Samsung Series 5 Ultrabook listed at US retailer for $900, 'coming soon'

after the bizarre disinterest of my previous attempt to interest NBR in this notebook:

http://forum.notebookreview.com/sam...rabook-13-w-o-gpu-optical-14-gpu-optical.html

i thought i'd try again:

Samsung Series 5 Ultrabook listed at US retailer for $900, 'coming soon' -- Engadget

 

Very nice! I like it.

 

it does answer the plastic complaints of the Chronos 7 laptops, however i do have two reservations:
1. does it have the slim bezel tech of the chronos 7?
2. why the hell is there not a 160 shader AMD 6470 on the 13" model!

 

As I said in the last thread about the S5....because Intel has defined what an Ultrabook is and if they want Intel's muscle (and money) behind promoting this machine they have to build it to Intel's Spec...

 

hoping for a matte screen.

 

There's a report of a Lenovo 14" Ultrabook with Nvidia GPU, so there's clearly scope for manufacturers to interpret the specs.

John

 

I'm really interested in the 14 inch model, but I'm very confused about it's specs, so I joined this forum to see if anyone had some clarity on the issue.

When I first heard about the Series 5 Ultra, I remember reading that it was going to include a 1 GB graphics card, the 500 GB/SSD combo drive, an optical drive, and that it was fairly light and thin considering it has all of these things. This is my dream laptop for what I can afford, especially because I'm pretty crazy about the style of Samsung laptops.

When it was shown at CES though, the $949.99 14 inch model appears not to have a graphics card, and they have not revealed any plans to have a more expensive model with one. However, I found the pre-order page on Amazon, and it says in the description several times that it has the "AMD Radeon HD 7550M discrete graphics" that was originally talked about.

http://www.amazon.com/Samsung-NP530U4B-A01US-14-Inch-Ultrabook-Silver/dp/B006KYYYK2/ref=sr_1_3?m=ATVPDKIKX0DER&s=pc&ie=UTF8&qid=1326671843&sr=1-3

I guess it'll be cleared up in the next couple weeks, but I'm trying to figure out what I'm getting soon. I like the Samsung Series 7 laptop a lot, but that had a problematic launch it seems, and still isn't available from Amazon or Newegg, my preferred stores at the moment, and is tough to find a version that has a 1GB graphics card like I want.

If anyone knows what's going on with this laptop or Samsung in general, help would be appreciated.

 

Samsung's specs list the Intel HD3000 graphics. I would be a little surprised to see a dedicated GPU, with its extra cooling requirements, squeezed into such a thin chassis. The CPU is a 17W part, not the standard 35W.

IMO, it's a shame that Samsung didn't give this model a 1600 x 900 display. I assume that the display is glossy since there is no mention of "matte" or "non-glossy".

John

 

Pretty official information at [CES 2012] Beyond Thin and Light: Series 5 ULTRA Finally Unleashed | SAMSUNG TOMORROW Global

 

16GB ExpressCache, almost a full sized cache SSD there!

 

The model shown at CES looks to be a big improvement than the model currently available. If only it had a 1600 x 900 display....

John

 

It's an anti-glare screen, but the resolution is meh.

 

They would not put a 900p screen; it's reserved for the premium S9.

 

cool. I am very interested by it. The resolution is no big deal for me, especially on a 13 inch screen. I am tempted by the new S9 also but 900 bucks vs 1400!
And I have a spare 128GB Samsung SSD that is waiting for a new home.

 

Heard some news.... Looks like there will be a series 5 notebook and series 5 ultra.
AnandTech - Hands on with Samsung's Line of New Notebooks

 

I believe the version already avail in Korea has a dedicated GPU...fyi.

I really hope the $949 version released here has it...

 

Amazon updated the page to say Intel HD 3000 graphics in most parts, so it's not happening, which is a bummer, but I definitely understand if it just doesn't work with the low wattage CPU. The one in Korea is over $1,300, so I guess they left it out to cut costs, because I think the price has to be under $1,000 to be considered an ultrabook by Intel.

I'll wait for an Ivy Bridge ultrabook then, hopefully the integrated graphics on that can run the games I want to try (the upcoming game The Witness, StarCraft II, Civilization V, and World of Warcraft) on medium settings with 1366x768 resolution. I haven't really heard what it will be able to do, but if I'm not going to get a Sandy Bridge machine with a dedicated graphics card, then I know that Ivy Bridge is my best bet for a small laptop I can carry around campus.

