Introducing The 2013 Series 7 Chronos with AMD HD8870M!

Same specs, different name, no? Just an amalgamation of their labels?

 

Different name and color

 

Both.
Mine is the glossy touchscreen, and other owners here have the matte non-touchscreen.

 

Surely there must be other differences? Even if its just more RAM/ an SSD? Can't believe they would bring out two laptops from different families that are identical bar the colour

 

I agree that abusing anything will produce bad results.
I feel that most people will view their screens at the brightness that they prefer - whether that be at full brightness (due to bright surroundings or personal preference), or at lower settings that you prefer.
I don't think it is an acceptable compromise for a manufacturer to expect people to have to "baby" their laptop because of a flaw inherent in the technology they chose to employ in their product - especially at the high price point they are setting for these machines.

I own two high-end plasma televisions.
Plasma TV's are notorious for suffering both image retention and even burn-in, due to static images.
People who purchase plasma TV's do so because they crave the utmost in picture quality, but as a result, need to be careful how they use it, so as to not do anything stupid like leave static images on the screen for very long periods of time.
In other words, you end up having to "baby" your tv, in order to protect it from your viewing habits.

LCD was always a technology that touted itself as not having image retention / image persistence / burn-in.
While we know that this is not the case in all versions of the technology, it is also understood that in general LCD technology is MUCH less susceptible to those effects versus plasma technology.

With that said, neither of my plasma TV's have ever exhibited image retention to the degree that my new chronos has - even when I thought I "was" abusing my TV's with static content.
For this reason alone I am upset that this beautiful new laptop has an issue with image retention/persistence.
A computer is "meant" to have static images. (desktop icons, taskbar, WINDOWS).
How can you feel comfortable using the laptop normally - knowing that if you browse the internet for too long in your browser window, that image is slowly burning its image into your screen ?

I'm taking mine back this afternoon for a refund.
I will cross my fingers that the black version (or ativ line) comes out soon, and that by some miracle of manufacturing wizardry, the panels used will be of a better batch or technology that does not suffer this issue.

For me, I have high expectations for quality and performance when I spend a lot of money on a product.
Good luck to those of you who are happy with theirs, though.
I will miss mine and wait for my next opportunity to own one - and take my chances on obtaining one with a display to my liking.

 

Still there

Samsung 17.3" Laptop 8GB Memory 1TB Hard Drive NP770Z7E-S01UB - Best Buy

IN FACT, Samsung Experience Store is opening on the 20th of April!
well, at least in one of the BB near me
http://stores.bestbuy.com/471/event/samsung-experience-store-grand-opening/

...might be goooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooood news finally!

 

Just ordered and received from Best Buy last week...

 

But do you run your plasma screens on full brightness? I'm guessing not!

As food-for-thought, the rMBP, MBP, iMac and MacBook Air all have the same issue, especially with the brightness turned up. I don't think this is an issue specific to the Chronos, but inherent in the IPS/PLS/etc technologies (it's well documented as a drawback of this technology), even if it is only a temporary display persistence - you have to make the call, do you want viewing angles or do you want minor image persistence with high brightness? No technology is perfect, it's about the best technology for you, given the limitations on what's currently available.

It's a shame you're abandoning this amazing laptop - even if it's only really a hiatus, but I hope you get the solution you want in the end - I for one love the Chronos!

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=thnZUNdIRxs

A new review on youtube...

it is soo thin and sexyyy....what in the world could be holding back Samsung's release in the US market?????????

 

We received them this afternoon
2x NP780Z5E S01UK
touchscreen i7 & 8870m
Have opened one and Win8 with touchscreen is great fun!
SSD's, memory and external bluray player arrive tomorrow

 

The "Samsung Store" at my best buy location has been open for about a week, nothing new yet.

