Samsung R20 notebook (14" widescreen)

cheers John. you called it exactly like i see, for the price its great. would love a q35 but not really prepared to pay that much.

 

got my 160gb r20 from ebuyer for just under £540, so thats only £60 more than the online comet price for the 80gb model.

 

lol. just realised that the model i've order is cd and not c2d. not sure what to do now. £30 for c2d? what to do? im expecting it tomorrow and don't know if i'll have will to return it.

 

Hi all - I'm typing this from my new Samsung R20-F001 fromn Comet.

Pretty happy with it so far - I'm actually quite liking Vista, even though I didn't think I would. I've installed some new gadgets, and everything!

The keyboard seems fine to type with, and I've not hit the Home button accidentally yet.

Basically what I need to know now is what do I uninstall and install to make everything run as fast as possible? I'm guessing McAfee can go, but is there anything else?

 

I went for the C2D as they are better chips (although you might hear different check tom's hardware guide on a stock c2d and cd!) The £30 is worth the upgrade I'm sure there will be those who will disagree but there is a reason why the C2D is the next model chip...cos it's BETTER!!

 

Cancelled my ebuyer order and ordered the C2D from Comet. Was suppose to arrive tomorrow so was surprised I could still cancel. Have to wait till Monday now. Well annoying theres no option to collect in store.

 

The C2D has 64-bit support and, at the same clock speed, is about 10% faster due to internal improvements. The 1.73GHz T2250 is overall about the same speed in normal use as the 1.6GHz T5200 and may be faster in some functions.

You can make comparisons at Tom's Hardware Mobile CPU charts, but unfortunately it doesn't include the CPUs mentioned here.

John

 

Good to hear that your initial impressions are favourable.

I presume you mean the "house" button and not the one that actually says "Home" on it. (Since the house button starts the web browser, a globe symbol might be more appropriate).

By all means remove McAfee, but immediately put another anti-virus in place. AVG is free and quite potent. I bought the latest McAfee not long back and found that it had outgrown its usefulness because had expanded. After registering (to get another year of updates) I went back to McAfee 10.

John

 

One reason why this may work on the R20 is that the current UK models are being sold with 533MHz FSB CPUs but the hardware can handle 667MHz FSB (the German R20 has the T7200). However, the key ingredient is that ClockGen detects the PLL chip which generates the frequency. It can clearly do this for the R20 but not for the Q35

A good explanation of why the true price difference isn't big. The smaller display of the Q35 wouldn't suit everyone, but its battery life is above average. (I believe the Q30 / Q35 started life with a 3 cell battery. I wonder whether Samsung will see the light and switch to a bigger battery for the R20).

John

 

DigiUK list the 8-cell battery. ~£140! That link notes that the same battery fits the X1, X11 and R20.

Shopbatteries.co.uk has various Samsung batteries including 14.8V 4400mAH for the X1 & X11, so it should work. However, the info link is dead and there is no price. Worth a call or email?

Cheap-laptop-battery.co.uk lists several Samsung batteries, including the 8-cell for the X1 / X11 ~£121.

Sales-batteries.com lists many Samsung batteries including t his 8-cell. There's no price, but it links to my-battery.co.uk. Still no price!

Global-battery.co.uk also has the right parts, but no price.

Time for someone to contact some of these people and find out availability and pricing.

**** Edit **** This one from Ultimate Electronics looks to be OK. Some needs to buy one and test it. Thanks to GlasWolf for the link (further down this thread).

John

PS: While I was searching for batteries, I found this 60W PSU from www.battery.co.uk. It claims to fit Samsung, so should work for the R20 and Q35.

