This product shipped super fast and has been a great investment all around! Windows 8 is amazing the numerical keypad is very useful as well. I recommend this laptop to all!
Showing posts with label notebook rental. Show all posts
Showing posts with label notebook rental. Show all posts
R500A-RH51 15.6" Notebook - Black
This product shipped super fast and has been a great investment all around! Windows 8 is amazing the numerical keypad is very useful as well. I recommend this laptop to all!
Samsung NP300V5A-A08US 15.6-Inch Laptop
I recently purchased this laptop from elsewhere for significantly less money. I now see that they are selling it on Amazon. It has a good i5 processor (same as many other laptops. Same memory, same optical drive, same chipset as everything else. The screen looks nice. Functionally it works well and their is not any bloatware to speak of. I like the slim bezel of the monitor and the smaller case for a modern 15.6" laptop. Also it comes with a recovery disc! The keyboard is nice as well. The problem with this laptop is that when you hold it feels cheap. Really cheap and just not quality. It feels like a discount laptop. It may look like brushed aluminum but don't let the pictures fool you, it's brushed... plastic. I've never even heard of brushed plastic but Samsung has. That is why I gasped when I saw that Amazon is selling it for $800!! Trust me, this laptop is not worth anywhere near $800. Please don't buy it at the current price. You would regret it. Hopefully the price will have come down by the time you read this review, and in that case it's an ok buy. If you have that kind of money then look elsewhere and you will get much more laptop than this for your buck! I know because I searched them for months. All of that being said, I am happy with my purchase, at the price I paid. It's a good all in one computing solution for my home office. That's all I need it for, so I didn't go for one with a lot of fluff.
ASUS G750JX-DB71 17.3-Inch Laptop (Black)
* UPDATEMy replacement laptop is great, (thanks to Amazon's awesome customer service) there is no audio problem with the headphone jack in this one. There was only one other user online I heard from who had a similar problem. I still don't like the
matte screen, but that's a personal preference. It would also be nice to have the blue ray burner included instead of just DVD. However, again, this is still the best laptop out there in its class.
===
(orignal review
Please note there is a hardware issue (at least with the JX verison) of this laptop that creates a hissing and popping sound when using the headphone output. Normally with laptops there are a lot of electronics inside the computer that can interfere with on-board audio, but ASUS advertises this computer as having advanced audio, and specifically a "exclusive" headphone amp. I've updated the audio driver per ASUS tech support, and the problem still exists. Tech support says its most likely a hardware issue. I've browsed other forums online including the ASUS Republic of Gamers forum, and other users report the same problem. The screen also features a matte finish, which to my eyes (I'm a photographer, and use photoshop A LOT), it appears as if I'm looking through a screen covered with grease or some sort of dirty screen. While, this is something I could get over considered many matte screens look like this (but not ALL), the audio quality is something I cannot handle for the money. Other than that, the system is super fast, the cooling is great, and it is a beautiful machine other than the concerns above. I hope ASUS fixes the issue.
The Asus G750JX is a powerful machine and one that fits me right. I recently installed " BioShock Infinite" and I must say, this game runs flawlessly on Ultra settings. This is only my first game played on this machine so only time will tell if it holds up to every other games I throw at it.
I was on the fence in purchasing this laptop due to its pricing, considering that, the competition (MSI GT Series, Clevo/Sager, Toshiba Qosmio, etc) offer configurations at the same price range but with a higher/premium GPU (780m). The reason I went with the Asus G750JX is first, due to the design, and second, the amazing "DUAL" fans. The built quality of this product is excellent. It looks great and feels less bulky than other competing offerings. Other manufactures offer extremly ugly looking and bulky laptops. My second point in favor for choosing the G750 is its dual fan cooling system.
One of my fears was having a powerful GPU with a single fan solution for cooling. I say this because the hotter your machine gets over a certain threshold, the more likely it is to malfunction or die on you early. This laptop keeps me comfortable in knowing that heat will never be a problem and my investment will last me for the long run. The NVIDIA 770m GPU is plenty fast and thanks to the dual fans, I have yet to feel any signs of overheating hiccups.
I am glad to say that the OS is installed in the SSD drive. I personally took out the standard mechanical hard-drive and installed a second 256GB SSD that I had purchased last year on Amazon. Although this setup is giving me less data space to work with (512gb vs1,256gb), it did wonders to my battery life. I am getting roughly 4.5 to 5 hours of battery life now when doing light tasks, such as surfing web and editing documents.
Sound quality is great, crystal clear and loud, although not very loudest I have experienced. Screen has excellent viewing angles and is anti-reflective. Keyboard is excellent. It does not fell cramped and provides good key feedback. Also the metal casing around it makes it even better (aesthetically).
Overall this is an amazing laptop that was worth the buy. The only con I can list is the lack of a " Bluray" player. At this price range a DVD player just doesn't cut it, especially when this laptop is meant for gaming and entertainment.
Buy ASUS G750JX-DB71 17.3-Inch Laptop (Black) Now
I love this computer for the fact that I like to enjoy my games for smooth play, excellent quality of the game details that this computer can handle for example ultra quality on skyrim.Read Best Reviews of ASUS G750JX-DB71 17.3-Inch Laptop (Black) Here
HP Pavilion DV6-1354US 15.6-Inch Black Laptop - Up to 4 Hours of Battery Life (Windows 7 Home Premi
I purchased model DV6-1354US with 500gb hard drive and 6 cell battery. I use this laptop for editing photos with Adobe Photoshop CS4, as well as editing audio with Adobe Audition 2.0.I have a five year old HP laptop running XP and it is still going strong. Despite outsourced Indian phone support, I was able to communicate support issues effectively. I am confident in future hardware performance and support from HP.
Transition from XP to Windows 7 was intuitive. The new taskbar is my favorite improvement. Followed by much better graphic interface and widgets. Some of my XP software causes Windows 7 to turn off Aero mode. I feel that windows has caught up with Apple in terms of graphics and workflow.
As far as laptop is concerned, Dave from Portland has a great review comparing the different models available on Amazon. The DV6-1354US is sufficient for me to use Adobe Photoshop and Audition, as well as multitask.
I will never go to a laptop again without a numeric keypad, this was an unexpected plus. I do miss the old HP media controls above the keyboard. They are replaced now by a volume and wireless control. I like that they are no longer buttons but touch sensitive surfaces above the keyboard.
The DV6 is quieter and cooler than my old HP. The power cord is beefier, which was always a problem with my old HP. Although I would prefer a magnetic power cord like Apple offers. Compared to other manufacturers, I would have to say that HP has the best price for great, reliable hardware.
Everything is a wonderful improvement except for the sound. Frequently, friends would ask where the music was coming from when I used my old DV1000. I felt that the sound was very rich for such a small system. I find the DV6 to have a much shallower, smaller sound that finds trouble filling a bedroom. For this reason, I drop the DV6 to four stars.
Also, the DV6 doesn't come with recovery disks. You need 3 DVD+R or -R (not RW) disks to create your own.
Overall, I really enjoy this computer, and probably will continue to enjoy it for another 5 to 7 years until RAM is in petabytes and laptops cook dinners. If I had to do it again I would still choose it over an Acer, Asus, Dell, Mac, or Sony.
The reviews on this style of HP were good. Friends and colleagues at other companies were happy with theirs. I ordered this for my wife. I received it a month ago and am using the multimedia stuff, the lightscribe CD/DVD burner etc. All very simple. Windows 7 seems very solid. The 4 Meg of RAM moves it along quickly. The N wireless card is fast and furious on the N+ Router (Belkin). we are doing Amazon movie on demand and no delays. Keyboard feels good, has built in number pad, nice. However the keys do get lost in w very low lighting. Maybe back-lighting the keys or iridium down the road?
So for the first month anyhow, very happy with it.I have got this HP notebook due to the software I need to use. I usually use Mac and like its stability and smoothness. When I used windows (it was windows Me and XP) years ago, it was not really a good experience... But this time is different. Windows 7 works solid and reliable. The machine is fast enough for its price, and I was surprised how light it weighs. If you carry your computer around, this is nice. You cannot complain about this machine since it deserves credit for its functionality, reliability and the price cost. For average user like me, this is good.
Only annoying thing is you have to make your own recovery disks (3 dvd blank disks you have to prepare). There is no os disk so this is important to do. It does not matter except for waiting a long time to burn those 3 dvd disks...Buyer beware. Yes they do look shiny and nice. Yes the specs look very impressive. Awesome price too. But the build quality is complete garbage. My well cared for 1.5 yr old HP laptop has died because it runs way to hot and eventually the motherboard got fried. This is a known issue in many models. Don't trust any. No support from HP. "Total Care" ya right. Don't take my word for it, do as the other people have posted..Google HP problems and you'll see. Also check out their HP community support page laptops then hardware section and see all the happy customers there too. Don't make the same mistake I did. Buy some other brand.Well, I tend to whisper mean things and curse my computer on a daily basis, but I haven't felt the need to do that with this one. It's quick enough with lots of storage and with a good amount of quality programs already loaded. I like how the computer manages its own health and happiness issues and it regularly reminds me to backup my files. The computer handles the large graphing programs I use with out the long pauses I have experienced previously. My one complaint is the screen shape. It has a short-wide screen. The short is the problem for me; with most programs having large tool bars at the top and or bottom of the screen a short screen creates a smaller workable space, however movies look great on it and the resolution is good even when viewed at angle. I know I could have sprung for the DV7 with the 17.3" screen rather than the cheaper 15.6" but the extra screen size added an addition 4 pounds (ouch)!
