Info on Q460

Hi Guys,

I'm trying to find reviews on a Samsung Q460 that is being sold in best buy Canada. It has been out for a couple of months but I can't find a single piece of useful information on it. I have even checked the Samsung Canada and USA site and the unit is not listed. The closest thing I could find is the NP-QX411.

It has the following specs;
14 Inch 1366 x 768, backlit LED
Intel Core i5 2430M
640 GB @ 5400rpm
6GB RAM
NVIDIA Optimus GeForce GT540M w/ 1GB dedicated

Samsung 14" Laptop featuring Intel Core i5 2430M Processor (Q460-JS01CA) - Black : 14" Laptops - Best Buy Canada

Anybody know what other model this goes by?

TIA

 

Notebookcheck lists the Q460 and there's another mention here.

John

 

ah..thanks for making revisit notebookcheck!

the first time I was there I though the reviews were advertisements because of the font/positioning, like how they do on many other sites.

Found some good pictures!

looks like i'll get this one on boxing day.

Any ppl in the forum use this one?

 

I see you ended up getting the Q460. My laptop just died and I was thinking of getting this. Would you recommend it?
How's the battery life, heat, and fan noise?

 

Hi endless.fever,

Hope I'm not too late. her is my mini review.

Battery Life
still testing it. I read on a review of the i3 version that got about 5 hours and 30 mins. I've tried on mine with the i5 at the lowest brightness i think MAYBE it can get 5 hours. On medium brightness, I remember not being very impressed.

Heat & Noise
VERY GOOD. so far, the laptop has stayed pretty cool even when I was running Zombie Driver(an old game). The fan comes one when it needs too and get can loud if the load is high. But the fan works fast and can lower the temp back down.

Construction
MEDIOCRE. I found today that my lid has A LOT of flex. If i press down on the middle of the back, I can press about 1cm..it seems totally hollow and could have been thinner.

There is virtually no keyboard flex, but LOTS of flex on the unit itself. Press the palm rest area or the DVD side and the unit flexes quite a bit.

SD Card reader is out front in the middle and NOT spring loaded. so getting the fake covering SD card out is impossible unless u lift up the front of the laptop. When u insert an SD card, it is FAR from flush and sticks out quite a bit.

The status LEDs are directly underneath the buttons of the trackpad in the middle, if u close the lid for sleep mode or whatever, you cannot see the status lights.

The outside black cover is black shiny plastic with a carbon fiber like design. When u open the laptop, it is the beige plastic that has the silver colour paint on it...that will start rubbing off soon.

SCREEN
Matte!! I did not see this unit in person, but I couldn't beleive the screen is Matte! I had to shine a light on it to confirm I wasnt dreaming. I don't really notice much quality difference from my old glossy screen on the acer. But i love the fact that I don't get glare.

MISC
I sometimes like to turn off the LCD on laptops using Fn+F5(or whatever). on the Acer and Gateway that I've used, if u press any key, the screen comes back on. On this unit u have to press Fn+F5 again, or close and open the lid.

the DVD drive for some reason when closed is not completely flush with the side. the edge sticks out about 1mm.

FINAL
I got this for $599 on boxing day at Best Buy. Last time I checked on their site it was at 900-950. At that price I would say DO NOT buy. For close to $1000, there must be other laptops out there with a dedicated GPU and much sturdier construction. If it is on sale, then go for it.

I will post some pictures, and see if it is the same with my brother's unit.

EDIT: the price is at $699 now. i dont know enough about the models out these days to know if there is a better deal around.

 

It's currently 699 here. Is it worth getting at that price?

The lid flex may be deliberate If you can push the back in a long way without causing ripples on the screen then they are providing the gap as protection. A thinner lid requires more engineering to provide the same protection.

Regarding the battery life, the challenge is to minimise the power consumption. In my experience things like Flash and Bluetooth can cause extra CPU utilisation which will reduce the battery time. However, I see that this Q460 only has a 4400 mAh (it helps to keep the cost and weight down) so 5 hours is probably as good as you will get. It's in the same range as my somewhat more expensive Lenovo T420s but I get the option of putting another battery into the optical drive slot.

John

 

at $699 I think it is an OK buy.

I think it is pretty much the combination of the i5, Nvidia Optimus, 6GB ram (instead of 4) and the large HDD that meakes it worth it.

With regards to the screen flex, it does flext A LOT, however, there are no visible ripples on the LCD.

I am still testing it, but I think 5 hour battery is when screen brightness is at lowest, with most of the things turned off.

I just found out yesterday that if I watch a video in VLC, just a standard def anime or tv show, Nvidia Optimus will kick in increasing the battery drain by a significant amount. I tried watching the videos with the IGP and looked the same to me, don't know why Optimus needed to kick in.