Introducing The 2013 Series 7 Chronos with AMD HD8870M!

I have seen the black version on my last trip to Poland. It cost 5170 PLN that is 1070 in pounds. £330 cheaper than in the UK.

NP880Z5E-X01PL with US keyboard

 

if I was to stumble across the 8870m version in the UK for a shade under £1000 would that be a bloody good deal considering elsewhere its £1300? or does it suggest a haswell update coming soon? Stuck in a dilemma as i wanted it for uni in September but dont want a new model to crop up as soon as i pull the trigger!

 

You've probably missed the best bargain: This model was on sale at £900 until a few days ago and during July it was also eligible for a free Samsung smartphone promotion.

If you are near a John Lewis branch then it would be advisable to phone and see if they have on on display that you can look at. The matte display is not to everyone's liking (one of my friends looked at it closely and didn't like it) and the display isn't touchscreen. Also, the silver colour scheme means that the backlit lettering on the keyboard doesn't show up very well. Even at the current price it is likely to be better value than the expected new Haswell model if the Ativ Book 8 pricing is any indication. Haswell's power efficiency improvements give most benefit during low usage which is less relevant to this model.

John

 

Yeah i was in John Lewis a few days back checking out what models they have, personally i'm quite hooked on the touchscreen model, on the UK 8gb ram models what is the ram configuration? Because i know in some countries they can upgrade to 16gb what is the maximum for the UK models?

Cheers

 

ive settled on the Asus N550JV (touch screen version) as an alternative. retailers customize it too, if you want to add more ram, ssds, etc

 

Hi guys! Can any of you post a guide of downgrading bios on ativ book 8. I´m currently having P02ADH bios and something is wrong with my hdd. Before I updated bios everything had been working flawlessly. Hdd is making wierd sound (sounds like air blowing) and fans aren´t working as they did. Any help is much appreciated.

 

A few other people has reported similar problems. Check the Owner's Lounge.

If you want to downgrade the BIOS then the main thread about this is here.

John

 

Thanks for post. Can be fan noise related to gpu? I reinstalled both gpu drivers and switchable graphic is not working. Power consumption is always above 25W. What could be wrong?

 

Again, please continue this discussion in the Owners Lounge (which John Linked).

 

Hey guys, I have a question. At the Best Buy that I go to, they are selling the Samsung Series 7 Chronos for $960 and the Samsung Ativ Book 8 for $1200. Both have the 8770m graphics cards. I was wondering if you guys know of any differences between the two besides just the name change. The only difference I could spot was that it actually says "Samsung Series 7 Chronos" on it. If there are no other differences, should I just go for it?

 

The new Ativ Books include Samsung software such as SideSync that make it easier to connect to Samsung phones and tablets. Given the choice I would go for the Series 7 Chronos and invest the savings in an SSD.

I also understand that the Battery Life Extender facility has been dropped from some (all?) Ativ Books (see here for more discussion). While Samsung say it's no longer needed due to improved battery technology, I'm not convinced.

John

 

Me neither, since the batteries are identical. If it was useful/necessary for the chronos it will be the same for the ativ.

 

If I am not mistaken I believe the series 7 has 4gb soldered to the board and ativ 8 has 8gb soldered. So if you plan on adding ram max would be 12 GB on series 7 and 16gb on ativ 8?

I recall reading this somewhere but if I am wrong someone please correct me

Sent from my Nexus 4 using Tapatalk 4 Beta

 

It seems that it is not that simple. I am searching and collecting data from a lot of forum/website/review/videos/shops and this is just a big mess !
For example, if you look here : NP870Z5E - TECHN. DATEN | SUPPORT | SAMSUNG

This is a ATIV BOOK 8 but with (from what is written) 4gb + 4gb soldered ram...
If you look at some topics, it's written that 870Z5E should be the black version of the 770Z5E. Look for the 870Z5E at cyberport.de you will see that it is not the case, it's a silver model.

Some countries got 8870M some 8770M. 870Z5E is avaible in Germany and you can't find it in France (770Z5E also).

Why can't they be clear ?! They made a very nice laptop, with a huge battery but it seems that support/drivers/referencing just sucks.