 

I'm considering taking mine back as well, for a few reasons.
1) The screen. It is a great screen, except for two very important things. The burn in, which I have noticed and which, quite frankly, isn't acceptable. Yes some of the mac book retinas have it, but some do not. It is completely possible for an IPS or IPS like screen to exist without retention. As well, the "noise" on whites. The screen is really fantastic, on everything but whites and light greys(or any really light color). On those colors it really does look as if someone put a (bad) matte screen protector on it, just as one would put on a iPhone. I swear, the screen was better on my bestbuy version. This noise or rainbow effect or whatever you want to call it really is very annoying.
2) The Wifi. I thought all was fine until today I noticed that I'm not able to connect to routers that are far away. I get 0 bars on it where as I get 2 bars on my LG TV. Really should be getting better wifi on the laptop. Yes, this could be driver related, but I have the best drivers(from intel) and this is still the case. And I don't know if it will be or even can be fixed by drivers.
3) The keyboard. I didn't have this problem on the other chronos that I had, but the enter key gets stuck once in a while which really is quite annoying. The back light is also useless. It doesn't work properly in the dark either, as the screen kindof makes the keys invisible!

Yes, none of these are huge problems, but this is a $1700 laptop. And I wont buy another laptop for at least 2 to 3 years. I've pretty much been computerless for most of the last year waiting for a great laptop. This one is great, but it also has a lot of problems. I have until next Friday(like a week this Friday) to return it. I'm going to wait and see if any of the issues get fixed(through drivers or time or whatever) and if I can learn to deal with the noisy-ness. I really was excited about this laptop, and I am too hoping that the Ativ book 8 fixes these problems.

Even while I was writing this post my wifi cut out! First time that's happened, great.

 

Please keep us updated on what you think of the laptop in the coming week or so. It's been too long and I got really jealous when you got the laptop last week. Such a shame for this laptop to have everything except general availability and the final little touches.

Also, what laptop do you think you'll go for next? Wait out for the Ativ book 8? The number of months the S02 version of that could take to release...

 

I wouldn't call them final little touches. The wifi problems yes, but the screen's graininess/retention and the keyboard's contrast are pretty big flaws IMO.

I'm not sure. A lot of new laptops will be coming out in the coming months(and will start to be announced in the coming month?). If the Ativ book 8 comes out I'll give it a shot, though I doubt that the screen will be better. Hopefully it'll just show up here in Canada with 16gb of ram and an 8870m like the chronos did! But, if I also might get an unannounced laptop. The fact that LEAP motion has deals with both Asus and HP definitley intrigues me, and I would still much rather have a nivida gt 750m over the 8870m, even if the 8870m is slightly more powerful(physx, etc. are worth that 10ish% in my opinion)

I'm not going to give up on the chronos yet though. New mouse drivers were released today, maybe that'll help with my mouse problems.

 

Which one is better: Crucial m4 256GB or Samsung 840 pro 256GB? The Samsung is about $40 more expensive. The speeds are going to be relatively the same to me... but which is more reliable? Which will last me longer?

Thanks

 

you mean the lady in the video?
:thumbsup:

 

over two months old and still no official drivers for 8000 series....amd has me worried...even my 3 year old geforce 9400gt gets updates every couple of months.....hope at computex they refresh this with haswell, gt750m and ssd.......btw i compared nfs most wanted 2013 at ultra settings on rMBP and 8770m and performance was definately better on 650m possibly due to drivers even though both are quivalent on paper.....

 

I thought until I heard her talk! It's even more entertaining to turn on the closed captioning on the video

 

Thanks for that. Just called them up and was told that they dont know when it will be back in stock. That is just ridiculous. Cancelled my order. I'm done with Currys/PcWorld. Gonna wait and see if i can get Ativ 8 or Chorons 7 from elsewhere. For now gonna put my new SSD in my old laptop.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk 2

 

sorry, please delete this posting...

 

I dont think that the Ativ book 8 won't have that issue since it is the same hardware. I've got two 770Z5E and returned both. Also the Samsung hotline told me to either return the notebook or let them repair it. The guy also told me that he heard the first time about that issue...

I am pretty sure that all 770Z5E (non-glossy screen) have that issue.

