Samsung Q35 first thoughts

You may be lucky to get a Monday delivery. While many retailers will take orders on Saturday, their despatch departments may not be working until Monday.

Good luck!

John

 

yeah true... i just now sure if i need to order now... cause then i will receive it by tomorrow... i just hope it can be sort out... else... i'll need to wait another 2 days till wednesday then...

thank you all...

 

The question came up recently about how hot does the underneath of the Q35 get? I've now done a bare-legged laptop test of a couple of hours usage under light load while I was working on a document. At no time did the bottom of the Q35 get uncomfortably warm. That my legs were hot and sweaty was more to do with the local climate.

This test (on the roof of a Phnom Penh hotel) was under shade but in generally bright conditions. The display was OK at maximum brightness but reflections started to be a problem if the brightness was turned down. The battery drain at maximum brightness was around 14W, which would mean 3 to 3.5 hours run time. In fact, when I shut the computer down I noticed that the hottest part was the bottom back of the LCD panel (presumably the location of the backlight).

John

 

nice info... cause last time, i was working on Fujitsu Siemans Amilo, i forget already the real model number, even i was wearing jeans, i feel so warm on my lap.

about the brightness turns down, is the reflections make you can't do your work anymore? or it just something that can be accepted for the outside work....

btw... i had a bad luck, my salary didn't reached my bank account yet, hence i can't order my Q35... kinda sad tho, cause it suppose to be my birthday present tomorrow, hopefully i will get the allowance tomorrow n will travel to bigger town to see if i can get the model at normal store...

 

Maybe if you really load the Q35 it will warm up, but not under light use (and the fact that I've got my Q35 undervolted to run at 1.0V at maximum speed makes no difference under light load).

The need for high brightness is caused by both the strong ambient lighting and the need to overcome any reflections (which are extra bright due to the strong ambient lighting). Normally I find my Q35's display too bright for normal internal use and have the brightness at 6/8 but that extra brightness has its uses at time. What is also interesting is that backlight is using 4 or 5W at full brightness - something like 40% of the total power drain.

John

 

okay... btw... how you monitor all the power consumption? like backlight for 4~5W and so on... btw... regarding the warm thing, i was typing a word document only on the amilo...

 

I use MobileMeter. It is a very compact utility which produces simple graphs (see attached sample). Unfortunately, I am told that it doesn't work under Vista.

John

 

i see... okay... thanks for the info... btw... yesterday i've seen the ruby model on my own eyes... touch it and so on, wanna buy it... but only display model left. So i think i will order it online... cause dont wanna have something that been used for like a week on the display rack where people can play with the lappy...

but its really nice...

 

Glad you would like the look of it. I would buy a display model if I can get a discount on the normal price.

John

 

yeah... i would too... i asked already if i can get any discount, but they just wanna give me extra beg or something... which i dont really need... cause i have already those thing...

btw... today i will go to another shop 30 km from my house... to see if they have the model... if yes... then i will buy it...

i can't sleep properly right now just because of this Q35 Ruby... owhhh... maybe i didnt tell it yet, i choosed to buy the ruby T5500

 

Good choice. The colour is distinctive without the likelihood of going out of fashion while the T5500 has plenty enough power for normal use. And I can confirm that a 2GB RAM module works in my Q35.

John

 

meaning... you have 2.5Gb RAM on the Q35 without a problem is it?... thats something good to know... how is the power consumption for that btw? I mean in comparison with the 1Gb RAM.

 

After confirming that the 2GB works in the Q35 (so it had, in my case 2.25GB - only 256MB on board in my Q35) I moved it over to my main machine, the X60plus. However, since you ask about the power I will make some tests.

John

 

So far as i can say for my Q35, tested with Mobilemeter after 3 min in Idle State (Wlan off, Brightness 1 of 8):

with the Standard 1GB : 8.4W
with the 2GB Dimm : 9.7W
with only the onboard Ram : 7.7W

 

could you please explain how i can calculate the total hours using that power measurement?

 

Battery capacity (when new) = 53.28 Watt-hours (12.1V x 4400mAh) [Earlier Q35s had a 4800mAh battery = 58.12Wh.

Divide the capacity in Watt-hours by power consumption in Watts and you will get the theoretical running time in hours.

