New Samsung Series 7 NP700Z7C-S01US Laptop i7 3615QM 650m Review!

Hi.

This cellphone tool kit is really usefull for opening up a few things
10 pc Mobile Phone Case Opening & Repair Kit Screwdriver Pry Pick Suction Tools |eBay

 

Yes absolutely, i decided to buy this after reading 88 pages lol. It was a hard choice for me but now after using this after less than 24 hours i'm in love with this sexy thing. You should run to the store before they sell out

 

Well guys i don't think the wifi the problem here, i have sometimes had this problem before, if you live in a neighbourhood with alot of wifi signals on the same channels this sort of thing can happen. What you should do is to use a wifi analyzer of some sort and check it out. What fixed my problem was using a 5Ghz Router, if you dont have 5Ghz chaning the channel may help also.

 

Where (what retailer) did you buy your Samsung Series 7 from?

 

It's 800x2 for the "1600 MHz" (methinks).

 

The smart buyers are waiting for July 4th!!!!
No worries of this system selling out any time some considering the huge load that bestbuy recently stocked.

 

I've looked and still cannot find anything about a 4th of July sale for this laptop. Where is your information coming from?

I am definitely buying this laptop, I'll just have to buy it in the states because it is not available in Canada

 

Yes, please elaborate on the July 4th 'sale.'

It would be awesome if it really is happening..

 

+1 on the 4th of July sale

 

I'm still faced with this USB 3.0 problems. I guess the USB 3.0 ports on the left side deliver not enough power, when I plug in the HD drive on the right side (USB 2.0), it works. Has anybody an idea how to solve the problem? Perhaps i have to wait for new USB 3.0 drivers.

 

American Independence Day is on 4th of July. Maybe they are hoping some great sales on that day.

 

I can tell that you're happy with it, but did you get it from the site I posted, or did you get it from BB or some other place?

 

The following email came from Samsung Corporate tech support this a.m. regarding switching out the HD for a SSD. They specifically said this would not void the warranty on a NEW laptop sold by Best Buy. For those of us interested in getting a new laptop without the hassles of warranty problems or self-installation frustrations. ( for the newbies in here that don't want to try doing this operation themselves, like me. ) The real interesting part is that they did NOT specify it had to be a Samsung SSD, which Best Buy does not stock. I asked that.
I want a new Series 7 with a Samsung hard drive and don't want to have to sneak around the issue if I have problems down the road.

"Best buy is on the list as a self servicing dealer. Best Buy will be able to switch the HDD for an SSD without voiding the warranty. Samsung transaction # 2113572726"

 

For anyone looking for a unique sleeve.
I got this from Colcasac and its for a MBP 17 inch, fits perfectly on our Chronos series 7:

 

Hey all,

I have been reading this thread for weeks now and watching all the new Ivy Bridge refreshes.

I have been trying to decide between the following laptops:

Samsung Series 7
i7-3615QM, NVIDIA GT 650M, 8GB, 1TB HDD (5400rpm), DVD, 1080p matte
.98" thick, 6.26 lbs, Optimus, $1,400

ASUS G75VW
i7-3610QM, NVIDIA GTX660M, 8GB, 1TB HDD (5400rpm), DVD, 1080p matte
2.04" thick, 9.2 lbs, NO Optimus, $1,250

I ran the Heaven benchmark on both and the 650 seems to perform very close to the 660.

The Samsung is much thinner and lighter and has longer battery life.
The ASUS is easier to open up and has a second drive bay.
The ASUS also has full size arrow keys and a touchpad with physical buttons.
The ASUS is also cheaper and I will be buying two.

I have also been looking at these alternatives:
HP ENVY 17
i7-3610QM, AMD 7850M, 6GB, 750GB HDD (7200rpm), Blu-Ray, 1080p glossy
1.28" thick, 7.37 lbs, NO Optimus, $1445

Sager NP6175 (Clevo W170ER)
i7-3610QM, NVIDIA GT 650M, 8GB, 120GB SSD, 750GB HDD (7200rpm)
Blu-Ray, 1080p glossy, 1.63" thick, 7.05 lbs, Optimus, $1,430

If these had a matte screen I might have clicked Buy.

Does anyone have experience with these 4 systems or reasons why one is better or worse? Any recommendations?

Any help would be appreciated.

