New Samsung R580 "touch of red" notebook

I've had my Samsung R580 for two months now and LOVE it.
It's FAST and looks great too. I like it better than the Dell XPS and Gateway I had before it.
I also have the matching "touch of red" blackjack II and 26" LCD TV monitor too. Perfect match.

Here are the pictures I took the first day I got it... like an early Christmas!











This is what I use it for... photography and everything else. At home I run it through the Samsung 26".

 

Just curious, does any other notebook maker out there have matching monitors & phones like Samsung does?

 

I really don't know who else does it to be honest. I myself have a R780. Really amazing laptop. I bought it due to it being closely spec with a Qosmio and this is a really good workstation. I going to be doing CAD, CFD, scientific/engineering computation (image/video/audio analysis, and maybe computation on the unknown/unseen/beyond/*shudder* type of thing), some programing (C, Matlab, Fortran, etc.) and some multimedia stuff. I think its gonna handle it pretty well. The build quality is fine, nice size and weight. The only con is the screen is only 16:9 not 16:10 or 16:12 . and yes its pretty warm, you need proper ventellation. Its spec:

-intel i5 450m @2.4Ghz
-Nvidia GT 330m 1GB DDR3
-4GB DDR3 RAM
-500GB HDD


Also I got a question, does your power brick become hot?

 

Except for the GPU (310m), GPU (512MB of memory) and screen-size (15.6), the R580 is the same notebook.

Both notebooks are a GREAT deal for the money for sure. I'm real happy with mine.
Doesn't get hot and the power brick is just warm, not hot at all.

 

YUp basically the same, i needed the higher spec one anyway. Yeah the power brick for me gets warm, like not hot as in burning hot but warm as in u can feel the heat. Though it cools down after the battery charges. Pretty nice

I have yet to run any games on it, i need a good USB mouse.

 

That 17" is a great notebook for the $$$
I saw several other makers notebooks, Dell, Gateway etc with the same specs selling for well over $1,300 last year.

With that faster, better GPU, maybe that is why yours is running hotter?
However, that makes sense though if it cools down after the battery is charged as it is working harder when charging the battery. Mine does the same thing.
I wouldn't worry about it.

 

How many of you here have the R580?

 

Not many R580 owners here then?

 

I own a samsung r580 though you probably knew that already from other threads. Great laptop. Best bang for buck around. Laptop stays cooler than any other I've owned. Has a wide variety of ports, only one (besides one Toshiba) that had every port I needed that was under 1000 with blu-ray. Only flaw was the low battery life but you can afford to buy a 12 cell with the money you saved from the laptop being so inexpensive to begin with. Oh the touchpad isn't perfect and on mine you have to type with a firmer touch on some keys (I think its only on mine though) but these are very minor flaws that are totally outweighted by the pluses.

Boy these forums are addictive. I'm spending too much time here.

 

Well on the two negatives... no biggies as most 15" notebooks don't get much battery time if they have a dedicated GPU and 6 cell.
Samsung should have done like Dell and offered choices for batteries.
I will get the 12 cell one and end of THAT negative.

As for the touch-pad, I don't like any of the past notebooks touch-pads and have always used a small wireless mouse on the road and ball mouse at home.

For what we paid for this notebook, it is hard to beat.

 

Does the R580 have an optical audio connection built in to the regular audio jack?

 

Good question... I don't know?

 

Since no one seemed to know, I did livechat with samsung support. They said that it did not have an optical audio connection built into the regular audio jack.

Oh well, that's probably too much to ask for.

That means I will need to get a soundcard to get surround sound to my sound reciever since my sound reciever/projector do not have hdmi connections (either that or upgrade my sound reciever or projector which I'd rather not spend the money on right now). Not a big deal since they aren't that expensive anyway.

 

What exactly is the "optical audio connection"? What make it better than the standard audio jack? Is that the headphone jack?

 

A cleaner signal and much higher bandwidth since it uses an LED in the back of the headphone socket transmitting a light beam through a fibre-optic cable.

John

 

It is also a digital connection capable of more than just stereo sound. It is one of the ways used to get 5.1 sound out of a laptop. For more info, go and look up TOSLINK.

 

Is this for speaker setups or for headphones too? I primarily use headphones.

 

Toslink is for feeding into receivers that have an optical in jack and some surround speaker sets can take optical. I don't know of any headphone that takes optical.

btw it certainly is a nice looking notebook +1 for style

 

Any more feedbacks on new R580 owners?

 

Has anybody tried installing an non-samsung graphic driver , straight from the nvidia website, did it work ok, did you loose the brightness control???

Thanks.

 

Why would one do that? What is wrong with the one it came with?
Is there suppose to be a better one out there?

 

I just like to install the latest drivers if i can, just something to occupy my time, I just wanted to know if anybody had done it and if they had any problems.

 

You have a Samsung R580? Your sig says you have a HP.

 

I am considering getting an R590 , and i though if Nvidia.com driver work ok on an R580 it should work fine on an R590 , I made an thread asking this question the other day, but it received no replys.

 

Oh, Ok. I'll vouch for this notebook though:

UPDATE:
I've had my Samsung R580 for 3.5 months now and absolutely LOVE it.
No problems whatsoever and I use it at least 8 hours per day, six days a week. This is what I use it for... photography, heavy Adobe CS5 work and everything else.
This is also one of the first notebooks I didn't customize in some way as it was perfect in every way.
I also have the matching "touch of red" blackjack II and 26" LCD TV monitor too. Perfect match.
I like it better than the Dell XPS and Gateway I had before it.
Samsung makes first class stuff. I just wish they had more accessories for it such as a 9 or 12 cell battery, etc.

