New Samsung Q330, Q430 and Q530 notebooks

I have taken my laptop back and got a refund from Best Buy UK, really rubbish service from the manager, having to write a complaint letter for him being an idiot with an attitude problem.

Can someone here do me a favour and take a photo of the battery with the Mah rating please for me? I want to include it in my letter. [From the Q330 laptop]

Thanks.

 

"Up to" is a very misleading expression which is best read as "not exceeding" (but anything less is OK). The manufacturer's measurement is probably done with the computer idle and all power-saving enabled (dimmest screen, no wireless or Bluetooth, etc). Actually trying to use the computer will reduce the run time.

OK, you got it sorted. I suspect that you are correct that the battery time claim relates to the higher capacity battery and you could have used this argument if necessary. Samsung produce different versions of the same notebook aimed at different price points and using different capacity batteries is one of the possible changes.

John

 

hey twe69,

FYI, the standard Q330 battery is 4400mAh (around 48W).

I think there should be a more standardized way of advertising the battery hour, it is just not realistic to achieve 7 hours of running time with just 48W for this type of laptop

Even at idle state, the battery monitor is estimating 3 hours of running time (I'm using BatteryBar btw, it is better than the windows one...).

I initially thought Samsung incorporated some smart technologies that made their hardware (e.g. the monitor) more power efficient or sth when they advertised 5-7 hours of battery time LOL

Anyway, the Q330 keyboard is the best laptop keyboard I've touched so far~

 

Power your life on the go - Q330 13.3" Thin and Light Notebook - thin and light - Notebook Computers | SAMSUNG

If you look at the Samsung website it now says "With a 6 cell battery, it delivers up to 5 hours* (6 cell 5900mAh)" but in the picture it still says 7hrs - It did says 7 hours in the description a few days/weeks ago when I purchased the laptop.

As you can see it says 5900mAh battery so that must be the capacity to get the advertised upto 7hrs, how in the world with light usage can you get that with the lower capacity of 4400mAh? I only managed about 3.5hrs so the new claim of upto 5 hours is about right.

Anyway have had to write a letter of complaint to Best Buy UK, not really for miss selling the product, but have mentioned it, but for the appaling service and a manager with an attitude problem, felt like punching him but glad I didn't!

 

bluered, if you don't mind me asking, where in Australia did you get it for $950?

 

Just wondering, has anyone updated their q430s to the latest nvidia drivers? Is it advisable or are there any real benefits?

 

Harvey Norman had 20% off all laptop. But also saw it for the same price at the good guys on the weekend. Capalaba qld.

 

I'm thinking of upgrading my ram soon. Is there any difference between ddr3 1066 and 1333? Also, can the q430 accommodate 1333 Mhz DDR3 ram?

 

1333 can potentially run faster but I doubt that the Q430 supports the higher speed. In this case the RAM will run at 1066. Each RAM module contains a table called the "SPD" which contains the timings for, usually, 3 different speeds. You can inspect this table using CPU-z. Here is the table for my OCZ RAM. Note that the RAM speed is actually double the indicated clock speed:



As the RAM clock speed reduces then the other timing numbers (which are expressed in terms of number of clock cycles) also decrease so the physical times remain about the same.

John

 

Has anybody actually tried the 6-cell 5900mAh battery on the Q330 and if so, does it get any near the advertised 7 hrs?

 

thanks for the info john. Now, I just have to figure out what's the best bang for buck ram upgrade.

 

When I had mine I tried searching on the net for replacement batteries and they all seemed to be the same size, i.e. 4400mAh so might be best to ask Samsung directly or something?

 

Has anyone updated their nvidia drivers to the latest release? If so, have you noticed any problems? Also, does anyone think its safe to do so?

 

I uses to have an Q210 and when you replaced the Samsung Video driver you use to loose the ability to adjust the brightness, Samsung seems to integrated the brightness software with the video driver, I now have an Samsung R590 and i updated the video driver clean install and the brightness was unaffected.

