Samsung Q320 : 13.4" 16:9 notebook

just want to ask, has anyone been able to charge their devices thru the sleep and charge port? i just came to realisation of this problem the other day when i tried to charge with it. i checked that the bios settlings has the port enabled to have power, but still, nothing works. ideas gentlemen?

 

A couple of points arising from my experience of this facility on the Dell E6400:

(i) You may need to (re)plug the device you want to charge into the computer after it is turned off. This is to confirm that you want to charge the device and it is not something unintentionally left plugged in.

(ii) The computer may use the data lines in the USB connector to detect that a device is connected. Using a cable which only has the power connected does not trigger the computer to turn the power on.

Can you try connecting some different devices and see if any work?

John

 

yeah, I found that function too like two weeks after i got my computer.. it was so cool when I found it and played with it a little bit.. but the thing is, it still sometimes won't read my motion when I'm trying to do that.. but that may just be me.




I do have a question though, is there a way to change the button setting to get out of sleep mode?
At the moment, it is set that you will have to push the power button in order to get out of the sleep mode it is in. What I want is to change it to use either the enter button, or the spacebar button instead.

 

Not exaclty sure if this answers your question but you can do this.

1. Look at your battery life indicator on the bottom right of the toolbar.
2. Click on it, and click "More Power Options" in the small window thats pop-up above the indicator.
3. Go to "Choose what the power buttons do" on the left hand side of the new window that popped up.

Or go through the other options u see there and maybe youll find what you need.

 

No, that didn't work either. I tried. I guess there's no other way around just using the power button for it...

 

To guys who have this machine, what do you think of it's gaming capabillities? The Geforce 105 doesn't seem like much!? How does it stack up to other 13'' machines that usually comes with a 9500m, Ati 4570 or 9300m GS?

 

I've overclocked mine to 800/900/1920 (from default 640/702/1600), and get 3100+ on 3dmark06.

I play UT3 maxed out @ 1366x768, and Need for Speed Shift 1366 x 768 2xAA and medium details.

I'd say that's pretty good bang for the buck!

9300M GS < G105M < 9500M < ATI 4570

Overclocked, I'd say the G105M is > 9500M but < 4570.

 

Does anyone else sometimes get a BSOD when resuming from sleep mode?

 

nope........

 

HM, impressive! Thats around the same as a DDR2 4570. Of course a DDR2 version i substantially faster but that is still impressive.

What are your temps?

 

idle: 55 C
load: 70 C (5 minutes of RTHDRIBL)

I also undervolt my CPU which may be a factor if the Samsung Q320 uses the same heatsink/pipe between CPU and GPU.

 

How's everyone's battery holding up? My wear level is already up to 20%! Absurd if you ask me, my old notebook had less than 20% wear after three years.

 

3% from june; that was with intensive use though.

still, no one have any ideas if there is any way to get the charging thing working? i can't get my ipod touch to charge...kills me.

 

1. You can sometimes sort out the battery by doing a full discharge. If there's no battery calibration option in the BIOS then disable the critical battery action and set the trigger value as low as you can. Vista won't let you set it to zero, which is what you need, so once Windows shuts the computer then start it and boot into the BIOS and leave it there until it stops.

2. Does your ipod charging cable also handle data, or is it only for charging?

John

 

Hey guys, where can I find a guide to overclock the GPU and underclock the CPU? Thanks. I am considering picking one of these up tomorrow

 

There is a calibration option in the BIOS, I'll try that.

 

Here's how my Q320 looks with the leather skin I ordered from SGP Store.

Unfortunately, there were no cutouts for the Samsung logo. I bought a Samsung logo off e-bay to stick on the skin.

 

It worked, got my old capacity back .

 

Thanks for the feedback.

John

 

Do you remember what you would get, before Overclocking?

I have the model with the T3400 and 3 GB Ram... I get 2500 points in 3Dmark 06!


I wonder if a 7200 rpm hard drive, and 4 gb ram instead of 3 as well as windows 7 would improve my score/performance?

 

Without overclock I get 2602 using 186.81 drivers.

Hard drive won't affect 3dmark score, and I doubt extra memory would either.

Why not try overclocking?

 

I can see you have a P8400... I have a T3400, so I guess thats where performance difference is!

 

Driver questions:

I just got A 500 GB hard drive and installed Windows 7. Internet seems to work.

My question is... the drivers on the samsung site.. Should I use them?


For example, I think I should take Chipset, HDMI, TOUCHPAD and Camera driver!?

but there is also a driver firmware thing for the bios.. but thats not the same as the chipset right?


But what about the NVIDIA? Ain't it better if I go directly to www.nvidia.com to get the latest driver, or should I use the one on the samsung website?


