is older 15.6" NP700Z5B-W01UB refurb. a good purchase? or is there something wrong in this model?

Hello guys, I am thinking about buying a 15.6" series 7 laptop which is refurbished from best buy canada is this a good buy at around $715.00; is there any problem I should be aware of?

What other brand or model comes close to Samsung with 1600x900 screen resolution with similar price point?

Specification:
Screen Size
15.6 Inches
Native Screen Resolution
1600 x 900
LED Backlit Display
No
Processor
Processor Type
Intel Core i7-2675QM
Processor Cores
4
Processor Speed
2.2 GHz
Processor Cache
6 MB
Storage & Memory
Hard Drive Capacity
750 GB
Hard Drive Speed (Revolutions Per Minute)
5400 rpm
RAM Size
6 GB
RAM Type
DDR3
RAM Speed
Information Not Available
RAM Slots
Information Not Available
Optical Drive
Multiformat DVD±RW/CD-RW Drive
Built-in Memory Card Reader
Yes
Memory Card Reader - Compatible Memory Type
SD; SDHC; SDXC; MMC
Graphics
Graphics Chipset
AMD Radeon 6490M
Video Memory Configuration
Dedicated
Dedicated Video Memory Size
512 MB
Wireless Display (WiDi) Capable
No
Audio
Speaker Wattage
4 W
Integrated Microphone
Yes
Microphone Input
Yes
Digital Audio Output
Yes - HDMI
Hardware Volume Control
Yes
Inputs & Outputs
Webcam
Yes
Keyboard Language
English Only
Numeric Keypad
Yes
Backlit Keyboard
No
Type of Pointing Device
TouchPad
Number of Touchpad Buttons
1
Type of Modem
Not Applicable
USB 2.0 Ports
3
USB 3.0 Ports
2
HDMI Output
Yes
HDCP Compliant
No
VGA Output
No
IEEE 1394 Input/Output
No
eSATA Port
No
ExpressCard/34 Input
No
ExpressCard/54 Input
No
IR Receiver
No
Other Input or Output Ports
Headphone Input
Networking
Ethernet Port
Information Not Available
Integrated Wi-Fi
802.11b/g/n
Integrated Bluetooth
No
Power
Approximate Battery Life
Up To 7 Hours
Battery Type
Lithium-Ion
Battery - Number of Cells
8
Battery - Capacity
5420 mAh
Energy Star Qualified
Yes
Software
Pre-loaded Operating System
Windows 7 Home Premium 64-Bit
Operating System Language
English
Loaded Software
None
Physical Features
Colour
Silver
Laptop Thickness (closed)
2.7 cm
Laptop Depth
24.5 cm
Laptop Width
36.5 cm
Laptop Weight (including battery)
2.3 kg
Warranty Labour
90 Day(s)
Warranty Parts
90 Day(s)

 

Perhaps the biggest issue is the graphics switching although this has improved with the BIOS and driver updates.

See the various Series 7 threads in the sticky index.

John

 

Do this one have other problems than the 700Z5A had? I notice that it doesn't have the same GPU (6490 vs 6750).

Anyway, the 700Z5A does not have any issues with GPU anymore as far as I know. And I haven't heard anyone being able to prove that there is any problems after they have installed the right drivers. (8.940)

 

I would expect the problem to be generic with the AMD GPUs.

I was pointing out that the updates largely fixed it. However, they may not have been applied pre-delivery.

John

 

And I was pointing out that there is no known issues after the updates, so saying that it "largely fixed it" is not correct. Atleast not to my knowledge.

But I would love for someone to come with proof that somethign isn't right and consistently not working. Then this could be used for people to get a refund and get the 700Z5C instead.

Overall, the 700Z5A is a great machine and does everything I want, but ofcourse I'd rather want the newer 700Z5C. I don't feel the need to switch, but if I could do it for free, then I would be stupid not to.

 

Perfomance wise the version with nvidia are much better.
The problem with the AMD card is that a you will never receive driver updates (samsung needs to make them and the model you are buying is not on their priority list).
Forget about playing bf3 with this pc in native resolution, I struggle with the 6750 so I cant imagine how it will be with this card.
If i were you I would wait until you can afford the new version

And the update largely fixed the problem because some people are still struggling to get it to work and have to play around installing 3rd party drivers so that they can get the samsung drivers to work

 

1) You don't know that there won't be any driver updates, you just assume.

2) If you want to run games, buy a gaming laptop. The chronos series is not that.

3) I have not seen any problem that the drivers haven't fixed, nor heard about one. I've read about several people having problems installing the drivers, but that is mainly because of the user, not the drivers.

As stated earlier,if you have any actual proof about actual issues with running any software with the latest drivers, a lot of people would be interested to know, me included. But if not, then please do not make statements making it sound that there are problems when there are not.

And finally, ofcourse the brand new 700Z5C is a better machine, but it's twice the price of the refurb he is interested in getting.

 

I take the same position as Luterin. I'm delighted with my 700Z5A, it doesn't have any graphics problems anymore, but I'd love a free upgrade to the 700Z5C if I had a valid reason for doing so.