the right (Del, Ins and some special keys to run video, cd and photo functions without booting the machine). I would say ctrl- and shift-key must be on the left edge, enter has to be on the right one.)

overall build quality is really good. It feels very sturdy, the chassy is made of magnesium and plastic. Still my review sample has a loose display frame, which might be caused by another part-time owner. But I guess this is no general problem. Finally first benchmark: Super Pi runs 2,22 min to calculate 2 mio dights. typical applications run smoothly but loading files takes a bit longer due to a 4.200 rpm harddisk. For actual figures wait for a review. First impression: A quite good package for mobile workers at a still reasonable price (which is only justified by good support, good warranty and a good quality).

LeonX

 

Samsung X1 available in UK for $1900...dynamism sells it for $2500

http://www.digiuk.com/productdetail.asp?id=5635#

 

Any chance for a complete review on the X1 (LeonX?)?

 

There is already a review of Samsung x1 published in German:

http://www.computerpartner.de/tests/hardware-tests/notebooks/200996/index1.html

See page 3 for some benchmarks results (should be understandable without knowing German).

If someone wants to translate it electronically, please post it here to help others.

 

http://translate.google.com/transla...fe=off&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8&prev=/language_tools

 

Yeah, I tried the translate. That was some funky reading. Thanks for the link to the review.

 

learn Geman ;-)

I think the Google translation is the best one at the moment although it isn't very good.

 

I was not reading the review as I am not so much interested in this model.
However, if you have some specific questions, I could find if they are answered in the review. Learning German to purchase a notebook is not an option.

 

Thanks for the offer Ivar. Even though it was a little hard to read, I got the gist of the idea in the translation. I was hoping to read reviews on the laptop to see if it was worth putting down about $2500+ on the laptop. Right now, that 14" at < 4 pounds is really attractive. The Panasonic is the other alternative in the 14" really light crowd but I haven't been too impressed with what I've read on the Panasonics.

Does anyone have any experience to compare the two companies laptop-wise? I suppose I'd like to post that question in the Panasonic forum too but that might be an offense of double-posting. E.g., Does the Samsung feel sturdier than the Panasonic? How about reliability wise? I don't need to read numbers as I've seen a lot of specs on both but I was curious as to "real-life" experiences between the two.