Dell Studio XPS 1640 15.6-Inch Obsidian Black Laptop - Up to 3 Hours 8 Minutes of Battery Life (Win
Okay, so how many laptops can you find with a 15.6" screen, 1080p resolution, and a decent graphics chipset for under $1000? Not many! This laptop met all three of these needs for me. It came with enough RAM that I don't need to upgrade it until the 8GB of SODIMM modules become ridiculously cheap. The video chipset M96XT (AKA Radeon 4670) has pretty decent performance . There are just way too many other laptops out there that have 1080p screens and an Intel GMA chipset, or low resolution 1280x800 screens with decent video chipsets. This laptop has both high resolution and a good chipset.I recently took it to a LAN party to play Team Fortress 2 and it ran beautifully with all the settings turned up to high (60fps+). My last laptop died because the CFL backlight failed, with the LED backlight that should never be a problem. It's also super bright. I usually have it set to a quarter of the brightness and it's still pretty bright.
If you don't like the disk I/O speed (I think it's fine) you can always put a SSD in this as it's a standard SATA disk drive. There are USB ports on the left AND one eSATA/USB on the right, so you can use either one.
My laptop actually did have a gigabit network adapter (not the 10/100 listed here) but no jumbo frames support :( Typical with Broadcom.
Oh, and Windows 7, 64bit is amazing. You have the full 4GB of system memory and 1GB of video.
Cons?:
No scroll lock button, no pause/break button. Not sure how if there is some hidden Fn shortcut to get these. But who uses these really? There's no Fn num-pad, but really, I never used that. The wireless enable/disable switch is a capacitive touch button right above the keyboard. It's easy to accidentally hit it and turn the wireless off and not realize it.
I also do all my programming and college work in this computer and I'm very happy with it.Very nice laptop. I shopped obsessively. I looked at many different laptops in this size/power class and ended up with this one. I'm very pleased with its looks and performance, especially for the price. The 1920 x 1080 screen is very nice. The keyboard has a nice feel. It gets warm but not excessively hot. My only complaint is with the optical drive, it is very noisy and it seems to spin up for no apparent reason sometimes. This is a desktop replacement for me and it also needed to run 3D games reasonably well. It runs Half Life 2 with everything cranked and runs my Realflight 4.5 Simulator very well also.Purchased this computer a few weeks ago for my son who is heading to college and we have been very happy with it. Sleek, responsive, and able to handle gaming and media applications with the well-above-average video card, memory, display and processor combination. All for under $1000.00? Impressive. A fingerprint magnet, which bothers some, but is not a big deal to me. Battery life is average compared to the other laptops I have owned, but acceptable, and I am confident, but admittedly have not looked, that an aftermarket upgrade at battery is available. I have seen complaints that it runs hot, but have not experienced that, at least not hotter than any other laptop with a dedicated video card running during intensive applications and certainly not uncomfortably so. The fan is partially blocked by the monitor, but does its job, and for long sessions of gaming I would recommend a secondary cooling device for any laptop. I have also seen at least one review indicate that the video card was not good for gaming, but other independent reviews of the specific card and pc configuration, and my own experiences, refute that, this pc was built with demanding gaming in mind, while not sacrificing portability or versatility.
I have only one beef with the purchase. Amazon no longer price guarantees its products. This machine dropped in price $35.00 shortly after I purchased it (within a week). I still had it, unopened, and contacted Amazon about a price credit, and was basically told to pound sand. The most frustrating thing about that was I could have simply returned it for a full refund under the 30 day return policy for unopened computers, and bought another one at the new price, discounting my price savings by the 15 dollars or so in return shipping costs (I do not think the return policy covers that), and when I pointed that out to Amazon, I was invited to go ahead and do that. To me, it appeared Amazon was effectively banking on the fact that I would not go through such hassle for such a "small" savings. And they were correct, but only because I did not want to be empty handed for my son's 18th birthday. So they won my business with a good price on a great machine, but lost my respect as a company for such poor customer service. I make many internet purchases, and absent a serious reason to do so, will not be shopping at Amazon in the future.
EDIT REVIEW after I wrote this it got me worked up all over again so I contacted Amazon a second time and low and behold I was given a 35 dollar credit! While they deserved the smack on the nose with a rolled up paper they got for how I was treated the first time, they likewise deserve a treat and an attaboy for eventually doing the right thing. Amazon you have won back my business.This is the first Dell i purchase since ever, I was expecting the experience i received when i got this great PC, and i got it.
Pros: Light, excellent performance, great LED display (It has better resolution than the M17X from Alienware), i love the glowing buttons, strong case, GREAT MULTIMEDIA PERFORMANCE.
Cons: Lack of cases and Backpack's for this size of Laptop, Glossy finish leaves fingerprints all over the PC, it is hard to keep it without them, When playing a few games it gets very hot (Dirt 2 on Medium graphics), because of Dell applications it takes a while to get it started.
It has a great value, i purchased this laptop at a great price and i received more than expected, A+ purchase, will get another Dell like this one when i get my next purchase.
The only thing im waiting to find is the leather finish from the case, never able to find it!
Toshiba Satellite C875-S7340 17.3-Inch Laptop (Satin Black Trax)
This laptop offers a well-balanced set of features for its intended purpose: not an ultralight machine for entertainment but something closer to a desktop PC for serious work. The display is attractive, the speed is good thanks to the Intel i3 processor, memory and storage capacity are adequate. In my case, it was an excellent value for the money since I bought a practically similar machine for $399.I had some reservations about a machine running windows 8. After a few days of use I am reassured that it was a good choice. I started out in the tiled mode but soon discovered the Desktop mode. This is how I will use it, with few exceptions. I like to have the option of the two modes:
The windows8 mode (tiles) is perfect for playing around or for those who are best at clicking or touching after being spoiled by tablets. I think I understand the reason for Microsoft giving this mode preference: money. What used to be 'programs' are now 'apps', with the difference that they now ask one to 'accept' something or enter data to milk our personal information, and try to suck us into some 'store' to buy... more 'apps'. I have immediately removed from the start menu the tiles of the most stupid 'apps', and will only use this mode when I allow myself to be childish.
The 'Desktop' mode is the real one for productive work. I promptly installed the program "Start8" that makes the PC boot into this desktop mode and restores the Start button to its function in windows 7. After trying it out I'll spend the $4.99 to permanently use Start8.
Buy Toshiba Satellite C875-S7340 17.3-Inch Laptop (Satin Black Trax) Now
This computer has an awesome CD/DVD burner! We run a DJ/KJ show and the burner is super important for creating and backing up music as well as playing customer CD+G or MP+G discs. Great big hard drive to store digital music.Read Best Reviews of Toshiba Satellite C875-S7340 17.3-Inch Laptop (Satin Black Trax) Here
It's not a bad computer but the keys feel cheap and the touchpad isn't smooth. It came with Windows 8 which was a pain to get setup since no documentation came with the computer. Since it doesn't have a touchscreen I would have rather had Windows 7 installed.Want Toshiba Satellite C875-S7340 17.3-Inch Laptop (Satin Black Trax) Discount?
Toshiba Satellite C875-S7340 17 inch Laptop went still wrapped in the Amazon packing box to Best Buy Geek Squad for set up (I have a 3 computer set up and repair contract with Geek Squad). Here is the Geek Squad report: "Unit was purchased from Amazon and is missing many software that comes from manufacturer. Also had diagnostics software that started at boot that put unit to sleep every 30 sec. Recommend returning to Amazon for refund or exchange."I sure think Toshiba should send me a new laptop for saving them the trouble this model will bring to them if they don't take it off the market ASAP. It went on sale at Amazon on 11/12/12. I bought it the day prior and so was one of the first buying it at Amazon. I am not fond of buying junk that needs to be returned especially $599.00 junk. Gee Wiz how much does the Toshiba CEO make in an hour. Please multiply that by about 6 hours of my time and send me the money whoever you are!
Toshiba Satellite L505-S5990 Laptop Notebook - Intel® CoreTM 2 Duo T6500 2.1GHz ? 16.0" widescreen
Found this at BB for a pretty good price. I was a bit worried about the weight and size, but overall it is very nice.Pros:
Large, full keyboard with big keys.
beautiful 16 inch HD screen, very impressive.
Excellent processor, Hard Drive, graphics card, and webcam.
Nice touchpad (besides the buttons).
Cons:
Touchpad buttons suck, very large and clunky.
This sucker is heavy!
Finish picks up a lot of finger prints, smudges.
Status lights are tiny with bad labels.
Volume wheel looks like it could be broke off easily.
The volume level leaves MUCH to be desired, its rather quiet for my taste. Mine came loaded with Windows 7, we will see how that goes.