 

I've looked at them all (own the HP as well) , and this Samsung has the best screen by far.
All others pale from embarrassment, even the Envy (but less so).
The remainder of specs across all your choices are too similar to call a winner
However, the Samsung has a fab keyboard, slot load, and sound that beats the rest of them (really, the Samsung's audio is yummy).

 

@Jogan42: It will depend upon your usage. If you are a light gamer, need portability then Samsung is the best choice for you.

If you need it for gaming & no need of Portability & always stay on your desk, then Asus should be good.

I personally prefer Samsung.

 

How to enter BIOS? I swapped HDD to SSD and want to configure boot order and stuff but I can't find the way in, I press F2 at start but where then?

 

I got mine from a Norwegian webshop called komplett.no in Norway

 

Amazon updated their description:
Amazon.com: Samsung Series 7 NP700Z7C-S03US 17.3-Inch Laptop (Silver): Computers & Accessories
Looks like it will have a full 2gb 650m after all! I'm a little jelous of the lower price but, seeing that the 750 7200rpm doesn't matter to me (SSD BABY!) I'm happy I've had mine for almost a month.... this thing is worth the money! Maybe not a blowout deal but still a quality buy.

 

no mention of the half worthless 8gb cache.
Beware though, amazon often makes errors on their specs!

 

A new and improved jump in drivers for the 650 from nvidia popped up on their page as a beta.

NVIDIA DRIVERS 304.48BETA

I will test it after work, looks good though

Fixes an intermittent vsync stuttering issue with GeForce GTX 600-series GPUs.

Excited to see whether this will make Diablo III a little smoother

edit: looking at nvidia forums a user with our sammy can not install due to hardware......sooo looks like back to waiting for an official 600m series driver

 

Anyone seeing wearing on the plastic lip where your forearms go? I am starting to see light discoloration (paint is wearing). I have only had the laptop for a month and a half.

- Garrett

 

komplett.no (Norway) and lefdal.com (Norway), both had same wifi issues.

 

Hey all,

Thanks soo much for the help.
Dr. Tyrell - your post regarding the screen and sound quality tipped me more toward the Samsung (I was leaning there already.)
Jimbo - Your link to Amazon sold me. $50 less than Best Buy, no tax, and a faster hard drive.

I just bought the Samsung Series 7 (NP700Z7C-S03US) an hour ago.

My wife is still on the fence still between this and the ASUS.

Thanks again!!

Jogan42

 

Does the s03us have the same screen, speakers, resolution and video card as the s01us? Just got my s01us and it's gonna take 2 weeks to ship to asia!

 

Yes. See http://www.amazon.com/Samsung-Series-NP700Z7C-S03US-17-3-Inch-Laptop/dp/B0083S3PEE/ref=dp_return_1?ie=UTF8&n=541966&s=pc.

 

That's weird. That model is not listed on their web site.
Series 7 Notebooks | Samsung

 

Very interested to see if anyone tries the new NVIDIA beta drivers. I've only come across bad news on the forums so far....
long enough for beta... where's the final!

 

as far as the SO3US model goes....
it says 4-6 weeks. Get the SO1 now for $50 buck more (better deal in the 'time=money' equation) and put an SSD in it and throw that 1tb in a USB 3.0 enclosure and you'll be happy that you did.
For those afraid of voiding warranty/removing the plastic back... I've done it 4 times now without issue. Just be careful as your nails can leave marks around the plastic edge. the VGA port is a hangup and the hidden screw inside the RAM lid is an easy oversight that can end in disaster. Take your time and it should be fine.
I take amazon over best buy because of no tax - a hefty sum!

 

Head's up! Crucial 512GB SSD for $345! @ Newegg. Only 48 hours though. Mixed reviews but a newer firmware may fix things.
Newegg.com - Newegg.com - Weekend Deals! $19.99 ESET Nod32 Antivirus 4.0, $384.99 Toshiba 40” LCD HDTV...

 

Damn, I -JUST- bought my 512gb a few days ago from Newegg....

It was significantly more of a pain then I'd expected to remove the backplate. I don't know how Paul's video makes it seem so simple. All of my nails are broken with a couple bleeding, and I scratched the inside of it a bit, but whatever, it's worth it for this SSD. This thing flies now, and 512gb is plenty for me. I grabbed a cheap USB3.0 enclosure for the 1tb as well that I'll keep in my laptop bag just in case I need more space. If anyone is on the fence on buying that SSD while it's on sale, DO IT!