 

Hi
Looking at the COMET website (both R20 -F001 and F002), there is no mention of graphics card etc under advanced details. Can anyone provide some info as microanvika are selling the R20-F001 for 599pounds! So is the COMET laptop the same or are there lack of features. Please advice thanks

 

The model I see listed by Micro Anvika is NP-R20F000/SUK . This is the standard model with T2250 CPU, 160GB HDD and 1GB RAM being sold by retailers other than Comet. This model is available on-line at places such as DigiUK and Laptops Direct for about £540. The more expensive Comet model has the T5200 Core 2 Duo CPU (but it is debatable whether this has any siginficant speed advantage over the T2250) while the cheaper Comet model has the T2250 CPU but a smaller (80GB) hard disk?

Clear or confused? Another R20 version, with XP Pro is expected.

I did list the four versions some pages back up this thread.

John

 

Any thoughts on cooling/fan noise? In a different forum two guys sent theirs back because supposedly the fan didn't ever slow down - in 'silent mode' it just worked intermittently?


.

 

The fan on mine only comes on when it's being taxed (running benchmarks, in my case). It goes off again about 10 seconds after they're complete. There was talk of this happening in Linux because the Speedstep CPU power saving wasn't supported - maybe that was the issue.

John: you asked for the battery part code and I don't think anyone answered - it's AA-PBONC4B. Looks like this could be a suitable replacement for those in the UK and should offer about 2.5 - 3 hours. The usual warnings about 3rd party batteries apply.

For those considering buying from Comet, please check out my earlier post - you might save some money. Reserving it on the web before collecting it in store will save you £20 - £30 alone.

 

My fan is extremely quite right now because I'm not doing anything except type this message.

It speeds up when I'm doing other stuff, but it's not that noisy - noticeable, of course, but nothing bad.

I have a question - what's up with the Windows Vista copy and partition thing?

My hard drive is split into 2 (C and D - C has everything on it, and D appears to be empty) - around 32GB each (so only a total of around 64GB altogether - the model I have has an 80GB hard drive - so where is the other 18GB?

It made a copy of Vista the first time I started it up - I presume that might make up 10 out of those 18GB?

If the empty D drive actually has the Vista copy on it, does that mean it would be inefficient to use drive D? Also, if it is on D, why did they partition so much space for a simple 10GB copy of Vista?

 

I don't know why it asked for an additional partition (D: drive) either - it was empty and stayed empty. Maybe it would be utilised by the restore program but I didn't use it. There is a hidden 10GB partition that's used for the factory restore - look in your disk manager and you'll see it. In the end I kept that but repartitioned the C: and D: and dual booted XP and Vista - works fine.

 

Thanks John for your clarification. I was finding different specs and getting puzzled. I'll probably go for the COMET R20-F001 as i dont really need that fast a processor and the additional 90quid for the R20-F002 will not be put to much use in my case with the programmes i run. I'll also do the collect at store option as suggested by GlasWolf. Not patient enough to get the Virgin vouchers but thanks for the suggestion.

 

As far as I'm aware, and I tried my hardest when ordering mine, you can't collect the C2D in store, as theres no option for this on the website.

 

As John says, the benchmarks suggest that the optimisations made on the Core2 Duo processor are offset by the higher clock speed of the Core Duo version. Feature-wise the C2D is 64-bit and has better virtualisation support, but neither are an issue for me. Probably the biggest difference in practical terms is the larger 160GB hard drive.

 

Ah yes, you're absolutely right - my apologies.

 

The "silent" mode just raises the temperature at which the fan operates by a few degrees. It does nothing to slow down the computer and reduce the heat being generated. Under light load this might be enough to stop the fan coming on.

That looks to be a good price for the 8-cell. Someone needs to buy it. It's actually cheaper than the 4-cell equivalent but the price is fair for a lithium battery. Look at Dell's cost of a second battery at the time of buying a computer to see what they really cost.

Part of the lost space is because HDD manufacturers assume that Giga means 10 ^ 9, but computers work to 1024 ^ 3.

If you get a D: partition then use it for all your files. Don't put them in the default My Documents (or Vista equivalent) on C: If you ever need to restore the operating system then everying on C: will be wiped. The first thing I do with a new computer is to create more partitions.