The keyboard takes some getting used to as it feels cramped when you are used to a full dedicated keyboard without 10key. So far the display is crysal clear, videos and switching between tasks has been seamless.
Webcam only works if you have a ton of lighting around which is slightly disappointing.
For the price, its not bad.
Warranty and service so far seems adequate.I was able to purchase this computer at Best Buy for $500, slightly less than Amazon. The computer is light, has a nice size screen and the keyboard is sleek and easier than most to type on. Also, there is a little roller at the front of the computer that allows you to manipulate the volume with your finger. Most laptops do not have the ability to do this which was a main selling feature for me. The only problem is that the speakers are weak so if you use a lot of sound, but separate speakers. The battery does last a decent amount of time.
I have to say I am pretty annoyed with this computer right now because both IE and Mozilla constantly crash on me. They browser freezes up at least 5-7 times a day and requires me to close out. But when I go back to IE, it does take me back to all the pages I was on when it crashed. Also, my home Internet signal works fine yet the computer loses the signal and stalls out a few times a day. And after it finds the connection again this piece of crap takes forever to get to the Internet.
Overall it is a good computer but knowing what I know I am absolutely would NOT buy this computer. I would pay a little extra for a faster, stronger computer. I may send it in to be fixed under the limited warranty but the problems I have seem to be ones that would be hard to identify and fix.Pros:
-Buttons aren't too big or too small
-Nice, big 16" 720p screen
-Easy access
-Built-in Wireless adapter
-Realtek HD Audio is good for headphone or additional speaker use
-Excellent for watching videos
-Plenty of RAM and HDD space
-SD card slot
Cons:
-Volume adjuster is a bit too retro
-Speakers doesn't have a very good quality, compared to other Toshiba laptops
-Not made for heavy video gaming(setting graphics to max)
-Only 2 USB ports
Good working laptop, for media use; not able to keep up on the latest video games, if you set the graphics too high; recommend low graphic settings.
Not a lot of bass on the speakers; I recommend using additional speakers or headphones, if you want a good experience when listening to music or watching videos.
I won't say anything about the touchpad, since I rarely use touchpads. However, setting up the touchpad can be fun. I'll never guess there being a option that adds inertia to the cursor, when using the touchpad, and bounces off the edges of the screen, if I didn't see it on there.Compré este equipo y en mi opinión es una portátil que reune buenas características. Por ejemplo, la pantalla de 16 pulgadas se ve excelente, la tarjeta gráfica es de lo mejor. Con ella he podido correr juegos que requieren muchos recursos de memoria y video y los juego sin ninguna novedad.
Con respecto al procesador, lo considero bastante rápido, la capacidad del disco duro, apropiada.
Es diseño y el acabado es elegante si no se ensucia, el peso es regular, no calienta mucho pero si no quieres que se caliente, puedes usar las bases de ventiladores externos de esos que venden en las tiendas de computación.
Lo único malo es que el acabado del case y del teclado hace que se marquen mucho con las huellas de los dedos y manos. Hay que estarle pasando un paño sutil para dejarla como nueva.
Otra cosa buena de este equipo es que trae incorporado el teclado numérico como en las desktop, lo cual facilita las operaciones matemáticas, por ejemplo.
En resumen, recomiendo esta laptop por su precio, por sus características y por el respaldo de la marca.
Samsung Series 9 NP900X3A-B01 13.3-Inch Laptop
Alright, I wanted to be the first one to review this specific version of the Samsung S9 so here I am. First off, I'd like to say i'm a college student that was in need of a solid Laptop, as i'm majoring in Graphic Design next year. I researched this product endlessly before I bought it, and after working with it for some time I wanted to write a more full review than from what I've seen.My Experience: I'm 20 and have been using a PC my whole life, I was glad to see an Ultraportable Windows computer on the market. I am extremely skilled with W7, and have no biases against the Mac OS X having used it as well. My main reasoning behind my decision by choosing the SS9 over the MBA (Macbook Air) is my skill with W7. If you are a dedicated Mac user I wouldn't bother reading my review at all, buy the MBA V2 (second generation). Whereas the SS9 seriously out-specs the MBA V1.
The Design: To kick my review off I'm going to get into the design first. Destruction, this Laptop destroys all other PC's design in a single look, but this isn't anything new. The duralumin is clearly strong, lightweight, and clean. I've read complaints about it being a fingerprint magnet, however, I haven't had any issue with fingerprints. Personally, I don't have a lot of oil off my hands and am generally a clean person, I'm not sure if this is the issue constituting that argument. And even if you do have this issue the laptop is black, not much shows up, and if it does it's an easy clean due to the material. One of the things that makes this laptop for me, ontop of the matte screen, is the ability to hide the ports on the side. Not only does it increase portability and look cool, it protects your ports from damage and dust.
The Keyboard: If you've used a Macbook the keys are extremely similar in feel and are of high quality, however, completely different in usage. The SS9's F key options were utilized well in development, by pressing Fn and F1 it brings up a management screen specifically designed for this Laptop. In the application, you can alter the Wi-Fi, turn on "Silent Mode" + Bluetooth, adapt brightness, change the levels of backlight on the Keyboard and even set the backlight to turn off after a predefined amount of time being ideal (to save battery). Also, there are options to turn on "Battery Life Extender" which boosts the battery's life and minimal performance cost. And Lastly, there is the option to turn on "Fast Start", which shuts down the computer momentarily when you close the lid to save battery and starts up in 3 seconds, "Chargeable USB" which can charge your iPod or any other USB connected device while the SS9 is off, and "Movie Color Enhancer" which increases all movie displays. All of these options are simple and easy to adjust(Fn + F1). As for the rest of the F key options, now that I'm done explaining F1, are even better. F2 + F3 increase in decrease screen brightness, F4 easily changes external display, F5 disables touchpad, F6 easily turn on and off the "Battery Life Extender" that was also accessible in the F1 menu, F7 + F8 increase and decrease Keyboard backlight, F9 mutes the audio, F10 + F11 increase and decrease audio, and F12 is the Wi-fi. Needless to say it's extremely usable.
The Performance: The i5 processor coupled with the SSD makes this Laptop the fastest one I've used. The system does come with pre-loaded applications, therefore, it's necessary to uninstall them. If you're not sure what to delete simply google it, if your SS9 detects something important was deleted, such as a driver, upon startup it will prompt you to re-install it easily. If you don't want to deal with this you can purchase this laptop from the Microsoft store and purchase their plan to wipe the system of useless programs, I've heard it was nice especially considering the limited storage space.
The Wi-Fi + Tracpad: I've brought this up on concerns for the bad Wi-Fi and Tracpad issues, which were something I watched for as I purchased the SS9. Currently, I'm typing this as far away from the router as possible, across the house on the second story, and have honestly had no issue. Occasionally the Wi-Fi bar at the bottom will read it's low, however, if i click on it and it displays the connection it shows much higher bars, and I notice no difference in the speed even from being right next to the router. I'm not sure if this issue is exclusive to only some models however, I could easily use the stressed Wi-Fi I'm using now for schoolwork, intensive projects, or media streaming. I say "stressed" Wi-Fi only due to the distance from the router not the performance. Overall, I'd keep an eye on this issue when you first purchase your Laptop but from my experience with mine this is a folk tale in my mind. As for the tracpad I am more of a mouse person, the Samsung 2.4GHz Mouse looks and performs great with my SS9. However, despite my lack of the issue if for some reason god hates you and this happens to you, just re-install the drivers, it's not an issue concerning the actual tracpad itself. The way I see it this is a quick fix even if you experience the issue, nothing to defer you away from the product.
If you're a skilled Windows user and you're looking for an Ultraportable laptop, don't be swayed into the slim Macbook Air you can grab at bestbuy, because eventhough you can't touch it the SS9 destroys the MBA is looks. This is something you've got to see. They SS9 and the MBA (VERSION 2) have the exact same processor, 128SSD, Intel HD 3000 Graphics, but the SS9 sports a 400nit display (brighter) and has duralumin exterior that's not only awesome looking, it makes your Laptop LAST. For me, I was satisfied with my order. If you have any questions or concerns please post a reply to this.
I'll add onto this review as I use the laptop more. Hope this review helps.
UPDATE AUGUST 9TH 2011
Now that i've used the laptop even more I do have some things to add to my review:
I've sent back my Samsung S9 NP900X3A-B01 but for one reason; hard drive space. I just bought the Samsung Series 9 NP900X3A-B02 13.3" which has 256GB of SSD space. Honestly, I could have worked with the 80+GB SSD especially considering my organizational skills. However, I felt that more space would give me room to stretch, as I am using this computer for college.
If you're not willing to pay for the extra SSD, see my "Other Thoughts" section below.
SIDE NOTE: (The SSD upgrade from 128GB to 256GB did cost me more money $1,303 compared to $1,635. However, if you're in the market for a Macbook Air and you want the increase in SSD space as well you'll be paying about the same for the extra hard drive space) -ofcourse i'm talking about Gen 2 MBA.