 

On another topic - now that I have an SSD in this thing I disabled the Windows swap file.

I'm starting to think it might be beneficial to partition the ExpressCache 8gb and format it as NTFS and throw the swap file on it. Is this safe to do? I can see the partition and it says I can format it and mount it, but.. I don't know what else it would effect. I already have the ExpressCache driver itself uninstalled since that 8gb is so much slower then this SSD anyway.

Any ideas? I couldn't find anything online about people playing around with ExpressCache yet.

 

Looking to pull the triger on this one myself? Did you buy it from Amazon or somewhere else? What kind of delivery date (nuber of weeks) did they give you? Were you able to get a complete set of specs for the s03us?

Also, were you able to determine if the s03us has the 8GB express cache or not?

 

I would like to know this info as well! Looking to order mine within a few days (possibly today) even.

 

I bought it from Amazon and it is not set to ship for 4 to 6 weeks.

I am not certain if it will have the 8GB cache.

My wife just bought the ASUS G75VW at Best Buy so I will have several weeks wondering if I made the right choice

The ASUS is dead silent in normal use.

Jogan42

 

Yes it is beneficial to use the 8Gb cache as a swap file, that's what i did with mine after I installed my SSD.
Just delete the partition and format the 8Gb drive to 64k NTFS and I also set the swap file size to 2048-6048Mb and with the left over space I put all the Samsung drivers and software in there so if I ever need to re-install windows... Everything is right there, ready to go

 

Can someone with this laptop test for me how the machine handles Battlefield 3 in terms of performance and how hot the CPU and GPU get as well as how hot the WASD keys area and palmrest gets?

I'm returning my HP dv7 because it gets scorching hot in that area under BF3.

Thanks,

MacHater

 

If you're wanting a replacement that doesn't get hot during gaming, look elsewhere. I'd classify this laptop as being professional grade with the ability to game on the side from time to time. It gets pretty darn warm. The performance is awesome, though.

 

The area that gets hot is middle of the keyboard (6,7,8 and keys below + the f keys above). This area could go above 50 degree celsuis during heavy gaming. Rest of the keyboard is just barely heated during load, palmrest is never hot.



Temps while gaming (not BF3 though, I don't play that type of games).

 

Is it really really THE SAME ?

 

Everything except potentially the 8GB Express Cache. It seems no info is known about that right now. I called Amazon a few times and they claimed it was a 6GB Express Cache in the S03, but we'll have to wait until one of us gets it to find out.

 

Has anyone updated to the newest NVIDIA beta drivers yet? I'm hoping for some reviews.

 

Added some extra cooling on my setup for peace of mind.

 

So, I went for the 700Z7C again, this time I'm keeping it. I just have to live with poor wifi range.

I did try with another wfi card that I know to be good (intel 6230) and result stayed the same, so I guess it's the alu lid/antenna setup that's the issue, not the card.

And YES, the bottom cover is major pain in the A$$ to get off, I've worked with many laptops and this is among the very worst, the amount of plastic tabs is insane.

I also installed an crucial m4 SSD. And to my pleasure I realized that the win7 recovery DVD included is a CLEAN win 7 install. Installed drivers and so and did some more benchies.

Stock 3dmark11 after clean install ( 835MHz max turbo boost and 1000MHz memory speed):


OC 3dmark11 after clean install (969MHz max turbo boost core and 1300MHz memory speed):


AS SSD benchmark:

 

Can you run speedfan or some other temp meter to show how large the difference with the cooling pad is... Also some basic feel tests with your hands on the keyboard?

Would be awesome as no one has documented any pros of a cooling pad yet.

 

Samsung - 17.3 Series 7 Laptop - 8GB Memory - 1TB Hard Drive - Silver Wholesale samsung laptop 17.3 Series 7 Laptop [1305]- US$826.00 - Best Sell - Computers, Video Games, TVs, Cameras, Appliances, Phones

I know I brought up this site before, but I've been in contact with them since, and I think I found a reason we don't think they're trustworthy. They're a wholesale company based in China that rarely sells retail, which makes their product waaaay cheaper than regular places. I'm posting some of the email we sent back and forth too, so you can determine for yourselves. I think I should go ahead and pull the trigger, seeing as there's a possibility to save around $600.

