Series 3 11.6" with i3 - np300u1a - anyone else have one?

To whom it may concern,

I recently purchased a Samsung Series 3 11.6" with the i3-2357m processor. It is one heck of a laptop for $499 after rebate. If anybody is looking for information, I would be more than happy to supply it. My first impressions are that the 4 cell battery is a little weak and a machine this size should last a bit longer than 3 hours. Otherwise the machine is a joy to use and the 3 hour mark actually exceeds my current needs.

If anybody else owns one of these machines, I am curious if you have had any luck in replacing the hard drive or RAM? I am interested in upgrading to 8GB of RAM and a 120GB SSD. However, Samsung's, "If you open this laptop you void your warranty" policy makes me a bit nervous and then there's the fact that I do not know what I will find when I do open it and potentially void said warranty.

I am somewhat concerned the notebook does not use standard sized parts to conform to its small size. If anybody could confirm/deny these suspicions it would be greatly appreciated. If I am the first to attempt these upgrades and others are interested, I will try to post the information I find on these forums. In short, I need to either open the case up and look inside or return the laptop in the next 12-13 days if it is not suitable for these upgrades.

 

I don't personally own one but when checking it out I came across this site that has some information about swapping out hdd and memory etc.

WL BLOG UNO: Samsung Series 3 Princeton Notebook 11.6" NP300U1A Review

In the end the battery life put me off an otherwise decent laptop.

 

The link in the previous post indicates that there is only 1 RAM slot (not unknown on the smaller notebooks) so upgrading to 8GB may be a challenge.

Upgrading to an SSD shouldn't be difficult. Regarding the warranty I would repeat the advice in that link: "Also you will void your warranty if you replace the hard drive unless you save the old one and re-install it if you send it back to Samsung for warranty service." Which means that if you encounter a problem then you return the same hardware to Samsung as they sold you.

John

 

Thanks a bunch! I swear I have seen this review before but it must have been before he added the information about the hard drive and memory.

Good News: A standard size 2.5" HDD is used and somewhat easily replaced in this laptop.

Bad News: Apparently there is only one memory slot, which is directly contradictory to the information provided by crucial.com. Unfortunately this machine is limited to 4GB of memory and will probably be returned to Staples.

Overall I am sad to see it go but here is a list of pros and cons:

PROS:

Lightweight (~2.2lbs) & Quick Booting & nice touchpad/keyboard/screen & I have no usability complaints as someone that is not used to this size of computer and uses his computer mainly for typing (coding).

CONS:

i3-2357m is significantly slower than i3-2310m but also sips power (ULV)
only 4GB of RAM
2-2.5 hours of battery life

 

Thank you for your reply.

I found a Lenovo Edge E420 with an i5-2410M and 4GB (max 8) / 500GB HDD for pretty much the same price.

The lenovo computer is also supposed to get about 5 hours battery life (PCWorld test) whereas the series 3 seems to get about 3 max for me, so far, and using power saver profiles.

What would you do? I really like the series 3 so far other than the battery and memory limit, I was dead set on 8GB and a 128GB SSD. I understand the Lenovo has an MSATA port as well which could be fun in the future. On the other hand the Lenovo is pretty bland in appearance, is made of plastic, and is twice the weight. This has been a tough decision for me, but I might take the Samsung back.

 

1. I wouldn't consider the 4GB RAM limit as an impediment for the type of usage for this size of machine. I doubt that you are planning to run several concurrent virtual operating systems.

2. Achieving the maximum run time is a bit of an art. I would start by comparing the actual battery capacities measured in Watt-hours. This is more meaningful than the number of cells as cell capacities are not standard. If Samsung don't provide the battery capacity in the specs then HWiNFO32 should be able to tell you along with the power drain when you are running on battery. The ULV CPU should use less power than the standard CPU.

John

 

Well thanks for your opinion on the memory, I wasn't quite sure. My desktop machine dips its toes into everything from gaming to 3D rendering and is the first computer I have bought in about a decade. Up until I started doing 3D rendering I was quite fine with my old Athlon XP 2100+ running XP . . . so to make a long story short I have never run Windows 7 on less than 8GB of Ram.

I simply wasn't sure but you and a couple others have given me the impression I will not need 8GB in a laptop. This is good news, I might keep the Samsung.

That is true and I am still at the point where every five seconds I realize there is another program needed to be installed on the laptop so even while on the go I am using it more heavily than I probably would typically.

