Samsung R700 (17" widescreen)

Oh god yeah, if you actually wanted to play Crysis then get a gaming machine as after 20 mins the slow down gets on yer nerves!!!


I havnt got Bioshock to try im afraid.

 

Have you any idea how the s1700 will perform with video editing? And do you think option to upgrade to 4gb is worth doing eventually? Last but not least have you heard if its available with matte screen summer is approaching here.
Imagine me in my garden writing my book and poetry

 

It's unrealistic to assume that any normal notebook display is usable outside in the sunshine. My Sony G11 has a very bright backlight and is just about usable outside (if my memory is correct there's an outdoors picture in the review) but it really needs the shade. And having the backlight on fully hits the battery life.

John

PS: Please clarify the reference to the s1700.

 

Thanks John
My mistake its the Samsung R700 I am looking into.
Will check out your link too

 

The R700 is capable in performing 'low' video editing :twitcy:, in that, it is able to carry out the most basics of video editing tasks. If you want to focus on doing video editing then opt for a more dedicated machine. Amongst other things, video editing is memory intensive and hence your next question... :wink:

If you want to do video editing, yes R700 is installed with 2GB (2x1GB DIMM) of DDR2 PC2 5300 667MHz. You can purchase the upgrade from 2GB to 4GB DIMMs for under £60. How you can upgrade your laptop once you have purchased the RAM is outlined in the Samsung Manual preinstalled on the R700. It is comprehensive, but if you fall short, let us know and we can guide you through

R700 with 2GB RAM is capable of tackling most of the applications. If you are using it for more intensive applications - such as gaming, video editing - then get 4GB RAM. The extra RAM with the dedicated graphics card will significantly help in this area. :GEEK:

 

If you plan to do a lot of video editing then the R700 with the faster CPU (T8100) will help - about 25% faster. You may also want to consider getting an external SATA HDD and an eSATA card for the Express Card slot. Then you read the video being edited from one HDD and write it to the other. reading / writing onto the same HDD can prove to be the performance bottleneck.

John

 

Now I dont know if this is the Laptop or Vista but when restarting the machine after being in 'Sleep' mode sometimes it wont connect to a network or folder previews will disapear. Its not a major problem as a quick restart solves it.
Im thinking its an OS issue myself.

 

That's most likely a software problem. I had the same problem on my Sony G11.

Make sure you have the latest network card drivers. Also, have you upgraded to Vista SP1? One of those fixed my Sony G11's connection problem.

John

 

Check whether you have Vista SP1 installed. If not, then 'force' download Vista SP1 from Microsoft's website. According to Microsoft, SP1 is to be released at the beginning of the year and rolled out over a few months. I was aware of Vista SP1 release so when I had the opportunity I downloaded all the latest update files including SP1. When you do, grab a coffee/tea and a large piece of cake, sit back and watch LOTR because it takes ages.

Now, Samsung Update software have not released any updates to the Network drivers but on the Microsoft download there is updates. In my experience so far, Samsung Update software is not to be relied upon.

Update the drivers with the Microsoft versions and ensure your settings for hibernation are correct.

 

Samsung probably take time to satisfy themselves that the updated drivers are OK and probably only bother if they are either reissuing the notebook with updated hardware or there is a very big problem with an existing driver. For things like the wireless drivers. I go straight to the manufacturer (eg Intel).

Samsung also have the annoying habit of periodically going the the download site and putting new dates on old drivers and software. I don't know why they do this.

John

 

Does this laptop come with a wake on lan function? - as we are looking to order 70 and we need something we can remotely manage once docked

 

I just updated my wireless, ethernet and a Vista update. Havnt seen or done the SP1 yet.

Im off to find and install it now. Thanks for the heads up.

 

I asked Samsung support and the reply was:

However, I don't see an option like this in my X60plus - there is something called "Network boot PXE OPROM" whatever that means.

Can an R700 owner look in their BIOS (press F2 at BIOS splash screen) and look through the options?

Thanks,

John

 

The option is in Device Manager. Both the 'Allow this device to wake the computer' options for wired and wirless are available.

Its not in the Bios like Samsung say.

 

I've received further clarification from Samsung support regarding the "Wake on LAN function":

I didn't manage to find out what "Network boot PXE OPROM" means. Another time, maybe.

John

PS: I hope everyone else gets similarly quick and helpful responses from the Samsung email support.

 

Thanks John.

That is quick response from Samsung. I'm still waiting for them to clarify what precisely has been improved in the new BIOS firmware (05SR). I have tried exploring PHOENIX website but it appears this OE version is from the manufacturers.