I've uploaded wireless information that I used on my old SS9 to all of you here reading this, in hopes that if you do occur the WiFi issue this can be a quick fix for you. Here are my WiFi settings:
Intel(R) Centrino(R) Advanced-N 6230
2.4 Band 20 MHz Only
5.2 Band Auto
N Mode Enabled
ad Hoc QoS Mode WMM Disabled
Fat Channel Intolerant Disabled
Mixed Mode Protection CTS-to-self Enabled
Preferred Band No Preference
Roaming Aggressiveness 4. Medium-High
Transmit Power 5. Highest
Wireless Mode 6. 802.11a/b/g
Driver Date 1/4/2011
Driver Version 14.0.2.2
Now if you're not sure how to get to these settings got to: Control Panel> click "Category" in the upper right corner, and select "Small Icons">Device Manager> WiFi Adapters> Under it should list your WiFi card (Intel(R) Centrino(R) Advanced-N 6230)>"Advanced" tab>And you're there.
SIDE NOTE: Make sure to first Check to see if your Driver Version is 14.0.2.2 if not you can easily update it by simply clicking "Driver" right next to the "Advanced" tab, and updating it there.
I also recommend routinely checking for WiFi driver updates.
My long Story: A few weeks ago my WiFi was incredibly slow, my SS9 was struggling to even get up webpages. So I go downstairs and hard wire my SS9 directly into my router to see if i saw increased speed...(cuz i'm a bit scared my SS9's WiFi was ready to leave me) and it was just as slow. My brother came down and asked why his desktop was struggling and when we resolved it, our Internet Service Provider (ISP) was failing hard. My point in telling this story was that if you do occur some WiFi issues with the SS9 it's not always the laptop itself, which is why I think I see so many harsh reviews on it.
To this day I have had no issue with my WiFi. (that was the 1 time).
Other Thoughts: Everything is running smoothly, just as it should, I do love this laptop and honestly there's nothing else to say about it. However, I would like to show a few tips i've learned:
The Mouse: A few tips I would like to add is directed to mouse users like me. I recommend buying a Bluetooth mouse for your SS9. It will enable you to really harness the portability of this laptop (because you do not need to remove a USB port to operate it). I just open my SS9 in the sun or wherever I want to work and turn on my mouse.
If you're not willing to pay for the extra SSD there are other valid options to this problem if you have them. Buying an external portable HD can instantly solve your HD issue. I recommend a 500GB to 1TB.
Another option is to simply grab a 16GB 32GB 64GB Flash Drive. I bought a 16GB, which provides me with enough space to move anything I want. Usually, I will keep files I'll need soon on my Flash Drive and archive larger ones in my external HD. It's up to you.
I'd put more in here but I'm bored. I'll update when I feel like it. hope my review helps and thanks for reading.
UPDATE AUGUST 10TH 2011
I noticed some prices on several Samsung Series 9 Models and realized how mis-priced some of them are so I wanted to talk about the deals available for the given prices concerning each individual model:
NP900X3A-B01 128GB SSD $1,300
NP900X3A-A02 128GB SSD $1,610
NP900X3A-B02 256GB SSD $1,645
NP900X3A-A03 128GB SSD $1,440
Essentially, the best deal by far is the B02 with 256GB SSD which matches the A02's price range. However, I think the A Series offers 3Year Warranties, which if you're clumsy might be good for you, but for the rest I would recommend the better model.
NP900X3A-A05 256GB SSD i7 Intel $1,980
If you can afford it the A05 is an incredible machine, it's out of my price range and if you're going to get a laptop with specs like this one I wouldn't recommend it. This is not a solid gaming computer only due to the integrated Intel HD 3000 graphics card. I say this because there is no reason to run an i7 processor unless you're gaming, anything less that gaming does not constitute the price increase.
So I ordered the SS9, despite all negative reviews. It holds its ground really well against the MBAir, and even aesthetically looks better, except for the surfaces fingerprints stains all over. However, the WiFi issue was still there: ~1/10 of other laptop's bandwidth test in downloading speed, and terrible reception. I was sure in my gut that they simply used poor quality antenna, because the Intel WiFi adapter is top notch...
To resolve the WiFi issue: go to Samsung website and download under "Drivers" tab WLAN_Intel_64bit_14.1.1.3 COMPLETELY RESOLVES THE WIFI ISSUE
To resolve the annoying auto dimming of the display: press Fn+F1 and uncheck "Adaptive brightness"
One more issue to be aware of: to replace the battery you'll have to ship the laptop to one of their service locations (I know of one in Buena Park, CA and another one in TX). The replacement takes 5-10 biz days + the shipping. Doing it on your own voids Samsung's 3yr warranty. This really sucks due to 1)the long time w/o your favorite tool, and 2) you'll have to remove all sensitive info from the computer, including your cookies, browsing history and saved passwords, and then put it all back. I wish they had a batch file to perform all that for you.
Buy Samsung Series 9 NP900X3A-B01 13.3-Inch Laptop Now
My job supposes a lot of mobility. Have few offices to visit regularly, sometimes have to work virtually anywhere (outside of the Town, in my car, in a plane etc.) At the same time I need my work device to be able to run graphical and sound software (which might be quite demanding in terms of performance). I have to say Series 9 totally handles my every need. Here's the list of pros that in my opinion make this laptop the best of ultrathin mobile laptops at the moment:* Incredibly fast boot: it boots whithin 3 seconds if in sleep mode, and less than 15 seconds if shut down allowing to start working immediately.
* Lightweight, slim and slick. Can carry it wherever I go. I'm not really the guy loving to show off with my stuff but no matter whether I want it or not, it does attract other's attention.
* Really bright screen: my previous laptop (ASUS M50VM) had a real dim display and it was glossy making it a real pain in the ass when I tried to work outside, uptown, breathing fresh air. The display at S9 is bloody awesome, you can work with sun shining right into it and still be able to see everything.
* Powerful and blazing fast: can run graphical software (like Photoshop or Flash), sound software (like Audition or FL Studio) 2d and 3d games, and because of SSD and USB 3.0 file management (copying/pasting internal/external) is really fast.
* Quiet. In some reviews before buying I read that it makes a lot of noise. It's not true: even if I put my ear right to it I hardly can hear the sound of coolers.
* Backlit keyboard. Too late, Apple.
* It's not MacBook Air: explains itself.
Now despite all pros there still are few cons (which is normal), and if these are cruical for you, you should consider another laptop.
* Really bad touchpad. I never noticed how the touchpad was working on my ASUS M50VM until now. It's said that you may not notice good thing until it's gone. The touchpad is Achilles' heel of Sammy's Series 9. You might accidently touch it while typing. In fact as I was typing this I had to return the cursor in the right position for about 5 times because of this. Of course this isn't a problem when you use mouse, you can disable touchpad with an Fn+F5 key combination. But when you hold the laptop on your knees usually you don't have how to use mouse. It was a bad decision to get rid of touchpad buttons. You have to look at touchpad every time otherwise you can just hit the wrong mouse button. Working with MS Visio or other stuff that requires a lot of mouse becomes hard as a hell. I really hope they will find a way to fix this with driver updates.
* Not quite good sound speakers, but it's not a big deal. When I want to listen to quality music I either wear my Beyerdynamic DT-770 headphones or use my KRK RP6 studio speakers. I don't expect the tiny laptop sound like a cinema theater. It's loud enough and that's enough for me.
If these two things are not a huge problem for you (as they aren't for me) this is a great choice in terms of mobility and performance. Besides you get it in a really cool packaging.
Read Best Reviews of Samsung Series 9 NP900X3A-B01 13.3-Inch Laptop Here
This machine is loaded with terrific features. It boots incredibly fast, the display is amazing, and the keyboard response is wonderful. The touchpad did take some getting used to, but wasn't a big deal.However, I cannot recommend this device for one reason: the blasted power cord doesn't attach firmly to the laptop. When I pick up the laptop, it falls out. When I move the laptop, it falls out. When I close the lid, it falls out. Sometimes it just falls out for no apparent reason. Worse, sometimes it doesn't fall all the way out, but it just kind of hangs there, not charging the battery. This is especially annoying, since there are no indicators that the machine is charging when the lid is closed. Thus, I have closed the lid, the power cord has jiggled and disconnected, and the next morning my laptop isn't fully charged.
This is incredibly bad design in a machine that is otherwise superb.
About 3 weeks ago, I started having the wireless problem other users have noted. I went to the online help provided by Samsung to report both the wireless problem and the problem with the cord. I spent a frustrating hour there, with instructions like, "plug the cord FIRMLY into the machine." Annoyed, and not expecting much, I called the 1-800 number for service the next day during business hours. I am pleased to report that this worked out extraordinarily well. The person on the phone line was helpful, courteous, and prompt. Within 15 minutes I had a return authorization for both problems. Ten days later, I have my machine back. Both problems are fixed. The cord no longer falls out, and the wireless is impeccable. I'm now again delighted with my laptop.
My only reservation is with the build quality; I've owned 8-9 laptops previously, and this is the first time I've had to send a new machine in for service. This is a great machine, now that it's working...but for over $1000, shouldn't it have worked in the first place?
Want Samsung Series 9 NP900X3A-B01 13.3-Inch Laptop Discount?