I'm not too technical with my understanding of batteries. I will check my manuals when I get back home for specific numbers but I know it was advertised as having "up to 6 hours" at staples and being a 4 cell. I have since learned it is a 3 cell and have never seen Windows project more than 2.5 hours of battery time. I do, however, have the battery set up to only charge to 80% according to Samsung this will help me achieve better battery longevity.

What is your opinion on this matter? Charge to 80 or 100%

Thanks again for your help.

 

i am quite interested in this laptop as well but need to make a decision quick as the staples promotion runs out on friday.
I am torn between this and a used x200s. They are pretty much the same weight, the S3 has hdmi, the x200s better battery life but lacks hdmi and i will be using one of the two connected to an external monitor so I will be forced to buy the lenovo docking station because i want to avoid using the VGA port.

the 2-2.5 hours of battery life is quite disappointing though.

 

I wouldn't be too deterred by my battery life findings. I use my computers slightly more intensely than the majority of people and I have not had a chance to fine tune the system. In addition I am only charging to 80% to prolong battery life. Some people in the link posted above are suggesting they can get a continuous six hours out of this machine.

I am having a hard time justifying replacing this with an i5-2410m system with better upgrade paths because it is simply that good and a joy to use. There is a good chance they will come out with a larger capacity battery for this unit too if that is your primary concern. You might also note that the laptop charges to 80% in very little time compared to many of the previous systems I have used.

Part of me in considering a Dell 15z with the nvidia 525m and a 1080P LCD panel for $729. However to get this price I would have to downgrade to a 1 year basic warranty, and frankly I am not sure i trust Dell enough to do that.

Are any of you like this? I have always been incredibly fickle since I bought my first computer at about 11 years old. Paid $500. Two days later it was on sale with a bunch of upgrades for $200 less. I'd pretty much been saving that money for all 11 previous years! Apparently it has had a very lasting effect.

 

I would expect up to 4 hours using a 3 cell battery but that would be with a fairly dim screen and limited activity (such as note taking in a lecture). HWiNFO32 (sensors) should report both the battery capacity and voltage. 3 or 6 cell batteries have a voltage around 11 to 12V, 4 cell are around 14 to 15V.

The 80% is costing you 20% of your potential run time but the full top-up of the battery does wear it out faster.

John

 

It's a good thing no lives are depending on my ability to make a decision. I woke up this morning, played with the Samsung for a bit, took it to school and was quite happy with its performance and my decision to keep it.

Then I decided I would just go over to Office Depot and check out the e420. At $30 less it would have been more expensive than the Samsung because there was no rebate listed online. In the store, they offer me a $100 rebate at time of purchase on a VISA card because I'm a student. So now the e420 is cheaper than the Sammy... has roughly 3x the benchmark score in processing power, can accommodate 8GB of RAM, and can accept an mSATA SSD in addition to the hard drive.

Finally, gestures which I have had problems with before in Windows (like two finger scrolling) work just as well on the Lenovo as they did on the Samsung. The thing was chained down to the table but I was able to lift it up a bit with the 'one-handed hold test' I use to detect build quality issues.

The Lenovo has less flex/creaking than the Samsung. The Samsung does not have a lot of flex/creaking, but it is noticeable sometimes when typing as well as when I pick it up one-handed. Right now I am seriously leaning towards the e420 even though it is, at best, half as attractive as the Samsung.

 

you are comparing apples with pears. they are two totally different machines. one is a 14" the other is an ultraportable. you should just decide what your priorities are. it's a big jump between the two. even though the samsung's price is almost the same with less power you are paying for portability

 

6esamsung, or anyone else who has it. can you weigh the S3 on a kitchen scale or a precise scale and tell us the real weight? thanks

 

I suppose you are right. It's not like they're completely different though. I mean if I was trying to decide between a netbook and a laptop you would be more right but these two computers have the same generation of processor.

I would be happy to get you an accurate weight measurement but I returned the Samsung today. I also picked up the Lenovo. The Lenovo had an unadvertised $100 visa rebate card. Best of all, I did not even have to mail in the rebate... they handed it to me at checkout. *EDIT* the link posted above to the external website has an accurate weight recorded. I believe it was 2.2 pounds.

So far, I am already getting better casual battery life out of the i5 than the ULV i3... which pretty much seals the deal for me. Also the keyboard is lenovo-tastic and did I mention it was cheaper.

 

Hey guys.

I am a new owner of the Samsung NP300U1A. I love it, everything is perfect, except for one thing. The trackpad SUCKS! I mean, for such an awesome chicklet keyboard, the "ELAN" pad is a constant source of frustration.

