14" Samsung Series 7 NP700Z3C

The SSD is going to be 256GB but the hard drive I'm cloning is 1TB is there a way to clone the 1TB onto the 256GB??

 

Acronis TrueImage can handle that problem provided the content on the 1TB is less than the capacity of the SSD. Maybe other cloning programs can do the same but I haven't used them.

John

 

ah OK I may look into that then.

I guess it won't be too much bother just doing a clean install? maybe you can answer a question I have about Windows 8, If I install Windows 8 on my hard drive at present, and I can't get the clone to work, will I still be able to install it on my new SSD??

 

I would refrain from doing the activation of Windows 8 until after the cloning and you have tried the SSD. Once it is activated then the system probably won't allow another automatic activation soon after (but you can probably do the more tedious manual telephone activation).

John

 

Matte glass? Aren't laptop screens coated with special matte coating, what's this matte glass you speak of?

 

I also think it is a coating to give a non-reflective surface. The coating also gives some diffusion which is why the colours of matte screen are not as rich as for glossy ones.

John

 

I'm sure you you're right. I wasn't speaking to how the matte effect was produced, merely to the fact that the screen is matte. But of course it's not the LCD itself, but the glass (or coating) that's matte.

I will add that it's not just a visual difference, you can feel it too if you touch the screen.

 

Floating somewhere around this forum is a how-to (or a link to an external how-to) for removing the matte coating. It's CREEPY -- you have to remove the panel, soak it in some kind of solution (I forget -- maybe soap and water?) and then GENTLY peel the coating layer off. I don't recall the particular machine (was it a Sony? Asus? Dell?), but when the operation was done, the coating reminded me of a snake skin -- A LOT thicker and "cloudier" than I imagined. Pretty much a "glued-on" version of the privacy screens you used to see.

In the end, kind of dumb: make a beautiful, crystal-clear glass screen, and then cover it with snake skin (I have nothing against snakes, btw). And yet, most people value the matte version over the gloss/shiny/reflective/au naturale version! If we can put men on the moon I'm sure we can find a better way to engineer LCD displays.

EDIT: OK found the post I was thinking of: [Guide] How to remove the anti-glare(AG) coating from a Dell U2312HM LCD - [H]ard|Forum Turns out it's a desktop panel, not a laptop display. Still gives me goose bumps.



-Matt

 

@Matt: Wow, never occurred to me. Several people have been looking for replacement panels with higher contrast. Many of those might find a cheaper solution just by getting rid of the matte coating on the screen.

Personally, I much prefer a matte screen to the glossy ones, it was one of my criteria when looking for a new laptop. Of course I'd like better contrast, but not at the price of those reflections. I can use this Sammy in sunlight, not so with my old (but otherwise great) HP HDX 18.

 

If my memory serves me correctly, the Sony S15 has a glass screen with an anti-glare coating -- or maybe it's the Asus N56 (EDIT: actually, it's the S13: " a glossy, anti-reflective finish for intense color without the glare..." WTH?). Anyway, I envisioned that in the case of that machine it was sprayed on, which would mean (1) it's not a plastic-like film, and (2) you probably can't remove it. I'm sorry the story I told above implied they're all the same -- I would bet the shiny "glare" screen can be skinned in more than one way.

-Matt

 

Hi ,
I have purchased this one and so far so good......many brilliant features.There are some brilliant setting like eco mode but probably not what most are concerned about.I have one problem though and is very annoying,there is a display pop up saying caps on caps off,is big irritating and stops you typing for a couple of seconds.I definitely don't want to disable caps as I use them freely but I want the display pop up to go away.
Have tried a few things with no luck so far.I even when to regedit and turned a certain key value to cero it turned many things off including my wifi so no good.
Anyone knows how to solve this issue on this model?
I should not need a masters in computing or similar to make this go away.I truly don't understand why this particular feature is forced on the user,it should be something those few who want it could activate,no something you have to acquire a degree before you can make it go away.
This pc would get a ten,is so silent....no fan noise......brilliant & has many other great features but this one annoying display pop up thingy brings it real down for me.
Please someone help as have had to put my studies on hold because this feature disturbs my focus.Be kind to give me a step by step explanation of the solution.
Thanks

 

I think my laptops faulty, a couple of days ago my laptop wouldn't sleep, then it wouldn't shut down the screen would go blank and the fan would go crazy and I would have to force close it down. to shut down I had to choose restart which would shut the laptop down completely.

