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

Thanks a lot for all the info you give us, Badmann

 

NP glad to help the forum who give so much

 

Just out of curiosity, you don't happen to use Linux do you? I ask because when I purchase this machine, I will be using Linux primarily and I was wondering how it would run (mostly if there are any driver issues, such as the graphics).

If not, I guess I will be the first one to try it out.

 

Im no Linux buff at all but im curious so i loaded a XMBC latest beta live on a USB stick and it works out of the box. Loads from the USB3 port so i guess that works too

Wlan and Bluetooth works too, no config needed.

Two finger scrolling works.

Se the .txt file with sysinfo. The 16gb SSD is also detected.

 

Sweet!

So I assume that if I want to install Linux via CD/DVD, then I just pop it into an external optical drive and the BIOS should boot from the CD/DVD.

Thanks for testing XBMC. I love that software.

 

You can do that or use http://www.linuxliveusb.com/ and install to a flashdrive and install to HDD

 

For anyone who is interested, this laptop is pretty new and doesn't have any reviews (aside from those on Amazon and BestBuy) that I know of.

I found this today: Samsung Series 5 Ultra (530U3B-A01) Review - Techzine - Reviews - Hardware - De community voor ICT liefhebbers en professionals.

You may need to translate it.

Man, I don't know which model to get. The 13" or 14"? I feel like I may need the DVD drive for installation purposes, but I don't know if it is worth the extra size/weight.

 

Couple of more questions for you Badmann: You mentioned a tool for adjusting core speed etc, is this preinstalled? Name?

Also, after installing your SSD, did the laptop seem cooler at all?

Other than that, thanks a lot for sharing! I've got the same laptop and share most of your impressions

Also, my computer, without any ajustments to CPU-speed, stays at about 50C when doing simple tasks like websurfing and typing, is it about the same for you?

 

that's a pretty good review. Some of the google translate made me smile but it is quite readable.

Frankly I have not used an optical drive for ages. To me it's not worth the weightt. In my backpack with other tools, any ounce/gram saved is welcome!

 

There is no (other tool that i now of) for adjusting CPU speed than Windows power setting. I have adjusted my setting for when i want a cool quiet machine and it never goes above 8x100=800mhz

When used in Power saver mode change advanced settings and max cpu % to 1. Then adjust Intel GPU power settings to Maximum Battery.

My laptop stays about 50c i think. It was much hotter running Ubuntu, dont know why.

The temps did not go down with the SSD drive. The HDD was a cool kat 5400rpm and SSDs actually gets somewhat hot too, so no big change. The SSD reads at 250mb/s with TrueCrypt AES partition encryption. Thats really fast thanks to the i5 AES hardware acceleration.

 

just placed an order with J&R online, they are out of stock right now but the price is $869 ($30 off)



will post reviews and pics when I eventually get it

 

I bought a FSC 13" laptop before this one (i lost it and cracked the screen...) with a DVD drive thinking that it was good to have.

Never used it. Period. Will never buy again

I bought a external chassis for slim-dvd drive off eBay and savaged the drive and made a external drive out of it, for those off-situations when you need to re-install Windows .. or find some cheap DVD-s on holiday.

 

Nice, congrats.

Please do!

 

Did they give an estimate on when it would arrive? I will probably order from them too since they sell it for the cheapest, but if they take more than a week to receive/ship the product, then I may have to order from Tigerdirect or somewhere else.

 

nope I could not find anything apart but the other laptop brands on their site had the same "on order tag", and looks like they are shipping on Monday.

 

Ok thanks. Let me know when they ship it.

 

from the J&R webpage

Expected to Ship 2/22/12

 

Nice! Looks like its the place to buy from. Now I just need to wait until the end of March...

BTW, is there a Caps Lock indicator on the keyboard? I haven't been able to identify one in the pictures.

 

There appears to only be a short, on-screen indicator according to one of the reviews at amazon.

Review here: http://www.amazon.com/Samsung-NP530...dp_top_cm_cr_acr_txt?ie=UTF8&showViewpoints=1

 

damn, it looks like they moved the date to 2/23

 

Hmm, I'm having some trouble opening mine, Badmann or anyone else having done it, could you offer some advice? I've removed the screw at the HDD/momery middle point, but the enitre "lid" seems stuck when i try to flip it open.

Any suggestions?

 

Looks like they keep changing it. Now it says 2/22. Either way, it's not unreasonable and for the price, I'm sure it's worth it.

 

How's the lid on it? Does it flap and flex like the Toshiba? The Toshiba once you open the lid it still moves for like 5 seconds since it's so thin.

 

It does move a little as its also quite thin. I still think it feels quite nice.

 

It has shipped, it should be in my hands on Wednesday.

 

Is the express cache an msata chip or is it something directly on the motherboard? It'd be awesome to load a linux os on that and use the hdd as regular storage. Doesn't seem like it's possible though if the bios won't boot from the ec device.

What are the key combos for home, page up/down and end on these?

 

I think it should be possible to install Linux to EC. I don't know the details, but I imagine someone must have done it before.

