Samsung R20 notebook (14" widescreen)

The same UK website also mentions the new R70:

Samsung AURA R70 T7100

Built to the highest specification and finish, the Aura notebooks make a truly positive lifestyle statement.

* Intel SantaRosa Centrino Core 2 Duo Technology
* Genuine Windows® Vista Premium
* Ultra Sharp 15.4" display
* 6-in-1 Memory Card Reader
* Instant on Multimedia
* Integrated Webcam 1.3MP
* Weighs just 2.74kg

Processor Intel Core 2 Duo T7100 (1.8Ghz)
Memory 1GB (1x1Gb)
Hard Disk Drive 120GB
Optical Drive DVD Super-Multi Dual Layer
Graphics Nvidia 8000 128MB
Networking 10/100 802.11g SuperG
Display 15.4inch WXGA SuperBright
Operating System Vista Home Premium

ttp://www.disking.co.uk/product_info.php?cPath=72_1024&products_id=98774107

 

Thanks for pointing this out. I will start a new R70 thread. Will it get as well-viewed as the R20 thread?

John

 

Hi, I got the R20 after getting a recommendation from here and I'm happy with my choice. However a few problems I'm experiencing and wondering if anyone else suffers from them or has advice.

First the internet keeps cutting out. I'm 99% sure it's the laptop and not my router as I've not noticed any problems with my other laptop. It will cut out every few minutes for about 30 seconds. As you can imagine it get quite annoying. It never happend when I first got the laptop and I'm hoping it's just a software issue.

Secondly the DVD drive is extremely loud, and makes a sort of 'juttering' sound. Again this only seems to happen sometime.

 

Most likely it is software. Is there a newer driver? Another factor which can upset wireless connections is another system using the same channel. Try setting the router to another channel.

That doesn't sound right. Does it happen with many CDs and DVDs? Two causes of excessive noise are (i) a disc which is damaged and difficult to read; and (ii) a disc which is out of balance. Have you got the discs properly pushed down in the drive?

John

 

I see that Pocket Lint has a brief review of the R20 and gives it 9/10.

John

 

Other benchmark posted in a spanish forum

http://foro.noticias3d.com/vbulletin/showpost.php?p=1661542&postcount=50

 

There was a driver update which seems to have fixed it for me

It seems to be DVD with lots of folders. It's as if the laser head is constantly going from opposite point. It doesn't happen with films.

 

I'm having one serious problem which is really making me want to chuck the stupid machine and break it, though I'm sure its fixable, just can't figure out how.

When on battery mode my screen keeps turning off when I am reading stuff. I have set it to turn off after 10 minutes in the settings. Although I am using the mouse I haven't been tapping buttons so I assume that it takes this time as inactivity. Ordinarily this is no big deal as you can tap a button and it should turn back on. But the stupid thing does not turn back on. The screen just stays off no matter how many buttons I tap. The only solution is to plug in the power. No when I'm sitting in bed and have to get up and walk across the roon this is just infuriating.

Has anyone else experienced this or know what to do?

 

Yes, mouse activity isn't detected as user input for the purpose of the display timeout.

Question: Are you running the latest BIOS 08SH? This fixed some power management issues. If not, get it and install it. This may well fix your problem. Download the file then run it. Very easy compared with BIOS updates of a few years ago. If you are not sure what version you have, download and run the update - it will tell you if you are up-to-date.

In addion to the operating system power management there is also the Samsung Battery Manager. Maybe the two are in conflict. The Samsung Battery Manager includes a function to reduce the backlight to minimum brightness after a set period. But, either way pressing a key should get the backlight back on. Hence my question about the BIOS version.

John

 

I see that the XPPro version of the R20 is now in stock.

It is ~£10 cheaper than the vista Home Premium but has only 512MB RAM and 80GB HDD. Upgrading the RAM is quite straightforward (would the 512MB in one or two modules?) but the HDD is small by current standards.

John

 

Cheers John. I've updated the BIOS which was stupidly easy. Doesn't seem to have fixed the problem though. Once the backlight turns off it just won't turn back on. Anyone have any other ideas. I've looked through power options but can't find anything.

 

I am thinking about buying a R20 from Comet this weekend but I would also like to take out the Samsung FastGuard 3 year warranty (NPC-DP2AA I think).

Does this have to be purchased at the same time as the laptop or can I buy it from an online retailer separately & if so, how long after the purchase can I wait (within 30 days for example?).

The Samsung website doesn't really have details regarding FastGuard at the moment.

Mark

 

Rav, I had the same problem so I turned all the power settings to 'never' so nothing switches off after any time unless I manually turn the machine off. I don't see any benefit in setting time limits even when portable as the amount of batter life you save is negligible.

The only way i have fount to switch the screen back on is by pressing the PlayAVstation button next to the on switch . That works!!

