Introducing The 2013 Series 7 Chronos with AMD HD8870M!

Hope I'm not bothering you with the questions but for $729 or $679 is this a good deal?

Seems pretty good specs wise and cheaper.

Sony VAIO 14" TouchScreen Laptop 6GB Memory 750GB Hard Drive SVE14A35CXH - Best Buy

Also it is expandable to 16gb of ram.

 

I actually hope the 8870m version doesn't come with an SSD so that I can put in my own Samsung 840 Pro SSD. That is easily the fastest SSD for a decent price on the market. I bet that if the 8870 comes with an SSD, it likely won't be as fast as that 840 Pro.

 

Alot of downgrades here... i5 dual core vs i7 quad, hd 4000 gpu, and although sony makes great screens the viewing angles on this series are terrible. I wouldn't touch it. This is off topic, but what are your top requirements? touchscreen? processing power? graphics / gaming?

 

I'm thinking about putting the 840 pro into this 8770 model if i decide to keep it. Its a matter of price and availability... $1199 at bestbuy for the 8770, plus $98 tax (ouch) so its essentially $1300. add $175 from amazon for the 840 pro so im at $1475. There is a price point where getting the 8870 model straight is the better deal.. if its $1599 is it worth the wait and extra $125, yep. if its $1899 is it worth the extra $300 and the wait, harder to say.

Edit: The HD seems pretty fast considering its a 5400rpm drive... 20 second boots and 2 second resumes are fine... but ive been using my vizio with toshiba ssd for the past couple months and the zip is something I miss. (and thats on a lil i3).

 

I would have to say power and touchscreen. With a pretty good resolution.

I do mainly office programs, research, movies. But once I get into upper level college I'll be doing heavy excel and programs. I'm a Finance major so I need something to last as well.

 

I really don't think it'll be 1899. That'd be absurd if they price it that high. It shouldn't cost 700 more just for that 8870. 1499 or 1599 for the 8870 model sounds much more right

 

If graphics aren't a priority, you might take a look at this lil Lenovo. Its new, i7 quad core processor and 1600x900 touch screen, and the price is good.

Lenovo IdeaPad 14" TouchScreen Laptop 8GB Memory 1TB Hard Drive P400 touch - 59360580 - Best Buy

Its probably the most processing power in a touch screen with a price under $800 and a screen larger than the typical 1366x768.

 

thanks alot for getting back to us with the benchmarks!

 

No problem. Let me know if there is anything you want to know about it.

Another tidbit... the SD card slot is only about 1/3 depth so you can use it with cards but you can't really leave a card in there when moving the laptop or your asking for trouble.

 

I may go ahead and get the Chronos. I've been dying to get it since CES 2013 and it looks like a beautiful device.
I don't do heavy gaming so it should be perfect for me.

How is the touch screen? Flawless and clear? The problem I was seeing with cheaper laptops was the touch screen not working properly and or battery was terrible.

 

Just a general question, but what is the benefit to having a touch screen on a laptop anyway? Also, does anyone have any times on the battery life yet? Like, what is the battery life for basic use, video watching, gaming?

 

You wouldn't think so... but these models are replacing the 700 series chronos and you can find their high end chronos on amazon with a 670m graphics card (similar spec) for $1899 and thats without the touch screen.

 

I'm about 50/50 now on keeping this laptop, or getting the upgraded 8870 version. I'm liking this. The screen is very clear and viewable from a very, VERY wide angle with very little color shift to my eyes. Sound continues to impress me. The 8770 isn't letting me run Guild Wars 2 on ultra settings, but it's still good enough to stay 'High' and keep at 30 fps, although I haven't played it in raids where things really are hitting the fan.

I've grown used to the keyboard's short travel, but there's good feedback, and I can type on it quickly and comfortably, almost as much as my desktop keyboard. Touchpad is also really really responsive.

 

A gtx 670m in a chronos? What? Where?

 

Just got done playing TF2 using 1030/1200 mhz clocks. As expected there's some throttling but it is overclocked. I'll run one later with stock clocks to compare. For those that want to play games at 1080p + high/ultra settings in modern games, this isn't the laptop for you or even the 8870M version, you will need to step up to an Alienware M17x + GTX 680M class notebook for that. Or if you want the ultimate in power, an M18x + 680M SLI which beats the pants off most desktops. If you are a casual gamer just looking to play games here and there and don't mind dropping the resolution to 1366 x 768 with medium settings, this + the 8870M version will work great.

 

The screen is bright with great viewing angles... just turn off adaptive brightness in the power settings right off the bad or in a dark room your display will be dull and lifeless... i thought mine had a bad screen.

