Q310 - Impressions, Review and Pictures!

any ideas if this new bios will support 64bit? tah!

 

Hi.

I have had Vista64 on my Q210, so it should also work on the Q310?

Regards

John.

 

its weird how they never say whats changed

after re-installing xp i am now getting 6297 for the 3dmark 03

 

now I need to get this laptop this weekend..anyone knows where i can still get it for 699 as johnlewis.com says its out of stock..

 

Hi.

have a look here

http://www.ebuyer.com/search?q=samsung+q310&x=28&y=7

 

thanks alot..but its listed at laptopsdirect.co.uk as 749.97 for the 2.4ghz model ..
am actually looking for a better price than that..

 

It`s only £673.82 at ebuyer from my link

and next day delivery is £10, I think

Regards

John.

 

ok..but was actually looking for the 2.4GHz model. They dont seem to have that there..
the 250gb model listed as £669.72 is £649.97 on laptopsdirect : w w w.laptopsdirect.co.uk/Samsung_Q310-***0UK_NP-Q310-***0UK/version.asp

or can anyone comment on the processor speed different vis-a-vis the prices..

 

Sorry to break it to you, but there is no 2.4GHz model, the highest is 2.26GHz. But hey, that's like 0.14GHz of processing power which is nothing to cry over, good luck with your purchase

 

Hi.

I am sure there is a P8600 model that`s 2.4ghz?

Regards

John.

 

After just over a few weeks with my Q310, it is going back to the shop. Why?
17 friggin dead black pixels! That's right... SEVENTEEN OF THEM!
Has anyone else here had any?

 

Hi.

Your the first to report any dead or hot pixels on the Q210 or Q310.

Did they just start to appear or what?

Regards

John.

 

Well it started off with about 3 when I got it, but in the weeks that followed the rest of them have appeared, lots of tiny black dots.
I know I may sound fussy, but as an amateur photographer I am often using the laptop for checking and editing my pictures, so having a good screen is pretty important!

Seriously though, I have seen screens with a few dead pixels, maybe 4 tops... But never in my life have I seen so many on one screen! Has anyone else?

EDIT: Oh yeah, nearly forgot. When I rang John Lewis to tell them its coming back tomorrow, the guy on the phone told me that this laptop is now no longer going to be stocked by the bluewater store, he did not comment on any of the other stores. Spooky.

 

Hi.

Could you post us a picture , one with the whole screen and a close up one if possible.

Thanks

John.

 

hmm..wanna assume this is a peculiar case..
anyone else notice anything like that??

how long have u had it please?

 

Yeah there is, its the ***-1 model!

I have it!

 

so with a £60 price difference, is it really worth it?

 

hi, i recently bought the q310 and now i have a line across the lcd, seeing as i have changed my OS to XP, does this mean i have voided my warranty?

 

Running XP should not cause a line on the screen unless there is a software problem.

You may need to restore the OS to what was supplied, in order to demonstrate that the problem is hardware, not software.

John

 

i was just about to order the Q310 from ebuyer.com and I could see that it has being discontinued?
can anyone confirm this and give a possible reason why??could it be connected to the heat problem reported in another thread?

 

oops..my bad..must have entered the wrong code!..its still there..

but can someone using the Q310, say for couple of weeks,comment on the heat now..I read that its peculiar to the Q310, i.e. the heat on the Q210 is fine

 

As far as i know only 1 person has had his Q310 replaced for high GPU temp of 70c , but that was in silent mode with no fans running.

The temps are slightly higher than the Q210 for some reason, but nothing to worry about.

I would love to see the cooling system in the Q210/310 , but i am not taking mine to pieces.

Regards

John.

 

@Kenniy
I had the Q310 just under 1 month. I took it into John Lewis yesterday for a replacement, they told me they have none in stock, it is a discontinued line (confirming what they had written in their email to me earlier - see earlier post). I expect it is a rare case, 17 dead pixels does sound quite excessive!

