Samsung Q35 first thoughts

I took it back, and they brought me another one out which was exactly the same, so I guess they're supposed to be like that. At least I don't have to go back through the initial setup again.

Thanks for all your help John......I'm off to remove Mcafee now

 

Thanks for the feedback. If you have the inclination you could remove the three screws, push back the two clips at the front with a small screwdriver than lift out the keyboard. Start at the front until it is clear of the chassis then slide it towards you to release the tabs at the back, then flip it over.

As a matter of curiousity, does your Q35 have a black or a silver keyboard. Last year's models were silver, but mine (end January) is black but someone more recently reports getting silver.

John

 

nice to know someone bought another Q35, btw i would suggest you to remove Mc Affee too... cause i was using Mc Affee too before... but they just dont fit me well... two times my old PC crashed just because of them...

btw john... one question out of topic... what kind of camera do you use actually?

btw... i have black keyboard too...

 

I have a silver keyboard, but it is one of the models from PC World if that makes any difference.

As for removing the keyboard, I may have a look, but not at the moment. Thanks for the info though...it'll come in handy if I do

 

What do you guys think of the Samsung recovery solution, and what partitions sizes did you use?

I have Acronis Trueimage, but if their solution works, then I'll stick with it. BTW...I used the default partition sizes.

 

Canon Ixus 60. It lives in my shirt pocket. Excellent camera apart from the flash which is no good for anything closer than about 1m, so I have to search for other lighting. The only other camera which tempts me is the Sony W series, but they are a bit thicker. While I am now using the LCD display of the viewfinder most of the time, I still like to have an optical viewfinder. I'm getting tempted by the Ixus 70 which is slightly thinner than the 60.

Samsung managed to get the colour right. It's a distinctive colour but not those bright colours used for the Sony C series. I hope Samsung start to introduce some colour to the new series. In addition to the red, dark green and dark blue would be colours that anyone can live with.

John

 

i couldnt agree more with that, eventho i think this red colour is so nice that rite now i'm afraid to remove the protection cover.... lol... just in case there will scratch or something like that...

is it okay if i want to share my laptop in another new thread with all the accessories and things i want to share with?

 

The red paint is protected by a hard lacquer and is quite scratch resistant. However, perhaps you should think about getting a sleeve. (Link below to my review of the becase sleeve).

If you are moving away from the first thoughts then a new thread would be appropriate.

John

 

btw... i got my sleeve already... i bought it while i was in berlin... but different material from the one you have... i will share it in my new thread about my laptop n accessories tho... thanks a lot... maybe i will remove the cover too after a while... it just my habit i guess, to leave at least one cover in my new pc... lol...

but yesterday i try to run with the battery by chating, webcam, wireless connection, n some automated internet browser where it will continuously running like someone using it, n 10 secs refresh browser... this is for games actually...

so i running for 1 hour 40 minutes then i when to have a nap... after three hours... the laptop goes to "sleeping" mode i guess.. dunno when... need to check the auto power saving plan... then it last for another 1 hour and 45 minutes... which make a total of more than 3 hours... eventho the laptop is left for like almost 7 hours alone...

So I would say, i'm satisfied with my buying rite now, the color, the weight, the specifications are all worth for my money... eventho i never think i would invest more than €1000 for my laptop, but i did... n it give me the satisfaction till now... The laptop is so smooth for me to do my work, eventho till now i havent did any major work yet... but at least all the small work run really smooth...

I would recommend this laptop to anyone who want a small laptop with nice look...

 

I think I'll upgrade the RAM in the next few days......is thisthe correct module?

http://www.crucial.com/uk/store/partspecs.aspx?imodule=CT12864AC667

Cheers
Neil

 

Yes. That Crucial module is fine for the Q35. I see that shipping is free so that is a very good deal.

If you really want to pile on the RAM, this Transcend 2GB module is the cheapest I can find and I know it works in the Q35.

John

 

Hmmm...very tempting

I thought the Q35 maxed out at 2Gb. I know that you can never have too much memeory, but would I be likely to see much improvement with 2.5Gb over 1.5Gb?

 

I've tested that module in the Q35, so I know it works. Samsung Germany have updated some of their Q35 specs to include 2GB RAM modules. Sleepy Samsung UK have not. 2GB was not included when the specs were prepared because the 2GB modules were so expensive (they were still £400 in February 07).

So the question is do you need 2.5GB? Benchmark tests won't show the benefit of extra RAM because they use software which doesn't take up lots of space. The main benefit is to reduce the use of virtual memory (paging file on the HDD) which is relatively slow.