I dont know if the Q330, Q430 and Q530 will have the brightness problem or not, just create an system restore point before you upgrade the video driver.

 

Thanks Tinderbox!

 

I just updated my nvidia drivers to 258.96 and everything seems to be working fine. I'll be installing an Ubuntu-based distro called Peppermint OS to see how well the laptop can handle Linux.

 

Have you tried the ubuntu live cd, you get the option just to run it from the cd or to install it.

Download | Ubuntu

 

I'm familiar with live cds and they've saved me a lot of headaches whenever I need to recover files. I'm actually about to load one up right now.

 

Hi,

Has anyone tried a total of 8GB (2x4GB) in the Q330? I see others may have tried 8GB in the Q430 as it has been discussed here.

I did call Samsung but I didn't get the most helpful support person hence asking here as well! His answer was no, but as he didn't install a great deal of confidence in me I thought there was no harm asking here as well. I know the same chipset is used but maybe that does not mean much if Samsung have added a limitation in the BIOS.

Battery: Also whoever asked about the 6 cell 5900mAh battery for the Q330 I did find it here:

AA-PL1VC6B/E Samsung 6CELL BATTERY Q330/X420/NB30/N210 (The part number would appear to be: AA-PL1VC6B/E)

!!! But please check I have found the right one if you want to order as using the part number other sites do not state it is for this laptop! Argghh nightmare! !!!

I had just ordered the Samsung Q330 i3 370M which is due to be delivered tomorrow but I had counted on it being able to run 8Gb of RAM Wish I had looked into this more before ordering, doh.

Hope this helps.

 

Hmmm, the kingston website seems to indicate the Q330 will take up to 8GB

Kingston Technology Company - Kingston Memory Search - Search Results for:

 

Hi Tinerbox, that's really helpful thanks.

I had tried Crucial but there is nothing in the drop down for the Q Series. Not sure how someone found a link for the Q430 on Crucial earlier in this thread; perhaps the memory checker option via the notebook itself.

I have a Dell M6500 with 2 sticks of DDR3 (2x 4GB) RAM so I might see if that works. It should only underclock it to 1066Mhz (i guess) which isn't an issue, I just want to see if it will recognise it and allow the 8Gb to be used. It might be a case of carfully opening the notebook box tomorrow and leaving the system in a "as new" state in case I need to return. E.G. Don't remove the labels, do not use the HDD etc etc!

4Gb is enough for normal use but I wanted a quite/light machine (well compared to my M6500 most notebooks are light) for some development work on the move i.e. SQL Server etc. The extra RAM is always helpful. If it was a 100% "No 8GB will not work" then I wouldn't even want to open the box.

Thanks again though, I will update you all on how I get on. Also if anyone else has any info on this please give me a shout.

RE: Windows x64, the new i3 370M powered Q330 all appear to ship with an x64 version of Windows. Why they would do that if it could only run 4GB I am not sure. So again a clue that perhaps this should be able to run upto 8GB. Usually only one way to find out

 

Even here they are showing max memory: 8GB

Samsung NP-Q330-JA05UK, Q Series, NP-Q330-JA05UK - Samsung Laptop Sale Cheap Laptops Deal UK Best Buy Notebook Computer Discount

Didn't buy from these guys BTW, so not trying to spam, i know nothing about the store. Purely looking into the max supported memory for the Q330.

 

The Intel HM55 chipset supports 8GB so, Unless Samsung have crippled the BIOS, 2 x 4GB modules will work. This memory supplier also suggest the same.

John

 

Thanks John, that's helpful.

Well I have taken the plunge and ordered the 2x4GB Kingston memory (and an SSD but that's another story!) It was the best price here in the UK and so for the first time in about 10 years I have given Crucial a miss. As far as I am aware Kingston memory is also of a high quality.

My theory was something along the lines that the retailer said to use the Kingston memory configuration tool if unsure about compatibility. So I did (thanks again Tinderbox) and hopefully if it doesn't work it will give me more clout if I need to get a refund. But I'm going to be positive and say it's going to work

I will post back with my findings for any other Q330 users.