-The Trackpad: It sucks. No driver updates have changed that. It's not that it has a problem distinguishing between gestures, but it seems to lack any sort of sensitivity. No, I do not mean mouse movement speed, I mean the accuracy of it detecting fingers present on the pad. I have a 5 year old laptop that you could glide your fingers across and the mouse would move accordingly. This one only seems to pick up fingers gliding near the center of the track pad, leave the center and it actually requires some pressure for it to pick up your fingers. Considering that the track pad is central to a laptop, this is incredibly disappointing.The only gesture I really have a problem with is scrolling up and down. There is major lag between the time you scroll with your fingers and the time it takes the page to scroll. You will either scroll too far or not far enough because of this insane delay.
-The Screen: I understand that Samsung decided on a matte screen for anti glare, but on a laptop that is designed around aesthetics, it's hideous. There is a distinct lack of clarity which becomes increasingly noticeable on lower brightness settings. I thought ClearType was disabled when I bought it, but it turns out that is just how to the screen works. Want to simulate it on a glossy screen? Go turn ClearType off and look at the jagged artifacting around the text on the desktop icons and various windows. That is what a matte screen looks like all of the time.
Now for the positives:
-Battery Life The laptop has three power modes you can choose with the fn keys. Power saver, balanced, and max performance. On power saver, I get an average of 5-6 hours of battery life with wifi enabled.
-The Keyboard It has very quiet and sensitive keys. I find it very enjoyable to type on.
-The Duralumin Body Other than the fact it looks awesome and is very light, everything about the body styling is perfect. The screen closes and opens smoothly, the edges are nicely tapered, and it feels much more solid than the mac book air without being much heavier.
-Runs Cool it won't warm your lap. After watching a 2 hour movie with the fan partially obstructed by my blanket, the bottom of the laptop is barely warm.
-Very quiet because of how seldom the fan comes on, and because of the solid state drive, the laptop is virtually silent under all conditions.
-The Wi-FiI haven't had any issues with Wi-Fi connectivity. Supposedly it has been resolved with the latest drivers.
Bottom Line: Get a portable bluetooth mouse, if you can stand one, and the laptop is easily the best ultrabook out there.
It gets 3 stars, because to me, the trackpad is the center piece of the laptop, I hate carrying around extra stuff, and needing a mouse for a laptop is absolutely ridiculous. The trackpad apologist reviews are saying you know, "oh you get used to it". No, the lack of any consistency with mouse movement is not something you simply get used to.
Samsung NP-RV515-A02US 15.6-Inch Laptop
I just purchased one of these laptops yesterday, (1.28.2012). They were on sale at Tiger Direct for $350 + tax. I needed an Home Theater PC and this laptop was recommended to me, (by someone who was really into HTPC's), as a perfect fit for that application. The reason this laptop serves as a great HTPC is because of it's AMD, Dual Core Chip which separates Graphics section from the rest of the chip, it's also got the HDMI port built right into the side, so it's easy to hook up to your big screen LCD or LED. I am a Mac user, owning a Mac Book Pro an iPad and a couple of iPod touches, so generally speaking, I do not like machines with Windows operating systems on them. I have to say though, Windows 7 is a breeze to set up. I didn't have any of the issues that the other reviewer, (Edward Lan) had. The machine started up fine and took me through the setup process effortlessly. Based on Mr. Lan's review, I did not get into letting the operating system update, it did not ask, so I didn't go down that road. I plan on optimizing the machine to use it only as an HTPC, which means I will be stripping most all of the unnecessary programs off of it and it will sit next to the tv. I should note that I purchased the RV515 to replace a Logitech Revue, an Apple TV (2nd Generation) and a Sony BDP-S570, all of which did not provide an acceptable user experience when running the internet into a large LCD. The body of the unit is composed entirely of plastic, (in contrast to Mac which is rigid aluminum), so care needs to be taken when handling it. If you're planning on buying this laptop for a child, it would be great to have a rigid shell to use a cover or exoskeleton. I will probably end up buying a Square Trade warranty to cover it for 3 years. I'm very impressed with the unit, the software and ease of operation so far. As an HTPC, it's a perfect fit.
I really appreciate that this PC was bloatware free.
Plus full size quiet keyboard. The Touchpad works similar to touchscreens. (If this was a touchscreen my world would be complete....)
If you buy a MS PC June-Dec 2012 you can upgrade to Win 8 Pro for only $14.99 when it is available.
If you need a new computer and are on a budget you can't go wrong with this one.
Buy Samsung NP-RV515-A02US 15.6-Inch Laptop Now
I love my new laptop. It is easy to use, its on the cheap side as for cost, but still an excellent computer. It came with Microsoft Office Starter, and it works awesome, loads slower than full Office and you have to deal with the advertisements, but great none the less. When my niece saw the laptop and how well it worked for me she asked me to order her one for college and she is very happy with hers also.Read Best Reviews of Samsung NP-RV515-A02US 15.6-Inch Laptop Here
Super Fast StartupI'm loving it!
Has very sensitive touchpad that I need to get used to when typing, and I have set up to use a wireless mouse.
Want Samsung NP-RV515-A02US 15.6-Inch Laptop Discount?
I bought this laptop for the price, and got what I paid for. 11 months after purchase the wifi card died. Two weeks later, the HDD crashes. I called Samsung customer support, and was told they don't warranty the wifi card, HDD, or other components because they don't actually manufacture them. Then I'm told I can send it in, and for only $100 they'll diagnose it. For more $$ they'll fix it for me. What a scam.
HP G62-140US 15.6-Inch Laptop (Bronze)
I bought this laptop after doing quite a bit of research, looking for a replacement for the family computer at a reasonable price point. Considering the value of the computer against the price, I think this is a good deal, though this machine is not ideal for all uses. This computer is good for general use, such as surfing the net, playing the occasional game or working on spreadsheets. It's neither a heavy gaming rig nor a heavy-duty business machine, but it is sufficient for almost any everyday task that can be thrown at it. This is the ideal for which I was looking. In that capacity it does itself proud.Having previously bought a Hewlett-Packard laptop I had hoped that this machine would have the standard media set, meaning recovery disks and documentation, but this is not the case. HP has elected to require the owner to make their own recovery media, which is a cost-saving measure for HP and a tedious annoyance for end-users. To be fair, it seems that most manufacturers have taken this route, so this should come as no surprise. Making recovery media requires 3 single-layer DVDs, and the creation tool says that either DVD+R or DVD-R platters are acceptable. I did not try dual-layer media.
On first boot, the user is greeted with a welcome/setup application that guides the user through the process of setting up wireless networking, naming the user account and of course registration. I personally think this application is very cartoony in appearance, using the image of hands to walk you through turning pages and transition screens. While it's clear HP is targeting home users with this approach, it seems out of place for more professional use. It's a personal preference, though, and it accomplishes the end goal.
Once booted up into Windows 7 the first time, the barrage of "Register Me" and "Activate this Software" popup windows began and it not only was distracting and annoying but it interfered with my personal setup. In the middle of creating the recovery media, a window popped over top of the recovery application asking if I wanted to make recovery DVDs. I would have preferred that it detect the process in progress, or at most give me a system tray notification instead. Though annoying, this can be dealt with either by activation/registration or performing an uninstall of the offending application(s).
My first order of business was to strip the extra stuff I don't want from the OS. I removed MS Office 2007 trial and I removed all things Norton/Symantec. This was mercifully very easy and quick. Now, that said, for the user that actually wants these applications (and I suspect there's quite a few people who do) having these pre-installed will be very convenient. For me, I have no intention of using any of these as I have software for which I have licenses already, so I removed them.
Some people have difficulties with the touch pad, though I have not. I personally dislike most laptop touchpads and this one is no exception though it works as it should and is flush with the rest of the plastic shell. That said, the touchpad "mouse buttons" are actually one unified rocker button that is stiff and unresponsive.
The keyboard is another matter entirely. Though I have had no issues with the keyboard, I am concerned that the wireless adapter is enabled and disabled through the F12 key, not separated from the rest of the keys on the keyboard. This is asking for trouble for people that do not use a separate keyboard. HP can expect complaints about the wireless getting cut on and off via bad keystrokes.
Another puzzling design decision is that there appears to be no latch for the laptop lid. It simply opens or closes, no more or less. In my case this is not a major issue as the system will sit on a desk and not move; for those on the go this could be a potential issue, especially if the computer is dropped. Keep this in mind.
None of the ports on this unit are on the back; all of them are located on the sides, including the power and the VGA interfaces. At first this bothered me. I can see some wisdom in it now, though, because of the hinge and the ability to move the system flush with the back of the desk which is against the wall. Again, this is beneficial for me. If you are left-handed, though, this could be very problematic as two of the USB ports, the HDMI port and the VGA interface are all on the left and if all of those are plugged in the cords will interfere with external mice. In my case I am connecting an external monitor, mouse and keyboard so the system does not need to be directly in front of the user.
In terms of performance, this is a peppy system. There's 4 GB of RAM, expandable to 8, which gives Windows and applications plenty of breathing room. The processor is 2.13 GHz with 2 cores, sufficient for most software (though not for high-end games). The hard drive is a 7200-RPM drive, a very noticeable upgrade from the 5400-RPM drive in my older HP. The graphics adapter is really the only weakness when it comes to speed, but even so it is still a decent graphics adapter and will work just fine for the majority of users.