I installed windows 8 and I thought all had gone well except my mouse buttons didn't work, and still the shutdown and sleep function wouldn't work, and to top this off windows 8 took a lot longer to boot than windows 7, we're talking 2 mins!

so I restored to factory settings thinking that it may solve my problems; it didn't and after a few forced shutdown the laptop will not now turn on.

Samsung told me to reset the battery by putting a pin in the back for 15 secs, still nothing, I have no idea whats going on. Before I return it anyone have any more ideas??

 

I think the hole in the back disconnects the battery, which you need to do with the mains power unplugged. After poking something in the hole (an unbent paperclup is recommended), open the computer and hold the power button down for at least 15 seconds. Then reconnect the mains which should automatically reconnect the battery.

If that doesn't work then, since you have already restored to the factory installation, I would agree that there is a hardware problem.

John

 

Hi

I've recently bought this laptop, and I've been very happy with its' performance so far. Yesterday I installed Windows 8 and as a result of that, I am not so happy anymore. There are a couple of problems/issues that emerged after I installed W8.

1. At first, my FN-buttons did not seem to work properly and I had problems installing the Easy Settings software. I tried a solution offered in another thread, and renamed the install file to setup2.exe. This enabled me to install the software, and my FN-keys now function normally. But I am still unable to open the program and alter the settings in there. I'm particularly annoyed by the auto-brightness function.

2. My laptop seems to take a longer time to boot.

3. Every time after I've closed the lid and then opened it again, the laptop has restarted. This is incredibly annoying.

So far these are the only problems I've encountered. I've tried to read in other similar threads, but I was unsure whether the solutions presented there was also correct for this model. So, does anyone have a solution? Are there any drivers I need to install? Do I have to wait for Samsung to update the software? Will samsung update the software?

Thanks in advance!

 

my fn buttons seem to work but there is no indicator that comes up on the screen anymore, however the brightness does not change for me which is annoying, The windows 8 indicator comes up but it has no effect, anyone else have this??

 

http://forum.notebookreview.com/sam...-graphics-brightness-broken-across-board.html

 

Thanks this fixed it for me! Now just to find away of getting back my OSD when I press buttons!

 

I've noticed a blemish on the screen, it's like a dead or stuck pixel, can't see it all the time but can really see it when on a white background, a little annoying, is there anyway to fix this? Not even sure if its a pixel fault...

 

Anyone interested in buying this laptop? I only bought this laptop mainly for commuting to school and play some light gaming like d3 and LOL, but i rather use my desktop instead. Another reason is I didn't transfer to CSUN yet, so i can wait. So right now this laptop is chilling in my laptop case. send me an email at [email protected] if interested and/or would like to see pix of the laptop. It's a great laptop but I hardly use it. Also, when you email me plz title it with samsung chronos so i don't delete it as spam.

 

I got a Vaio S13p. The screen is utter junk. The screen-door effect...... the grain....... Everything else was perfect, but ugh.... I'm in the process of returning it. Today I was at the microsoft store. He mentioned that he had a laptop similar to the Vaio and brought out the Samsung. It was the exact same price, but I'd be taking a hit on the graphics. I said whatever the 630m and 640mLE aren't that different.

Wow, the Series 7 is great. The contrast is poor, but the brightness and clarity (and quality) are infinitely better. The keyboard and touchpad are great. My only other complaint would have to be the lack of usb ports, but I can live with it. This is truly a great device. The contrast definitely isn't a deal-breaker. Overall I completely recommend the Series 7 to the Vaio 13p. Does anyone know of any other alternatives to the Series 7/Vaio 13 at around $800? Despite the 14-inch screen the sizes are similar thanks to the minimized bezel.

 

The keyboard and touchpad do not work at the same time. I tried the regedit trick to no avail (I did reboot it). It's impossible to play games on the fly now. Is there any fix? I'm trying a series 5 driver now. I hope it has the option.

 

Hi guys,

Anyone upgrade their BIOS to Ver P0AAG yet?