A few days ago I leaved the notebook turned on with max brightness and the default Samsung desktop wallpaper. After 15 mins image retention was visible on a darker background (the color doesnt actually matter, can be blue, brown, gray or whatever).

Honestly, that is a not acceptable issue for a € 1300 notebook.

 

Someone said that after a while of intense use, one week or so, ghosting issue will disappear.

 

Someone? Any source for this information?

 

I had this issue on my old 780z5e, like the best but version, and well after a week of usage.

 

Sorry for the double post instead of multiquote. I think that the Ativ book will fix the keyboard lighting problems. It could also very well come with better drivers, which would fix the wifi.
I doubt that it will fix the screen, but am hoping that it will. I think the only way that it could possibly fix the screen would be if Samsung has not yet produced the Ativ books and ends up changing the supplier for the screen after hearing all of these problems.

 

I don't know much about this sort of thing, but I remember reading once that heat can cause image retention on these screens...seeing as the Macbook also has these problems, and both laptops have vents near the screens i think? This might be the cause? Has anyone felt how hot the screen is when image retention occurs? Or tried positioining the screen away from the hot air?

 

I tried it out yesterday after I had just turned on the laptop. The fans were barely on, so the screen was not hot. Still had retention though

 

this burn in thing is really...==? why is it that my 4 year old lenovo thinkpad r400 doesn't even have this problem?

 

Because your 4 years old Lenovo notebook has a different display panel

Its really sad that this issue occurs, because the 770Z5E is a great notebook... any alternative for me would be a (very expensive) MacBook Pro. I'm still not sure if it is worth to pay that much money.

 

I see people talking about the MBp as an (the only) alternative. What about the Asus U500vz ? It's in the same price range as the MBp isn't it ?

 

No burn in problem, Best Buy version, had it several weeks, screen brightness 100% and screensaver turned off (i.e. I'm torturing it).

 

Would this ram module be ok for the Chronos? Kingston Technology KHX16C10B1B/8 HyperX Series 8GB 1600MHz DDR3 CL10 DIMM Memory Module - Black: Amazon.co.uk: Computers & Accessories
or would this one be better; http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B008JIVLYY

The second one someone else on this thread has already add to this laptop, but from the pictures the Kingston one looks much thinner.

 

NO. Stay away from the Retina. It is NOT worth your money. I have it currently and as I've said many times I can't wait for the day I sell it for a better and still cheaper Windows 8 laptop. I've always thought the Chronos was a no brainer, but it seems like you guys are having SO many issues. Really sad, honestly.

The U500Z is an intriguing notebook, however, I have seen it on sale NOWHERE in the US. Plus, it's extremely expensive for specs not even close to the Chronos. And doesn't it have a weak ULV processor as well??

 

Definitely no to the Kingston, it's the wrong memory technology (it's a DIMM type memory module designed for a desktop PC, rather than SO-DIMM which is generally the laptop type). The Transcend one is the one you want, someone else on here has already installed that module and confirmed it to work fine.

 

It is the same price range... but the ratings are very bad for the Asus. Loud and nosy fans, very expensive SSD (ok, same as Apple does), and poor build quality. Thats what the reviewers at Amazon.de write about the U500vz. Then i guess the 770Z5E is the better choise.

Some people say it is worth some say it's not

I need a new notebook during the next two weeks. My worst case scenario: I'll buy the 770Z5E+SSD again and hope, that the display issue will either dissapear or there'll be some kind of a fix, like driver update or new panels or so.

 

U500VZ is hit or miss, as with a lot of Asus products. Their QC really needs tightening.

I'm debating the UX32 actually.

 

no touch yet for the Asus U500, only for the UX32... which can't be upgraded (SSD & RAM).

 

Thank Asus' proprietary/non-upgradeable 256GB SSD's in RAID0 (512 GB) for their extreme price.

Their processor is only a low-voltage (35W quad-core).

 

im so close to caving and picking up the best buy version with the 8770. the vid card is my only concern.

 

If you have any interest in gaming whatsoever, don't do it.

 

I have a high interest in gaming and picked it up. Works pretty well for gaming. I would not spend the extra cash for the 8870 because to me, it is not worth it.