Edit: if you look at Specs - Laptops NP880Z5E | Samsung PCs (best buy reference for the ATIV BOOK 8 with touch) , it seems that it is also a 4gb + onboard soldered 4gb ram ...

 

As Pouet wrote (if I read you correctly) both the 2013 Series 7 (NP770/780) and the Ativ Book 8 (NP870/880) exist in a number of different configurations in different countries, including some with 8GB RAM (4+4) and others with 16GB (8+8).

For example, if you look back in this thread (and others), you will find that many US members ordered the Series 7 NP780Z5E-S02CA from Futureshop in Canada, because it had 16GB RAM (8GB onboard), while all US models were stuck with 8GB (4GB onboard). It also had AMD 8870 while all US models were (and still are) stuck with 8770.

The Samsung Marketing departments in each country decide which configurations they want for their market, and clearly, some are happy to simply provide the products that customers want, while others are stuck in the old marketing game taught in some business schools, which teaches that you (the marketeer) must outsmart your customers, and if you ever give customers what they want, then you (the marketeer) have lost.

 

Thanks everybody for their reply. I've decided to just get the Samsung Series 7 Chronos, doesn't seem like I'm missing out on much for picking it. And John, I'm sure you've said it somewhere in the past, but which SSD do you recommend getting?

 

I haven't been shopping for a 2.5" SSD for a while but the two brands I would look at are Crucial M500 (in capacities up to 960GB) and Samsung (different ranges with different performance - the Pro seems to be the best compromise). Whichever you get, buy one 7mm thick.

John

 

Yes, I understand it like that.

This is exactly what I was thinking... and then customer from everywhere have to dig into the web for hours to know what they will really get if they buy this model or that one... Hopefully, there is some nice customers/reviewers who shares their experiences.

@ColdPillow, for a SSD I suggest (depend on your usecase/money) :
Crucial SSD M500
Crucial M4
Samsung 840 pro

 

I've seen a post about Linux on Chronos Serie 7 but as anyone seen a post about Win 7 64 bits install + drivers/tools/tips ? (seems that some links to the samsung website or tier support website for drivers are not working anymore). SW update is not working on win 7 if I've well understood ?

 

SW Update should work with Windows 7. Some of the 2013 models (including the NP770Z5E) have Windows 7 drivers / software listed on SW Update.

Just now SW Update didn't want to work properly but I tried again and it did, so maybe there are some server issues.

John

 

Thanks for this answer John , good news.

 

As John wrote, SW Update works on Win7, and the 2013 Series 7 does have Win7 drivers. If it doesn't offer them automatically, you can use Find Model to lookup your own model (or a newer one) and download Win7 drivers locally using the Export function.

Some drivers are best installed with SW Update, others are best installed manually. Also, since this is a Win8 delivered model, there are some issues to consider in converting from UEFI/GPT to BIOS/MBR. Check this Win7 install guide for details. DON'T use the guides on the first page of that thread, they're only for models with ExpressCache.

 

Thank you very much guys, that's perfect .

 

As expected Notebookjournal.de just published a news about ATIV BOOK 8 (880Z5E = 780Z5E, 870Z5E = 770Z5E) : News - Samsung Ativ Book 8 - Samsung bringt neue Notebooks der Serie Ativ Book 8 auf den Markt auf notebookjournal.de.

 

How sad is it that this thread is at 603 pages and there's been no update at all yet here - for us folks in the US and Canada.
Waiting is a b**ch.

 

This was always a pre-release thread. Since the 2013 Series 7 (and later the Ativ Book 8) have now been out for some 8 months, traffic has moved to the Owners Lounge for these models (linked below). Lots of activity there, with members from all over the world. There are still no models with AMD 8870 available in US -- several American members have bought from Futureshop in Canada precisely for that reason.

http://forum.notebookreview.com/sam...unge-np770z5e-np780z5e-np870z5e-np880z5e.html

If it's a Series 7/AB8 Haswell update you are waiting for, there is a thread for that too (linked below). Though, no news on that front either, so your conclusion is accurate

http://forum.notebookreview.com/samsung/716266-how-long-until-haswell-series-7-chronos.html

Even then, please avoid profanity in posts. Masking it in order to bypass the profanity filters is specifically mentioned in our forum rules as a no-no (in bold, even):

 

This looks promising.
None in stock, but maybe we're getting closer to this becoming a reality.
Samsung ATIV Book 8 880Z5E - 15.6" - Core i7 3635QM - Windows 8 64-bit - 8 - NP880Z5E-X02CA - Notebook Computers - CDW.CA

 

Hi guyz
My friend is comming to US to buy some thing.
And im looking for 770z5e, but i have a problem to find that on websites?