I do like the styling with the interesting texture and color of the plastic shell. It is most certainly not necessary but it's a break from the ordinary that makes this laptop a little more interesting. HP did a great job with making the touchpad seamless, too, which will keep crud from gathering in the edges.
Overall, I am satisfied with this system. It meets the needs for which I purchased it, it's stylish and it performs well. It is by no means perfect, but at the price point it's more system than I could otherwise ask for. If you need a good workhorse laptop that is affordable, this is a good candidate. Be aware that there are a few negatives too, such a port placement, when purchasing, though an argument can be made for the negatives being no more than personal preference.
The only annoying software related dislike is the defualt of locking the Fn commands as I use the F1, F2, etc keys a lot. This requires messing with BIOS to turn off, but would be useful for an average user who doesn't understand what F-keys do.
I'm really annoyed with the input devices, though. The keyboard is mostly standard, but there's a couple of small things that annoy. The quick launch buttons on the left are useless and get in the way (I always hit "calculator" instead of Ctrl). Esc is shifted over the quick launch buttons, so I keep hitting F1 instead of Esc and F2 instead of F1, etc. There's nothing to differenciate the arrow keys from the other keys, so it's hard to use them without looking. Typing on the keyboard is nice, though.
The trackpad is really annoying. It's difficult to use without looking. If you have two fingers on the pad, it doesn't respond at all (if there's multitouch, I haven't figured out how to turn it on). It's fairly easy to accidentally touch while typing. When I close the lid and open it, it doesn't respond the first time I touch it (which leads to me closing windows and tabs accidentally trying to get the pad to respond). I've eventually learned to work with the trackpad, but that involved changing how I type and use the computer by holding my wrists up, which I really shouldn't have to do.
For the price I paid ($120 less than Amazon currently offers), I can live with the problems. Otherwise, they'd annoying enough for me to look at another manufacturer.
EDIT: Less than a year after buying the laptop, the battery is dead. It barely holds a charge (about 20-30 minutes) and dies unexpectedly (while reading over 20% left on the meter). I never kept the computer plugged in with a full battery charge (charge the battery, unplug, use down to 15-20%, charge again) and used it about 8 hours per day (off at night and while I'm at work). The death of the battery was very sudden: it seemed fine for the first 8-9 months of use, started turning off unexpectedly for a couple of weeks, and then completely failed to hold a charge.
Buy HP G62-140US 15.6-Inch Laptop (Bronze) Now
I am a college student and, like most college students, I'm pretty broke. Not only am I just a broke college student I am photographer and photoshop lover! I am going into photogrpahy and the computer that I had was over seven years old and bearly running. I needed and I mean needed a good laptop that had all the memory capablity that I needed to run PhotoShop and whatever other photo editing programs I needed.You could say that my needs for the right computer and my wallet size didn't really see eye to eye. Most of the computers I looked at(that I could afford) were always laking someing. It could be the screen size or the ram or some other little quirk that wouldn't fit my needs. So I was stressing!!
When I ordered this laptop I was so nervus because if it didn't work the way I needed it to then I would have been in a very sad state of mind! Not to mention this is one of my first orders off of Amazon!! (I was a nervus wreck waiting for my order to come in and trying to upload and install photoshop while holding my breathe and crossing my fingers that it would install perfectly haha).
When my laptop arravied it was perfect! I uploaded Adobe Creatve Suite 3 and the Topaz Labs bundle to it and it works like a charm! Oh, and I can work in PhotoShop AND listen to Pandora or ITunes at the SAME time!!! It's amazing! Even with all of the programs I have installed it is so so so fast!
If you are a college student and a photographer or photoshopper and are stressing about finding the right computer then this one is the one for you! You don't have to be a college student or a photographer to love it, but trust me you will love it!!!
Read Best Reviews of HP G62-140US 15.6-Inch Laptop (Bronze) Here
DO not purchase this laptop. I bought one and in two months the screen stopped working. Additionally, I heard that this has happened to a few other people that have purchased HP Laptops. Worst part about it is that HP would not help me b/c they said it is out of the "21" day warranty. What kind of company only covers their product for the first 21 days. At least offer a 90 coverage. This has been a very disappointing experience for me. I highly urge anyone considering purchasing this product to rethink their decision.Want HP G62-140US 15.6-Inch Laptop (Bronze) Discount?
I have owned HPs in the past and thought this would be a safe bet. However, after bringing it home from a screaming deal at best buy, I realized that I'd been had.The keyboard is terrible, the buttons don't press right, and it feels like they are not in the right places, and my fingers keep getting hung up on their edges since the press is so deep.
The track pad is worse, I've had to reinstall the trackpad driver to make it work again, and ever since, the palm detector is always limiting the track pad movement even if my palm is nowhere near the trackpad. It only moves a couple of pixels per swipe, it truly is the worst trackpad I have ever dealt with.
It overheats too easily, watching a video in bed causes the fan to go into overdrive and something on windows causes the problem to get worse as time goes on. Occasionally, I have to set it up next to a fan.
Unfortunately, I didn't use it much during the money back period, and I'm not sure what I can say if I send it back other than "I hate it. It makes me hate my life" and that doesn't seem very RMA-able.
I've bought cheapie computers in the past, and they've been great. This one is new and more expensive than I've typically bought, and I'd rather throw it away than have anyone else suffer this garbage.
Business Notebook 2510p-Intel Core 2 Duo U7500
Needed a backup laptop and didn't want to buy a new unit. Had one of these a few years back and thought it would do the job. The order arrived as promised and in the condition that was promised, actually a little better software than I expected. Runs great.
IBM ThinkPad X60 X-Series Laptop Computer WITH DOCKING STATION & Windows XP (Microsoft Authorized R
At 8.5 by 11 inches, fits in my wife's purse.Great keyboard, good screen, more powerful than a netbook, saves on power as a desktop replacement.
Is currently running PlayOn and Tonido, acting as a server.
Samsung Series 9 NP900X4C-A01US 15.0-Inch Ultrabook (Ash Black)
I'm replacing my 2009 model Dell Studio XPS 1640 that died on me with a bad motherboard hard drive connector :/I'm a consultant for several clients in San Diego and I use my laptop for EVERYTHING, so not having one meant work stoppage for several days and I needed a new one QUICK. I went to best buy, frys electronics and for whatever reason, costco. I needed to try out every model I could to make a quick, but informed decision.
I went with the Samsung Series 9, mostly because the Series 7 they had at Best Buy caught my eye and nothing else I got my hands on really compared.
The Good:
Battery Life The battery isn't nearly broken in yet, I have been downloading and installing software like crazy, and I'm getting about 7 hours with brightness set to the middle setting. (See below). I'm used to about 1 hour and 45 minutes with the XPS, so 7 hours is astonishing, and when the battery is broken in I'm sure it will be a few hours longer.
Matte screen & brightness I can actually use this thing outside! It was absolutely impossible using my XPS outside because of the gloss screen and good-for-indoors brightness. OK so I'm not joking when I say this thing is bright. On full brightness it's actually somewhat painful to look at it if you're in a dark room. It's great if you're outside at high noon on a sunny day, but I don't see myself ever going above 2/3rd brightness indoors.
Weight 3.6 pounds, sounds a little hefty until you look at it with the screen closed and how much real estate it occupies on your desk. It truly is astonishingly light.
Thickness .58" thick. That's with the screen closed. I found that it is only slightly thicker than a BIC lighter laying on it's side. When you open the screen you'll be amazed at how unbelievably thin it is. It actually makes me a little uncomfortable when I open it, thinking that my meat hooks will break it. But not to worry, it's quite strong.
Build quality It's solid. When I un-boxed it I was worried because of how thin it is and my tendency to be rough on things. But the all metal body is very, very strong.
Boot time With the SSD you can expect about 14-16 seconds.
Wake from sleep With Intel Rapid Start Technology you can expect wake time to be around 2 seconds. Yeah...2 seconds. IRST uses a partition on the SSD that is the same size as your memory, (8,192MB for this ultrabook) and caches the memory to the partition when it goes to sleep. So it's ridiculously fast.
Heat I got the chassis of the ultrabook just barely warm, and that's sitting on a pillow on my lap, downloading, installing software and charging the battery. There's a silent setting on the keyboard (FN + F11) that throttles the processors so it doesn't generate enough heat to use the fans. I couldn't get the fans to turn onto a setting high enough to hear it when I was doing regular work so I'd be hard pressed to get this thing hot enough for the fans to be audible. Bottom line, it's nice typing on a keyboard that isn't +90*F, or having sweaty legs when you're using it on your lap.
The OK:
The I5 1.7 Ghz processor & video chip is ample for my needs: I use SQL Server Management Studio, Visual Studio 2010, remote desktop and of course browsing the web. It's not great for 3d applications, I use Google Sketchup Pro fairly often to design simple wireframe furniture when I'm away from my office and finish off the design on my desktop at home. But it's acceptable, but not as good as my old XPS when it was healthy.