It does however sound like the Q310 is getting discontinued by samsung themselves if it is no longer available in John Lewis or Ebuyer...
I believe that it came out in August, so that is ~3 months. Doesn't that sound like a short shelf life for a laptop?

 

yeh something is going on, its a bit weird that the q310 is discontinued.

i was the one who replaced my q310, because the fans would come on very often and on silent it would just heat upto 70C, but the fans were really noisy. My replacement in my opinion still gets too hot, but the fans this time arnt so noisy but they still come on very often.

i am wondering if its the p8600 processor that causes the heat, if i were to get it again i would get the p8400 pro

 

hmm...so you reckon I cancel the order??
what about the Q210, am a little sceptical about a 12" screen. coming from a 19" desktop and a 15" laptop, our does that go..?
and the 3gb RAM, how does that fare??

 

The 4 to 3GB RAM difference is irrelevent since windows can only address up to 3GB of RAM anyway. I have never seen a 12" screen, but I would imagine it is not much smaller than the 13.3" I use now, and coming from a 19" desktop to 13.3" laptop was not tough at all, you get used to it.

 

One advantage of the Q310 is the dedicated navigation keys on the keyboard.

I can't believe they are terminating the Q310 because of heat issues. The Q210 has essentially the same hardware in a smaller chassis. Perhaps Samsung are cutting back on the product range in UK so they can have some stock for the US market. It's the only member of the Q series on the US site, but I see that it is with the Intel X4500 graphics.

If you are worried about 12.1" then consider the 14.1" X22. It has last year's technology but an ATI GPU so no risk of nVidia GPU problems and a business-quality chassis. The drawback is that the standard battery is 4 cell, so the battery life isn't wonderful. You can get a 3rd party 8 cell for around £70.

John

 

think i will just go ahead and order the Q310, with the P8400 processor...
we can conclude that the heat isnt fatal, and the dead pixel is peculiar to one case in this forum. can also assume its being discontinued for some other reason...maybe the noisy fan or US shipment or something..
am i right??(i hope!)

 

is anyone else finding the wireless on this laptop is really bad? there are networks that i just cant connect to and i cant use my laptop very far from the routers even though the signal is reasonably high. i dont really know much about this kind of thing, could it be the XP drivers i got or are there any settings that would improve this?

 

Make sure you are using the newest driver from the wireless card manufacturer's website (do you have Intel or Atheros wireless?). Also, if you are using XP, did you upgrade it to SP3?

John

 

my guess is you have the P8600 model, as Johnlewis still have the P8400 model ( http://www.johnlewis.com/230517325/Product.aspx ).in fact, am ordering mine there. ebuyer also have that model here: http://www.ebuyer.com/product/150381

my guess is a problem was detected with the P8600 model, since most of the problems reported here are that model..cant confirm this though.

but i know that JohnLewis dont have the P8400 models in stock before now, as the only one they use to have listed on their site is the P8600.they probably just got them in yesterday/today. the P8600 models also seem to have disappeared in other sites like laptopsdirect too..

 

sorry for my lack of knowledge but how do i know if i have intel or atheros wireless? if its any use to you i have the ***1UK version of the q310

 

Hi.

Do you have a "Centrino 2" sticker on your right parm rest? , unless you have removed it.

If so you have an INTEL WiFi Card.

Regards

John.

 

i didn't like stickers being everywhere so i got rid of them. but i'm pretty sure its the core 2 duo one

 

Hi.

they all have core2duo!

If you type device manager into the search bar at the bottom left of the screen and then click on device manger when you click on the windows logo and then have a look in network adaptors.

It should be either INTEL or ATHEROS for the WiFi

Regards

John.

 

anyone know where i can get the atheros drivers from and know which ones i need?

 

Hi.

here you go.

http://www.samsung.com/uk/support/download/supportDown.do?group=itbusiness&type=notebookcomputers&subtype=qseries&model_nm=NP-Q310E&disp_nm=Q310&language=&cate_type=all&dType=D&mType=DR&vType=R&prd_ia_cd=05010500

Regards

John.

 

thankyou for your help

 

Something entirely different (but it has been asked before I think on page 1):

Did anyone use the laptop outdoors, and is the screen viewable with high ambient light levels?