 

I don't understand what you mean by "reality". As you can see from "X02CA," it is Canadian model, and has already been out. It is the U.S model that has the water down graphics to save the cost. If graphics is the main concern, Canadian model is the way to go. Otherwise, most people are fine with U.S. And the fact there are not even a single hint of haswell refresh. The regular price of the 8870m version is $1699, so not to mention the link you posted is a little overpriced.

 

You are absolutely right. I think it was just a trolling post or an attempt to revive this thread -- to which you and I have now contributed. I actually thought of deleting that post when it came in, for the same reason.

Ativ Book 8 has been out for a long time now (in USA and elsewhere) and is actively discussed in the Owners Lounge. As posted here, it even appears that a model with AMD 8870 is finally becoming available in the US. Many members used to order from Canada because they couldn't get that in the US. But certainly Canada has had it for as long time.

I suggest we just leave it at that and let this pre-release thread go dormant again.

 

Please note that the ATIV book 8 is NOT available in Canada - YET.
The Series 7 Chronos (was) available - (the silver pre-cursor) - at Future Shop.
My post was specific to the Ativ-8 - which is not yet released in Canada.
It is not yet a "reality", until we can actually buy it - but it is promising that it is at least showing up online now.

 

Ahh, I am sorry, I didn't realize that. I was as puzzled as Jimmy when I saw your post.

Not that there is much difference between the Ativ Book 8 (NP880Z5E) and the 2013 Series 7 (NP780Z5E) that was previously sold in Canada, which already had AMD 8870 and 8+8 RAM configuration (something US buyers have been longing for). But indeed, there is still that undesirable silver keyboard of the NP780Z5E.

You may still find a bigger audience for that information in the Owners Lounge. But it's not as if this thread was closed, so you're good

 

It's October 1st! Why don't we have Haswell refresh yet?! yadda yadda circlejerk.

But seriously, I'm excited by the comment by Samsung Slovenia. I was pretty much going to order the current model tomorrow. Maybe I can survive waiting just a little bit longer.....

 

Hmm i don't get it... NCIX already has Canadian Ativ book 8 listed on their site
Samsung ATIV Book 8 i7 3635QM 8GB 1TB 15.6in FHD LED Touchscreen HD8870M 2GB Win8 Notebook

Shopbot and Directdial and MicroAge all have NP880Z5E-X02CA on their product listed. I have been following the Canadian ativ book 8 for quite some time (since this July I presume), it has always been there.

 

What comment? Is it about Haswell refresh? Honestly, I would be happy if they just release the current model properly in all versions and in all regions rather than announcing a newer model and not release it.

 

gadgetrants commented here http://forum.notebookreview.com/samsung/716266-how-long-until-haswell-series-7-chronos-7.html with a translated picture of the comments by Samsung Slovenia. They said "Samsung laptops with upgraded Haswell processors will be available in October." However it's not clear which laptops they mean, plus facebook reps aren't always correct.


I'm hoping it will be released soon, as my current laptop is on its last legs. I can't WAIT!

 

Thanks for the link !
I noticed that the ATIV-8 is now available at BestBuy.ca - however it has the hd8770 video card (instead of the 8870 from the ncix.com site).
Samsung ATIV Book 8 15.6" Laptop - Black (Intel Core i7 3635QM / 1TB HDD / 8GB RAM / Windows 8) : 15" Laptops - Best Buy Canada

I'm not sure of the real-world differences that a user would experience 8770 vs 8870, but there is a 150.00 price difference between the BB 8770 and NCIX 8870 models.