 

IB is supposed to be 20 to 25% better in terms of integrated graphics. If we can believe the F1 2011 demo they showed at CES (not the presentation one, but the hands-ons afterwards), it is a pretty darn good integrated graphics.

This.

 

that sucks.

plus, I heard that quad core IB would be released first and then dual core later...pushing back the release further and further.

might just have to settle for a 3830tg-6424 at ~$700...but lower quality than sammy

 

looks like the series 5 14" is now for sale at Bestbuy

 

In store or online? if online could you post the link for us non-US residents

 

If it is in stores, maybe bigger cities, search did not return any at local stores

Samsung - Series 5 Ultrabook Laptop - Silver - NP530U4B-A01US

 

You should be able to find it on amazon as well.

 

Thanks for that

 

I wonder is the 16g SSD is soldered on or if it's mSATA. anyone know?

 

It is the "express cache" so it is on the motherboard and can't be removed.

 

The only reason I ask, I have a (not currently being used) Intel g2 and would swap the hdd out. I just don't want to use this "express cache", say, at all. When installing, could I just remove the listed partitions and select the g2 be it's self? or is there an option in bios to disable express cache?

 

Correct me if I am wrong, but the express cache is only used when the service is run under Windows. So a new HDD without the software will just ignore it.

 

I don't get it, why would you not want to use it?

 

if you replace the HDD with an SSD drive like he plans to do, it is probably faster than the express cache drive anyway... or so I've heard

 

Ahh, gotcha...

 

Hi !
For your info, even if I guess not many people will want to buy one of these laptops in France, the 2 following models are available in France now:
13.3" Samsung NP530U3B
Samsung NP530U3B-A01 13,3" LED USB 3.0 - Ordinateur ultra-portable à la Fnac
also here
Samsung NP530U3B-A02FR
and here
SAMSUNG NP530U3B A01FR

14" Samsung NP530U4B
Samsung NP530U4B-S01FR 14" LED USB 3.0 - Ordinateur ultra-portable à la Fnac
Samsung NP530U4B-S01FR
SAMSUNG NP530U4B S01FR

have a nice day !

 

I took another look at this today at BestBuy. If anyone is interested, here's what it had inside:

Optical Drive: TSSTcorp CDDVDW SU-208AB (TSST = Toshiba Samsung Storage Technology)

Hard Drive: ST9500325AS (Momentus 5400.6 SATA 3Gb/s 500-GB Hard Drive)

 

anybody bought one yet? I will soon pending fund raising but wanted to hear some reviews

 

Does this notebook have the same wifi problems that the Series 9 has?

 

I would say probably not, based solely on the fact that the bottom is fiberglass and the rest of the body is plain aluminium, not duralumin

 

Just got my 13" NP530U3B.

Some info i was wondering about before i ordered it:

Lid is metal
Palmrest is metal
Keyboard sourroundings seems to be plastic, good quality
Keyboard has no flex, really nice to type on feels soft
Trackpad is great, as good as any, buttons are a bit hard and firm
Fan will shut off when running in Samsung silent-mode
Fan is really silent anyways
Underside tends to get a bit hot
Air vents out under the screen

Underside seems to be metal

Screen brightness is really good, viewing angles are as any other cheap
TN-panel, about 15 degrees vertical before colours invert. Colours are really crisp and sharp, contrast/black is very good

Update:
Just installed +4gb DDR so total 8gb now, one slot free under
Laptop button is plastic but the service door is metal, go figure
Chassis is pretty stiff but can be bended (needs a lot of force)
Build quality and material-finish is really good
ELAN trackpad
Speakers are "OK" produce much sound in OK quality

Update 2:
Screen picture is really great, LCD panel is not grainy at all - no stripes even at close up
Lid is metal and i can apply much preassure before the LCD panel gets affected
Computer gets rather hot. Must use a sweater if laying on the back or unconfortable. Can be avoided if forced to run at 800mhz
Not much bloatware, only Norton Internet Security and Bing stuff
Microphone on the edge by the keyboard, i can see only 1 mic so no noise and echo cancelling i think
Webcam is 1280x good image quality but needs a lot of light

Update 3:
Screenshot from Furmark Burnin + Prime95 with temps showing CPU Throttling down to 800Mhz when in Maximum Performance battery state, almost 50% drop for 50% of the time (goes up to 1600mhz 50/50) Temp on the underside was measured to 42 degrees - NO Professional temp-tester, just a simple surface thermometer.

