Samsung Series 7 Lovers - Here's The NP700Z5C Ivy Bridge!

Almost. The VGA port needs a dongle.

John

 

Good eye. But I don't use VGA. I should have said "The ports I USE should be actual size." (I was really referring to the HDMI and Ethernet ports.)

But hey, it was my own personal list. I knew what I meant!

EDIT: Now let's just hope I like the laptop. I've never even seen one before...

 

You're going to appreciate the full keyboard on the Sammy. As pointed out by others, having to press Fn every time you want PgUp, PgDn, Home, End... was a huge point for us in favor of Samsung vs the Sony Vaio that was the contender.

 

Does it look anything like my current laptop's keyboard? This is it:

 

The best photo I can find of the Z3C keyboard is here.

John

 

Ahhh... Thanks John!

In that case, it looks pretty similar:

 

Hi Guys I bought the NP700Z3C-S01 recently (2 weeks ago). The laptop itself is quite nice, I already replaced the HDD and got a caddy from E-bay which works great. My issue thought is heat, is it normal for the laptop to idle at 55-60 degrees? Im in Norway by the way. If I play say Anno temps can go as high as 86-95 in like 10minutes. Not sure if its a fault with the cpu or what. Its weird that the CPU is warmer than the GPU. Just want to make sure these temps are normal. Even if I put it on silent mode which down clocks the CPU it still idles at arround 50 and goes up to 64...and thats at 1.6Ghz I think.

 

I wouldn't worry about the idle temperatures unless the outside of the computer is uncomfortably hot. Thermal cycling (big frequent temperature changes can kill the electronics faster than just staying a bit warmer (it was the thermal cycling that killed the nVidia GPUs about 4 years ago). The nearer the CPU temperature is to the room temperature then the less effective the cooling system becomes so the fan isn't achieving much and Samsung think that users would prefer less fan noise. 95C under full load doesn't completely surprise me on account of a dedicated GPU in a fairly small chassis but let other Z3C owners report on their findings. Sub-farm mounting of the heatsinks can add 5 to 10C to the full load temperatures.

John

 

I'm assuming the Z3C and Z5C have similar internals (I mean architecture, not components). Anyway, with the Z5C I noticed the same issue at idle, but I ended up wiping and reinstalling Windows and it idled closer to 40 after that. On the other hand, I recall the GPU at 75C and the CPU at 85C while gaming.

This may be a really dumb suggestion, but with the Asus N56VC, I set the power setting to "Quiet Office" which downclocked the max CPU speed by about 30% -- not sure it directly modified GPU -- and noticed the temps while gaming dropped 10C. Still well above 30FPS (e.g., BF3), but for those who want to squeeze every ounce of performance from the machine, maybe not a viable solution.

-Matt

 

For those concerned about CPU temp during gaming, there was a trick posted some time ago to prevent the CPU from TurboBoosting: In your Windows Power Profile ("Change advanced power settings" ), under "Processor power management", change "Max processor state" to 99% (from default 100%).

This should keep your CPU cooler during GPU limited tasks such as games.

Sorry, I forgot who first posted this or I would credit

 

Thanks guys, I will try the trick posted by Dannemand first. It is funny though I was using the intel app to monitor the cpu and could see it was boosting allmost permanently at 2.9 / 3.0 Ghz. I saw that the I5 3210 can operate up to 105 degrees. But honestly, I do not like seeing temps over 85. If the Power Profile trick does not work I will format it on the weekend and re-install windows. For anyone looking for a caddy, I ordered a caddy for a Mac and it fits perfectly the screw holes for the brackets etc was in the perfect position and only paid 15 dollars. So far it works perfectly. Also have to mention the trackpad on this laptop is really sensitive, I personally like it and it works well for scrolling etc. but some might find it annoying. The main selling point for me though is the keyboard. This is really a nice keyboard to work on and that it's back lit is a bonus. Only issue I have is with the design to get rid of heat.

 

Spoiler

For anyone interested in the NP700Z3C S01, only issue I have is with the placement of the vent. Overall its pretty good though, especially with a ssd. Ssd is a must on this laptop.

 

I ended up going over to Best Buy to check out the UB and although the screen isn't too bad for single user viewing I think it might be an issue if I were trying to show my fellow classmate something on the screen from an angle. I'm assuming this is the same screen used on the S04?