What are you going to be running at the same time? Load up and use all your favourite applications at the same time and see how much memory is being used (the Commit Charge at the bottom of the Task Manager screen). Google Earth likes around 250MB. Graphics and GIS applications are also RAM-hungry. I have read that Vista will use the extra RAM to pre-fetch things from the HDD which it thinks you might want to use. If you are like me and start Windows once a week then hibernate with everything open, lots of RAM is useful. However, 1.5GB is probably enough and means less to dump to the HDD if you use hibernation.

John

 

Cheers John...I'll have a play over the next week, and see what my mem usage is like. I suspect 2.5Gb may be better, as I do a fair bit of VB programming using SQL databases.

BTW...I know there isn't an easy way to turn BT on and off out of the box, and remembered a thread on the origami forum. The guy over there was given some advice by a friend to use "Devcon" to enable/disable it through the command prompt. He found this cumbersome, so made a small app to make it easier. The thread is here:

http://origamiproject.com/forums/20656/ShowThread.aspx#20656

Cheers
Neil

 

Thanks very much for that link to the Bluetooth on /off utility.

I'm puzzled why the XP Q35 Bluetooth driver has start and stop as options through right-clicking on the Bluetooth tray icon, but this feature is missing from Vista.

John

 

Np

I can't understand why they've omitted start/stop from the menu either. Maybe they really do want to kill our batteries

 

I'm really tempted towards a 2Gb upgrade now John, but how does the specification of this one compare to the pre-installed memory and the 1Gb crucial stick I posted the link for. I'm normally a firm believer in "You get what you pay for", and crucial are charging close to £130 for their 2Gb sticks.

Cheers
Neil

 

The CPU-Z report for the Transcend 2GB SODIMM is attached.

Komplett are listing a 2GB Corsair value select for about £90 (+ delivery). But the Transcend module from MemoryC still seems to be the best price (currently about £72 including delivery).

I believe all 667MHz SODIMMs are CL=5 but there may be some small differences on the other numbers. Scan show that Corsair memory as being 5-5-5-12.

My Q35 has 533MHz RAM on board but I believe some (Newer?) Q35s use 667MHz. You can work out what timing you would get by comparing the timings reported by CPU-Z for the on board RAM with the timings of the proposed module. The BIOS will select the highest frequency offered by both modules and then used the higher of the individual timing values.

I don't think CPU-Z can read the SPD data for the on-board RAM, but if you take out the other module and then run CPU-Z, the data on the memory page will be the data for the on-board module.

I think I detected a slight increase in power consumption when I tried the 2GB module in the Q35. It is possible that the more transistors means more power drain, or it may be that the RAM Samsung supplies is relatively low power. There can't be much difference because they all run at the same voltage.

John

 

btw... i can see the result for your RAM n my RAM has slight different... on the trc number...

what is this trc number really mean actually? i attach together my result here too...

 

The meaning of the memory timing parameters is explained here. Trc is described as:

The timing info I posted is for the Transcend 2GB SODIMM. Your details are for the 667MHz RAM in your Q35. What we see is that Tras and Trc are both 2 clock cycles less with the Samsung RAM.

If you put the Transcend 2GB module in your Q35 then the memory would run using the timings for the Transcend module. If you put the Corsair value select model in then the memory would run using the timings of the on-board RAM.

So the real question is what difference does two clocks make to the RAM performance? I don't know. I suspect not a lot, but in theory it should be slower. However, the only measurements I have to hand are tests I made on the R20: I tried 2 x 512MB 667MHz running at 5-5-5-13-18 (Samsung RAM that came in my X60 plus) and got Sandra memory bandwith results of 3013 / 3012. I also tried 2.5GB (one of these + the Transcend 2GB) and got Sandra memory bandwidth results of 3090 / 3110, although the timings were a slower 5-5-5-15-21.

John

 

Thanks for the in-depth info John......I know nothing about RAM timings etc.

I'm in no desperate hurry to upgrade it, as it's running superbly anyway, so I'll have a look over the next few weeks, and see how much memory I'm using on a regular basis.

 

Well, the Q35 has now gone from the DigiUK web site, but they are still in stock at Laptops Direct (who still aren't listing the Q45). Insight still has plenty of red Q35s.

I think the Q35 is being phased out.

John

 

That red Q35 is now down to £780 at Laptops Direct.

John

 

I see that Q35 BIOS version 26SD was posted on 8th September. The dates on all the Q35 drivers and software have also been updated to September 07. However, you will need to check the version numbers to see if there is actually anything new.

John

 

I've resurrected this old thread about the Q35 in order to drop a link to this. About 9 years old, in regular use and just upgraded.

John