The keyboard. I love, love, love the keyboard on my old XPS. Keys were soft, but firm when you mashed them, always quiet, and thoughtfully placed. The keyboard on this Samsung is just ok. Somewhat noisy, but not that bad, the travel is short and when you reach the limit of it's travel it abruptly stops. Granted, the keyboard needed to be thin because you have to squeeze electronics and a battery below it, so it's not a negative, just something to be aware of if you're a keyboard snob like me.
The connector on the power cord. It's tiny and metal, a little bit smaller than a standard headphone jack, but it's hollow. I have actual fear that someone will tug on the cord (trip over it, or bump into it) and break the connector. Is it possible that there is fault protection built in so that the laptop won't short out? I hope so, but I'll just keep it charged and hope that the battery lasts most of the day so I don't have to worry about it.
The bad:
I really only have two complaints, and they're equally bad.
First off, the track pad is AWFUL. It's quite large for whatever reason. It means that your palm will touch it whenever you're typing and if you're not paying attention you'll be typing somewhere you didn't intend. So it's not only horrible when you're typing, it's awful to use! As far as I can tell from using it so far, there is no pressure sensitivity setting for clicking. If you want to move the cursor around, all of a sudden you'll notice that you're dragging a selection box, or moving icons around for no reason. I probably need more time to get used to it. I have gotten better but it's still an issue. Maybe they'll come up with driver updates...
UPDATE: Been using this for a few weeks now, still not used to it. I'm better at using it, but not great, I use a USB mouse whenever possible.
UPDATE 7/28/2012: There is a driver update out for the track pad! It allows you to turn off some features that cause all the problems (tap to drag, double tap to execute). That means they allow you to take away functionality to fix a problem that shouldn't have existed in the first place. It's now easier to type without causing you to accidentally click the mouse, but you lose some of the features every other laptop on the planet has. I neither added nor removed a star for this.
And next is the screen. Yes, it's bright, yes it's matte. But the contrast ratio is ABYSMAL (I can't find the site that actually told me the value but 175:1 comes to mind). Hard number's aside, you don't need them to realize that EVERYTHING is washed out. Some website backgrounds and text (such as Samsung's drivers page) is so faint that you can barely see them on this screen. It almost looks like a watermark... It is this reason, and this reason alone that I might consider returning this ultrabook. I'm going to give it a few days of use at work and see if I even notice, after all this is a work laptop and I'm only using it to write code.
UPDATE: I just played around with the display settings and got it to look not so horrible: Right click on desktop and go to Screen Resolution > Advanced Settings > Intel Graphics and Media Control Panel > Graphics Properties... Change it to Advanced Mode. General Settings > Color Enhancement Change the Color drop down menu to All Colors, adjust the Contrast and Gamma settings until a photo looks as normal as possible. My settings are:
Brightness: 31
Contrast: 40
Gamma: .7
Hue: 0
Saturation: 5
I'm sure I'll be playing with this as I go on, but for now it doesn't look absolutely awful, just mostly bad.
Dan brought up the keyboard backlight, if you need to look at the keys to type be aware that the backlight is a green color and is ridiculously dim. There are 4 adjustment settings, the first 3 are just about worthless, the 4th (brightest) looks like it should be the 1st or 2nd dimmest setting. It doesn't bother me much since I know the keyboards backwards and forward.
Other thoughts:
I upgraded to Windows 7 Ultimate almost immediately after it's first boot. The drivers on the samsung website all installed without a hitch if you install them in the proper order: Chipset first, everything else on the Samsung drivers page, but save IRST and HECI for last. Getting IRST to actually work after doing a fresh windows install is actually a pain, and I haven't been successful getting it to work yet. Copy and paste this into a Google search for a guide on notebookreview: "660222-samsung-series-9-np900x3b-np900x4b-guide-intel-rapid-start-technology"
Apparently amazon doesn't allow you to link to external websites so you'll have to search for it.
UPDATE: I got IRST working finally. I enabled UFEI in the BIOS, restarted, opened Easy Software Manager and it actually started working. Installed Rapid Start software automatically, restarted and voila! The 8.3 GB partition created automatically and no more error saying IRST not enabled. So it Is now safe to upgrade to any version of Windows 7 and retain use of all the Samsung software. As such I am upgrading my rating from 2 to 4 stars. (It really should only be 3.5...)
It comes with a 128SSD, but has partitions that you can't see (21.7 GB for recovery, 8.3 GB for IRST) so you're looking at usable disk space of 89.2 GB. I have just about all the software I use installed and it's only occupying ~40 GB. If you want to get that space back you'll have to delete the recovery partition, but you might have trouble returning the laptop if you choose to do so.
Windows Experience Index Ratings:
Processor: 6.9
RAM: 7.6
Graphics: 6.4
Gaming graphics: 6.4
Primary Hard Disk: 7.5
Bottom line: It's no desktop replacement, but it's adequate for my needs. Being unplugged for 7+ hours is ridiculously awesome. I can't wait for taking a day off to sit at a park, cafe or beach and working on both business, and my tan, that sounds sexy enough to keep this thing around. I'll be updating this review as I use it.
I purchased this machine (From ANTOnline don't do that, they have a 30% restocking fee). Only to discover that the 128 GB SSD only has 60GB available after OS install. It's 90GB before OS install as they use 8GB for hibernation partiion and 25GB for recovery partition. 60 GB is utterly unusable for me. So I thought i'd just upgrade it, but Samsung (pulling an Apple) decided that the SSD isn't user accessible so your stuck with the memory and SSD size.
Buy Samsung Series 9 NP900X4C-A01US 15.0-Inch Ultrabook (Ash Black) Now
First of all, I want to address some common criticisms of the 15 inch Series 9 (NP900X4C-A01US) in other reviews:Screen. Several have said the screen is "horrible" with very poor contrast and limited viewing angles. Perhaps Samsung has made some improvements but mine is just fine even with the out-of-the-box default settings. Yes it's sensitive to viewing angle in the vertical direction but you just adjust the angle of the screen and it looks quite good. Pictures, movies, and any combination of text and background colors I've yet seen all look reasonably good. The screen is better, overall, than a few Dells I have. Like any mat (vs glossy) screen the blacks are not as black but I prefer that over lots of annoying glare and reflections.
Touchpad. Some have said the touchpad is a problem. Again, I've had no issues with mine. The cursor doesn't randomly jump around, I didn't have to turn off the gestures or upgrade the driver, and it generally does what I want it to do. Again, it works vastly better than the multi-touch pad in my newest Dell. It's made by Elan.
WiFi. A few have complained the WiFi performs poorly. Granted I have a great WiFi router, but the Series 9 has equal or better signal strength anywhere in the house compared to my other laptops and devices. It's always 4 or 5 bars.
Upgrade Options. One negative review here complains the SSD can't be upgraded without voiding the warranty. I'm not sure that person is aware that most Ultrabooks, the Macbooks, etc. have the same issue and often use proprietary OEM SSD boards (as the this one does) rather than regular 2.5" drives. Sometimes the SSD is part of the motherboard. Laptops designed to use only an OEM SSD can be made thinner and lighter. If you want to pop the bottom off and upgrade components, get a regular laptop not an Ultrabook.
STRENGTHS:
Thin & Light. Samsung says it's the thinnest 15 inch laptop made and it's one of the lightest. The charger is also small and light. In a backpack you really notice the difference. It's nearly as powerful as a 15 inch Macbook Pro but far thinner, lighter, and cheaper.
Cool & Quiet. The fan almost never comes on and it has a silent mode if you manage to get it to come on. It also doesn't make any squeels, whines, chirps, or other noises that some laptops (even with an SSD) make.
Amazing Battery Life. I managed over 8 hours of constant use with the screen up fairly bright and heavily using the WiFi even on the first charge of the battery (it should improve further). With a full charge the time remaining estimate is often over 10 hours. For such a thin and light laptop with a fast CPU this is as good as it gets.
15 Inch Screen. A rare Ultrabook feature and Samsung wisely chose not to cram full HD 1920 into only 15 inches.
Well Done Industrial Design. Samsung is really giving Apple lots to worry about. This Ultrabook is every bit as sexy as any Apple laptop. The non-glossy dark charcoal metal finish isn't a fingerprint magnet like so many other laptops these days. The nearly all metal chassis is very rigid and well executed. The indicator LED's are very small, blue, and tastefully dim rather than blindlingly bright. There are many nicely done details.
Fast Boot & Wake Up. The SSD and fast i5 CPU really help here but Samsung has added their own fast wake up technology and it really works. Almost by the time you swing the screen fully open the logon screen is there and even a full "cold boot" is very speedy.
Lighted Keyboard. Many Ultrabooks don't have one including the 15 inch Vizio.
WEAKNESSES:
Sharp-ish Front Edge. There's a large palm rest area, and as long as you use it, the Samsung is comfortable to type on. But if you have big hands and like to rest against the front edge of the laptop, the metal edge there (just like all of Apple's current laptops) is a bit sharp and only slightly beveled.
