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    Samsung Series 7 Chronos NP700Z5A Disassembled: Parts analysis

    Discussion in 'Samsung' started by yknyong1, Dec 16, 2011.

  1. yknyong1

    yknyong1 Radiance with Radeon

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    yknyong1, Dec 16, 2011
    #1
    hohum likes this.
  2. winsettz

    winsettz Notebook Enthusiast

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    I'm a little confused about where the SSD goes (it is definitely a iSSD P4, which is apparently "BGA form factor"). You didn't take out and flip over the mobo, did you?

    Looking forward to hearing back tomorrow.
     
    winsettz, Dec 16, 2011
    #2
  3. gautam27

    gautam27 Notebook Guru

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    Pretty awesome pics! Thanks for posting these. Any way for you to tell if the optical drive can be replaced by the Hitachi HDD by using this caddy?
    Optical Bay HDD Caddy to replace Slot-Loading Optical,9.5,SATA [OBHD9-SATA-SATA-NF] - $42.00 : NewmodeUS, Hard Drive Caddys for Notebooks

    Can you please see what the make and model is of the optical drive so we can check to see if there is a caddy size that is appropriate. Many thanks!
     
    gautam27, Dec 16, 2011
    #3
  4. gautam27

    gautam27 Notebook Guru

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    Never mind, I found the DVD RAM part number: Matash*ta DVD-RAM UJ8A7AS.
    Anyone used the Newmodeus caddy yet?
     
    gautam27, Dec 16, 2011
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  5. dp3000

    dp3000 Notebook Evangelist

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    dp3000, Dec 16, 2011
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  6. gautam27

    gautam27 Notebook Guru

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    gautam27, Dec 16, 2011
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  7. yknyong1

    yknyong1 Radiance with Radeon

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    Soldered on BGA definitely. It is on the flip side. In fact most of the components are on the other side of the motherboard.
     
    yknyong1, Dec 16, 2011
    #7
  8. winsettz

    winsettz Notebook Enthusiast

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    And I definitely wouldn't attempt to hand solder BGA. Probably not even possible, even if I could score some P4 SSD chips.
     
    winsettz, Dec 16, 2011
    #8
  9. dp3000

    dp3000 Notebook Evangelist

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    Yh i sent a pic of the dvd drive i found on the series 7 forum and sent the model number
     
    dp3000, Dec 16, 2011
    #9
  10. yknyong1

    yknyong1 Radiance with Radeon

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    Find yourself a soldering station. However, the cost is prohibitive, and probably not worth the effort.
     
    yknyong1, Dec 16, 2011
    #10
  11. H.A.L. 9000

    H.A.L. 9000 Occam's Chainsaw

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    Good lord. Hope you never have issues with those motherboards. There's a LOT on them. Expensive stuff at that.
     
    H.A.L. 9000, Dec 16, 2011
    #11
  12. yknyong1

    yknyong1 Radiance with Radeon

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    Mine has died. Right after your post in the afternoon. :p
     
    yknyong1, Dec 17, 2011
    #12
  13. gautam27

    gautam27 Notebook Guru

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    gautam27, Dec 17, 2011
    #13
  14. winsettz

    winsettz Notebook Enthusiast

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    My dad is an EE and is much better with the soldering iron than me. I think I'd rather live without a BGA chip than risk my mobo...besides, maybe I'll treat myself to an SSD for christmas.
     
    winsettz, Dec 17, 2011
    #14
  15. H.A.L. 9000

    H.A.L. 9000 Occam's Chainsaw

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    Didn't go back together right? Or other issues?
     
    H.A.L. 9000, Dec 17, 2011
    #15
  16. yknyong1

    yknyong1 Radiance with Radeon

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    Went back right. Suspect hardware failure (GPU and power board).
     
    yknyong1, Dec 17, 2011
    #16
  17. yknyong1

    yknyong1 Radiance with Radeon

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    The speaker is on top of one side of the case near the heatsink. Remove the speaker first, then you can see all the screws.
     
    yknyong1, Dec 17, 2011
    #17
  18. gautam27

    gautam27 Notebook Guru

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    I see two shiny screws that seem to fasten the speaker. So I guess I will need to remove those two.
    There is no need to remove the battery or any screws next to the battery to access the DVD drive? Thanks.
     
    gautam27, Dec 17, 2011
    #18
  19. yknyong1

    yknyong1 Radiance with Radeon

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    I cannot remember. Just check the housing. If the screw needs to be removed, it will be attached to a small protruding arm of the housing.
     
    yknyong1, Dec 17, 2011
    #19
  20. H.A.L. 9000

    H.A.L. 9000 Occam's Chainsaw

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    With all those components on-board, I wonder what kind of flex tolerances the board can handle. Maybe solder was broken somewhere?