 

My answer is it works 8GB recognised in BIOS and Windows 7 x64 OK.

 

Thanks for the update.

John

 

Glad it all worked out fine

 

I did a clean install of Window 7 on a new Q430, and I can't install the nVidia drivers. It keeps saying there is no compatible hardware for the drivers. I tried the drivers provided at Samsung and the vanilla ones from nVidia.

Any help?
I know the Alienware m11x has a similar problem that is fixable through the BIOS, but nothing seems to work for me.

 

Did Windows 7 install an Nvidia driver? You may need to uninstall it and go back to a basic VGA driver before trying to install a newer driver.

John

 

I wish that was the case... but it's under generic vga right now.
I'm guessing this is a problem with Optimus?
Frustrating...

 

Does anyone here has the Q330 I5 model? Is it different than the Q330 I3 besides the CPU? Which one would you prefer?

Also, looking at the specs of the new QX310 and the Q330, i dont see any differences... actually, the Q330 I5 is a M520 and the QX310 is a M460.

Could it be that the Q330 i5 is better than the QX310?

 

I am very interested in Samsung Q430 laptop but I don't want to buy it without considering other options.

I did a research and came up with two more laptops. Can anyone help me choose between these and say why would you choose that particular laptop?

Here's the list:

Samsung Q430
Sony VAIO Y
Asus U35JC

 

You are more likely to get a response if you fill in the form and post in the what notebook should I buy forum.

John

 

There were some questions in this forum regarding how well a Samsung q430-11 handles Linux and I can say that it will likely run the OS well. Right now, I am using Linux Mint Debian and i can make use of most of the function keys (I can't dim or adjust the brightness of the screen at the moment but there may be a solution to that). Wifi function key works, I can switch off the backlight of the display, power information function key and trackpad also works. Regarding power optimization and battery life, I was a bit surprised. I am having, roughly, around the same battery life as I would in windows and that's with me not being able to adjust the brightness of the screen yet. I am also using a relatively "bling-y" desktop environment so if I transfer to a more power efficient desktop environment, like LXDE or Openbox, I might experience more power savings plus other optimizations. Also, the cpu and gpu scales and optimizes power quite well. I have an applet for the cpu which throttles the cpu automatically. Also, the nvidia drivers indicate the gpu's temp, power usage, and also throttles the gpu when it is not heavy in use. In any case, if you aren't too fiddly with your linux installations, you might average around 2-2 and a half hours of battery. For power users, I think you guys can squeeze out more battery life, but I'm just speculating at this point since I'm not that adept with the nuances to using Linux. As for niggles, there are quite a few. First, off sound is a bit erratic. There are times that sound is not enabled if i use the laptop's speakers, so i am forced to use headphones most of the time. Like i mentioned awhile ago, I can't adjust the brightness on the screen. Also, I haven't noticed the CPU use its turbo boost unless the applet i am using simply does not register the boost. As for dual booting between windows 7 and any linux distro, your mileage may vary. I had trouble figuring out how to dual boot given how samsung has partitioned the laptop's hard drive so i ended up installing my linux distro from within windows. I haven't noticed any performance losses and, despite my distro being installed from within windows, I find boot up much quicker and more responsive than windows 7. Also, correct me if I'm wrong, but i noticed that Microsoft's starter has a small partition on the hard drive. I'm thinking of deleting that small partition if i can find a place to download Microsoft Starter edition for free. Of course, that may be the backup or restoration point of the laptop so maybe I shouldn't touch it.

 

My mate just bought this laptop from Currys in the UK. Great little machine, however there are issues with the wireless. It only connects to my Netgear WNDR 3700 @ 65mbps? Is this normal, I have updated the drivers.

Can anyone tell me the exact model of the wifi card as it only says broadcom in the device manager.

 

what is the difference between the QX410 and the Q430 other than the extra 140GBS of hard drive space?