Also what is Lan,Hauppauge ? and what is IMSM ? I don't want to download needless bloatware if I can avoid it...


There is also different versions of Wireless LAN... There are both drivers for INTEL, ARTHEROS and REALTEK... Do I need any of them, if my wireless is working? Do I need all of them? Will it screw it up downloading them all?


also on the machine recovery solution came with the machine.. i didnt know what it was but it kinda installed itself first time I turned it on. it looked like it seperated the hard drive in a C and a D drive...
is this a good idea?

is this like Raid, were if the hard drive fails, another part of it can restore it?

should I download this, and if so, will it make performance worse than if without? I want the machine to go as fast as possible, but the new 500 GB hard drive I have bought was not the one I ordered... I wanted a Western Digital 500 GB 5200 rpm Scorpio Blue, but I got a Seagate Momentus 7200 RPM 500 GB... this drive has many bad user reviews on newegg.com with people saying that it will fail.

so if this drive should fail I would like to be back upped.. I also just bought a My passport external hard drive. Can I do like time machine with Mac, to store it up, whenever I am having it plugged in?

 

Go into Device Manager, and for every one with an exclamation mark, try to decipher what device that refers to and download the correct one from Samsung site. (or use the ones off the System Software disc that came with it)

Also, don't forget to download the Easy Display Manager (from Software category) so that your brightness and volume key combinations etc. work.

If you have W7 Ultimate, it comes with a Backup utility that will back up the entire drive image.

Otherwise, you can use something like Acronis True Image Home which will do the same thing (among others).

 

do you have samsung recover solution installed? do you think it affects performance?

when it splits the hard drive into 2, can you still freely install and run applications from both drives...? I guess it just makes two partitions basically?

 

I don't use Samsung Recovery solution installed. I use Acronis True Image Home.

 

1. I don't think it affects performance.

2. Both partitions are usable. I always partition my HDDs and keep my user files separate from the operating system. If you hit a problem and use the Samsung recover solution to restore the C drive then it will wipe everying that is on there.

John

 

Ok, now I have installed something like, 150 GB of my 500 GB hard drive... would it be safe to use recovery solution III, and split it in two?


EDIT: Another question; I tried to update the bios, but it says its only for 32 bit OS. Should I ignore it or is it important to update the bios? It didnt said anything about 32 bit or 64 bit on the samsung firmware section for Q320!

 

There are all kinds of W7 drivers/software on the Samsung site. Samsung Update Plus works now.

 

Thanks so much...I'm hoping Easy Display Manager has been fixed for W7!

 

There's a new version indeed, except it's not working. Something about Sabi.dll. Also, there's a ChargeableUSB program (which requires a BIOS update to function). It still doesn't charge though.

 

I got it to work. Remove compatibility options of dmhkcore in \program files(x86)\samsung.

It has some neat options like rotating the display and changing the resolution with keystroke combinations.

I haven't had it stop responding yet (knock wood).

 

so, the new bios does not fix the charging usb problem does it?

 

It appears so. Although I've only tested it with my iPhone, maybe other devices do work.

 

Ah, thanks. That solved it .

 

The new touchpad drivers are a gem, native two finger scrolling!

 

The fan seems to make more noise .

Oops, quadruple post .

 

Since I've already got 4-in-a-row, why not make it 5?

I downgraded the BIOS today (which isn't easy) and now the fan is less noisy.

How did I achieve this? First, I downloaded the old BIOS here. The problem is, when you try to flash the BIOS you'll get an error that you already have the newest version. There is a workaround though.

Background
You may skip this part if you like. I added this part so that the person who reads this knows what I have done. I think that's important, because downgrading the BIOS by downloading files of others is dangerous if you don't know what the origin of the files is.

In short, the workaround consists of fetching the extracted data from WIN_LH01.EXE. This can be done by going into the %TEMP% directory and editing the permissions the "__Samsung Update" directory (so that the extracted files cannot be deleted).

After I had done this, I downgraded the MICOM (whatever that may be). This is simple, run WinUpV01_10.exe, select KBC.BIN and hit the "Write" button. Reboot.

After I rebooted I opened PHLASH.INI, and added these two lines:

Now if you run SWinFlash.exe, you'll see an "Advanced Settings" button. Click it, and you'll be able to uncheck "Flash only if BIOS version is newer than system". Make sure "Backup BIOS and Flash BIOS with new settings" is checked, select the destination for your backup, select the BIOS (which is BIOS.WPH) and click "Flash BIOS". Reboot, and you're all done.