But note that every now and again the power consumption will spike up above the normal (eg some HDD activity) so if you can see the demand running at 9W, then assume 10W average which would give a theoretical 5.3 hours. Also allow for some battery wear.

John

 

Similar conditions, except no fixed time - I was looking for the minimum power drain values.

Both results with 256MB on board (I didn't try with that alone)

1GB SODIMM (Samsung, as supplied) : minimum power 8.2W
2GB SODIMM (Transcend) : minimum power = 9.1W, so not such a big difference as seen by creed67.

I also tried:

1GB Corsair Value Select : minimum power = 8.9W
1GB Transcend : minimum power = 8.5W

So what we see is that the 1GB Samsung module which came with the Q35 is more power-efficient than the other 1GB modules I tried, and it appears that the Transcend is a bit more power-efficient than the Corsair Value Select. Both the Samsung and Transcend 1GB parts are 533MHz but the Corsair and Transcend 2GB are 667MHz although all are running at 533MHz in the Q35. I had not expected to see this much power variation between different modules running at the same speed.

However, the extra 0.9W would, for 10W normal average power consumption, reduce the battery run time by about 0.58 hours = 35 minutes. So I think I will keep my Q35 at its current 1.25GB.

I will do some other tests on my X60plus comparing 1 x 2GB with 2 x 1GB, but 0.9W is not significant on that computer which normally uses about 25W.

John

 

thanks for the explaination... really useful

 

I just took the HDD (Hitachi HTS541010G9AT00) out of my Q35 and discovered that it is PATA. For a reason I can't remember, I had assumed it would be SATA (probably because my previous two notebooks have been SATA). I should have noticed from the model number. AT = PATA but SA = SATA.

The Samsung specs actually say PATA/SATA. There is enough space within the Q35's drive bay to have room for an adaptor.

John

 

btw.. does it make big different to have Parallel/Serial-ATA ?

and quick note, seems like some seller in germany increase the price for latest model of Q35. was €1199 and now €1232,99... this refering to www.amazon.de tho, other known seller still at the same price.

kinda qurious why amazon suddenly increase the price, cause they was selling at the same price last week.

 

SATA just has the edge on performance for the maximum interface data transfer rates which only applies for whatever data is in the HDD's cache. PATA seems to have lower power consumption when on idle. For the Q35, I would prefer the latter feature. See Tom's Hardware CPU charts. Digit Life also has some useful comparative power consumption data near the bottom of this page.

John

 

btw... i read from vobis.de their Q35 ruby is with the Lithium-Ionen, 57,72 Wh battery. Does it mean, this is the old setup?

 

If you get it, you are lucky. It will give another 1/2 hour of running time. Samsung UK still think think the Q35 has the higher capacity battery, but they also haven't heard of the C2D CPUs. [OK, follow the link on that page to the business solutions and you can get to this page which has what appears to be the current specs which has the lower capacity battery but still claims up to 7 hours. What does "up to" really mean. Does it mean "less than". Perhaps we should require manufacturers to quote a "more than" battery life.]

John

 

i see... seems like Samsung DE have the same setup like samsung UK, hurmmm... i dont know if vobis DE make mistake with the spec or they do have that battery...

 

Typical mistake, believe me, or believe Samsung

http://notebook.samsung.de/article.asp?artid=CBA2DAA6-436F-4F66-9A94-94680554B8CE&show=specs

53,28 Wh is the right value.

 

like i wrote before... maybe vobis does make that mistake... so its cool...

btw.. just for all ppl that helped me out till now, i already ordered n paid my Q35 ruby, now just need to wait till the laptop arrive at my home... then i will share my laptop here too...

 

My Q35 was there at home yesterday... but my housemate doesnt recognise my name when the postmen come... n said i'm dont live there... it is really unlucky for me... i was so dissapointed with that...

when i should already have my Q35 yesterday... but just because of some lowsy mistake... its not there... ( today they should resend it again... n if not.... i need to go n fetch it from the center... so by rite... tomorrow i can share mine..

 

Very disappointing. Perhaps not as bad as staying in all day waiting for a delivery which never shows up.

I'm sure your housemate now knows what your name is!