Thanks!

 

If you want to use this laptop outside, you will need it on full brightness.
Of all the laptop screens I've seen, the Q2/310 has the shiniest screen out there.
If your going to be using it outside a lot then I would invest in a sticker that lessens the shininess of the screen.

 

Hi.

Is there a P310 like there is a P210 as it`s supposed to have an matt screen.

Regards

John.

 

Hi

The p310 is a mobile phone, according to samsung's site there is a p460 with centrino 2 but its 14.1"

 

I am thinking to buy this laptop, but I have some doubts:

- Is it easy to change the hard disk? I want to use one of these: Seagate 7200.4 500GB, or WD3200BEKT / Seagate 7200.3 320GB
- Is it actually powerful?
- What about heat and noise? I´ve read at forum a lot of things, but I don´t know if finally is good in these questions.

Thanks and regards.

 

Hi, I'm a happy owner of the Q310, you won't believe me but I won it (actually my aunt won it and gave it to me ) however... i have 2 questions:

1. i have a P750 and my 2 cores are alway around 64C of temp (iddle) is that normal?

2. I want to upgrade the drivers if possible of the GPU but I've done it for a Notebook could some1 help me?

Thz a lot !

 

Hi, my Q310 have youst shipepd from UK and i know i am gona need to buy a new powercord.

So does the Q310 have 2 or 3 plugg cabel?

Does the powersupply have a plugg like this one ??


OR

Like this one ??

 

Hi.

I have an UK Q210 and it`s picture 2 , I suppose the Q310 will be the same.

Picture 1 is called a cloverleaf type , and picture 2 is a figure 8 type.

Regards

John.

 

Whats the problems that have been detected with the P8600 model?

I have one and I have no issues with it, everything works great.

Runs both fast and cool, really cant find anything to complain about!

 

Hi guys,

Great reading about this product. I've searching for a laptop for a while (have from work right now but access is more and more limited) andI'm about to get one myself but hesitate where to buy it from.
Dabs.com has it for £650 whilst John Lewis has it for £680 with 2 years warranty.
Although it is a bit of a stretch on my budget, the extra £30 for 1 year warranty is good value.

However, Dabs offers a bundle pack with Norton 360 Symantec half price bringing the whole thing at £680.
I don't think JLP does Norton thing. Anyone knows more about this ?

Also what would recommend for protection ?

 

hi,
i have heard that norton 2009 is now really good, norton software used to be like a chocolate fireguard but now apparently they have listened to the customers and have improved there software.

I brought mine from john lewis, and they have been good, my first one had a dodgy fan, but they replaced it with no questions.



Could anyone tell me what the hdmi output is? is it 720i/p or 1080i/p

thanks

 

After reading this entire thread, ive gathered some questions, some of them a bit alarming since I already ordered the Q310 yesterday and am waiting for it to be delivered.

Question 1: How fast will the Q310 drain when playing full on games? (wifi/bluetooth off, screen 100% and preformance mode)

Question 2: Is the charging brick you guys get with the UK version capable of eating european 220v provided I have the right kind of end plug? Ive got a scrapped Figure 8 wire from one of my old external diskdrive PSU's wich might fit PROVIDED the bricks on the UK model Q310 really take this type, but the voltage bit really worries me.

Question 3: Im not really comfortable bullying this little guy with OC tricks, will it still run games like farcry 2 reasonable on stock speed?

Question 4: Is it worth the effort to just flush out the HDD and install my own clean install? Maybe even vista x64 if theres drivers for it by now?

Question 5: Up untill what point are the temperatures acceptable? In other words, At wich threshold should I considder opting for a replacement?

Question 6: Whats samsungs pixel policy on this model? I came across the poor guy with 17 dead pixels on his screen while reading this thread, that made me worry a bit. :') Should I expect 0 dead pixels on mine, or shoulnd I get my hopes up tomuch?


Other then that, im already quite impressed by this little beasty's preformance. I cant wait to throw my own tortures at it.