 

I see that Trusted Reviews have looked at the R700. The outcome was pretty favourable and confirms the ~ 3 hours battery life.

Is anyone working on a review for NBR?

John

 

I will be uploading a couple of vids of my R700 playing Crysis on youtube soon. A few more tweeks and it plays very well. 80% of settings on Medium believe it or not!!!!

 

Some observations so far...

Not sure whether others are experiencing the same, but recently the hard drive has been 'clicking' away :confused2: I've heard this sound before on previous laptops that I have had, and it means one thing - the hard drive is about to keel over and die.

I'm aware this is a DTR, but portability is a function. Knowing this the laptop doesn't like to be moved and results in the fan going into hyperdrive! Do hear a few clicks which may mean the bearings on the fan are failing.

Toggling sound device from laptop to HDMI is confusing and frustrating at times. It would be intuitive if the s/w would recognise HDMI when active and automatically switch sound settings. I know it is possible, but that is for Reltek/Samsung to deliver.

Left the laptop on for 24hours (no usage, disabled settings such as screensaver, internet etc) to capture a few metrics, such as processor temp/speed, RAM usage, disk usage, etc.. Interestingly, the processor and hard drive usage behaved oddly under these conditions. The metric graphically represented shows a typical sinusoidal characteristic. Why the processor and hard drive come on and off with no usage, disable settings etc is mind boggling :confused2: Both of them should remain 'constantly low' under such conditions, resulting in little power consumption and low usage of parts (hence low rate to mechanical failure) :GEEK:

The above are some observations. The last one is a concern to me as it proves the machine is degrading itself without my intervention. :confused2: Yet to do a heat monitor around the laptop during operational mode, as this would indicate the heat zones to ensure they are maintained cool when the laptop is transported/placed on the bed/placed on the lap etc.

Share you observations so we can understand the R700 more

 

Some interesting observations there, but without doing parallel tests on different hardware / OS, we can't be sure how much of the CPU / HDD usage is caused by Vista rather than by Samsung's hardware. For example, is the HDD indexing on or off?

What make / model is the HDD? The recent Samsung HDD make occasional noises (but Samsung seem to mainly use other people's HDDs). However, if the clicking is very frequent then you could well have a problem. Download and run the HDD manufacturer's diagnostic software. You can also run the trial version of Active SMART for a month to monitor the HDD SMART data.

Moving the notebook shouldn't affect the fan unless you happen to be holding it in a way that substantially affects the airflow. Fan speed should be controlled by temperature. I wouldn't recommend placing any laptop / notebook on a soft surface such as a bed if there are any air vents on the bottom. Airflow will be obstructed and the fan will suck in fluff which will progressively clog up the cooling system.

John

 

Will determine which HDD I have and will download the appropriate diagnostic tool. Not confident with putting anything on the HDD at the moment as I don't want it to pack up. Retrieving information shouldn't be a problem, ways and means of doing are available. Just the whole inconvenience that would put me off.

HDD indexing was off. When I get home tonight I'll compile a list of H/W and firmware versions.

The laptop does move around the place, not much because of the weight/size. But it does sometimes end up the missus's lap. Prohibiting airflow will cause problems but I'm trying to find a compromise of it being used both at the desk and "other areas". I do need to do the heat assessment to get a better understanding. I'm also looking at the slim stands that have in-built silent fans (powered via the R700 USB). Not sure whether these "clip" on so they can be portable. Again, the issue of restricting the airflow becomes an issue.

 

The best thing for lap top use is one of those lap trays designed for eating your dinner in front of the TV. They have a hard surface on top and some padding underneath.

If you don't want to stress the HDD with a full diagnostic test then get Active SMART and use it to check the SMART data and see if there are errors. It will also warn if more errors occur. For example, if the HDD has a read problem then it should be logging read errors in the SMART data, which are stored on the HDD.

John

 

I dont get any clicking of any sort, I can hear the HDD doing stuff when not being used but I myself have put that down to Vista and the millions of processes it has running at any one time!!!!!
This is my first machine running Vista so its new to me.

 

Another version of the R700 ( NP-R700-AA01UK). T5550 CPU (1.83GHz), 320GB HDD and X3100 GPU. This is a good alternative for non-gamers.

John

 

I am about to buy a Samsung R700 and my adviser recommends installing Windows XP rather than Vista. Has anyone done this? One of the suppliers told me that some of the keys wouldn't work (sounds unlikely to me) and that it would invalidate the guarantee.

TIA, David

 

There appears to be a full set of XP software and drivers on the Samsung download site.