My first email:

Hello!

im currently looking at your product

Wholesale np700z7c- China Wholesale np700z7c Electronics from China

and im wondering why the price on your site is lower than reguar websites such as best buy and amazon. is this product the very same as the ones listed elswhere, or are there differences such as the genuinity or quality of this laptop? in other words, is it just a copy of another product or is it the real deal? im looking for a good laptop for college, but am not willing to pay over 1000 for it, but i also dont want to be handed a second rate laptop in terms of quality, and if your site can give me the same laptop that others are selling for a much much lower price, then i may look into purchasing it from you website.

thank you

The reply:

Dear friend,
Thank for the visit to our website!our product 100% new and original.
We are one of the biggest wholesalers in China,China has a very cheap labor force and the products are not expensive in the world,we have few customers of retail,we mainly sell to wholesalers, so the products prices are comparatively low,thanks!
We will provide you with product sales to service, if the product is damaged or lost, we will pay for you the original price.We offer international guarantee,if any issue after sale 7 days goods can be returned to our company,14 days exchangable and 2 years repaired.
You can get the products within 3-5 days,after you place your order, you have 30 days to operate it and check the quality(check the product certificate and other reference certificates). If you find quality or other problems, you have three choices:
1.you can ask for return your money.
2.you can request to replace a new product.
3.you can ask the local company to fix the product for free.
If you have other requests, please tell us,and we will follow it.
you have 2 ways to make your purchase:
1. you can place an order. our website show how to order.
2. if you don not want to place an order, you can tell me the product full name(the name you see on our website), your name, detail adress information,your email and telephone, then we will make order for you and then send the products to your house correctly.
Looking forward your reply.
Greetings!
Tina

My next email:

hello,

so if i purchase the product from your website, and i find it is inconsistent with the same product from a store based in the united states, then i can return it for a full refund right?i apologize for all the analyzing, i just dont want to get pulled into a website that wants to scam me for my money and give me a fake copy of a genuine product.

thanks

The next reply:

YEs you can return it for a full refund

My third email:

i am looking at this product on bestbuy.com, and i can see that the price difference between yours and bestbuy's is around $600, you are sure that this is the very same? if so, then i can place my order within a week or so.

Best buy link:
Samsung - 17.3" Series 7 Laptop - 8GB Memory - 1TB Hard Drive - Silver - NP700Z7C-S01US

Your link:
Samsung - 17.3 Series 7 Laptop - 8GB Memory - 1TB Hard Drive - Silver Wholesale samsung laptop 17.3 Series 7 Laptop [1305]- US$826.00 - Best Sell - Computers, Video Games, TVs, Cameras, Appliances, Phones
these will be the exact same right?

thanks for your help

The third reply:

Best buy link:
Samsung - 17.3" Series 7 Laptop - 8GB Memory - 1TB Hard Drive - Silver - NP700Z7C-S01US

Your link:
Samsung - 17.3 Series 7 Laptop - 8GB Memory - 1TB Hard Drive - Silver Wholesale samsung laptop 17.3 Series 7 Laptop [1305]- US$826.00 - Best Sell - Computers, Video Games, TVs, Cameras, Appliances, Phones

THIS IS THE SAME
We are a large electronics wholesale company, with each client to maintain long-term good relations of cooperation.



Then I received this after five minutes

Sir don't worry about it.it's the real product it's the same product.100% new and original.




So, what now? SORRY IT WAS SO LONG!! I know alot of you are gonna hate me for this lol but I have to speak

 

If you decide to buy it, tell us how it goes. Maybe it is just me, but reading your post reminds me of the Nigerian prince scam, where they say you inherit like 1 million dollars, but need your bank account number and $5000 to process it.

 

Always apply the rule:

If it sounds too good to be true, it probably isn't.

I got nothing against the chinese. But china is counterfeit central, you might get the actual exoskeleton of the product, but with the innards replaced with counterfeit parts. Last thing you want is have it turned on, idling and catches fire taking your house with it.

 

Up to you bud, it's your 800$ at the end of the day. If you do pull the trigger though please let us know!

Although reading through it, I'm reminded of when I used to buy items and gold for Diablo 2 and Guild Wars through chinese gold farmers. It always felt shady (maybe because of the crude english) but I was never ripped off.