Best Buy.ca NP880Z5E-X03CA AMD hd8770 1500.00
NCIX.com NP880Z5E-X02CA AMD hd8870 1650.00

 

The Ivy Bridge version has an i7-3635QM. Could anyone speculate on what processor the Haswell version would have?

 

As of now we dont even know if there will be a haswell version. But if Samsung was to come out with one, it would probably sport i7-47xxHQ or something along those lines.

 

I just read your post. So you have no problem with 2560x1440 via HDMI?
I am going to buy a Philips monitor that supports 2560x1440 via HDMI and whant to be sure that it works.

Pardon my english
/Johan

 

I really like my NP770Z5E laptop but sadly, lately I began seeing screen getting image retention. I don't know if this has to do with the 8.1 update or the screen itself but I'm probably going to use warranty.

 

Hello everyone- I was thinking about buying this computer as one of my options. One of the reasons I was interested in this laptop is because it has an anti-glare screen. I thought it would work good outside and eliminate annoying reflections. After I read this review Review Samsung Series 7 Chronos 770Z7E Notebook - NotebookCheck.net Reviews I'm having doubts though. The review says, "Only the fact that the brightness is massively reduced on battery power annoyed us. The brightness of our test device suddenly dropped from 272 cd/m² to just 208 cd/m² in the screen's center. That is roughly 25% less. As our pictures show, the laptop is no longer unconditionally outdoor suitable. Its use is very restricted, particularly on bright days. Users who work outdoors should connect the device to the mains where possible." This seems to ruin why I wanted this for being anti-glare. Has anyone noticed this being a problem? It seems like you could just manually bump up the brightness. Is that not possible to do that on battery mode? If so, I don't see why they would do that. Is there any way around it? Appreciate any help.

 

Yes, it's possible to manually bump up the brightness although it may be necessary to disable the adaptive brightness (which the notebookcheck reviewer might not have figured out).

However, the extra power used by the brighter backlight will significant reduce the battery run time. I measured about 5W difference between the minimum and maximum brightness on my 15" NP900X4C. Nonetheless, the big battery in the NP770 will be good for several hours with a bright display, assuming that you aren't loading the CPU / GPU.

John

 

I was trying to find this online to purchase. I can't seem to find any websites that sell this laptop to the uk. Is it out of production? If someone could link to a retailer, I would be very thankful.

 

You will find a few for sale on Amazon UK with some high prices (a sure indicator or no recent stock). Look for NP770Z5E, NP780Z5E, NP870Z5E and NP880Z5E.

A thorough web search might find a refurbished model.

A Haswell powered NP870Z5G is now listed in Germany and some other countries but there seems to be indication of it coming to UK in the near future.

John

 

Thank you for your help John I bet you are right with the disable the adaptive brightness. It just seemed like something was amiss with that review. It also makes sense that it would reduce the battery run time. I doubt I would have to run it on its brightest setting all the time. I just wanted to make sure that I do have the option to do so if the situation really calls for it. I was wondering if they were going to release a Haswell one soon. They probably won't have a matte screen though, since touch screen is the new thing. Also it looks like they want to continue with the 15" screen, but don't really care to offer a 17" anymore. Another thing I like about this model is that is has an optical drive. I feel like I still want that option, but it seems like companies are phasing it out anyway. Perhaps I don't really need it and I only think that I do.

 

I have owned the laptop for about 6 months now, the screen retention problem is getting quite serious. The image around the borders of the screen gets retained as fast as 5 minutes.

 

Maybe send it in for a replacement? I have the same problem, my computer is being picked by courier tomorrow and back to Samsung... I'm putting the original drive back in this evening and loading the default installation. Hopefully it will be a quick turnaround and I'll have it back within a week.

 

Isn't there any solution yet to the fact that Samsung hasn't provided AMD Windows 8.1 drivers? Any solution to this as I really just want to install windows 8.1 with working switchable graphics.

 

There is tons of discussion about this in the owners lounge thread and the 8.1 sticky thread. Links below.

http://forum.notebookreview.com/sam...unge-np770z5e-np780z5e-np870z5e-np880z5e.html

http://forum.notebookreview.com/sam...pgrade-until-samsung-has-updated-drivers.html