 

A couple of questions on the r580 , how loud are the speakers, are they usable for watching a movie, also how noisy is the fan when the cpu is running at 100% , how hot does the r580 get.

Thanks.

 

Can't help you on the first two questions as I'm extremely hard of hearing.
The 3rd question: Just warm, not hot at all. That is with touching the bottom.
Anywhere on the keyboard is is cool to the touch.

 

I posted a new thread, but perhaps I should have replied to this thread. Apologies to all, it's my first day as a registered man here.

The Samsung R580 i5 Turbo 4 GB, 500 GB HD is being offered on a REFURBISHED basis, with a 14 day exchange and a 90 day seller's warranty, for an attractive price of 580. I don't have a problem with buying refurbished, but this is a short warranty period. There has been some confusion in the marketplace caused by Samsung regarding the specs on the R580--for ex, Best Buy now only sells the i3 processor version, and that costs 725. I'm principally going to keep a new laptop plugged in at my desk in my office, using it for "mainstream" functions, but want the OPTION to lug it home for entertainment purposes (altho not BluRay, the local Best Buy salesmen love the BluRay feature on this,)...ordinarily, this cmputer might be overbuying for my modest usage, but the price is so attractive....short warranty, tho. THOUGHTS?

 

I love mine and lug it around to the coffee shops quite a bit. Mine has the i5 cpu though. I think for you the smaller 14" with the i5 cpu would be the better choice. I would have gone that route when I got mine but for some reason, then the 14" only had the i3 and no dedicated gpu.

 

Hi, jack, I got my R590 last Tuesday and i absolution love it, it looks great and is very quiet even when running at 100%, also the speakers are not to bad, quite loud and the SRS function can simulate a little bit of bass, the build quality is very good and i have had no problems, I know this is an R580 thread but the R590 uses the same case just in blue, with a slightly higher spec, also the screen has a plastic cover on the R590

Strange thing, the specification label on the box says it has an non-glossy screen, but it definitely has an glossy screen

 

Tinderbox... you'll love it. I sure love mine, use it at least 8 hours every day.
BTW, isn't yours a 17"? Your sig states 15".

 

No it`s 15.6" , just checked the box.

 

I get confused because Samsung keeps changing the Model Number Specs every couple months...

 

17" models have numbers beginning with 7, such as the R790 (if it exists). However, Samsung sill soon have to think of a new numbering system.

John

 

I just did an clean install on my Samsung R590 and used the drivers/software dvd that you create to install all the software exept the video ones, it works on x86 and x64 , I downloaded the latest video drivers from Nvidia , and it installed fine no problems with the brightness that i use to have with my Samsung Q210

 

That was one of the first things I did too. Clean install, went to Win7 Ultimate, latest drivers and installed my favorite programs such as CS5 for my Photography.
That is what I do, Nature & Wildlife Photography.
Nature & Wildlife Photography


.

 

According to Best Buy, Touch of Red i5 is discontinued. They only have i3 processor in Touch of Red 15.6". The i5 processor is found in a brown model, costs about 950 at BB. I'll probably bite on the $580 price for the refurb.

What is the thinking on how to extend battery life? Two salesmen independently told me today that lithium batteries have only a 15 month shelf life, and I better get used to shopping for a new battery regularly. They were referring to the new Intel processors, etc., and not especially to the R580. They recommended that if the notebook will be plugged in, to take out the battery, altho in the end, that won't matter too much regarding the 15 month life cycle of these batteries. Thoughts?

 

This post should help answer your questions:
http://forum.notebookreview.com/samsung/511347-do-they-have-9-cell-battery-r580.html

 

Don't bother. Batteries will eventually die and anything you can do to extend the overall life will mean the battery isn't there available for use.

15 months is a bit pessimistic. Two to three years is a more common figure.

Huh? The processor being used has no affect on the overall battery life. It affects the runtime when you are disconnected and the new processors are better for this than the older ones (on average).

Read the Notebook Battery Guide. Just about everything you could do is in there.

 

There is a battery saver option on the BIOS. It only charges up to 80% if the laptop is connected to power. Batteries do have a life span and in a year the capacity diminishes slowly specially if you're using it everyday. There's a larger capacity battery which someone suggested at DHgate. I ordered this battery and the average span is 5 1/2 hours on medium brightness, internet, on power saver mode with min videos online.

 

The issue with this is that it means you don't have 20% of the battery life available for when you unplug. Also, there is no real info on how much it extends the battery life. Or even if it really does.

 

Thanks for the great link... I made it a favorite.

 

My little supervisor at home is fighting for her life in the Vet hospital this weekend. Prayers appreciated.

 

I hope she pulls though OK

 

Wow! Tinderbox is the only one who like pets here...

 

Sorry, I to hope she's OK. What was wrong?

I also notice you do the same thing with you laptop that I do - keep the lid half closed so the cats don't sit on it. All my cats have love to do this when they can. With a previous laptop that ran a lot warmer, I would get up in the mornings and find find a cat sleeping on the table behind the fan outlet.

 

She got into poison of some sort the vet said as she can't hold down food or water. She is home now and it might be her last night here.

Yep, lid down to keep out cat, cat hair and dust. I use it through the LCD monitor anyways.

 

Anybody got any pic`s of the inside/motherboard of the R580/90

 

I don't, not yet anyways. Why? A problem?

 

I would like to know if there is any empty PCIe* Mini Card and Half Mini Card slots also i just like to see how the components are laid out.

On the R590 the Wifi and Bluetooth are on an single card, I think on the R580 they are separate or am i wrong?