John

 

Bummer... the manual mentioned reduced power usage, so for some reason I imagined this would lock the CPU into one of the lower clockspeed and voltage modes, allowing the fan to slow down/turn off (given acceptable ambient temperatures...).

Does the fan (controller) at least have multiple speed settings or will it always go full tilt when running?

 

You would need to use Windows power management to throttle back the CPU.

The fans on my Q35 and X60 plus have two or three speeds (and off). I rarely get the fans going above the minimum speed (but the CPUs are undervolted). I would expect the R20 to be the same.

John

 

As far as I can remember, there are 3 fan speeds (4 if you include 'off').

Re: the partitions...

Will putting things on the clean partition mean slower access to the files on it?

Also, are installed programs better on the Windows partition or the clean one? If I put them on the clean one and have to restore the Windows one, will the programs still work since the installed Windows files/drivers/registry entries will be gone because of the restore?

 

The second partition will be nearer the centre of the HDD, where file transfer rates will be lower (if you have see the HDtune graphs in reviews you will know what I mean). These measured speeds are optimum and will be fouled up by any file fragmentation. However, programs will probably find the files faster because they will have a smaller allocation table to look through. I've actually got 5 partitions, for historical reasons, with files used least often in the last one.

You are correct that if you install programs in D: then reinstalling C: will lose all the registry entries etc. However, you still get the benefit that program customisations and user settings may be on the on D: and will be used if you have to reinstall.

If you are worried about backups then an external hard disk plus software such as Acronis TrueImage will provide a good safety net.

John

 

Just to clarify the D: thing, when you are going through the initial setup you are asked to create a recovery partition of at least 10 or 15GB. I'm actually not sure whether that became the hidden factory restore partition or the empty D: drive, but I ended up with partitions of something like 10GB (restore data, hidden), 50GB C: and 15GB D:. I later did a fresh reinstall anyway, so you could set it up as you wish from the Vista setup procedure.

 

The recovery partition is not D:.It is hidden from normal use. Otherwise it wouldn't be a very safe store for the recovery image.

John

 

I seem to remember that on the R20 selecting silent mode also changes the power management profile to power saver. I may be wrong.

 

The R20 manual says "Silent: Low-noise and low power consumption mode". However, the manual for my X60 plus uses the same words and I have to notice any reduction in heat generated when using the silent model.

Can R20 owners confirm whether or not the "silent" mode throttles back the CPU? How much less frequently does the fan operate?

John

 

does the R20 have any word processing software such as microsoft works built in?

 

There may be a trial version of Office 2007, but look at the cost of keeping it working after the trial period is over before you let the installation complete itself.

A much less expensive office suite is Open Office which these days is very compatible.

John

 

I believe Office Basic is £180 if you buy it through Microsoft's website (which is Word, Excel and Outlook only).

I was actually surprised to see that Works wasn't included with the R20 - but that's what OpenOffice is useful for.

 

Hi!
I am also very interested in the Samsung R20.
I need it for internet, programming, photoshop.

Here in germany there is a special student offer:

• T2350, 1,86 GHz
• 1.024 MB PC2-5300
• 120 GB SATA, 5.400 UPM
• 14" Glare WXGA TFT 1.280 x 800
• X1250
• ...

for only 759 EUR (= 516 GBP)

I would update the RAM to 2x 1024MB (MDT SO-DIMM 1024MB CL4 DDR2-667, costs: 100€ = 68 GBP).

In a german forum some people send their R20 back, because it was very loud (although it was running in silent mode!).
Is the loudness really annoying?

 

hey guys!been using my R20 for bout 2weeks now andi dont have any complaints?could anyone tell me how to use clockgen?i know you'll need to select the PLL model but dont know what it is.also,will there be a significant boost in performance?
thanks guys

 

hey guys,its me again.is it better to have AVG running instead of Mccafee?does AVG include a firewall?just read a lot of good reviews on Avast home edition.anybody know anything about Avast?
thanks

 

I'm quite happy with NOD32 in my desktop, it's quite fast & light, IMHO better than MacAffe, Norton or Panda

 

mine has just arrived but am off to work! will be home early to play about with it.