    Did you make sure the LVDS connectors and everything were seated nice and tight?
     
    H.A.L. 9000, Dec 18, 2011
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  21. Alex909

    Alex909 Newbie

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    Does the laptop work without the battery connected? Would it be possible to put a bluray drive in it?
     
    Alex909, Dec 18, 2011
    #21
  22. Energized

    Energized Notebook Enthusiast

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    Sadly there are no bluray drives fitting the samsung series 7, as samsung decided to use the 9mm form factor. There are 9mm tray loading bluray drives but this notebook uses the slotloading method. And I couldn't find a slotloading 9mm Bluray drive yet.
     
    Energized, Dec 18, 2011
    #22
  23. yknyong1

    yknyong1 Radiance with Radeon

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    I reseated everything this morning and made sure all connectors were connected. It did boot up once, but after that power light comes on and off without POST. This is not the first time I disassembled a computer.
     
    yknyong1, Dec 18, 2011
    #23
  24. Alex909

    Alex909 Newbie

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    Thanks for the reply... Does anyone know if it works without the battery connected?
     
    Alex909, Dec 18, 2011
    #24
  25. yknyong1

    yknyong1 Radiance with Radeon

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    I disassembled the laptop again. The new one pending DOA btw. Some of the components on the board were changed or made bigger. Will see what's in the 4th.
     
    yknyong1, Dec 24, 2011
    #25
  26. yknyong1

    yknyong1 Radiance with Radeon

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    I checked for you. It works.
     
    yknyong1, Dec 24, 2011
    #26
  27. dp3000

    dp3000 Notebook Evangelist

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    What components seemed bigger?
     
    dp3000, Dec 24, 2011
    #27
  28. Alex909

    Alex909 Newbie

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    Thanks for checking that for me.
     
    Alex909, Dec 29, 2011
    #28
  29. azndrag3

    azndrag3 Newbie

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    can you post or give any advice for replacing the lcd :/ i broke mine recently
     
    azndrag3, Jan 31, 2012
    #29
  30. yknyong1

    yknyong1 Radiance with Radeon

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    The display assembly seems to be unable to be dismantled. This means you probably have to replace the entire lid, but I cannot confirm. Speak with your local Samsung and see if they would replace your LCD out of goodwill.
     
    yknyong1, Jan 31, 2012
    #30
  31. Luterin

    Luterin Notebook Evangelist

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    Some people suggested that one should remove/lift the spacebar, add a small piece of paper in the middle and the space bar issue (not working on the sides unless you press hard) would be less of an issue, but I'm have yet to found any information about how the spacebar is secure to the keyboard atm, since I don't want to use brute force to mess with things, and just bending it very so lightly upwards felt like a "bad idea" pretty fast.

    Do anyone have some pictures or more specific info what to think about, before I just trash my keyboard. :)

    It isn't a big deal since I hit it good enough like 99.9% of the time, but that rare time it gets anoying...
     
    Luterin, Jan 31, 2012
    #31
  32. yknyong1

    yknyong1 Radiance with Radeon

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    I took a peek, it is held down by 4 clips, one at each end and two middle with equal spacing. :D Not a good idea to stuff paper as it can disintegrate after some time and jam the key itself.
     
    yknyong1, Jan 31, 2012
    #32
  33. jbrian420

    jbrian420 Notebook Guru

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    Can the wireless card be upgraded?

    Sent from my DROIDX using Tapatalk
     
    jbrian420, Jan 31, 2012
    #33
  34. Luterin

    Luterin Notebook Evangelist

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    Well, perhaps a bit of thin plastic instead? Or I'll just leave it as is, since it isn't really an issue for me, and I'd hate to break it. :)
     
    Luterin, Jan 31, 2012
    #34
  35. XtremeProject

    XtremeProject Notebook Consultant

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    Yeah u can.
     