 

Study the specs: Q430 and QX410.

The QX410 is thinner and lighter and has hybrid graphics but lacks an HDMI port.

John

 

do you know which one is the one with a non removable battery?

 

Samsung say that the battery of the QX410 needs to be replaced by an authorised service centre. See page 86 of the User Guide. The guide also shows that HDMI is an option, so it may be present (it is not mentioned on the web page but it is listed in the dats sheet).

John

 

oh icic thank you and also which do you prefer, the samsung , asus u36, or an acer timline 38205tg?

 

For objective advice you should ask that question in this forum after filling in the form. If you don't want to go through that process then you should (i) download and read the user guides for the three notebooks; (ii) make a spreadsheet listing their features; and (iii) apply your weighting to the features according to their preferences. Step (ii) is very useful at flushing out strengths and weaknesses, such as what ports are available or absent.

John

 

just picked up the q430-11 because it's one the few laptops out now with non-hybrid discrete graphics (for better dual booting options). opened it up and reapplied the TIMs with IC Diamond for a significant temp drop. noticed a few quirks about the motherboard. first, CPU is soldered it looks like (which stinks) and also what I think is the VRAM has no heatsink on it. anyone know if that's going to be an issue? I'm overclocking with Nividia tools with all settings on max with no issues (gpu max temp 65 c while gaming). though I'm probably going clock back the VRAM to factory due to lack of heatsink and no thermal probe. also anyone manage to add Bluetooth to the US q430? anyone in the UK that's opened the Q430 care to chime in on what the Bluetooth module looks like?...noticed there's an extra unused port by the RAM on the mobo.

 

hello all. wanting to buy q330.

for office and travel purposees, i need a smaller screen but powerful enough laptop. hence settled on q330. looks good on paper. good reviews as well.

i dont do a lot of gaming and whatever i do i do at home. but would like the option of external graphics card. have done some research. there are some external graphics cards around but needs "express card slot" to work properly.

does q330 have a ExpressCard slot for external graphics card. or is it worth speding money on something with an inbuilt graphics card.

there are laptops with graphics cards but i cant spend more at this moment of time. hence the option of external graphics card with my next bonus (if happens).

what is the best option. pls reply.

ijjub

 

The Q330 does not include an ExpressCard slot. There's a useful Q330 review here from which you can judge the graphics performance.

John

 

many thanks for the help. the review was quite helpful. i think i shall go ahead and buy q330. the only close competetion is HP ProBook 4320s. HP is 60£ more expensive but gives an option of attaching an external graphics card through express card slot. what do u suggest?

 

If you prefer the Q330 then go for it and accept the graphics limitations. You may be able to use the wireless card slot for external graphics as discussed here. Or just accept that the internal graphics will be adequate at lower settings. There are some useful gaming benchmark results for the Intel GPU at notebookcheck.

John

 

Hi ijjub,

I've only had the Q330 for a few days but I couldn't be happier; the build quality is high, the screen is bright and clear, the keyboard is responsive, it's fairly light, and of course it's nice to have a DVD-writer (which isn't always a given on a machine of its size).

Im not a massive gamer so I don't have the latest games lying about, but I did quickly try Company of Heroes at low-ish settings (not the lowest) and the Q330 handled it fine.

I think that as long as you accept you won't be playing the most recent games on high settings then you really can't be disappointed with this machine.

 

many many thanks Poweris and John . you have helped me make my mind up for q330. i shall buy it over the weekend and let u know abt my experience .

 

hello all,

got the q330. brilliant keyboard and a fast computer. love it.


the only thing is that it takes upto 3 min to start up. can somebody suggest which startup programs are essential and which i may be able to disable.

 

3 minutes is a long time considering that Windows 7 is meant to optimise the boot process.

Run MSconfig and experiment disabling the non-Microsoft programs (but Samsung's Easy Display Manager is needed to use the Fn key controls). If Samsung are still bundling the McAfee AV then that could be the cause of the slowness and be first in line to be disabled.

John