 

Lol. Might have to do the same Merc. My trusty thinkpad used to have a button to turn off the screen manually which I loved and used all the time when leaving it idling. I like the Sammy but theres some great features I miss. Most of all the trackpoint which is miles better than the trackpad, and the thinklight which is just so useful, even more so when you're still getting used to a new keyboard layout! Still, it is a nice piece of kit. Just a bit too big.

 

Let me know if the PlayAVstation works for you Rav. I dont use the touchpad I use a Belkin mini mouse unless its on my lap then *sigh* I HAVE to use the touchpad!!

 

May have to do the same. On another topic, can anyone recommend an SD card I can use for readyboost. Wanted to get 2GB as they're so cheap now. I wanted to make use of the reader as I don't want a USB drive always hanging out, also good to keep them free.

 

Two good deals from Play at the moment here and here.

 

Cheers Glaswolf. May for for the Sandisk. So I've set the screen to never turn off, but the backlight still does!!! This is a bit of a joke. I tried the AV button but it didn't work. But! I've found the solution. The screen brightness controls (fn+up/down) still work and turn the light on again. Sort of obvious when you think about it maybe?

 

This came up a month or two back. The conclusion was that the extended warranty needs to be registered before the original 12-month warranty expires. I was originally thinking that it would need to be registered within 30 days but this is not correct. DigiUK offers a relatively reasonable price on the extensions.

All you get is an envelope containing a card with a registration number and you then register this number with Samsung.

John

 

Thanks for the info John, that's what I was hoping to hear. I had seen the price at DigiUK which was what prompted my question, I will buy it as soon as its in stock because its also an accidental damage & theft policy!

 

I had a play about with the backlight settings last night - the auto-dimming also annoys me because it happens when I'm just scrolling using the trackpad - obviously it doesn't pick up that I'm actually doing something...

First of all, I think it was mentioned about turning the backlight off altogether - if you didn't know already, you can to that by Fn + F5.

Secondly, about the auto-dimming - if you go into the Control Panel (and make sure you've got Control Panel Home selected on the left, not Classic View). Look for the Mobile PC heading, and then select 'Adjust commonly used mobility settings' - the auto dimming should be one of the Samsung options under the Easy Battery Manager heading. You've got the choice of turning off the auto-dimming there (although it's a shame there isn't an option just to change the time delay).

If the problem is the backlight completely turning off, the time delay for switching it off can be changed in the normal Power Options section.

 

My interpretation is that the FastCover is an insurance against loss or damage whereas FastGuard is an extension of the warranty against breakdown. For example, this problem needs the FastCover because it is unlikely to be covered by a standard warranty. Before buying the FastCover insurance I would suggest checking whether you can include the computer in a household policy.

John

 

You're right, I didn't notice the (obvious difference) between fastCOVER & fastGUARD

 

Hi guys, just looking at this SAMSUNG R20-F002 laptop, but not sure whether to get the R20-F001 or F002? obviously the f002 has a better spec, but for an extra £90 is it worth paying? would love to hear everyone's thoughts, thanks

 

Add to the two models offered by Comet the three models F000 , R000 and R20X000 offered by other retailers.

What are the differences?

All the models have the T2250 CPU except the F002 which has the T5500. If you search through this long thread you will see that the lower clock speed of the T5500 offsets any performance advantages due to internal improvements. Therefore, unless you want the 64-bit operating compatibility, consider model F000.

If an 80GB HDD is enough for your needs then get model F002.

If you want XP Pro, then get model R000, but note that this has only 512MB RAM as well as 80GB HDD. Chucking out half the normal RAM is a bit cheeky, but the pricing of this model suggests that Microsoft is selling Vista Home premium at a significant discount compared with XP Pro.

Model R20X000 is the cheapest in the range, but the single core Celeron CPU (plus no SpeedStep) means that it will only be suitable for less demanding tasks.


To revert to the original question, model F001 is not worth the extra unless you need 64-bit, but there are options other than Comet's R20-F001. Does this clarify?

John

 

I just bought my R20 from Micro Anvika yesterday and I can confirm that my dvd drive makes a similar sound. I've just been trying to install Trackmania Nations from a brand new preview disc off the cover of PC format (no scratches, disc properly pushed down) and the sound of the disc drive is driving me nuts!

I'll admit that this is the first laptop I've used in a while and I know that they do make noise when the laser moves to access different parts of the disc but I'm not sure if it's normal for it to be making a constant juddering noise. Can anyone else confirm if this is normal for a laptop or for the type of drive in the R20? I'd hate to end up taking it back to replace it for a different brand because I've waited so long and looked around so much before I settled on this one.

 

Mine does this as well! It is annoying especially if you are reading files on a burnt DVD or skipping between folders on one. The last laptop I had did the same thing, I think it might be just how these drives operate.