From the keyboard screenshots, seems like its FN + Arrow keys.

 

Hi Badmann,
It´s really nice of you to help answer all these questions from sceptical buyers I got my 5 series yesterday and I´m quite happy with it so far, although I am a bit disappointed with the keyboard (or maybe I just have to get used to it).

One thing I haven´t fingered out yet is how to activate the multitouch gesture function for the touchpad, can you give any advice on how to do this? I found this site where they explain how to activate in on windows computers in general, but I´d like to make sure I am doing the right thing.
How To Enable Macbook-Style Two Finger Scrolling on Windows Laptops - How-To Geek

Thanks again!

 

Congrats Activities.

Did you get the 13 or 14 inch?

How are the viewing angles when you tilt the screen back and forward?

Sorry, I don't can't help with the multi gesture question!

Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using Tapatalk

 

I just got back from manhandling the 14" model & friends at Bestbuy for almost 2 hours so I'm gonna give my impression. The model number is NP530U4B-A01US, whereas Samsung's # is NP530U4B-A02US. In all, I left disappointed. I was thinking that this or the 13" would be what I'd go for, and that the 14" would be a good representative of the smaller version. Now, I'm not sure at all. I was expecting more of a solid feel to it overall. It's 4 pounds which is lighter than a Macbook Pro, but the lid was VERY wobbly and the build quality just wasn't impressive. The combo overall I don't quite peg at a $900 value.

Trackpad is Elan, the buttons seemed loose compared to the construction of the rest of the trackpad and palmrest. They're made of plastic and it feels cheap. The touchpad area was nice and flush with the palmrest, but would have been nicer if Samsung kept the single pad/buttons style from the Series 7.

I didn't have a problem with the shallower keys (coming from a Dell XPS 1640) and I don't press hard enough for keyboard flexing but expectedly, if you press hard enough you'll see it. Overall, I don't think it's a problem.

I wasn't expecting so much movement by the lid when open. The Series 7 15" they had nearby was SOLID. Everything felt sturdy and I was thinking the 5 would be similar. My brother is one of the sales people there and said that in the 2 weeks that they've had the Series 5, the lid went from being much more difficult to flap around to how it is now.

The screen is verfiably matte and I don't have complaints about it. In the store, a comfortable brightness was on 1 - 2 settings below max. Viewing angles were comparable to the Series 7 and my Dell (also 720p). I actually prefer narrower viewing angles because I won't be hosting movie night on a 13 or 14 inch screen, so I'd rather not have people reading my documents from next to me on the plane. It wasn't grainy at all, actually seemed pretty nice.

One screw takes off the bottom panel for RAM and HDD access. To repaste the cpu or clean the fan you'd need to take the entire bottom of the case off.

I dunno. I'll probably go back one or two more times. Maybe the 13" without the optical drive would be more solid? I want the msata & hdd combination so that and the $1500 prices keep me away from a 'real' ultrabook. Lenovo has the U300e coming out in a month or so. It looks amazing and has a 32gb msata but it has Lojack and no sd card reader. Plus their customer service is supposedly horrendous and I won't be able to try it before buying.

EDIT:
Samsung US's website says the 14" has an 8 cell battery, 13" has a 4 cell. How's battery life for you guys with the 13"?
http://www.samsung.com/us/computer/laptops/NP530U3B-A01US-specs#
http://www.samsung.com/us/computer/laptops/NP530U4B-A02US-specs

 

I was actually pretty darn impressed with the Series 5 the couple of times I messed with it at BestBuy. Especially for $899. And I personally *prefer* having dedicated left and right buttons, rather than one large trackpad.

 

I can go either way. I don't mind the individual buttons on my Dell. They're a soft plastic, they're easy to press and that's why I think I like the Series 7's (and Apple's of course) trackpad combo so much. There's no hard, obnoxious CLICK!! like with some Acer, Asus and Sony laptops I've tried. The Series 5 isn't like this, but the buttons weren't my favorite. They were slightly rounded, not much travel and just a harsher feeling than I'd like. Liveable I suppose and I know, I'm probably pickier than i should be.

I'm gonna go back in a few days with a Linux cd for the Series 5.

 

The lid is really hard to get off.

The lid itself is metal but has a plastic frame with "hooks" glued on that clicks
into the laptop buttom. There are many hooks on the metal lid so therefore hard to get off. The lid is super stable when installed on the laptop.

I used a iPhone plastic opening tool to do this so i avoided damaging the plastic.

I have removed the lid three times, no damage to anything yet.

 

My two cents.

I too have fooled with the 14" at Best Buy a few times and came away not very impressed. The main reason is the build quality and the amount of plastic. It just feels and looks cheap...not what I was expecting from the "new wave" of ultrabooks that were supposed to take over the world.

IMHO it should sell for $700.

 

My thougths exactly, but you were much more precise.

 

Uh oh. So for a sub-$1000 notebook,, you guys are not satisfied with the series 5?

This is tough because I want a cheap ultrabook (most are over $1000 these days) that has high storage capacity and a range of connectivity ports. The 13" seemed like everything I would need.