 

Excellent! I am also considering the 13" model. Let us know if the wifi is working out just fine (that's my biggest concern). Also, is the heat is tolerable, not uncomfortable?

Also, where did you buy the 13" from? If you ordered it online, how long did it take to reach your home?

 

Intel 6230 Wifi card. I get a 300Mbps connection with my DIR-655. I dont know what problems you are concerned about but this laptops WLAN is working tip-top. Regarding heat. This will get hot when running max speed at all times. I never do i always force the CPU down to 800Mhz because of fan-noice that i hate.

Ordered it from Elkjop.no - 1 day delivery, great if you live in Norway. 20% off so payed 5600 NOK or aprox 888 USD.

GREAT VALUE i think.



v
vv

 

how is that ELAN trackpad? is the pad surface glass or is it plasticky? Thanks

 

I personally dont like the ELAN software. The trackpad is plastic but does not bend and the surface feels very good for a trackpad. I have used 4-5 laptops the last year but this is the best of them all.

 

cool thanks. So far my favorite has been the trackpad on the recent HP elitebooks, nice glossy surface, I was hoping it was a synaptics pad onthe Samsung also

 

How do you down clock the CPU? Is there an Intel tool for this that is built-in or downloaded?

With regards to the wifi problem, I'm hoping it does not have the same problems as the Series 9 laptops. So far, I've heard good things so seems like there is no need for concern.

And as far as the heating go, is there any danger of overheating the machine assuming you do not do cpu/fan control? I have a Dell machine that constantly overheats (it may be the GPU, not sure). Once overheated, using Windows, programs, videos, etc. become very laggy. Just want to make sure this machine doesn't have that problem given its slim profile and heat output.

If it does not have those two problems, I think I will be buying the 13" model (or 14", haven't contemplated the "extra" size + DVD drive).

 

Samsung have a tool that lets you adjust fan speed and CPU. You can also control the maximum CPU-speed in the advanced powersettings. My settings not allow me to force this computer to run at 800Mhz and no fan running. I just installed a SSD and the computer is now dead silent. NICE. Regarding heat see my updated post from before. The CPU cuts down to 800mhz when it gets too hot, but i use my computer at this speed often and with not too much running its perfectly usable. In normal conditions with normal load i dont think this will be a issue. Good cooling on this machine.

 

badmann, does the trackpad allow 2 finger scrolling smoothly? I don't really care for multitouch but I do like the 2 finger scrolling as opposed to the slide your finger on that little narrow edge area to scroll

 

Yes this ELAN trackpad allow for 2 finger scolling, and it is very smooth - it is as smooth as the window can produce the data (Iexplorer with Engadget lagget some, not IPAD2 smooth.. but still OK)

 

Badman, thank you for your pic and mini review. Can you post some more pictures please? Just any and as many angles as you feel like.

 

You sir have officially made me want to buy this laptop. I will probably buy it at the end of next month. On a scale of 1 to AWESOME, how do you rank this laptop?

Oh, and from the pictures I have seen online, it seems that the keyboard has no Caps Lock indicator. Is that annoying at all?

 

Hard to answer your awesome scale but this is the 7th private laptop ive had and this is pretty good i think. This does not have the "magic" of a Unibody Macbook but for this price its pretty awesome.

SAMSUNG rates this as a ultrabook and i really really like the fact that this have a easy access panel that i can swap out the HDD and install more RAM. You can also clean the fan from there. This is a really nice feature. It took me 10 minutes to install a SSD and +4gb memory - sweet!

This came with a 500gb hdd and a 16gb SSD module and that was working really good, reason for swapping to a SSD is because that was the systemdisk from my old laptop - i just swapped and installed drivers and it works really good.

This is the SSD that came with the computer. Its rated at Read/Write 160mb/100mb and its SATA-II. My SSD is SATA-III wich real world gives be Read/Write 280/150 so i dont think the SanDisk/Intel Express Cache will do any good with a fast SSD disk.

http://www.sandisk.com/media/862699/SanDisk_integrated_iSSD__brochure_WEB.pdf

 

Have a look at this page, much better images than i can produce

Samsung Series 5 Ultrabooks–Notes, Images, Video Overview. Ultrabook News and the Ultrabook Database