The Elantech trackpad software that you can use to change things like scrolling and gestures is the main problem here, it's very basic and poorly thought out. The standard Synaptics software (the one with the tree of options) is way better. Specifically:

• The "Palm Guard" mechanism works too well. There is a terrible problem where any typing causes the trackpad to become unresponsive (as it should, to protect against accidental palm contact), but the problem is a lack of customization. You can't set the lag-time. In other words, the time from the last keystroke to when you can use the trackpad again. The one slider you can adjust does hardly anything. Even at minimum, the delay is WAY too long, meaning that I am constantly landing on the trackpad to find I have to wait a few seconds for it to come back.
  
• The edge scrolling works really well. Unfortunately, the scrolling zone is also not customizable enough, and somehow the Elantech programming leaves a gap between the right-edge of the zone to the left-edge of the trackpad, meaning that using the trackpad lip as a finger guide doesn't work -- your finger lands in this dead zone. Dumb, dumb, dumb! Such a simple problem, so easy to correct, if only the developers gave us a way.
  
• Gestures aren't customizable. For example, you can't set a specific action to do when you swipe up/down with three fingers. The actions are hardcoded to either open a new explorer window or switch between windows.

So, hey world, can anyone else out there relate to these issues? Anyone else hate the Elantech trackpad? I am far from giving up on this laptop just because of crappy trackpad software. The laptop is the perfect size, the perfect wight, and the keyboard feels great. I'd love to figure out how to get a better driver for it. Any ideas?

 

i might be getting the laptop in the next few days. I have tried the trackpad in the store and thought it was ok, not like a macbook one, but coming from a super crappy trackpad (latitude e4300) it felt much better.

 

EDIT: Nevermind, it just seems to fluctuate. I think the software's exactly the same. ugh.
Okay, update. I updated the Elantech software from Samsung's support website, and it looks like the new driver version fixed the aggravating palm tracking. The delay is much less now, cranked all the way down. Big improvement!

 

May I ask where you bought it and how did you get the discount?

Edit: doing some more research I found out it was probably at Staples with a Visa rebate.

 

You are correct sir. If you can get the VISA rebate from Office Depot it is far superior as they just give you the card straight away vs a mail-in process with Staples.

 

Edit: I really don't think these things through well enough. Again, this is not the issue, the delay's still around.
Okay, I actually fixed my problem this time. Turns out the issue caused by the delay was the sensitivity being too low.

 

You have discovered the secret to liking any new notebook part ... compare it to the crappy one you're using.

 

ahah. not at all man! I love my GF old macbook trackpad a lot. more than the new samsung!

 

I got this unit from Staples as well. but my keyboard failed today... and my enter key is broken (one of the plastic hinges broke).

made a support *ticket with Samsung. shipping it out tomorrow... (I wish I didn't have to spend my money to ship them my laptop, Dell support rocks compared to this)

*can anyone please give me any input on samsung warranty? (speed, etc) thanks!

 

wait, so you had to PAY to ship the item back to samsung?!
what kind of company does that? I hope I don't have to use their warranty.

 

Very interesting laptop, seen it a Staples but didn't bother looking at the specs thinking it was just another ATOM powered netbook.
Couple of questions if you guys would be so kind to answer.
1) Matte screen?..... please say yes!
2) How does it handle heat and are the fans loud under full load?
3) Trackpad OK?
thanks

 

1. Yes, it is a matte screen.

2. The laptop has a silent mode that works quite well. Since it runs an Ultra Low Voltage (ULV) i3 processor, it hardly putts out any heat and manages well even on silent mode.

3. The trackpad is quite good. Two finger scrolling works great, nearly as good as on a Macbook.

 

Thanks for answering 
Huge favor to ask and I will leave you alone, can you run 3DMARK 06 on it to see how it compares to a HP DM1 with E-450 APU.
The i3 ULV will crush the HP's CPU but was wondering how the HD 3000 stacks up against the E-450's 6320 GPU.
Now i dont intend to use it as my main gaming rig but i do get the itch every once in a while and was wondering how well some games might run. Dont mind even if they ran at the lowest settings but decently enough to get by.
Have you tried gaming on it? if so do tell your results
thanks again + rep for help.
STAPLES has them for $499.99 now and at that price its amazingly great deal, I've narrowed it down the the HP DM1 and this beauty and leaning on towards the SAMSUNG , matte screen is a big plus.