Matt, I wish you good luck in your search! Also, I look forward to reading about each laptop you come across in your journey to enlightenment

Thanks for bringing the 14" to my attention! The specs look pretty good so the only question I would have is how does the screen compare with the Z5C? Same? Better? Please say better.

 

the Chronos 14 inch uses the SEC0006 screen, I just checked under my device manager seems like the same screen that is used in the NP700Z5C.

 

@mrtriumph: Dozens of reports on this forum say it's the same screen on the 14" and the 15". Once you go to the 17" Z7C, though, it is a different (and excellent) screen.

At least that's my understanding.

I've always been very picky about monitors and TVs, and I have to admit it's not great on my Z3A. But it is certainly FAR better than most reports here would have you believe. Particularly in real life use, where you will appreciate the matte glass that makes it readable virtually anywhere -- but which also is a main reason for it's low contrast.

That's my opinion, of course.

 

So is there a way to keep the keyboard lit at all time besides covering the ambient light sensor?

 

Thanks for the info and opinion on the screen. I ended up stopping by Best Buy again last night and spent a good 30-45min with the Samsung. I must say that I really started not to mind the screen. I don't think its actually that bad and agree that previous reports make it seem pretty bad. I'll be stopping by the Microsoft Store on Monday to compare the Sony with the Samsung and will be making my final purchase right after I decide which one is right for me. So far the build quality of the Samsung has me leaning quite far in its favor.

 

Using the Fn F9 and F10 the keyboard lights can be turned on / off and brightness control at anytime (if the Fn isn't working run dmhkcore.exe).

 

If you check some of my other recent posts (just click my handle) you'll notice that I tested both the Sammy and a Sony Vaio SA 13.3" 1600x900. The Sony had better contrast, but less brightness and more glare (even though it's still matte). I had several situations with light hitting the screen at angles, where the Sammy was readable, but the Sony wasn't.

 

That's good to hear! I hated trying to decide between the Sony and the Samsung. I have to agree though, the Samsung's build quality is far more superior than the Sony's. And I also agree that once you spend an extended amount of time with the Samsung, you don't notice the bad viewing angles that much.

Hope to hear about your final decision!

 

I'm assuming that both of you went with the Samsung right? How is it holding up?

 

Matt et al,

First, just wanted to say that I've been trying to figure out what the heck the differences are between the various Samsung NP700Z5C models (S01US, S01UB, S04US) for a while now and this thread--which I just found today--has been incredibly informative and helpful, so thank you to all of the contributors. Now I'm just agonizing over the decision as to which model to buy--that is, which version would be best for my contemplated uses--and I haven't yet been able to piece that together from everything I've read.

I think I understand the differences between the models' specs; basically, if I get the Best Buy model (SO1UB) rather than the Amazon, etc. model (SO1US--doubt I'd fork over the extra $ for the SO4US), it sounds like I would get an extra 2GB of RAM (8GB vs 6GB) and an extra 250GB hard drive (1TB vs 750GB). On the flip side, I'd get an inferior graphics card (512 MB NVIDIA 630M vs 1GB NVIDIA 640M) and inferior rpm on the hard drive (5400 rpm vs 7200 rpm).

My question for those of you who know more about computers than I do (i.e., everyone in this forum) is, what does all of this mean?? Matt, I know you mentioned, e.g., that you'd recommend the SO1US "if" the user would benefit from 1GB NVIDIA 640M rather than the 512 MB NVIDIA 630M, but I'm not sure how to determine whether I would.

Basically, I am looking for desktop replacement (anything will be better than our 8 or 9 year old Dell that hardly can boot anymore!) and would like it to be very fast (even running multiple applications at the same time) and last a long time. It will be used by both my wife and me, and neither of us are gamers, but we do expect to use it for downloading and streaming to our TV HD movies, using FaceTime, downloading (and streaming to our TV, possibly via Apple TV) music, surfing the Web, using Word and Excel, etc...some of which we may be doing simultaneously.

Based on our expected usage, I'm wondering if the Best Buy model (S01UB) might be perfectly fine for us, and possibly even better than the S01US due to the larger RAM and hard drive (for saving pictures, video, etc.)? Or would the enhanced specs on the S01US (7200 rpm and 1GB NVIDIA 640M) make a notable difference in performance given our uses (such as streaming HD videos to a TV)?

Of course I'll be interested to hear what "SoundsGood" has to say about the 14" Series 7 (NP700Z3C-S02US) once he receives it since that could be another option--not that I need one

Sorry for the long message, and hopefully the questions aren't too embarrassingly basic and obvious!