The touchscreen works well, the glass cover is firm as well... i hate some notebooks like the acer s7 and asus zenbook prime touch that uses such a thin layer over the screen that it ripples when pressed near the edges. I know better and will be careful but you know you always run into somebody that pushes on your screen like its rock solid and thats before they were touch screens.

There is a slight bit of giggle on the screen when pressing it... but you will find that in just about any notebook with touch screen. i thought it might bother me but don't notice it in general use.

I'm picking on my screens... and this one is one of the best ive used... they really try to make it a bad desktop experience out of the box though, between adaptive brightness and setting the desktop scaling to 125% (probably to be more touch friendly) it doesn't look nearly as good as it can out of the box. Within 5 minutes of opening it I was sure it was going back based on the screen alone it was so bad... although how bad it would be for you depends how well lit the room is that you are in.

 

Well i had a couple things wrong... its bestbuy.com not amazon, and its the 17" series 7 not the chronos and its got an 675m gpu.

Samsung Series 7 17.3" Laptop 16GB Memory 1.5TB Hard Drive NP700G7C-S02US - Best Buy

But similar specs to the 8870... the most expensive chronos ive seen has a 650m for $1650 on amazon.

 

I'm in the same boat as you, and pretty much agree with your assessments. It would make choices easier if we knew two things... how much the 8870 version will cost and when it will be available, especially when it will be available on amazon.

I recently got to check out the sound and WOW, best sound I can remember hearing on a laptop, its full and rich.

I haven't tried any games yet, ive mainly been benchmarking... done 3dmark 06, 3dmark 11, and the new 3dmark, and passmark so far. Really want to do a battery test on it... from the half attempts I've made so far the battery life can vary ALOT depending on how you configure your power.

 

For me the benefit of a touch screen is having one... i'm a software developer writing apps the app store and developing web content thats touch friendly... so having touch available on my dev machine is just something I have to have. I think the use of touch on a laptop is a bit more useful than you might think though... it doesn't replace your trackpad or keyboard it supplements them... sometimes its easier to use touch sometimes the trackpad or mouse... and you get an idea pretty quick which way to do which... like tapping links, using the charms menu or the metro interface... touch just flows well with it. But highlighting text to edit or dragging things around I usually use a mouse or trackpad for the more exact positioning control.

Im hoping to do a battery test, been concentrating on benchmarks so far. It has a monster 90000 battery in it... and the life can vary widely based on what your doing but i hope to get a general use, like wordprocessing, email and surfing the web, maybe playing video.

 

The laptop you speak of on Amazon is a little above $1600 and it's a 17 inch. And it only has a 650m. Don't know how much that's worth though

 

Aghhhh you continue to impress me with all this good news! It just makes me so excited for the 8870m version!

 

That's the series 7 Gamer dude....Not even a Chronos. Sorry, but you're wrong

 

That is SO awesome to hear. I need this laptop now!! I just want to sell this Macbook Pro Retina on ebay already and order the Chronos 8870m version off Amazon. Argh...

 

user manual for NP780Z5E if you guys haven't seen it

http://downloadcenter.samsung.com/content/UM/201301/20130116091029716/Win8_Manual_eng.pdf

edit: I see it was posted on pg 55. leavin it here anyways!

 

Even though the SD card sticks out a bit, is it somehow secured inside the slot or can you just pull it out? For example in my current laptop you have to push the card first so it actually unlocks from its place and then you can take it out.

 

Does it have TPM? Some does but what about BB edition?

 

The manual says that you have to activate TPM on the security tab of the bios settings. So, I went into bios and there is not TPM setting on the security tab or anywhere else in BIOS so i'm guessing the best buy model doesn't support TPM.

 

The SD card actually hangs out about 2/3 of the way. Its just held in place by the tension of the slot there is no spring load insert/removal of the card or other method of locking it in place. In fact it says in the manual recently posted here that you should store your cards somewhere else when moving the notebook.

 

How does the cooling system work? Is the air inlet on the bottom, with exhaust in front of the screen like the UX51?

 

I believe this is the manual for the OLD Chronos

 

You should NEVER believe yourself.

 

I don't think so. Under specs (page 146) it has Radeon 8870M, 8770M, 8850M, and 8750M. I looked at the old version at Best Buy, and if I remember right, it had fewer vents on the bottom. Also, if I remember right, the SD card slot was on the left side of the laptop, instead of on the right side like the new (17inch) model.
(edit: and the touch screen)

It comes with a slot-loading optical drive?
I WANT THIS LAPTOP

 

Nope, its for the new model. The give away is the information on how to use the optional touch screen since this is the first chronos with a touch screen.