 

Hello together,

I´ve bought a Samsung NP-305U1A here in St. Petersburg (Russia). It´s the 11.6" matte Version(hardware ID: SEC3052) with AMD-E350. 4 GB RAM (dont know the company behind it, yet), 320 GB hitachi drive, Realtek Gigabit-Ethernet, Broadcom Bluetooth and n-Wlan.

Biggest difference: it got a 66Wh battery! So with real-life using (wlan, display 75% brightness, surfing) it lasts 7,x hours. I think that´s really good, isn´t it?

BUT: it´s bigger as the 44Wh battery. So it lifts up the notebook (about 1cm). And of course it adds some extra weight.

The display is typical for a cheap notebook (I´ve paid little more then 300 EUR!): bad viewing angeles, bad contrast (black is more grey). But it´s really bright and perfectly usable outdoors. I think you can compare it to the matte display in the Lenovo x120 11.6". But brighter!

Sorry, right now I can´t provide more detailed information. Since I´m on vacations here. Maybe later more, when I´m back in Germany.

 

yea, and i got it back today from repair, and the display is screwed up now -____-. the keyboard is brand new and what not. but they did take care of it, i called them they sent me a label, and had a UPS scheduled for pick up later today.

 

Purchased this laptop from Staples, though initially wanted to buy Samsung NP700Z3A-S01US from the BestBuy, but it was sold out.

Upgraded the hard drive to Axiom SSD 512GB (PC Mall Part#: 8180424, Mfr Part#: SSD25S2512-AX). The native hard drive is Hitachi Z5K320 320GB. BE AWARE - it is a low profile 7mm hard drive:

Travelstar Z5K320 | Hitachi Global Storage Technologies

Even in the rubber case its thickness is still less than the standard 2.5-INCH 9.5mm hard drive. So, after the upgrade I have a little hill on the right lower corner of the palmrest (almost not noticeable). First, I was going to remove the SSD again to take it out from its metal case, but then decided to leave it as it is for the extra protection.

Here is Windows 7 system performance after the upgrade:

Base Score is 4.7

Processor is 4.7
Memory (RAM) is 7.2
Graphics is 4.7
Gaming graphics is 6.1
Primary Hard Disk is 7.4

The NP300U1A does not have:

- TPM module;
- Security slot to lock the laptop;
- The screen does not open at 180 degree.

Some people complaining about the battery in this laptop. I think you cannot get an ultra portable laptop with the huge battery, otherwise, it will not be ultra portable any more.

Asus just released its Zenbook UX21:

Asus' Zenbook UX21 and UX31 arrive October 12 (first look) | ZDNet

$999 Asus Zenbook UX21 (UX21E-‐DH52) specs:

•Processor: Intel’s second-generation Core i5 2467M (Ultra Low Voltage)
•Display: 11.6“ HD (1366X768)
•RAM: 4GB DDR3
•Storage: 128 GB SSD

but it costs twice as this Samsung laptop. Besides, I suspect it will be very hot with the i5 CPU in such a slim case (this is what I had with Sony VPCZ1 laptop).

 

After the gym I might swing by Staples and pick up one since it's only 350$. I'll run 3Dmark06 just to see.

 

It's only 350? Are you sure?

 

I printed out the the coupon, but the source are from fatwallet.com & slickdeals.net. It's been confirmed, and my staples has them in stock

Staples: Samsung Princeton or Series 3 laptops for $349.99 after coupon thru 10/15/2011 - Slickdeals.net

Best

PS: I lied it's 349.99 lol

 

I brought it doing the basic updates right now. It's pretty smooth a big change from my Atom . Free Microsoft Office 2010 [Word, Excel, OneNote, Powerpoint] was pretty nice, I was going to get my schools version of 2007. I don't seem to have that track bad issue the previous threads. I can type and move the mouse at the same time. Although I wouldn't compare this trackpad to mac's, it's not that smooth sensitive (the Mac having glass)

Anyways, planning on doing 3Dmark06 soon. I have class in 2 hours so hope It all updates on time

Not bad for 349.99

 

Results:
3DMark Score

3040 3DMarks


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------


SM2.0 Score

1056


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------


HDR/SM3.0 Score

1285


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------


CPU Score

1561


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------


GT1 - Return To Proxycon

8.63 FPS


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------


GT2 - Firefly Forest

8.98 FPS


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------


CPU1 - Red Valley

0.5 FPS


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------


CPU2 - Red Valley

0.77 FPS


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------


HDR1 - Canyon Flight

11.27 FPS


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------


HDR2 - Deep Freeze

14.42 FPS

 

Thanks! Great tip. I just picked one up in store. All good sofar. Pretty good screen. Nice touch pad.