Thanks!

 

Greetings from the UK!

I've owned my 700Z5C S01UK for 4 days. Its the 8gb, 1TB hd version.

First impressions are that it is super quick and responsive.

Coming from an Acer 5755G with a pretty poor 1366x768 glossy screen, I have to say, the Samsung's display is a massive improvement to my eyes. It is super bright, sharp and has decent colours.

The build quality and looks are spot on too. It looks and feels like a high end and expensive piece of kit.

The speakers are very good (and loud) for such a compact laptop.

The keyboard and trackpad are also great to use.

The only problem I have is the trackpad - its great when it works. But for no apparent reason it will stop working and not respond any sort of input. As I type this, I cant use the trackpad, its "frozen". It will start working again, and it could be fine for a few hours and then freeze again for seconds/minutes or longer. I uninstalled and reinstalled the drivers, it hasnt made any difference.

Has anyone else experienced this? I don't think its a hardware problem, maybe a software/driver conflict. I might do a fresh install of Windows and see what happens.

Any thoughts/opinions gratefully received.

 

Yes, I have the S01UB version. It's been excellent so far. I'm beyond satisfied with my decision over the S15. The only minor problems I've experienced is that sometimes the trackpad is too sensitive and the drivers for them load kind of slowly from bootup. This is because it uses Samsung's Easy Settings software and other OEM software. It's not a deal breaker but just little things I've noticed that might help you. The laptop is near flawless to me.

I hope I'll be able to help you since I chose the S01UB.

First off, RPM (revolutions per minute) in a hard drive determines its energy usage and its speed in transferring and loading files/programs. It isn't that noticeable to me since I've never had a SSD (Solid State Drive), which is the fastest drive out there. I have the UB model so it has 1TB but 5400RPM. I figured since the laptop has the 8GB ExpressCache, the RPM in the HDD doesn't matter to me.

Keep in mind, you can always buy external drives, cloud storage, etc if you plan to use a lot of data. This only applies if you'd rather have the quicker 750GB 7200RPM.

RAM pretty much assists in the ability to multitask or just use intense programs. For example, if you plan to browse the internet, listen to music, and do a virus scan or something, more RAM would be ideal. 6GB RAM compared to 8GB RAM isn't that much, especially if you don't game or do anything heavy.

When you stream movies and pictures to your TV, I personally don't think the better video card and RPM in hard drive really shows up. You won't even notice it. I chose the S01UB because I am a college student and also won't game that much. I do watch movies and stream Netflix so I can testify that it's gorgeous on the S01UB.

If I had to suggest a model to you, I'd say go with the S01UB. 250 GB hard drive is a lot if you're planning to put a lot of media on it. You don't need the higher GPU because you don't game. The 2GB RAM will be a nice addition in your case.

Of course, someone could probably convince you otherwise! Haha, just wanted to advertise my S01UB. Hope I helped somewhat!

 

That's odd... Maybe make sure you didn't disable it with the Fn key? I doubt you disabled it, but just in case.

Anyway, I would go with a fresh install in that case if reinstalling drivers didn't help. Hopefully someone else can give an opinion though.

 

Posting here as well, I assume this issue is fairly similar for the 15" model:

I'm currently considering getting a NP700Z3CS02, as it is currently on sale. My question is: has the WiFi issues of the model been solved with the new Ivy Bridge generation? Some posts on this forum suggests the problem is gone, others that it's just slightly better than it used to be. I'm hoping some new owners can confirm wether the problem is still there or has been solved.

 

Hi jnth, welcome to the forum and thanks for joining us! Andre's been doing such a great job answering questions, I don't have much to add. I don't think you could go wrong with either model, but based on your description I also think the Best Buy model will not only save you a few $$$ but also the 630m video card will suit your needs fine. To be totally honest, it DOESN'T even kick in while watching video (e.g., Windows Media Player) so you'll probably be using the integrated video card (Intel HD 4000) 99% of the time.

@trefts, as far as I know the IB series has been superior. The wifi issue seems limited to the larger 17" model (due to antennae+aluminum lid problems?) -- I don't think the 15" is a concern. Some users have posted issues here, but those may have been solved by running the latest driver. My educated guess is the 13" Z3C will be fine, but we'll have a few new owners here soon who can verify!

-Matt

 

Has anyone had any luck overclocking their GT640m above the 708mhz they seem to run at as standard (according to Afterburner anyway)?