 

have just got home and unpacked it. was about to turn it on but theres a huge sticker saying "Battery must be fully charged before initial use". does anyone know if this is really necessary. will have to wait at least another two hours. agh!

 

Hello ravmania, my battery was already charged so I installed the battery and plugged it in and used the machine.

ejadaddy, I use avast! on my desktop and its good and I use AVG on my R20 and it's brilliant. Firewall wise, I use the improved windows one in vista>

My original R20 made a hell of a noise hence why I sent it back for a replacement. My new one is silent unless I am doing lots of HDD accessing then it can get a bit noisy (but not much!)

Just to add to the forum for people to consider when buying one of these is the following (now I have used it outside on the move):

1. The battery life does suck when not connected to the mains! It's not as bad as some laptops but frustrating.

2. The screen is really reflective when using it in the sunlight. I used it on the sunny weekend outside and did get frustrated with the 'shinyness' and had to seek shelter.

Bear in mind though thats the price you pay for it having a fantastic display against the standard ones on most notebooks.

 

cheers merc. i found the battery indicator on the bottom of the battery and it said 100% so i fired up. taking a long time to go through initial setup. have restarted at least five times so far, that includes installing a few programs. very early days but pleased so far. the only thing that bugs me is the weird circle motif above the keyboard. why sammy?

 

LOL, I remember having to do that setup twice (for the replacement notebook I got!). The circle motif is strange but it does make it kinda unique against other notebooks!

Some advice for you Rav, take off the antivirus and ms office trails and install avast or AVG!

 

Amen! Vista boots 30+ seconds quicker as soon as you remove McAfee. AVG Free works with both XP and Vista.

For anyone who's interested in getting Ubuntu up and running, you have to follow the procedure here to get it to work as it doesn't support the new chipset out of the box. This includes the new 7.04 release.

 

hey Glasflow,could you pls tell me how to go about using the over-clocking software?any major benefits?is the windows firewall dependable?

thanks

 

Glasflow? That's a new one, I usually get called glasswolf. Anyhoo, I've never used the overclocking software so I can't comment. As for firewalls, the problem is that very few of the commonly used free firewalls are Vista compatible yet. As a result, a lot of people are just sticking with the MS one until there are a few more to chose from. The MS firewall is, uhh..., minimalist, but it does work.

 

hey hend0,how do you use clockgen and what is the advantage?anyone???

thanks

 

In new HP 6515b review, with ATI 1270 get much worse 3DMark
http://forum.notebookreview.com/showthread.php?t=119173
strange!

 

You mean the ATI 1270 gets lower score. Maybe its a side-effect of the less powerful AMD CPU compared with T2250 or perhaps Samsung did a better job of implementing the hardware. Either that or the x1270 is inherently less power than the x1250. Anyway, R20 owners can be happy.

John

 

Another, cut-down, cheaper (and crippled?) version of the R20 (NP-R20X000/SUK) has recently been advertised here and here.

I thought the Celeron's were finally being phased out. Maybe Intel is paying Samsung to use some? It's lack of SpeedStep won't help the battery life problem while 512MB won't help Vista fly (although the Vista home basic doesn't have any wings anyway).

Unless it's for your granny to useoccasionally for email, then I would recommend saving up a few more pounds and getting the dual core version from Comet.

On the other hand, it might be fine as a Linux machine. Why not offer a £399 R20 without Windows and save the Linux users from contributing to bill Gates' pension fund?

And I thought Samsung were trying to project an image of quality!

John

 

I can't get 3D acceleration working on my R20 using the ATI linux drivers, and you have to jump through a few hoops just to get X running. No doubt the drivers will improve with time but ATI's linux efforts are notoriously lacking compared to nVidia.

 

Yes, it's suprising so much difference between HP 615b and Samsung R20. HP only gets 290 in 3DMark 06