I picked up the Best Buy version a few weeks ago and replace the HDD with a Vertex 512 SSD. I forgot the option that I selected but basically I did a copy of the drive through the Samsung tools on coming the stock drive over to another drive. I was thinking of putting the 1 TB drive it came with into my storage server giving it another TB of space, but if I did that, can I also again copy the drive from the SSD I put in onto another drive through the Samsung software that you boot into? I forget what the option is now called.

 

Almost double the gfx horsepower isn't worth it? I'm starting to doubt you're a gamer.

 

All things being equal, I'd go with the Samsung. It will be a tad faster, and it's newer technology. Also, I've got several Samsung SSDs and never had any issues with them, whereas I have never used a Crucial SSD.

However, not all things are equal. The cheapskate in me would probably go with the one that is $40 cheaper, because the Samsung won't be $40

You're seeing a lot of posts from the same handful of of people have the same handful of issues. Most of us who bought the Chronos are only following this thread in the hopes that the 8870 version is released in our country (U.S., in my case) relatively soon, if we're following this at all.

I've had my 780z5e (Best Buy) model since the last week of February, and I think that it's fantastic. The only "issues" that I've had are the slow 5400 RPM hard disk (which I replaced with an SSD) and the 8770 vs 8870 graphics. In the most intensive gaming situations that I use it in, frame rates drop into the 20's. If they release the 8870 version within the next week and a half I'll probably return this one and get it instead, since I'm still in my 60 day return windows (RZ Premier Silver + I got in before they cut their return policy in half). Otherwise I'll keep it since I'm generally very happy with it anyway. The screen is great, the battery life is great, the wifi is great, it's all just great.

It is going to depend entirely on what games you are playing and at what resolution/level of detail. Most of my games do very well on the 8770. Only one of them has frame rates that dip into the 20's, and it's in the most graphically intensive areas of the game at and only at 1080p and nearly the highest detail/effects settings. I can dial it back a notch and be just fine.

However, if you're a hardcore gamer you may want to look at the 17" Chronos with the 8870 GPU. You'll appreciate the larger screen and better GPU.

 

Do you guys know how much more advantageous it would be to wait for the 8870 model not for gaming purposes but for different graphics/media programs?

I work with some big files in Photoshop (while also typically running several other programs at the same time) and my current laptop gets pretty slowed down, I'm sure the 8gb model is probably pretty good now, but I also want a more future-proof device as I will probably intensively use this laptop for the next 4 years. Ever since the new Chronos was leaked before CES I've been anxiously awaiting the release of the full 16gb model (possibly would go 12gb if offered at a worthwhile discount), but I'm growing weary with no news at all about the 8870/16gb model because I could really use an upgrade over my current laptop.

 

What's the difference between the NP780Z5E- S01 and - S02?

 

You honestly won't see much difference in multimedia programs unless you're doing extremely detailed 3D rendering environments that are GPU-constrained, in which case you would only see a small performance boost. PS is mostly CPU-limited except for some GPU routines.

Also the 12GB configuration is possible on the 8GB config, since 12GB = 1x8GB + 1x4GB, and the 8GB comes with 2x4GB (1 user-replaceable). You could even sell the 4GB stick you upgrade from.

 

i am experimenting some ghosting in my NP770z5e screen, its just noticeable when you press Ctrl+Alt+Supr, is not a BIG PROBLEM to me, like a said, is just really noticeable when I go to task manager.

What do you recommend ??? just keep the notebook because the problem is not really annoying. Or its better to change it ?? the ghosting problem could increase with the time ???

thanks

 

Won't help that much - unless you're doing video rendering, I don't think the GPU does very much of the work.

S01 is the 8770 and S02 is the 8870, I believe.

 

Just picked up the 15.6" NP7805ZE S02 from Future Shop (Canada)...
...and it came with the 8870 and 16 GB of RAM (not 8 as advertised). ...not even FS knows what they are selling or what Samsung is sending them!

 

Wow, how much did you end up paying for that?