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    A couple of odd NP700Z5A-S03CA questions...

    Discussion in 'Samsung' started by fgervais, Nov 21, 2012.

  1. fgervais

    fgervais Notebook Enthusiast

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    Greets,

    So my laptop is nearing it's first year of use and some preventative maintenance is to be done, along with a couple of light upgrades. From what I understand it should be pretty much the same as the more common -S03US version.

    On the list:

    RAM
    Since one of the two SODIMMs is soldered *shakes fist* I'll only be upgrading on for an 8GB stick. Main reason is that I need the second 4GB for a swap in another laptop, and I might as well go for the upgrade on mine since I use a RAMdisk for some rather badly coded software. My laptop is at the office right now, could someone tell me the speed I should be looking for? I'm guessing 1333 but 1600 would be a nice surprise. Also, in terms of manufacturers, I usually go for HyperX, yay or nay here?

    WiFi card
    I might have knocked something out of place when I opened it up last time, but right now my wireless is rather bleh. I haven't taken the time to look into this as I mostly work without it, but it's bugging me. Is there a card I should look into if I can't correct this via antennae poking/software updates?

    Keyboard
    One thing the -S03CA doesn't have is the backlit keyboard. With salvaged keyboards on ebay and another itch to scratch, I've been thinking of swapping mine for the -S03US version. I'm still comparing mobo connexions, I'm guessing there must be an extra one for the power, anyone know what I should look for on mine to see if it's even possible?

    Thanks in advance!
     
    fgervais, Nov 21, 2012
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  2. John Ratsey

    John Ratsey Moderately inquisitive Super Moderator

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    1. I would get 1600MHz RAM. It will automatically run at 1333MHz if 1600MHz isn't supported.
    2. Check the antenna connections on the WiFi card. You can also remove/replace the card to make sure it is seated properly.
    3. If it is a chiclet keyboard then you will have to remove everything to be able to change it. However, I would expect the connector to be the same.

    John
     
    John Ratsey, Nov 21, 2012
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  3. fgervais

    fgervais Notebook Enthusiast

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    Is the backlight driven by the same cabling as what I assume is the connection to the USB controller, or does it require a second line?
     
    fgervais, Nov 22, 2012
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  4. John Ratsey

    John Ratsey Moderately inquisitive Super Moderator

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    I'm only guessing, but if I was designing the computer with the two keyboard options I would use one cable with the same connector on the keyboard. If the keyboard doesn't have a backlight then nothing would use the backlight lines in the connector. That's the way Dell does it and I can't think of a good reason for Samsung to make things more complicated.

    John
     
    John Ratsey, Nov 22, 2012
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  5. fgervais

    fgervais Notebook Enthusiast

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    Good food for thought, I'll stare at the exploded diagrams some more.
     
    fgervais, Nov 22, 2012
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