    XtremeProject, Jan 31, 2012
    #35
  36. yknyong1

    yknyong1 Radiance with Radeon

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    I don't think it will help a lot. It's a risk.
     
    yknyong1, Jan 31, 2012
    #36
  37. yknyong1

    yknyong1 Radiance with Radeon

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    Try the Intel Centrino 6230N
     
    yknyong1, Jan 31, 2012
    #37
  38. gstaff

    gstaff Newbie

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    Did you use some ESD protection ?? I work as PCB diagnostic and i wear ESD overall all the time at work. ESD has the capability of causing enough damage to the components inside your computer to render it completely inoperable. It's important to use an anti-static strap and/or a grounding mat whenever working on the inside of your computer. Being aware of ESD precautions can significantly reduce the chance of damage to your computer due to static electricity. Keep it in mind in your next disassembling orgy.
     
    gstaff, Feb 11, 2012
    #38
  39. yknyong1

    yknyong1 Radiance with Radeon

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    I use an anti-static wrist strap. Anyway 4 laptops had problems and I disassembled only 2 of them.
     
    yknyong1, Feb 11, 2012
    #39
  40. Hawat

    Hawat Notebook Enthusiast

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    I had the same issue with the space bar but I successfully fixed this probem. You don't need to remove the space key, just slip a piece of paper folded in square-shape below the middle zone of the key. After this simple operation the spacebar key will work as it should. Don't worry about the degradation of the cellulose, the piece of paper will stay under the key for years if is not directly exposed to rain or sunlight ;).
     
    Hawat, Feb 12, 2012
    #40
  41. ravik1

    ravik1 Newbie

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    Hi, Thank you for your pictures. I had a question and was hoping you could help. 1. Can this laptop ram be upgraded to either 12gb or 16gb? 2. If so who is the manufacturer of the current RAM and what is the spec? e.g. PC3-10600/DDR3-1333 or PC3-12800/DDR3-1600 etc. Thank you in advance!
     
    ravik1, Mar 21, 2012
    #41
  42. yknyong1

    yknyong1 Radiance with Radeon

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    12 GB max as mentioned in the other thread. RAM manufacturer is Samsung, but it okay to use other brand memory. I have tried Kingston, Elpida, Crucial and Micron RAM. All works nicely.
     
    yknyong1, Mar 21, 2012
    #42
  43. ravik1

    ravik1 Newbie

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    That's great news, thank you.

    One final question. Do you know what voltage the current RAM is i.e 1.35 or 1.5?

    Kingston RAM is cheaper than Crucial so if 1.35 is not supported would rather save the money however if it is supported would rather save the energy!
     
    ravik1, Mar 23, 2012
    #43
  44. spincel

    spincel Notebook Consultant

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    I believed SB motherboard support 1.5V only.
     
    spincel, Mar 23, 2012
    #44
  45. yknyong1

    yknyong1 Radiance with Radeon

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    1.50V RAM will work. 1.35V may work only if it has 1.50V compatibility.
     
    yknyong1, Mar 23, 2012
    #45
  46. dovrantm

    dovrantm Notebook Enthusiast

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    if the sandisk issd p4 malfunctions is it possible to remove and replace it?
     
    dovrantm, Mar 31, 2012
    #46
  47. yknyong1

    yknyong1 Radiance with Radeon

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    Not possible as it is soldered onto the mainboard. Bring it back to Samsung.
     
    yknyong1, Mar 31, 2012
    #47
  48. BennyLava

    BennyLava Newbie

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    I came across a SAMSUNG Series 7 NP700Z5A for a good deal, however I do not think the graphics card will be able to run Diablo 3.

    Is it possible to replace the card?
     
    BennyLava, May 13, 2012
    #48
  49. yknyong1

    yknyong1 Radiance with Radeon

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    This one has only the 6490M, which I do not recommend you to buy if you are going to play D3. Get the 6750M version or wait for the Z5C with GT 640M instead.

    GPU cannot be replaced.
     
    yknyong1, May 13, 2012
    #49
  50. BennyLava

    BennyLava Newbie

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    Thanks yknyong1, you are currently the best source of info on these machines on the internet right now.
     
    BennyLava, May 13, 2012
    #50
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