I have tried using Afterburner and upped the core and memory but it hasn't made a difference to the FPS or benchmark scores, so I'm assuming a Bios mod would be the best way to overclock the GPU?

 

Hello! I just registered to share my opinions of this laptop with you guys! First I wanted the XPS 15 but its too expensive and has wifi, throttling issues so I decided to go with this one. I've got the S04 version for 1100 €
i7 3615
8Gb RAM
Geforce 640m
1TB Hard drive + 8 GB Expresscache

First of all, the screen has been criticized very much. For me it isnt bad BUT I came from a 1280 x 1024 4:3 monitor . I think it depends a lot of which screen you came so if you were using a Book, UX 31... it will disappoint you. I did a clean instal of Win7 Ultimate, did a BIOS Update and installed drivers. Now it is really fast! Booting in ~ 20 sek, and often used programs (itunes, outlook...) also start very quick. The battery is awesome! 6 hours while surfing (wifi), screen brightness on mid.
btw Could somebody please upload the default racing and superbright themes?
Thanks!

 

Vetch i took a look at one of these in sainsburys today and the build wasnt all that great. It was only the budget version as i cannot find a brick and mortar shop with any of them in with decent specs. However the whole base was plastic, not just palm rest, can you confirm the same for yours? Was a little disappointing as i expected to be mostly alu.

The other issue was that you literally couldnt use the right side of the space bar, literally have to press it center or to the left, else doesnt register at all. Hit it with all types of pressure and could not get it to register on the right side which makes it useless for a touch typist.

Anyone have this issue, or is this limited to certain models?

 

Hi Rheeley,

The bottom part of my laptop (as in the part that sits on your lap) is plastic, but the rest of the chassis - the keyboard and trackpad surround, the screen surround and top of the laptop is all alloy/aluminium.

The fit and and finish of mine seems perfect to me, no gaps, or sharp edges and the trackpad is 100% flush with the chassis with consistent pressure for left and right clicking.

As for the space bar (and the rest of the keyboard), its great. I can lightly press the very edge of the spacebar and it registers fine.

Maybe the one you saw in Sainsburys has been molested/smacked around by 1000 customers and their kids?!

 

Thanks a lot thats a big help. I dont mind plastic on the bottom, i expect it even. But the whole area around trackpad etc was plain grey plastic not even a fake brushed look. The rest of keyboard was fine just not backlit. But the right hand side of spacebar didnt work, wasnt the trackpad that was the issue. If you tried the space bar though and all works then sweet

Would you recommend this then? Think i will take the plunge and buy either this or the vaio s15 tomorrow. The model i have seen for this is here. Is that the one you have?

Thanks again for putting my mind at rest.

 

I have the very same laptop in your Amazon link. And I can confirm that the whole laptop bar the base is brushed aluminium, the keyboard including the space bar is top notch and responsive (and backlit)!

I bought mine from Laptops Direct for about that price but I'm able to claim £100 cashback from Samsung, so a bit of a bargain. I'm not sure if you can do the same with Amazon?

I'm also sticking an 8gb stick of ram in there and hoping to overclock the GPU. If I'm feeling flush I might even go for an SSD!

 

Aye you can claim back through amazon. Actually saw it on laptops direct first and that was cheapest, but has since been reduced to 899 on amazon so will work out about 15 quid cheaper lol.

I would kind of like to upgrade the ssd myself. Ram i wasnt sure was upgradeable? Thanks again, i reckon this samsung is the one for me lol =]

 

You can replace the 4gb in the one available dimm slot with an 8gb stick. And its a cheap upgrade (about £35-40).

When you take delivery of your laptop, post a review on here, I'd be interested to see what you think (I havent found a single "official" review yet).

 

Would having a 4 and an 8 not cause problems dual channel wise as they don't match? will likely buy a Samsung 830 for it, though may wait and see how is first as no ssd in my desktop so may feel faster anyway lol.

will definitely post my thoughts on it. Just to confirm they aren't likely to refresh these in next month or so with better specs are they?

 

4 + 8 will run as asymmetric dual channel which gives a small drop in performance. You can get an idea of the difference from my table here.

John

 

Looked at table but am on my phone so hard to really make sense of. Would I be better off sticking with the eight gig standard then as probably wouldn't use more anyway in real world terms so no point lowering the score? Or would the extra benefit even asynchronous?

 

8GB is more than enough for most people. If, in use, you see that you are filling all 8GB and Windows is using the swap file then it's time to consider moving to 12GB RAM.