I was prompted about the update this morning but I'm always a bit cautious about these things.

 

Some people have had problems with BIOS updates in the past week or two. See this thread for some links and my preferred update method. As always, there's no change log to let us know what is changed but I would assume improved Windows 8 compatibility is the most likely reason.

John

 

How do you stop the laptop from charging when it hits 70% (or ist 80% to increase battery life?)

 

Enable Battery Life Extender, either in Easy Settings or in BIOS setup. It will cap charging at 80% to protect the battery.

Occasionally, when HWinfo starts showing Battery Wear, I will temporarily disable Battery Life Extender, discharge completely (using Smart Battery Calibration in BIOS), then charge completely to 100%. So far that has always got my Wear Level back to zero -- though of course with time I'll have to accept some wear.

 

Thanks John!

 

Got the keyboard and mouse to work at the same time. Great laptop. My only gripes with the system is the contrast (which I've gotten used to) and the relatively poor wifi performance.

 

Please tell us how.

Regarding the WiFi, maybe this thread can help.

John

 

Has anyone here tried installing Ubuntu 12.10 on one of these? I just got an NP700Z3C-S01NL about a week ago. It came preinstalled with Windows 8, and I've been reading everything I can about trying to install linux on it. I was mostly ready until I found this bug, which terrifies me. But I also managed to boot into a liveUSB environment, reboot into Windows and nothing bad happened. Anyone know if I should still be worried if I decide to continue?

 

Thanks for the response

 

I have a 700Z3C-S02PT (bought in portugal, at Fnac). Altough I had trouble at first to get it to boot off external storage (usb hdd, usb flash drive, cd/dvd), I eventually managed to install Linux Mint (Maya? it's the one based on ubuntu 12.10), as well as Ubuntu 13.04 alpha.
I had to do some more tweaking for getting the boot menu (using ubuntu's boot repair tool), and got everything working allright.
At the time I installed Mint, I had not installed any updates. Later, I installed a bios uptdate, going from stock x02xxx to x04xxx... and nothing worked anymore on linux side! No bios tweking would get me a working linux desktop, either totally crashing (had to reset by using the battery disconnect hole on the back) or crashing the kernel with hardware errors reported, or rebooting spontaneously, or crashing while loading the desktop environment. Finally, I found that disabling the samsung-laptop kernel module, along with the proper bios settings (still trying to find exactly which) lets me boot linux ok, altough power saving is sub-optimal.

I would recommend you install from a live cd, and then blacklist the samsung-laptop module (either adding 'blacklist=samsung-laptop' in /etc/modprobe.d/blacklist.conf, or adding the same command to the kernel parameters in /etc/default/grub or in /boot/grub/grub.cfg).

I will try to make a proper post on this when I have the time.

 

Thanks for the info. This is very interesting, because in the bug I linked to earlier, someone posted this not too long ago:

Have you found any way of getting back the functionality that the module provides (backlit keyboard, etc) while keeping it blacklisted? This might save people a lot of trouble.

 

Hey, I've wiped out all my harddrive and created recovery image, but this now doesnt work for some reason. Do you have any suggestions? or would anyone who owns this laptop (I have np700z3c-s02uk) be so nice to upload recovery image somewhere, because now I can't get windows working.. or it might be possible that I switched from GPT to MBR partition type and this causes the recovery error?

 

I bought one of these to replace my old and trusty acer 3820TG (brilliant computer - at least back in 2010!), and was positively surprised to find it smaller than the 13" acer.

I have already owned the big 17" brother 700Z7C, but returned it due to wifi issues - so I feared the 700Z3C would have the same issue, but let's see...

First to the good part:
EXCELLENT keyboard, don't know why but I very much like the keyboards on the chronos 7 series.
Good battery life, windows suggests 8hrs with wifi on and 30% screen brightness when surfing the web, impressive.
Crisp screen due to good resolution, and it's MATTE with very good brightness.
Low noise
Good touchpad, better than on the big brother for some reason.
Good quality feel, the only very minor flaw I found is that the bottom left corner of the touchpad is not 100% flush.
Good general performance.
Intel 6235 wifi.
Decent speakers for a computer of this size.