How to downgrade the BIOS
1. Download 01LH.rar. Extract.
2. First we downgrade the MICOM. Open WinUpV01_10.EXE, select "KBC.BIN", choose "Restart" instead of "Power off" and hit the "Write" button. Your notebook will reboot once the MICOM is downgraded.
3. Once your notebook has rebooted, now click SWinFlash.exe. Make sure "Backup BIOS and Flash BIOS with new settings" is checked, select the destination for your backup, select the BIOS (BIOS.WPH) and click "Flash BIOS".
4. All done!

All of this is at your own risk!

 

Mine charges a Dell Axim X51V without any new software.

Just make sure you enable it in the BIOS.

 

I did... Probably an iPhone issue.

 

Just wanted to say a quick hello to all Q320 owners.

I bought one (T6400 model) on Tuesday for £539 in the UK as I felt, for the price, the spec couldn't be beaten.

So far, happy with it.

How is everyone else who has had theirs longer getting on with it?

 

I love mine! The only downside so far is that not many people seem to have bought the Q320 yet (comparatively speaking).

As a result, there doesn't seem to be that many after-market parts/accessories available (even on e-bay).

Be sure to upgrade to W7 if you haven't already!

 

Would have to agree that this model doesn't seem to be very widespread - not sure why.

Have had the laptop for a few weeks now and a couple of criticisms are:

1) Whilst watching a movie, noticed the blacks were not as good as they could be which made me feel the screen could have been a bit better.

2) When I connect my existing external JBL Creature II speakers via the headphone socket, I can here a buzzing sound which can be quite annoying.

Other than that, so far, all OK - really love the keyboard.

Looking forward to getting Windows 7 on there in the next few weeks. Also thinking of upgrading the HDD to one which is 7200rpm but not sure if this is worth doing as the speed gains may be negligible.

P.S. Do you have any links to any after market parts/accessories that are available?

 

A buzzing sound on the headphone socket? Quite strange, mine is absolutely quiet. To put it even stronger: it's the quietest headphone socket I have ever experienced.

 

There's no buzz for me either. It might be static from the integrated amplifier of the speakers?

 

My thoughts too - don't think it is a fault with the laptop.

 

Are the speakers mains powered and does the buzzing go away if you pull out the power plug for the notebook?

If yes, then you have a ground loop problem. The fix is to break the loop by disconnecting the earthing on the power supply for either the computer or the speakers. This is one reason I like notebook PSUs that don't include an earth wire (but my main reason is that the mains cable is thinner and lighter).

John

 

Thanks for your reply John, much appreciated.

Yes, the speakers are mains powered but, since my post, I have not been able to re-create the issue which is strange!

However, I will keep an eye out for it and post back if it does occur again.

 

Thoughts after a couple of weeks of use:

Got the version with T3400, and 3 Gigs of Ram. Swapped for 4 Gigs, Win7 Home and 500 GB Seagate HDD.

I think it's a slick and beautiful computer. I will say that much. Windows 7 has been a great OS so far.
I think my biggest problems right now with the machine has been the general performance. A heavy site with lots of adds is seriously hard on the CPU... Multitasking with having Itunes and Word and Firefox all open at the same time, is so-so functional, but not super optimal.

The speakers are not good. That's one thing I have to say. It's the worst quality speakers I have ever had on a device. Using Headphones sounds fine(?).

Viewing angles are quite a nuisance... Even in dark areas with maximum brightness I have to change the position of the screen.

Weight is nice and low. I feel it's quite comfortable, as is the footprint. It feels small. I originally planned to get the N510, but now I am not sure if 11'' footprint would have been too small to do serious work/gaming/movie watching.

Performance in photoshop is okay, but large images is... not so good in CS4.

Webcam, is average

HDMI output seems okay, but the HDTV I tried hooking up too was only 1337x1024(or a dimension around that size, dunno remember) so the quality on the 40'' was not that good.


I love the keyboard and trackpad. It's awesome. It's a pleasure to type on it. I hope to get really good at working with this keyboard.


A very high end version of this computer with Blu-Ray, high resolution display(with better viewing angles), better graphics and CPU, would be really cool.
I think 13'' Is really nice for a computer, compared to having had a 15'' before.


I can't judge battery performance yet. I feel the power brick is way way to big though... it adds allot of weight and space to carrying the computer around. That annoys me.


EDIT:


Have any of you tried Dragon Age on this machine by any chance? I wonder how it would run?

 

Flash can use a lot of resources. Install the Firefox add-ons FlashBlock and AdBlock Plus and use a custom hosts file.

I first took to using FlashBlock when I was trouble-shooting battery time problems: Animated flash stuff continues to run in the background if the web browser is open and using the CPU / draining the battery even if you are not on line or viewing the web page.

John