 

Anyone have any ideas on how long the R20 will be available in the UK?

It seems to be perfect for my next laptop, if it's still around after I graduate and have some cashflow I'd be very tempted indeed! I'm looking at this one:

http://www.laptopsdirect.co.uk/Samsung_R20_Laptop_NP-R20R000-SUK/version-1.asp

I don't really want Vista yet and I have no need for 160GB of space. It just seems that when I spot a good deal on a new machine they start to vanish.... bloody UK market!

 

The R20 arrived late February although it was not officially announced as a 2007 model until CeBIT in mid-March.

I can't see any obvious reason for the R20 to not be around for at least another year, maybe more. The ATI chipset in the R20 is new. It's not going to be something superseded by Santa Rosa but Samsung may tweak the specifications.

John

 

As long as they don't change them too much and keep the prices around the same!

I am soooo tempted!

 

I was tempted by that Sandisk Extreme III SD and it was delivered a couple of days ago. The speed is well above the other SD cards I have got.

John

 

Did anyone get an extended warranty (Fastguard). I couldn't register it as the website doesn't include the r20 models yet.

Furthermore, did anyone run tests with bigger batteries (maybe the noname) already?

I now have 2gb kingston in my R20, it's running smoothtly. Just some hard disk work, which seems to be in the background often, makes me think.

bye,
poma

 

Hi,

Just registered to ask a couple of questions as this seems like the best place on the web for info on this laptop.

Firstly can the R20 output proper dual screen and not just duplicate whats on the main screen?

Secondly would it be able to play Battlefield 2? Not bothered about it having it on full detail just as long as it will run it well enough to play it when out and about.

NP-R20F000/SUK is the model i am looking at.

Thanks
Roadie

 

I connect mine up to my lcd to watch movies and it automatically switches mode as soon as you plug in a vga cable. You can either duplicate the screen or extend the desktop. I was pleasantly surprised that I could keep using the laptop while watching video and not have any stutters or pauses in playback.

 

Hi John. Are you using it through the card reader for readyboost purposes? How are you finding the performance?

 

I'm in the process of putting the Vista upgrade onto my Q35 and I will then test the SD card with readyboost.

John

 

I ran battle for middle earth 2 and C&C 3 really well on mine so BF2 or 2142 should run quite smoothly.

 

An update on the UK R20 models and pricing as of 05 May 07:

Comet model R20-F001 (T2250 - 1.73GHz / 1GB / 80GB / Vista home premium ): £479.99 on line, £499.99 in shop. This model is also listed by Insight, and Laptops Direct so it is no long a Comet exclusive.

Comet model R20-F002 (T5500 - 1.66GHz / 1GB / 160GB / Vista home premium) : £559.99 on line, £599.99 in shop.

Other retailers:

Model NP-R20X000/SUK (Celeron 430- 1.73GHz / 512MB / 80GB / Vista home basic) : £423 at DigiUK.

Model NP-R20R000/SUK (T2250 - 1.73GHz / 512MB / 80GB / XP Pro) ~ £492.

Model NP-R20R001/SUK (T2350 - 1.86GHz / 512MB / 80GB / XP Pro) ~ £526 is listed by Insight.

Model NP-R20F000/SUK (T2250 - 1.73GHz / 1GB / 160GB / Vista home premium) ~ £538.

Model NP-R20F004/SUK (T5300 - 1.73GHz / 1GB / 120GB / Vista home premium) is also listed by Insight ~£574.

The choice is starting to get bewildering!

John

 

I've tried ReadyBoost using that Xtreme III card on my Q35 (which is temporarily running Vista) and it may be saving 1 or 2 seconds out of about 45 seconds from pressing the start button to the mouse pointer stoping showing busy.

I have also run PCMark05 without and with the SD card in order to measure the effect of ReadyBoost on normal use. The results are attached. There is some improvement in the HDD access and transparent windows results. There is no overall score because of no result for the web page rendering.

John

 

I've borrowed an R20 (R20F000/SUK) to do a review.

My first observation was that is looks very plastic. OK, good solid plastic, but plastic nonetheless. And a good point is that black plastic won't fade or wear like paint does with time.

Perhaps my most interesting finding so far is that the R20 is under weight: 2.29kg rather than the 2.39kg published by Samsung. Using the same scales my Q35 is just under its published weight while the X60 plus is a little bit over. A 1.5kg bag of flour weighed 1.53kg which is about what I would expect, allowing for the weight of the bag.

I had been wondering how Asus could make the A8F 2.39kg with a 6-cell battery if the R20 was that weight with 4 cells. Now I know the R20 is a little bit lighter. The R20 with the 8-cell battery will weigh a few grammes under 2.5kg which is still a respectable weight. When will Samsung offer that as a standard configuration?

John

 

I've now had a chance to play with an R20 so I looked into the overclocking.