On the negative side:
Black levels are very poor, making blacks look greyish and giving low contrasts. A bit limited viewing angles, but text has decent readability even from angles.
Horrible to open for replacing the HDD.
Gets a bit heated up when gaming, both CPU and GPU.
No USB port on the right hand side.
Wish they had used an GT640M LE kepler based GPU instead of the old GT630M fermi GPU - even if it has been shrunk to 28nm. Heat output/power usage should have been similar while giving slightly better performance.

The Nvidia GT620M used in Asus UX32VD seems to be identical to the GT630M in this one, just different name. Asus even clocks the GT620M higher (715MHz GT620M vs 625MHz GT630M). Asus uses DDR3 though, so samsung gains a bit by using GDDR5, still performance deifference is minimal, probably still in favour of the asus UX32VD.
Both seems to be GF117 28nm fermi-shrunk parts with same numbers etc.

As for wifi, it works good, not the highest transfer speeds when moving away from the router, but it doesn't disconnect - like the 700Z7C did ALL THE TIME, when over 5m away from the router. So I'm happy with that.
Overall I'm happy with it for the price I paid ( ~USD $809 on sale here in Norway, regular price being ~USD $1200).

 

@OC-Freak: Great review, thanks for sharing

I have an older Z3A (Sandy Bridge & AMD) but beyond the GPU/gaming/heat issues, I recognize almost all your Pros and Cons. I find it a great laptop overall.

 

It seems the 14" 7 Series has been really hard to find in the US. I was sorry to see it was available at microsoftstore.com for only a short while. However, I just noticed a UK version (S02UK) with Win 8. I wonder if that's a sign that Samsung is updating their earlier Win 7 version? It's an awesome form-factor and I'd love to see them more widely available!

@OC-Freak, when you have a chance, if you can post additional details of your experience with the Intel 6235 that would be great, e.g., driver version, link/transfer speeds, etc.

-Matt

 

I use the latest driver from intel 15.3.1.
As for transfer speeds I do not really know since I only use wifi for internet, in my living room I'm downloading fine @ 2mbyte/sec ( 16mbit/sec), in my bedroom 6-7m away from router the speeds drops considerably to around 300kbyte/sec (2.4mbit/sec), still enough to stream most youtube content and surf the web comfortably.

I've had better laptops when it comes to wifi, but I'm happy with it as it is.

 

You do it from within regedit. Go to HKEY_CURRENT_USER > Software > Elantech > Smartpad.
Set DisableWhenType values to 0 and reboot. That should work.

 

well I think I sorted my trackpad problem (Touch wood) by turning off touchscreen input in easy settings. Now a problem that I have noticed is the keyboard doesn't light up when it gets dark, I have to go to easy settings and manually increase the brightness and then it stays on, anyone have this issue??

thanks

 

We were just discussing this in the "Samsung Series 7 Lovers" thread -- it sounds like several of us have the same issue, and the Easy Settings method is the only fix so far.

-Matt

 

This new bug is also affecting my NP900X4C. It's very annoying. I've just reported it to the Samsung UK support people but don't have much hope that they will grasp the problem, never mind try to get it fixed. However, if enough people spam their support staff then the message might get through.

John

 

Samsung could fix a lot of things with Easy Settings, but it doesn't seem like they roll out updates all that often.

 

I'm glad I'm not the only one then! wifi is my main issue at present, very low speeds, compared to everything else in my house, oh well.

a question I have, have any of you or do any of you use your lappy in 'calmshell mode' like a macbook? I was interested in these hacks: Repurpose a Napkin Holder as a Vertical Laptop Stand

Build Your Own Vertical Laptop Stand for $3

I'm wondering if it would get too hot?

thanks

 

I purchased a NP700Z3C-02US couple weeks ago and received it last week.

First... I LOVE it... except for my wifi issue. Perfect for what I need it for. That said, I'm not looking for a perfect movie or gaming screen and like the non-reflective coatings so I can work in bright areas. It is used as a remote work laptop for software support for maintaining hospital computer systems. Because of this, poor wifi is not an option.

