Samsung NP700Z7C vs 550P

I was comparing these two laptops as they both seem to have very similar specs.

Both contain the new Ivy Bridge CPU's (I imagine the same lower-end quad core available in the series 7). They also have the same GPU and 1TB HDD.

Differences:

Series 7 has a higher resolution screen (which doesnt really justify the 300$ price difference for me)

Series 5 550p has a full-size keyboard and is expandable to a 2TB HDD.

I've also heard that the series 7 has a slight heating issue on the keyboard, which has so far been remedied by unplugging the power. As mine will be on power for most of the time I was hoping a fix would come for this as some point.

Does anyone have any extra info/thoughts that could help in my decision that would be great. Im leaning towards the NP700Z7C because it just feels like a higher quality build (and a better screen is always handy for photo editing and games) but I'm not sure if that justifies the price difference if i can just get a good quality monitor. Thanks.

 

Series 7 offers reasonable graphics power in a relatively slim chassis, which results in some compromises. The Series 5 equivalent of the NP700Z7C is the 17" NP550P7C. That looks to me like quite a good compromise. A thicker chassis simplifies the cooling.

John

 

Thanks for the quick reply john!

I'm actually giving this some time now to see if the heating issues on the NP700Z7C are remedied somehow. After comparison (between US to UK prices and chasis/screen) it would probably be better for me to get the NP700Z7C for my requirements (photo editing, gaming, better portability).

For now I'm only worried about having this laptop go to an early grave with such high temps, so I'm waiting to see if anyone has a solution for this. Especially with Diablo 3 out soon, I'll be gaming on this thing for quite a while. Considering weight and heat are the largest issues (im upgrading from a 5 year old Sager laptop that weighs almost 16 lbs) I'm just hoping theres a quick fix to the 80+ core/gpu temps people are posting and I'll be buying this asap.

Other than this, it looks like a solid, good looking, and very well specced laptop (for the price), I'm really excited about getting my hands on it sometime in the near future.

 

It's worth noting that the temperatures so far has been varied.
Some record 50-60c while some are around 71c (while gaming).

Then there's the SSD vs HDD which could help reduce heath.
Since the bay is on the left hand side.

 

A notebook cooler which blows air onto the bottom of the chassis (where the air inlets are located) would be a prudent investment if you are doing heavy gaming.

John

 

For the Series 7, the vents are at the middle, so most coolers are usable.

 

That's great info, i appreciate the help.

I was considering the notebook cooler but didn't want to carry it around with me, I looked around was probably going to purchase one for home gaming and risk it when im out of town.

Arai - Some of the temps in the main NP700Z7C posts were much higher (up to 80-90 on the cores/GPU), some people were saying it was the thermal paste on the new ivy bridge cores - could be a solution if it gives people good results. I was considering the SSD as well but probably a little further down the line (~1 yr) or the optical drive caddy at some point, SSD's are great but I like having the on-board storage capacity as well.