However, I would not recommend that you remove Vista until you have tried it. If you have 2GB or more RAM then Vista's SuperFetch makes the computer feel more responsive that XP. I turn off all the eye candy which can be a resource hog. My biggest complaint about Vista is that it remains incompatible with a few software packages.

John

 

Hi all, just bought my first laptop and it's the R700 T8100 320 gig HD and 8400 Graphics. Really impressed with it but was wondering why the graphic drivers supplied by samsung are so far behind the nvidia releases. I've tried installing the latest ones from nvidia but says i have to use the one from Samsung. Will they be releasing new drivers soon?

 

Maybe, in Samsung.s view, it is a case of "if it ain't broken, don't fix it". The latest Samsung version is here but Samsung sometimes put new dates on old drivers.

If there are problems with the Samsung driver then you can report them to the Samsung technical support. I use the email link which you will find on the FAQ pages.

John

 

Hi - I have just bought an R700 with 3GB RAM and 320GB HDD. Everything is great, looks superb. Main annoyance on the hardware is that the Ctrl key has been moved away from its usual bottom LH position and swapped with the Fn key. Also the clarity of the typrefaces isn't anything like as good as on my 8-year-old laptop - it all seems rather fuzzy which makes it more difficult to read.

The real problem is that Vista doesn't seem to be working correctly, as far as I can tell from inspection by a very knowledgeable colleague and comparison with a Toshiba laptop also running Vista.
When you right-click on the program names on the Start menu nothing happens. They cannot be moved up & down the list or moved into folders. The list of programs doesn't match the list you get when you Customize the Start menu.
A couple of the icons shown in the Explorer Desktop folder don't appear on the Desktop itself.
None of the short-cut icons I put on the Desktop display correctly - however the Properties show the correct icon.
It won't log on to my Network - the problem seems to be that where as I have set Computer Name to Samsung, Full computer name also to Samsung and Computer description to Samsung R700, it tries to log in as Samsung R700\Samsung - this confuses the network which is expecting the login name Samsung.
According to the Computer Properties, SP1 is not installed. Windows Update says that all the updates are up-to-date. I can't understand why it won't install, and the Microsoft website recommends that it should not be installed manually.

I think I will have to return it and get a replacement.

David

 

Samsung have decided to move the Fn key away from the corner on the next generation of its notebooks. However, the R710, which I assume is the R700 replacement, looks to be several months away.

If the display looks fuzzy then I suspect that you aren't running it at the correct resolution (1440 x 900). Right click on the desktop, select personalise, then display settings and make sure that the slider control for the resolution is at the right end of its range (it should say 1440 x 900). LCDs are always fuzzy if running at other than their physical resolution.

I won't try to explain how Vista appears to be broken. Not defaulting to the right display resolution indicates a glitch somewhere. You could try to use the system restore CD and do a clean installation. It is quite likely that SP1 isn't pre-installed. I have used the manual Vista SP1 upgrade option on both my Vista notebooks without any problems.

John

 

John,

Thank you for the advice re the fuzziness - you were dead right - I had set the display to a lower resolution to try to make the text larger so I could read it more easily. I should, of course, have scaled the fonts up a bit. I didn't know that LCDs are always fuzzy if running at other than their physical resolution.

Interesting that Samsung have tacitly admitted to a mistake with the position of the Ctrl key - now I need to find someone who can write me a modified keyboard driver so that I can swap the keys over - any ideas? I'm sure I could find somebody with a bit of research. Another thing I've just worked out with the keyboard is why I kept pressing the wrong cursor keys. This is because I naturally sit wth the computer centrally on my lap with my hands resting on it symmetrically. But of course the R700's keyboard isn't located centrally! So I will have to get used to resting it on my lap offset.

David

 

I would have thought 1440 x 900 @ 17" would be plenty big enough!

No comment about the Fn key location. I'm happy with it in the corner. Where do Thinkpads have the Fn key? Because the Fn key is hard-wired it won't be easy to move it. Key remapping software can't handle the problem. I'm waiting to see how someone gets on with trying to switch the keys on their Zepto.

John

 

Hey can anyone tell me if the r700 can be upgraded with 800mhz memory or is the max 667?

Also incase anyone is interested i upgraded the wireless to intel 4965AGN card and all works (unlike some hp and others which are bios locked to factory installed unit)

 

You can install 800MHz RAM but it will run at 667MHz. Intel's Montevina chipset will support 800MHz RAM but Santa Rosa does not. However, there are some 800MHz modules which run at lower latency (CL=4) than the standard 667MHz RAM (CL=5). This OCZ RAM, for example. However, the boost to overall performance would be marginal.

Thanks for the info about the compatibility with the Intel wireless card.

