Samsung Q45 (12.1" widescreen)

It's definitely worth considering. There are some good prices on the Q45 at the moment. It's not the thinnest or lightest of the 12.1" notebooks but the performance is good while it is well built, cool, quiet and has very good battery life. As you will see from this forum, there are few reports of problems.

It's successor, the Q210, is just arriving while the 13.3" Q310 also looks very interesting.

John

 

Do you think with its successor just about to hit the shops that the price of the Q45 may drop at all?

 

At the moment it is unclear whether the Q210, with nVidia GPU, will match the Q45's battery time, so the Q45 may continue to have a niche in the market.

This version of the Q45 offers a very good spec for the price and I doubt if the price will drop significantly further, if at all. It is ~£100 cheaper than the bottom Q210. The higher spec Q45s such as this may drop a little but that will depend on how many are still sitting in the warehouse.

The battery on the Q210 is flush while that on the Q45 sticks out at the back. note also that the Fn key has been moved away from the corner on the new notebooks. Many people complained about the Fn key being in the corner. The Q210 may also have a bigger PSU because of the GPU.

John

 

I've found a 12 month old Q45 T7100 with 2GB RAM & 160GB HD which I've been offered for £380.

Is this a fair price?

 

My rule of thumb for a 1 year old notebook is 2/3rds of the cost of the current equivalent, so maybe £350. Unless it has an extended warranty, in which case £380 is a good price. I've no reason to think that the Q45 won't give several years of good service (there are few reports of hardware problems with it or the Q35), but the extra warranty gives peace of mind.

John

 

Could someone test the webcam on this laptop, specifically when using skype and at night so your using indoor lighting. But could you test it so you see what the recieving end is seeing as whats shown on your own laptop of yourself doesn't represent the quality of what the other end is seeing if you get what I mean.
I had a Asus F9E which the webcam was terrible, looked ok my end, but the person on the other side of the call said it was blocky and very slow framerate. I tested it myself by calling my desktop and the camera is just a waste of time, blocky, no detail, just a blur, slow frames. I ended up returning the laptop because of it.
So now I'm in the hunt for a new laptop.

Also can you comment on the mic too, thanks.

 

i have encountered the same problem have you got any solution as yet?

 

Which problem?

 

i dropped my laptop and the screen broke and was wondering where if possible i could have it fixed

 

See the Out of warranty repair FAQ(No.5) on the Samsung UK website.

John

 

Hi,

Could anyone please tell me what the fan does on their q45, mine seems to always be on a low/medium setting, even when the laptop is stone cold, for example just after boot. I would perfer it if it was off, but this never seems to happen.

thanks

 

I am deciding between those two Q45 configurations:

Intel core 2 Duo T8100 with 200 GB HDD

and

Intel Core 2 Duo T7250 with 160 GB HDD

Are there any major differences between those two regarding battery life?

BW

 

I think the T8100 is the newer process and might have slightly lower power consumption. However, there is a substantial range of power consumption variation between CPUs that are nominally the same.

John

 

Does anyone know of a docking stationg for the samsung q45?

I'd preferably want one that isn't the USB kind as that seems kind of lame but I'm not that sure about the whole technology of docking stations.

Anyways, does samsung provide a compatible version? does anyone know of one that fits the q45 properly?

Cheers

 

Samsung do make a docking station, but only the X series has the appropriate connector on the bottom.

John

 

I see. So that leaves me with USB docking statoins.

Can anyone comment on those? I can see how keyboard/mouse and other usb connections would travel okay on one, but what about the screen vga? Or do I just plugin to my laptop vga?

they seem kind of pointless as I mind as well just plugin the components straight to my laptop.

 

I suggest you ask about USB docking stations in the hardware forum. The only reason I have looked at them is to get extra ports (eg serial and parallel). VGA through USB won't be very good.

There is the option of a docking station which works through the PC card slot but they are hard to find. I've always lived with the 20 seconds it takes to plug everything in.

John

 

hi,
I have a problem with my q45. I have lost the option f4 in the boot.
Have you experienced any solution?

Thanks.