 

I bought one from the Microsoft Store last Friday and i'm quite happy with it personally....

 

You should check it out for yourself before deciding. Considering it's priced at $899 and not $1399, it's got a lot to offer.

 

I would, but there is no BestBuy nearby that has the model in stock. It's bad enough they don't offer the 13", but I can't even test out the 14" .

 

Theoretically, I think my disappointment has more to do with ultrabook offerings in general than with Samsung specifically.

It could turn out that what Samsung has done here is the status quo for this price point, or, other manufacturers could release more impressive offerings in the near future and these Samsung models will be deemed inferior. The bottom line is we were led to believe that ultrabooks were going to be awesome and affordable. The Series 5, to me, is neither.

Also, take into account my opinion is based more on appearance, feel, and first impression rather than how it all performs together on a day-to-day basis as if I had purchased it a week ago. But also, even though I didn't take it home with me to test it out, I still know what's inside of it and that is reflected in my opinion.

That's all.

 

I'm not sure if the BestBuy model is different than the Microsoft Store Model, but it does not fell cheap and the build quality seems quite good...

 

The 13" and the 14" chassis are built completely differently so I personally haven't removed the 13" from possibilities but the screen wobble was unnerving. Badman's pics of his 13" Series 5 with the bottom panel off versus what the 14" is are totally different construction.

Plus there's the optical drive which is kind of a dead space. I even saw an asia.cnet article yesterday which said the 14" was a bit flimsier. It wasn't a review, just a First Look sorta thing.

Also, the 14" has the metal palmrest which turns into a plastic bezel for the keyboard whereas the 13" is all metal, excluding the keyboard itself.

In the 3.75 pound range also is the Asus U36sd which is a full tdp i5, an invida card and full range of ports. Magnesium alloy chassis, was about $900 last I checked. Then there's Lenovo's U300e which will supposedly be out in 4+ weeks. It was about $930 a week ago with a discount coupon code from their site, but is now back up to an I N S A N E $1200!! I have no idea what they're smoking, and I don't know what else would be comparable to the Series 5 because it does seem that it's the lower end of the price point for its small class.

@jnjroach
There's only two Series 5 14" models out now in the US. One for Bestbuy, one from Samsung. The model numbers are on the previous page in my original post.

 

Ok, its reassuring that the 13" may be of better build quality since that is the one I am primarily interested in.

The new Lenovo looks pretty good (looks a little thick, probably because of the all around square design, but it's only 0.7" so I'm not complaining) minus the price. $1200 is way too much. If it was priced competitively around $800-$880, I might consider it. Anything over that, I think the Series 5 will be the better deal even if the Lenovo has better build quality.

 

Have you looked at the new 13" Dell Ultrabook? It's been getting surprisingly decent reviews.

 

Yes, the Dell looks pretty good, but there are two things deterring me from it. First, it only has 2 USB ports (and I think no HDMI?). I know most ultrabooks have only 2 USB ports so naturally I think Samsung has an advantage here. On a desk setup, I could alleviate this problem by buying a USB hub (extra spending), but I also frequently use 3 USB ports on the road.

Another differentiator is the price. I want a notebook under $1000 and the Dell 13 (based on their website) runs at $999 which is really close to my limit. Samsung is a little under it so another reason I lean towards that choice. The XPS may have better build quality, backlighting, etc. but as long as the Samsung is not "terrible" or "really bad" I think it shouldn't matter, right?

I'm a pretty big computer guy (I'm an electrical engineer after all) and I've built my own Windows/Linux machines and purchased laptops with no problems. Ultrabooks is new territory for me since I have been out of the computer buying game for the last 3 years. I just want to make sure I don't have a bad experience is all.

 

Amazon has the 13.3" in stock with free shipping at $886.

Amazon.com: Samsung Series 5 NP530U3B-A01US 13.3-Inch Ultrabook (Silver): Computers & Accessories

 

No sd slot on the Dell. Very handy feature for low storage devices like this. I use a 128gb card for media and game emulators. Not practical with the Dell for media or gamers (the ones you can actually play on HD3000), unless a more expensive thumbdrive that sticks out or a USB powered HD that drains the battery.

The Dell looked good until finding out no sd slot. Post #96 seems the better buy. 3.0, media out and sd slot.

Added: Mobile HD3000 actually plays a lot of older games well and no problems playing PS1 and PS2 emulators

 

personally I was looking for a light laptop that had a matte screen, and that was not dismally dim since I use it mostly under harsh tube lights (conference halls, hotel hallways, outside etc) so no HP Folio, and I am thinking that the XPS will be the same poorly lit glossy display.

 

one thing that I find funny is that all the tech sites talked to lengths about the Samsung Ultrabooks, and then when they come out, no reviews??

 

Exactly. All the major review sites claim that the product has just launched or not yet launched, but clearly you can buy it at stores. Also, I would expect them to get their hands on the notebook early. Either the review websites are purposefully ignoring it (why?) or Samsung is doing a terrible job promoting the laptop.