I've updated the BIOS, updated the WAN/LAN driver, and optimized the user settings to maintain a connection and I'm still struggling. Constant drops and poor quality speed and transfer rates. I've been on chat support with Samsung twice and phone support once and have gone through all the hoops (even though I tried most of them myself before contacting them).

There was some limited success upgrading to a driver that was not yet listed on the Samsung website that was dated Jan 2013, but that really only sped up the connection. I was still experiencing a 49% loss in quality across the net, measured from Spokane, WA to GA and TX testing from ISPgeeks.

I even went as far as moving our router (comcast cable, admittedly not the best) into the same room. But, signal strength was never an issue. I would be at a full 5 bars and it would still drop the connection or slow to a crawl. Working side by side with a 2-year old HP laptop, an iPad, and two smart phones that never had a problem or a slow down, the Samsung is still struggling.

I work through a VPN, so slow connection causes failure. Regular web surfing seems adequate, but having to reinitiate the portal every 5 to 15 minutes means I don't get much work done.

Support seems to think I have a bad wireless card. After reading on the web, I'm not so sure. I was hopeful the previous wireless issues might have been resolved with this model. If I can't get it going today, I'm going to wipe the data, reset to factory spec, and RMA it.

Any opinoin on if I should give another one a try? Other than the wifi, everything is awesome. I LOVE the long battery life (6 hours of work and still have a decent reserve). If it is a bad wifi card, a new laptop would solve it. If this is a common issue, I'll need to start looking for a different brand and/or model.

Comments?

 

1. The Series 7 (and Series 9) all have relatively poor WiFi performance because of the antennae being along the back edge of the (largely metal) chassis instead of being along the top edge of the display. My NP900X4C Series 9 can't make a decent connection at the opposite end of my house from the router but everything else can (my Samsung tablet is the best performer in that test).

2. There are known problems with the Intel 6235 holding a connection which, I believe, Intel is finally starting to investigate (you can try some of the work-arounds discussed there). I also wonder whether the 6235 has other deficiencies since throughput in my test location is worse using that card than with the older 6230 in the Samsung NP900X3B.

3. The antennae are made from metallic paint sprayed onto plastic. I wonder whether this contributes to the variable WiFi performance.

I would suggest you try another NP700Z3C on the assumption that the WiFi in yours is particularly bad.

John

PS: There is also specific discussion about Series 7 WiFi issues here and here.

 

Thanks for the quick reply.

I don't think it is a signal strength issue, especially since I moved the router within a few feet of my desk (it used to be on the floor below under the desk). I've got full bars for strength. I think you hit the nail on the head with your throughput comment.

I'll trade it for another of the same model and hope it was something about this unit. I don't mind taking the time to eliminate all possible causes in the hope that we might have recieved a dud. Everything else about it is fantastic.

Thanks for the link on the 6235 thread. I'll read through it tonight and see if I can't gain a little wisdom.

I apprecaite it and will post back when the replacement laptop shows up.

 

If you have good signal strength then I suspect the discussion in the Intel forum may be most relevant.

John

 

Hey all, sorry to jump in here... I'm looking at picking up this model on Newegg. I'm replacing an old 14'' HP envy. All reactions to this Series 7 here and elsewhere seem pretty great, particularly for what i'm looking for - a relatively lightweight 14'' that can do a little decent gaming, under $900.

I am actually not going to be back home for another month, but I'm worried this will go out of stock and I won't find it at a better price. I know the model's been out for a while now. Given what's due in the laptop pipeline in the next month, is it worth ordering now, or waiting a month? Sorry to nitpick.

 

I have to apologize in advance for (a) a totally knee-jerk response to your question, and (b) probably an unhelpful answer to boot, but:

At first I thought you were seriously hallucinating -- but indeed it's true and the 14" is in stock at newegg. I haven't tracked inventory on the 14" in a few months, but I have to say I'm shocked (hmmm, camelegg.com says it's been around 2 months...), and so I'd say JUMP ON IT. That's an awesome price and a superb machine (DISCLAIMER: I own the NP700Z5C-S02UB). I would totally recommend buying it now.

-Matt

 

Haha yeah that's why I asked.... seems like a deal that would be silly to pass up just to wait for 3 weeks and see if there's any better deal that might come. Thanks for the response. Maybe i'll jump on it.