 

Can you please confirm the function you have lost. If my memory is correct, F4 at the BIOS screen is the option to restore the factory image of the operating system installation. Are you not getting a menu?

John

 

Hi.

Me and my Nephew both have a Q210 , but his does not have a F4 at the bios screen , but mine does.

He killed his Vista and it would not boot, but he could the boot menu by pressing F8 , the recovery options are available there.

But why he does not have an F4 is a mystery, maybe he needs the latest BIOS.

Regards

John.

Regards

John.

 

hi,
Thanks for answering.
Indeed, f4 is the option that appears on the boot partition to start the recovery.
Mistakenly remove the boot, and to restore it, the option is gone.
Is there any fix for samsung boot? How did you restore it?
Did you hear something about this?
Thanks.

 

I was wondering about a boot fix too...

 

Hello,
I just bought a Q45 yesterday. It's a cheapest version with a T5750, 2GB RAM and X3100, but it comes with an Option Data Card (It is locked). I got it for 400€, so I think it's a good deal.
However I have some questions:
1. I check my Wifi card, it's an Intel 3945abg, but it only has one antenna. I want to know if it's because of the Q45 series or it's only my laptop has this problem.
2. Are there any ways to turn off the bluetooth, network card ... so that the battery can last longer?

 

Hello, Newbie here. I too just bought the above T5750 version for 399 euros at a France Telecom boutique. Great deal! They were selling out their last stock and I got the last one. I just wish they weren't so cheap (Samsung) had furnished at least a sleeve/cover. I can't find a suitable one anywhere around except on line. I realize this topic is getting a bit stale and as these things go, fewer and fewer people will be responding or interested in this machine; which means I gotta a. read thru a lot of pages so I don't ask questions that have been already answered and annoy b. get my two cents in while there's still time! A little back-ground: I jumped into the "netbook" frenzy at the beginning, with an Asus 701, and quickly graduated to a Medion akoya (MSI) which I love and use now as up backup machine. Finally I broke and went the further step to this Samsung. It's my first Samsung of any discription.
The price was absurdly nice; I paid as much for my Asus and for the MSI!
At it's initial list price it was a bit too expensive I think. Anyway enough chat!

I have never had to deal with Vista and quite frankly, having now the experience, I understand why many detest it and run back to XP. I will not add fuel to the fire...I'm leaving it on the machine just so I don't get stuck at some point. I immediately installed Windows 7 (official Beta) on a second partition. It works a treat and as many have already stated, is extreemly fast to boot and to shut down (glory be!) If anyone is interested, I will be glad to share my thoughts and experience. By the way, for anyone totaly frustrated trying to get downloads and updates for this machine thru Samsung (their update manager either doesn't work or doesn't care...) I found that they seemed to have dumped all their stuff on WWW Samsung.fr (just type Q45 in their search bar) probably because it's already old socks for them and France Telecom "boutiques" got their last stock.
If anyone knows how to get one of these zip files to install properly on Windows 7 (especially, but not only the Battery manager) I would love to know. It has driven me nuts. It says it it's installed but isn't anywhere and does nothing. Maybe I have to delete the older versions of the Samsung softs first??? would appreciate the tip!
Next stop will be a Linux Distro on a third partition. Might just wait a bit a see if Mandriva or PcLinux come out with a new version.
So a very nice machine (it's not little after coming from the Asus and the Msi!!) at a very sweet price: (still learning it's character and quirks) now to read thu all the threads!!!

 

can anyone tell me how to turn off the internal mike? is their a shortcut?

 

Am I all alone??? Well I did figure out about the mic. Windows differs from Vista in lots of ways that only appear thru time.