John

 

yeah... lucky i know my parcel is there... i called them again... i need to go there to fetch my laptop myself... meaning today i will work half day only... lol... tomorrow is holiday in germany... so wish me luck... i cant be patient anymore actually...

 

lol... i'm so happy now.... i received my Q35 Ruby already.... lol.... this is like a dream come true.... at last....

 

Good news. It seem like it was a long pregnancy.

John

 

lol... so true... now i just finished my first time login to my new Q35... all the setup for the vista... btw... anythings you want me to check specifically? i dont know... maybe you want to compare or troubleshoot...

btw... running the recovery solution rite now...

 

First check if everything is working. Run the Samsung update plus and Windows update.

One recent question was the SRS. Does Fn+F7 bring up a screen display? And does stepping between the modes change the sound of the audio?

What is the CPU / RAM / HDD (make/model) / ODD (make/model)?

And the battery capacity?

And the Vista experience rating?

Enough for now.

John

 

so currently... the combination of Fn+F7 didnt show the screen display.... i just need to press Fn... then the screen option will be shown...

regarding the mode i'm not really understand how to step between the modes...

the Vista experience rating is 3.1
the cpu T5500@ 1.66Ghz 1.67Ghz
RAM 1014Mb

i need to check the hdd n the ODD too later... about the battery capacity... where can i check the spec?

 

On my Q35 with XP it is possible to step through the SRS modes by holding down Fn then each press of F7 (except the first) changes the mode by one step (see the attached for what it looks like under XP). A similar arrangement works for the power schemes Fn+F8.

My Q35 (T5600 with 1.25GB RAM) gets a Vista score of only 2.3, based on the graphics. So, another question.: What does CPU-Z report for your RAM speed? Mine is 266 (=533DDR).

You can check the HDD and ODD model numbers in Device Manager. Use Google to find more details. HDDs may be Hitachi (if you can hear the heads clicking) or Fujitsu (much quieter). The Toshiba-Samsung TS-L632D ODD seems to be extensively used.

The easiest way to check the battery is to take it off and look at the label next to the terminals. Mine says 11.1V 4800mAh. Software such as RMclock can check the battery data and if the fully charged capacity is less than the designed capacity it means you have battery wear.

Once you have got familiar with the computer you should look into undervolting the CPU. This should stop the fan from need to run faster than the slowest speed. I can talk you through it if necessary. I've been planning to write a simple guide for some time.

John

 

So i checked already the CPU-Z result... see attachment.

the battery show 11.1V-4800mAh

n have the Samsung TS-L632D cd/dvdw

have the Hitachi HTS541612J9SA00 hdd... it is SATA rite...

regarding the undervolting... is it okay if i just use the silent mode... n if you can briefly give how i can undervolting my Q35... would be much appreciated...

 

Thanks for the info.

It is interesting to see how there are changes to the specs which are not obvious from the outside.

1. Yes, your HDD is SATA whereas my January 07 red Q35 has a PATA HDD (as noted previously, this may actually use a little less power). Is the noise from your HDD noticeable? You can adjust the HDD properties using the HGST Feature Tool.

2. Your RAM is 667MHz. Since the Intel GMA 950 uses system RAM, this could help explain why your Vista Experience score is higher than mine. Personally, I prefer the visual settings at best performance + smooth screen fonts, although I do like the open application previews.

We will pick up the undervolting when I have a bit more time. At present you could use the monitoring page of RMclock to watch the CPU temperature.

John

 

as for now... the noice is noticeable only if you want to hear it... what i mean is... it is really minimal...only sometimes you hear the pin of the hdd which create the noise... but overall... its okay...

regarding the HDD properties... what should i adjust actually?

 

If the HDD noise starts to annoy you, then you can change the accoustic management settings to make the head movement quieter. There would be a small reduction in performance, but you probably wouldn't notice.

I've not tried this tool recently. If you want to use it, you will need to make a bootable CD using the ISO image.

(Note that pressing Esc when the computer boots up will bring up a boot device menu - I've never seen this in the User Guide).

John

 

for the time being... it didnt even make me notice that the hdd is making noise... at while i'm writing this... seems like the hdd doesnt make any noise...

attached with this post is the result for my battery...