First you need to install ClockGen.

Then, run ClockGen and you will get a simple control panel (bottom left part of the attached picture). Press the PLL setup button and this will open the PLL Setup panel (bottom right of the attached). Also open the PLL control. This will start as clock dials with unlikely numbers beneath.

The ClockGen page says that ATI chipsets use ICS9514XX series clock generator. I worked through the list to see which of the ICs gave sensible values for the clocks (the CPU should be about 800 on idle) and found that the 952416 worked.

Two slider controls then becaume active on the PLL control.

Changing the CPU clock is then a simple matter of moving the top slider. The minimum CPU speed is 600 and the maximum is 3000! The bottom slider is for the PCI bus and it is already at its maximum speed.

Increasing the minimum CPU speed to 1000 is the equivalent of having a 667MHz FSB. The maximum speed of the T2250 at that setting is 2.17GHz.

The really brave can push the CPU even further. A minimum speed of 1200 will give a maximum CPU speed of 2600. Dropping the minimum CPU speed down to 600 will add a few minutes to the battery life.

Before going very far with ClockGen I recommend that you install RMClock or NHC for monitoring the CPU. Personally, I've been using RMClock for a couple of years so that is my preference. It is also very compact. Version 2.25 or newer seems to work OK with Vista.

It is also advisable to try undervolting the CPU because a CPU which will undervolt at its normal maximum speed is most likely to be suitable for overclocking (but don't undervolt and overclock at the same time). The T2250 in the R20 I have been looking at will run at full speed at 0.95V although the maximum voltage pre-set in the CPU is 1.264V. If your CPU has a lower a lower maximum voltage this will reduce the overclocking potential.

So what is the benefit of overclocking? The CPU runs faster so CPU-based activities will be faster. However, this will not have much impact on 3D graphics which depend on the GPU. I did try ATI Tray tools but could not, so far, get it to work (which might be Vista or it doesn't recognise the chipset).

John

PS: ***** Note that when you close ClockGen the clock setting will remain until the next reboot. It does not reset itself on closing. *****

 

thanks john!i take a careful look at overclocking and see i i'll reall need it.also,does anyone know how to solve the problem of region code when playing dvd's?i can watch dvds from other regions but it has a counter for everytime i do.any permanent solution to keep it multiregion?

thanks

 

you can use a program like dvd region free or anydvd.

 

DVD Region Free is another software.

If you don't like the software workaround, there is the hardware solution: Drop in a http://www.ukdvdr.co.uk/shop/Lite-O...-Internal-Drive-Mdoel-SSM-8515S-pr-19893.html (one screw holds the R20's ODD in place), swap over the fixing bracket and the fascia.
Then you can use LtnRPC.

If you only want to occasionally play a DVD from another region then DVD Shrink will strip out the region coding. Backup the DVD onto the HDD and play it from there.

John

 

Memory...I'm confused!!!

Does the version of memory really matter? For example, my T2250 R20 is supposedly a 533, but is there value in getting the 667 speed?

Cheers
Paul

 

If you are buying more memory, there is some benefit in getting faster (667MHz) memory. However, if you replace one module then it the RAM will run at the speed of the slower module. The benchmark programs only show a small increase in scores as you add more RAM. The real benefit is smoothness of use when you have several applications open which will not fit into the available RAM.

If both RAM modules are 667MHz there will also be a slight (<10%)improvement in GPU performance becuase the GPU uses the system memory. However, the actual boost is nowhere as big as the increase in clock speed because the time delays in the various memory access functions remain the same, but the speed of transferring data will increase.

John

 

Just came across what appears to be a new model of the R20, labelled R20-F004 on dabs.com.

Doesn't seem too much different from the R20-F apart from the processor and price:

F000 F004
T2250 T5300
Core Duo Core 2 Duo
1.73Ghhz 1.73Ghz
£561.99 564.98

Looking at the new specs, it seems Samsungs offer on teh R20 just became alot sweeter. I was hoping to get one of these in a few weeks once my university exams are over. I definately will get one now!!

 

The R20-F004 is also at Laptops Direct and is about £8 cheaper than the R20-F000. So you can decide whether you want the slightly faster CPU or the extra HDD space. If you want both, go for the Comet R20-F002.

Given the R20's potential for overclocking, the T5300 is probably a better option for the R20 than the more expensive T5500 with its the faster FSB. Alternatively, the T5300 has a minimum speed of 800MHz so it will tend to be a little cooler under light load.

John

 

Is anyone else having problems with the Fn key. Mine just doesn't seem to work most of the time. For example when on battery power trying to increase the screen brightness it hit and miss (mostly miss) and also when trying to turn the wireless off.

 

Are both the Fn keys giving a problem? I usually forget that the bigger Samsung keyboards have a second Fn key on the right side.

John