 

Just on the off chance that this thread isn't dead...here's further thoughts after a few more intensive days with my Sammy. One discovery of note is that the software on offer for this machine is totally wonky. Why? Because the Vista versions don't work on either vista or W7. The Xp ones do though. I tried about 5 of them at random and no go. Anybody else discover this? Strange that a co. a big as Samsung should mess this up. I am no thrilled with the screen vueing angles. Watching a movie is a head-clamp experience! I am at a loss how to deal with two seperate power/battery applications. i.e. the one in Vista/7 and the Samung version. Is one "better" than the other? I find it odd that I seem to be able to both piush the processor to it's max and at the same time limit the fan to almost not on. Furhter random thoughts: Battery life is about three hours with everything maxed out and wi-fi, bluetooth turned off. I have apparently the latest Bios. In same is the ability to disable dual-core function. I have never encountered this before. Experimenting seems to indicate a slight increase in performance and fluidity disabled but I have no way to prove this. Excuse me if I am bringing up old themes. I don't want to read thru all the pages! My bad. So anyone want to keep this thread alive? I would appreciate it!
PS have yet to discover how to get the internal mike to mute or indeed to find its settings in Vista.
It simply doesn't show up/blank. Wheras it was a cinch in W7.

 

No, the thread isn't dead but the Q45 owners must have few problems since they don't visit very often.

If you disable one core then maybe the Intel Dynamic Acceleration (IDA) is working. This allows one core to speed up by one clock step when the other core is idle. It will boost performance in a single-threaded application but will reduce performance when multi-tasking.

Regarding Vista compatibility you could try the Vista versions of Samsung applications as provided for some of the newer notebooks such as the Q210 / Q310.

John

 

Is there a bigger batteries for q45?
And does anybody have 15st bios ISO image for downgrade cos 17st have a much smaller battery life! 3 hrs 17st Windows 7 vs 4 10 15 st windows 7

 

SamsungPC.com has several BIOS versions but the newest is 09ST so you will have to ask Samsung support.

I would also note that there is a special method for downgrading the BIOS. It is explained near the end of this thread.

John

 

Thanks John. I'll try and keep pestering here since I have lots of questions and no real problems! I'll try out the software for the other models as you suggest.
Regarding single-core vs dual, there doesn't seem to be a consensus in other forums and indeed it's a strange option. It may have to do with playing certain games (which I don't do anyway) I Set it back to default. I'm keeping my fingers crossed that Windows 7 will be released without too many changes since it obviously works better on this machine than Vista. There is a patch available in various locations to supposedly defeat the August 1 cut-off date. We will see. I would hate to lose all the stuff and work I'm doing on this. I find Samsung's approach to firm-ware and software very cavalier. Depending on the country it's presented differently, irrespective of the model. I have not yet gone into Bios updates. I bricked my MSI doing this, had to send it back with my tail between its legs. They were very gracious about it and replaced the motherboard for free, something I suspect SAmsung might not be willing to do! A quick question: over-clocking...there is a painless way to do this on the MSI (netbook) in the bios. I assume someone among those contributing has had a go. Any feedback would be welcome. CHeers.
Just tried the Vista Battery manager version from another Q series. No luck. The XP version, being slightly more recent, did. You figure...

 

This is so odd. I tried installing the Vista version of Easy Battery Manager from the Q300 series. No joy. Then I found a slightly more recent version for XP, which does. Wankers...
I feel like sneding off a churlish comlaint to them but what's the use? Just one of the endless quirks in the wide and wonderful world of 'puters

 

After much to and fro's, it appears that at least on this machine, most of the Vista applications from Samsung, and some of the drivers simply will no work on Windows 7, wheras all the XP ones do that I tried. Is that not weird? I really wasted a lot of tile trying the Vista ones. The good news is that the XP ones work properly. I'll leave it up to the wise ones to understand this; if it is a problem with Samsung or Microsoft having in fact rolled something back in "7" to accomodate for...what do I know. I also think the same is true in Vista itself on this machine. But I'll be ed if I'm going to go back and try it out. By dint of a lot of tweaking, I got both Vista and 7 to boot in about 2O seconds and shutdown in 15. Less is just not possible. 7 is still the snappier of the two.

 

Further questions! Please somebody! I have numerous bugs but the most annoying is both on Vista and 7. Namely when I use the "sleep" Fn key or do the same from windows, when re-awaked the screen is dimmed way down. I can nowhere find how to disactivate or change this setting. Under Vista I can control the screen with the Samsung Fn key but under 7 that doesn't work and I have to re-boot to get screen brightness back to normal. Starting with Vista, I have really looked hard in every imaginable place for this setting. Anybody have a solution? (I simply do not get why all the Samsung function keys work excepting the screen control!) Thanks. I hope I can drum up some renewed interest in this machine here. I don't know where else to go...