 

OK. Your battery looks very healthy. 11.1V x 4800mAh = 53280mWh.

I expect you will soon be trying to assess the battery life. Disabling Vista's eye candy will have a significant impact and I also found that having Bluetooth enabled hit the battery life significantly.

John

 

btw... where is the Vista's eye candy setting? i will be travelling tonite to berlin... which is like 700km from my place... so will be needing to minimise the battery consumption to the bottom...

i've already disabled my bluetooth at first place... cause dont need it...

 

Two ways I can think of, but there may be more:

1. If you have got the My Computer icon on the desktop, right click and select properties. Then select the Advanced system settings on the Tasks list. Give yourself permission to continue, then click on the Settings button in the Performance category.Then, on the Visual effect tab, click on Adjust for best performance. However, I then go down the list and select Smooth edges of screen fonts. Apply that setting and you get a Windows which looks more like Windows 2K (I have my XP installations set up that way as well).

2. Go to the Welcome Center (you can open it in Control Panel if it is closed) then near the top right of the screen click on Show more details. This gets you to the same page as My Computer > Properties, so follow the same procedure as above.

I find the display much clearer without the visual effects. For example,the edges of individual windows are much easier to see. I think I've already said is that the only eye candy feature I like is the open application previews. I'm sure there is more tuning to be done.

It seems that these batteries only develop their full capacity after a few discharge-recharge cycles so you may not get the best running time at the first or second attempt.

John

 

okay... thanks for the info...
its normal that the battery didnt go up to the full capacity at the first or second run...

okay... set already the vista layout to fit my taste... i add up another one option to the smooth edges of screen fonts... which is the visual style for the task bar... cause at least thats how my current XP look like...

but there are really lots of thing to discover... as this is my first time to have a vista system install on any of my pc... sure it is interesting to play around it

 

btw after all... the laptop really give me satisfaction up till now, only vista is giving some small problem with softwares that i used to have in my XP PC... but from time to time, i have found some trick on how to get it back... so again... its okay...

While i was in berlin or on the way to there n on the way back... Many people impress with the look of the Q35 Ruby... they talk about how small it is, n how it is nice to hold... this is what other people said... not me... eventho personally, i do enjoy with this laptop, at least till now...

 

I bought my Q35 yesterday, and so far I'm loving it, though I was a little worried about the battery life at first. After running through the initial setup procedure, and partitioning/backing up the drive, it said I only had about 1hr 30mins left. After doing a few updates, this dropped to an hour, and after a reboot, it suddenly dropped to a few mins.

I gave it another charge, and at 100% it was estimating 2hr 36mins. I turned bluetooth off, and this shot upto over 4hrs . That should do me for now, though if I need longer, I may look into turning off the eye candy.

BTW...The right hand side of my keyboard seems slightly raised. I've had a look at the machine in the shop, and that one seems to be the same......is anyone elses machine like this?

 

I wonder if the keyboard isn't seated properly. In addition to the three screws underneath, the keyboard is held in place by some tabs at the back of the keyboard which slot into the chassis; two spring-loaded latches (at the front of the left Ctrl and the right Windows keys); and four tabs on the sides. These tabs are located at (a) left of the 1 key; (b) left of left Fn key; (c) right of the PgDn key; and (d) right of the backspace key. You can see examples on the attached photo.

Turn the computer off and push down very firmly on the parts of the keyboard adjacent to these tabs. You may well hear a click as something latches into place.

John

 

Thanks for the reply mate. The keyboards seems to be seated correctly. Looking along the top row, the keyboard seems to dip down ever so slightly from F4 to F10, the raise up at F11 and back down at the delete key.

BTW...completely unrelated, but how do you find Mcafee security suite. I would normally have deleted it straight away, and replaced it with NOD32, but I figure if it's alright, I may get my free 3 months or whatever it is

 

One of the tabs at the back is by the F10 key. is that in place. Also check the screws underneath. The screw by the battery gauge fixes the keyboard roundabout the F9 key.

I'm not over-enthusiastic about the latest version of McAfee. It tries to do too much and has got bloated. I used to be a McAfee fan.

John

 

The screws all seem fine too. It's not a big deal, and I was just going to live with it, but I think I'll take it back for a replacement