Keyboard. For an island/chiclet style keyboard it's as good as any I've used and I like it better than the Macbook Air keyboard. The layout is great. But the keys have limited travel and my fingers don't naturally fall into place as readily as with more conventional older style keyboards. It's unfortunate Apple started this fashion trend and nearly all companies, including Samsung, have followed.
Upgradeability. As mentioned above, Ultrabooks are generally difficult or impossible to upgrade as they don't have any extra room in them. This isn't specific to this Samsung, it's true of most Ultrabooks. You should buy the model you need to begin with. At least with 8GB of RAM you shouldn't need to add memory.
SanDisk U100 SSD. Some NP900X4C-A01US laptops apparently ship with a Samsung SSD but mine has a Sandisk U100 128GB drive. So far it's plenty fast but the reviews of the U100 indicate it's a bit slower than a lot of newer SSDs. At least SanDisk knows a lot of about flash memory and it should be reliable.
Display. It's a normal TN LCD which means it has limited viewing angles--especially vertically. If you're doing critical graphics design, photo editing, etc. you may want a laptop with an IPS or otherwise better display. But for everything else, I think the display is fine.
Samsung Branding. The default Samsung-specific screen backgrounds, user icon, etc. are not all that visually pleasing but everything is easily changed. It's kind of odd Samsung did such a great job on the physical design and then made poor choices for the "soft" stuff.
WHY THE 15 INCH SERIES 9?
I did quite a bit of Ultrabook research and ended up with this one because:
15 inch screen with 1600 pixel resolution. Some 15 inch laptops run at 1920 x 1080 (full HD) and you end up with really tiny eye straining text or you have to increase the text size or lower the resolution creating fuzzy re-scaled text. And the 13 and 14 inch Ultrabooks suffer from either not enough screen real estate (i.e. 1366 screens or 1600 jammed into too little area).
Thin and light chassis. Samsung claims this is the thinnest 15 inch laptop made and it's one of the lightest (take that Apple!). The nearly all metal chassis also makes it durable, attractive and solid.
SD multi card reader. You would think this would be in all Ultrabooks but it's not. Even the new 15 inch Vizio leaves it out for anyone with a camera or wanting an easy way to take desktop files with you it's nearly a must have.
Bright screen. Ever tried to use a laptop outdoors even in the shade on a sunny day? You can actually do it with this one.
8 GB of RAM. A lot of Ultrabooks at this price and under only have 4GB of ram and many are not easily upgradeable due to their thin designs. 4 GB isn't enough if you want to run virtual machines or like to have lots of windows/apps open at once.
2nd gen i5 Sandy Bridge CPU. This is an ideal CPU for an Ultrabook. It runs cool and offers amazing (10+ hour!) battery life yet it's plenty fast for anything except hardcore gaming. Faster CPUs just make make more heat which means fan noise and a hot lap. Slower processors don't help battery life much. The i5 is the sweet spot.
No Power Hungry ATI/nVidia Graphics. A few ultra portable laptops use a dedicated graphics controller but, unless you're a gamer, you just don't need one and they seriously shorten battery life, run hot, require noisy fan cooling, etc. The Intel 4000 graphics in the Samsung work great for watching even HD video while not using any unwanted power.
Value. This isn't a cheap laptop but, compared to other Ultrabooks, you get a lot for your money. The 15 inch Vizio is perhaps the closest competition and it doesn't even have an SD card slot to view pics from your camera.
USB 3.0. In my opinion it's a must have for faster USB storage access and future expansion options. Contrary to some specs, it has 2 USB 3 ports.
Gigabit Ethernet. Some Ultrabooks, and the Macbook Air, lack a wired ethernet port. Not everyone needs one, but if you need to move large amounts of data, even the best WiFi is far slower than a gigabit wired connection. A wired connection is also far less prone to glitching HD movie playback.
128GB SSD. Some think 128 GB is too small, but my last ultra portable laptop had only a 40 GB SSD and I made that work just fine with Windows 7. I'd MUCH rather have an SSD than a noisy, fragile, error prone conventional larger drive. If you have huge amounts of video, movies, etc. throw them on a 32 GB or even 64 GB SD card or small USB 3 thumbdrive. If you need even more storage, use a USB 3 external 2.5" portable drive. You can get a terrabyte for around a hundred bucks.
Industrial Design. As mentioned above, Samsung is one of the few companies challenging Apple with their product design. The Asus Zenbook is another but it only comes with much smaller screens and has other drawbacks.
HDMI + VGA. Some Ultrabooks leave off one or the other or even both. A lot of projectors (especially the ones built into meeting rooms) only accept VGA.
Minimal Bloatare. Some manufactures load up their Ultrabooks with so much trialware and other unwanted software they take 4+ times longer boot than this Samsung and you lose a lot of drive space. The companies are paid to put all that junk on there and some of it gets left behind even if you try to uninstall everything. Samsung was far more restrained than most and out of the box the Series 9 boots very quickly. I only removed the games and Norton apps.
CONCLUSION:
Everyone's needs differ, but I'm really happy with the Series 9 so far. And I'm somewhat puzzled by some of the negative comments. Either Samsung has poor quality control (unlikely), they've made running improvements (more likely), or some here have chosen to unfairly critize it as they favor another brand or have unrealistic expectations (perhaps most likely). Mine is an Amazon verified purchased and I can only comment on my Series 9.
Read Best Reviews of Samsung Series 9 NP900X4C-A01US 15.0-Inch Ultrabook (Ash Black) Here
I had the np900x3b (2012 non-ivybridge 13.3" series 9) since it was released and have loved it. Loved everything except the 4gB RAM. Being a Chrome user who likes to have 100s of tabs open, I couldn't do much else other than 'browse' the web.The np900x4c, while significantly heavier-feeling than its younger brother, is still extremely lightweight and sexy (3.5 pounds).
The 8gB of RAM is user-upgradeable//replaceable, and the 10 hours of battery life is awesome (note: I have not tested it yet. Windows reported that I would have about 6+ hours with a full charge while running High Performance mode with maximum brightness).
Pros:
8gB RAM
ivy-bridge processor
graphics are excellent it can play Diablo 3 without a problem
micro-HDMI out so you can watch Netflix on your TV with ease
good number of ports (2xUSB 3.0, micro ethernet, 1xUSB 2.0, micro HDMI, SD slot)
excellent build quality (very sturdy duralumin)
15" screen
touchpad worked well out of the box (very impressed with that :)
Cons:
feels kind of heavy compared to other ultrabooks
the enter key is not the furthest right key (makes it harder to press quickly/easily/at night without a day of getting used to)
128gB SANDISK mSata SSD still 440 mB/s read/write speeds but not as fast or as high quality as the Samsung SSD found in the np900x3b
SD card sticks out thus cannot be left inside the laptop (which would be nice because you can get a 64gB//128gB SD relatively cheap, effectively doubling the storage capacity of the machine)
Want Samsung Series 9 NP900X4C-A01US 15.0-Inch Ultrabook (Ash Black) Discount?
I first heard about the 15" Samsung Series 9 back in early 2012; I wanted it as soon as I saw it but it was $1,500. Definitely not worth it back then. Fast forward to January 2013 and the price dropped to $1,019 on Amazon for the Windows 7 version, i.e. trigger pulling time. (I immediately upgraded to Windows 8 for $15 through the Windows Update Offer when I received the laptop).I bought the Samsung with the knowledge of the other reviewer's gripes with the screen and trackpad as the main caveats. In general I agree, the screen is not quite up to par. It looks decent from one specific viewing angle, but if you move your head at any variation from the sweet spot the picture will look washed out. Viewing angles are just bad. However, after making adjustments with the Color Enhancement from the Intel Graphics and Media Control Panel, I got a much better looking picture that doesn't look quite so washed out:
Brightness -1
Contrast 48
Gamma 0.8
Hue 0
Saturation 1
The track pad is decent enough though, you just have to be hyper aware to not let your palms rest on it so that the mouse pointer doesn't spaz out. Multi-touch gestures on Windows 8 are quite responsive. Keyboard is so-so, again I'm still getting used to hovering my palms up in the air all the time.
In terms of performance, this thing is plenty quick with the SSD and 8 gbs of Ram. No noticeable slow downs. Memory was extremely tight with only 50gbs or so of usable space, which is ridiculous. I would recommend deleting the 21 gb Samsung Recovery partition in the C: drive and using that as additional storage. This probably would make returning the laptop impossible though.
All in all, comparing the Samsung to the newest generation Macbook Air that I've had for 5 months, i would say the screen, keyboard, and the trackpad are far superior on the Macbook Air. The only advantages the Samsung enjoys over the Macbook Air is that it looks more stylish (in my opinion), is slightly thinner, and has much longer battery life.
In terms of recommending the Samsung, I'm on the fence. 2013 will probably release a slew of Windows 8 convertibles/laptops with 1920 x 1080 screens for about the same $1,000 price point. There's also rumors of the Samsung Series 9 being upgraded to a 1080 screen later on this year, but of course you'd probably be paying around $1,500 when that version comes out. In summary, this laptop is a decent buy at around $1,000, but if you have the patience or don't need a laptop right away you should wait it out and get a newer 2013 laptop with much better specs for the same price point. In your face.
Save 19% Off