 

I don't have a Samsung notebook to hand but I recall that the Battery Manager can control the display brightness for different Samsung power profiles.

The other place to look is in the BIOS to see if that has default mains and battery display brightness levels.

John

 

This already ancient history but I have a bunch of questions which I hope someone can answer! The first is: it is clearly stated that the Q45 can accept 4Go of Ram BUT how? There is only one slot. There is no such thing as a 3Go bar and I assume there is 1Go soldered on the mother board. I have a 2Go bar and system is showing 3 Go. I can't figure this one out! Secondly, I cannot get the Fn brightness control to work. The icon is there, the bar goes up and down but nothing happens. I have been thru this multiple times with no affect. No version changes this. ANy thoughts?

 

I think that the second RAM module is not soldered, but just considered to not be user-accessible. However, you will need to dismantle something to get to it. If you are lucky, it is under the keyboard.

John

 

Hi everyone, I have just taken delivery of a brand new Q45 running Vista, with 3GB RAM, the T5550 1.83ghz processor. A friend of mine has the same model (which prompted me to buy in the first place); hers - bought last year - runs silently.
However, mine, which I first powered on yesterday, is very loud in comparison. The fan seems to be permanently on, and I haven't installed or used much at all since yesterday.

Having read a few other websites for peace of mind, it seems Vista may be performing an initial indexing of my HDD (320GB). Being very inexperienced, both with laptops and Vista, is this feasible? Could it be something else? Should I expect the noise/fan activity to reduce after the first week or so? I am a bit worried but want to check with the experts before contacting Samsung.

Any help gratefully received.
thanks
Edward

 

Hi Guys
Same with me and it's driving me mad. Had every intention of buying a copy when it finally goes on sale, but this is really putting me off. Sent an email to Samsung but no answer - sent another one today - here's hoping.
Also tried John's suggestion about Bios and Battery Manager but no joy. Even tried Xp version.
Any thoughts or help greatly appreciated
Regards
Todger

 

Re: brightness probs - do you have the latest BIOS installed?

 

Hi - does anyone have any ideas on my post (above, # 638)? The fan is still on most of the time even on light use and it's getting annoying!

 

Yes mate, just downloaded from samsung v 17st(from memory) I think
rgds Todger

 

Also guys,
Has anyone managed to boot from a usb stick or usb hdd.
In the bios when I try to adjust boot order, it just says these items not installed. Does anyone know how to "get them installed".
rgds
TO'T

 

Were they plugged in when you tried to change the boot order?

BTW, pressing Esc at the BIOS splash screen will bring up a one-time boot order list. This is usually more convenient than have the computer search through a list of boot devices before it gets to the HDD.

John

 

Hi John
Thanks for the reply, yes the items were plugged in.
In bios under boot priority it only show my dvd/cd drive and c:drive
all other options ie Usb Key:Usb HDD:Usd cdrom show "not installed".
I've connected all three items (seperately) and tried to boot and with each device but whatever I do they still show as not installed - any thoughts please
rgds
TO'T

 

I'm short of other thoughts unless there is another option in the BIOS relating to either HDD access modes or USB compatibility.

John

 

Hi John
I've managed to get a Usb Stick to show up there by making it bootable - after a lot of fiddling. But how would I get a usb cd/dvd writer to show up as bootable - wonder if it's a bit old - I've also tried it with a boot cd inserted.
Todger

 

hi,

has someone some detailed pics from the q45 hsdpa version? where is the card slot; which hsdpa card ist built in?

thanks for your reply

 

The sim slot is near battery contacts, so you have to remove battery to insert a sim.

Have you EasyBatteryManager running ? Have you select Samsung optimized power plan?

 

Hi jfast - thanks for your response. I had tried both those things and decided to take advantage of my warranty, sending off the machine to Digicare. 10 days, a new left speaker, cleaned fan and new motherboard later it seems to be fine! I wonder if Samsung have a problem with quality control or whether I got a Friday afternoon effort...anyway all running smoothly for now, pity my warranty only has 48 weeks left...