 

Has anyone removed the keyboard to see if the phantom 2nd ram slot is under there? I have had multiple Dell laptops with one ram stick on the bottom and the other under the keyboard.

 

Just printed out the coupon and got $150 back from Staples. $349 for this laptop is even better than Black Friday prices!

 

I have the 15.6 version and the amd quad core is surprising fast~ I hope this will hold me over until thunderbold ports/ivy bridge/ higher resolution 14 inch pc laptops come out.

 

No love for the 15.6! this is the 11.6 forum stay on topic !

 

Is this a matte screen or glossy? Is battery life only 2-2.5 hours or more like 3+?

 

Matte screen it's sexy cause my eyes don't strain like my Asus 1201ha glossy screen. First time using i'm expecting about 2-3 hours, maybe four. depending on usage

If i return this... it's due to the battery life

 

I love matte. But why do companies gimp on the battery especially with laptops like this? I mean you get something small and portable like this to take with you, and for long battery life. I mean come on, throw a six cell in there and give it a solid 4-5 hours life.

 

I know . I have a lecture in class that's 50 minutes long, and it went to 75%, this is just taking notes on Microsoft OneNote. ~ 2:30 assumption

FOR SOME ODD reason, the fan turns on when i turn on silent mode and turns off when I turn off silent mode. Odd, the purpose of silent mode was the fan to shut off completely.

 

I just picked one up from staples too after the coupon. What a lovely machine. The batterylife works for me since I'm near a plug whenever there is one. Love the screen!

 

can we just post in one single S3 thread?

 

Tell me if you guys have this problem:

Sometimes the computer hard drive light stays full when your doing LIGHT activity, and the computer essentially freezes up and you can't do anything.

It happen my 5th time it's getting on my nervous, that might the other reason why i return.

My remedy include turning off system restore, replacing norton with microsoft anti virus, defrag the disk.

When that lights stays full, I know the computer is going to freeze and I won't be able to do anything for the next 5 minutes, the Hitach hard drive in this system is pretty faulty or is there other reason?

Best

 

Hey guys I’ll be returning this laptop tomorrow if there’s thing you want me to run or try on let me know asap! Below is my take away for my laptop, I’ll be comparing it to my ASUS 1201HA.

Pros:

1. The size is perfect, small and portable
2. Screen is great
3. Keyboard is pretty good
4. Good CPU/RAM speed
5. HD 3000 Graphics runs WoW and SC nicely ~ 3K on 3dmark06
6. Webcam is pretty decent
7. I love the USB Charge feature on the device (sleep mode / hibernate the usb will charge all the device)
8. Silent mode is a cool concept if it actual works.
9. Price of $349.99

Cons

1. Mousepad – Cool functions like swipes but not responsive. The delay between typing and mouse usage is huge.
2. Hard Drive: There’s some issue, when that lights turn on bright (HD light) and it stays on, the computer is going to freeze for 5 minutes. I tried some remedy, none of it work. Hitach brand hard drive hope you guys didn’t get this issue. Although my Asus 1201 is running atom and same RPM HD, the freezing makes the perception of the Samsung to be much SLOWER.
3. Battery Life: it’s a 4 cell and supposes to get around 4 hours. Likely 2 hours real world usage, my example was just note taking for 50 minutes and that eat ~25% of the battery. My asus has 6 cells, and I get around 5 hour real world usage.
4. Lan Slot: it’s pretty sketchy it felt like it’s going to fall off
5. Wifi: Wifi is nice, but I do networking and I clone/edit my mac address to make my life easier. The intel N – 130 doesn’t allow you to change/edit Mac address at ALL.

Take away: Love the design for a price of 349$ is really nice, but the Battery Life and Hard Drive issue is a huge deal breaker. Plus, I been living completely fine with my Atom Z520, playing youtube video at 480p, true the Samsung can play 720p and I can move screen around without any lag on the video, but the fan is going wild during those times. My ASUS, I can keep my fan off completely using a feature program.

My Next laptop is going to be (in order of preference) 6 –cell , 11.6” Matte display, SSD, Fan less. Looking forward to Cedar Trial !

 

Just returned an Asus 1215B (E350) due to the defective trackpad the Asus puts in this unit. Bought it for my daughter. I'll probably be driving over to Staples later today and pick one of these up.

 

thanks for the review. why do you need to clone/edit the mac address?

a laptop with the specs you mentioned it's gonna cost much more.