 

Heres an interesting line of thought...

If the new chronos follows a similar pattern as the previous model then there will be 15 and 17 inch version, and the highest in GPU will only be in the 17" version. If thats the case then the 8870 won't be available in a 15" version. Has anyone actually seen a 15" model listed anywhere with the 8870?

 

Canada Computers | Notebooks, Netbooks & Tablets | Samsung Nike II High (NP780Z5E-S02CA) Notebook | Intel Core I7_3635QM 8GB RAM, 1TB_5.4KR/16G EC, DVD-RW | 15.6" FHD PLS Touch AMD HD8870M 2GB; Windows 8

But also, the laptop was announced with an AMD HD8870m. All of the previews of the laptop at CES were with the 8870m.

It's like 100% confirmed that there will be a 15" touch screen version with 16gb of ram and the HD8870m.

Both the 15" and 17" chronos from 2012 had the same GPU. It's the series 7 gamer which has the much better gpu.

 

Great to see! Just all the things ive seen and read say the 8870m in the chronos and that the chronos will be available in 15 and 17 inch sizes but no specifics on which specs go in which sizes.

It looks like that model at Canada Computers is the same as the best buy model except for an extra 8gb of RAM and the 8870m video card. It might have a metal back too, we won't know until someone gets one. That said, you can get the 8770 model at bestbuy for $1199... doing a canada --> US exchange rate the 8870 model would cost 1660 us... or $460 for +8gb of ram and the 8870. Still no SSD. Thats a bit pricy.

 

I seriously doubt that there is going to be a different bottom. They are both the same laptop, same model, just different SKUs. They would have different weights if they had a different type of base.

Also, Support - Notebooks NP780Z5E | Samsung Laptops is new.

 

I doubt it too, but some people are hoping for an all aluminum version. Looking at the case I don't see it, It has aluminum in the parts you see all the time (top, inside top, etc) and plastic everywhere else.

 

The 8870 will definitely be available in the 15 inch version, thankfully. That's what was unveiled at CES, and what's more accurate than that?

 

I honestly don't get why people care so much about it.
Everyone who already has the laptop say that the build quality is great and that it looks fantastic. Having the baseplate/bottom be plastic allows better heat dissipation and weighs less than a metal base. Plastic is also much more comfortable than metal.

 

It shows pictures of it with the optical drive throughout. And, the bezel of the screen is grey instead of piano black like the new Chronos.

 

The non-touch version of the new chronos is grey, and the 17 inch version has an optical drive.

 

Yeah, I'm just going to pick up the current Best buy model. Unless someone can tell me that the other version is releasing soon. Not a heavy gamer so I def don't need all this extra stuff. I like the all metal casing. Bottom plastic is fine.

Is it easy to upgrade to 12gb ram?

 

This hasn't been confirmed anywhere to my knowledge. I don't even think they announced a 17 inch version ever. If so, why wasn't it at CES or in any of the TONS of articles and press following the announcement of this new Chronos?

 

I watched every CES video I could find... never heard specifically that the the 8870 would be in the 15" chronos. but its appearing on sites as such so it seems to be the case.

 

On their multiple press releases they mentioned it(i think)

 

http://pci34.fishingtree.com/nike2/amazon/770Z7E/
Plus the user guide

 

Wait what??? Are you kidding? EVERY single video and article I read of it they talked about it being 15" and having the 8870. I had NEVER even heard of the 8770 before this forum. Haha dude idk what the hell you're looking at.

http://www.engadget.com/2013/01/07/hands-on-new-samsung-series-7-chronos/
http://www.engadget.com/2013/01/02/samsung-series-7-ultra-series-7-chronos-8870m-graphics/

More proof:
http://www.samsung.com/uk/news/loca...ries-7-chronos-and-new-ultrabooks-at-ces-2013
http://www.theverge.com/2013/1/7/3849090/samsungs-series-7-chronos-and-series-7-ultra-hands-on

I'm literally shocked that you said you've never heard of the 15 inch having the 8870 version.

 

There is definitely a 17" model and it has a slot loading optical drive. The 17" version also has a mini display port in addition to VGA and HDMI. All this is detailed in the user manual. At CES they showed the 15" but talked about it in general terms that the chronos series are premium models with ATI 8000 series processors, great viewing angle screens (they don't even mention PLS), etc.

 

Dude you're out of your mind. I've read every article from CES and from the time afterwards until now about specifically the series 7 Chronos and NONE of them talked about a 17" version. Also none of them mentioned the 15" version without the 8870. That's what we expect and that's what will come.