John

 

hi thanks for the speedy reply and advice, was looking at ocz modules as they are cheaper on ebuyer than the 667 albeit a few pounds, but to save hassle ill think ill stick with the norm.

many thanks

 

The 800MHz RAM will work, but at 667MHz. I would get it, even if the price were the same as 667MHz RAM, as it's more future-proof. And, if it's cheaper that's a bonus.

John

 

Ooops caught that a bit late ended up buying 2gb from crucial as they had a sale on so ended up a lot cheaper.

SO thats the memory, wifi upgraded now just wondering wether to replace hard drive with a western digital black 7200 rpm, i think its 250 for 86 or 160 for 65.

Not sure if performance gain in video conversion merrits the cost.

thats most of the innards changed not bad for a two month old laptop lol.

 

Overclockers have a good selection of HDDs. I'm currently using the Fujitsu 320GB which runs cooler than the 250GB WD I was using before it.

We need to know more about the real life power consumption of the latest 7200rpm HDDs before pushing any money in that direction. More power = more heat and a warmer palm rest.

John

 

While i agree regarding power consumption my laptop is 95% plugged into the mains so not a major concern for myself albeit its a vital point. But it was the heat issue that i was worried (mainly for internal components) Also i was more than likely going to go for the 160gb as opposed to the 250gb installed, but i guess some speed gain will probably be offset by the fact the 250gb should be (although not sure what unit is factory fitted) more densily packed per platter than the 160 which can also be an advantage.

 

You can see the HDD model number in Device Manager. Then put the number into Google to get the details. If you have already got 250GB (I assume 5400rpm) then the only upgrade which might make a noticeable difference would be the 320GB 7200rpm (or lower capacity version of the same HDD model).

John

 

Hello Everyone, newcomer here, just registered!

I have just purchased the Samsung R700 and I must say I am impressed with it in everyway possible.

One thing I have noticed is that on the reviews it says the screen resoultion is 1440x900 however on mine I get 1680x1050, does anyone else get this too?

 

That's interesting about the resolution. Which model number of the R700?

I know I wouldn't like 1680 x 1050 @ 15.4" (I've got it on my X60 plus and it is too small), but 1680 x 1050 @ 17" would be readable and the extra real estate is welcome.

John

 

The model is NP700-A003UK The screen is very much readable and the extra real estate is fantastic, absolutely spot on for me at that resolution.

 

Fascinating.

I'm just looking at the latest PC Pro (Issue 167) and it has the NP700-A003UK as labs winner in its budget laptop review. It also shows the resolution as 1440 x 900.

Maybe someone put the wrong display in during production.

John

 

LOL

But to my advantage I'm glad to say. I've just ordered some memory to take it up to 4GB, not because I need that much, just coz I have some spare money and I thought why not!

 

Hello All,

Just got my R700.
I have a question regarding the audio in the notebook. It seems like the audio volume is quite low, even when playing a DVD on full volume (dvd SW), and having the system volume on max. Is this normal? I just connected to the web so there may be drivers that improve this, but do other users find this the case. I am using my notebook as a TV/DVD in the bedroom, and the volume is quite disapointing. We used an old IBM T20 previously and the audio seemed louder. Even when listening using headphones, the sound seems low, and would be difficult/impossible to hear on a plane, for example.

Thanks for any input. Overall the laptop seem quite nice.

Julian

PS. And i thought when everybody said this notebook was quiet they meant.....

 

Some suggestions:

1. Right click on the speaker icon, select open volume controk, then make sure that all the individual volume controls (Wave, SW synth, etc) are on maximum.

2. (Assuming it is Realtek audio) go into the Realtek sound effects manager (in Control Panel) and (a) check the volumes on the mixer are all maximum; and (b) go into sound effects and push the sliders on the equaliser up to maximum and press the middle of the dial on the right to enable.

John

 

Thanks a lot John,

At work right now, so this will have to wait.
I have quickly gone through the audio controls last night, and they seemed to be on max, but I'll go through them again, maybe I am missing something. Maybe i didn't go though the Realtek sound manager. But I think I have.

What are other users expieriences, how loud are your R700's?

Thanks.

Julian

 

Hi Julian,

Unfortunately I don't watch TV/DVDs on my R700, however I have no complaints about the sound in general. If anything I find the sound better on my R700 louder than the sound on my old Acer Aspire 9303 laptop.

John

 

Why I am skeptical is that, when i have the volume on max, i don't get any distortion (of course it could be good speakers) and when sitting in front of the R700 i still have to concentrate on listening and any outside noise is distracting and makes it difficult to hear. But maybe I am exaggerating, although my wife also noticed this low volume (its more like max is mid range) straight away.

Julian