John

 

Alright, so I went to Microsoft today and I played around again with the S04. After about 10-15 minutes of tinkering around with it I decided that I love it and I was going to get it right there and then. While the sales associate went to the back to get one for me I logged in to this thread and started reading the posts and it got me thinking about if this model is overkill for my needs. Low and behold I left the store empty handed. lol

I forgot to ask you guys for your opinion on what would fit my needs better. I plan to use the laptop mainly for programming in school but I plan on getting into some gaming (maybe some Battlefield 3 and Guild Wars 2). I am considering the S01 since from what I have read it is not much different from the S04 except for the 2gb downgrade. Do you think I would be happy with the cheaper S01? (I could use the money I save for a new tablet) Or do you think the extra 2gb would really help in my gaming? I could just buy a 4gb ram so the S01 has 8gb and still save money right? Btw, I believe the total at the Microsoft store was around $1315. I know I could get the free XBox but I wouldn't really use it and if I were to sell it I would probably have to discount it a bit in order to sell it. Any help would be appreciated.

 

The ram shouldnt affect your gaming at all mate. If the only difference is memory then get the one with less for now as games dont really touch it, thats what your video card is for. We dont get these options in the uk lol, our options are with or without discrete graphics which i guess makes it an easier choice.

 

Well despite my reservations about buying this over the sony s15/u2442n and waiting on things like the asus u500....have just ordered me the np700z5c-s01uk from amazon so should receive it within a week. I figure to get a comparable spec from the sony i have to spend 2-300 more so why bother? The gigabyte i just didnt like the look of and wanted a numberpad. The asus looks amazing but lets face it, thats gonna cost about £1500 to buy when it comes out lol.

Hope the price doesnt drop or way better computers come out within the month before uni but i guess thats always the risk. Will post here with a mini review/opinions when i have got the laptop.

Could people recommend bags/sleeves for the laptop? I have never had a laptop before so dont really know much about them (only recently heard of laptop sleeves) and will be taking it to and from uni every day. Weather here in the uk is also notoriously dire so a way to be able to walk in the rain without fear of my laptop being destroyed would be great.

Thanks again

 

Just a quick update on my ownership experience, specifically regarding the display.

I've used the display profile mentioned in this thread and used the Windows calibration tool and set the display to sharp in the Easy Management software.

And...the whites are proper white, theres no blueish tint. The colours are vibrant and very accurate to my eyes and the blacks aren't too bad either. It looks so much better.

 

Andre and Matt,

Thanks for the replies, they were very helpful! Think I will take your advice and go for the Best Buy model. Also, I note that this laptop comes with the Intel Wireless Display so I could stream music/videos etc. and the screen of my laptop (while web surfing, for example) to a TV with a device like Netgear's Push2TV. Anyone have any experience using one of these devices with a Samsung Series 7? And are you aware of any major advantages/disadvantages of the Push2TV vs the Apple TV? My apologies if there's another thread out there on this topic already.

Thanks again!

 

What does this mean?? I'm unsure what to do when asked about the partition option on my new Sammy.

 

I am almost certain he just means don't delete the recovery partition.

Many people like to start with a clean disk and don't want to waste space on the Recovery partition when they do clean install. But Recovery also makes driver installation easier and allows you to revert to factory installation (in case you want to sell it someday). Unless you know how to re-create a Recovery partition, I don't think you should delete it.

But you certainly can (and should) repartition your HDD during initial install, so that you can separate your data from your Windows drive. Makes life so much easier when you can always just restore a saved Windows image without having to worry about it affecting your data.

 

Okay. This is the first computer I've owned that asks about partitioning so I'm unsure about what to do. I've always had everything in one place on one drive so I've never really thought about it before.

I still haven't turned on the laptop yet (busy with other stuff, frankly) but I've gotta do it at some point.

The good news is that with a 750GB hard drive I'm not at all concerned about space!

 

Precisely! :thumbsup:

-Matt

 

Matt, do you repartition your HDD (separate your data from your Windows drive)? If so, how much space do you give for the Windows side?

 

Exactly! Don't worry about space or clean install (at least for now).

But DO re-partition the drive when asked. As I wrote in the Z3C thread, 50GB should be plenty for your Windows partition (maybe 60 if you want to be ultra conservative), leave the rest for Data. Then move your various data folders to the Data drive before you start saving things. This way, you can play around and mess it up as you get to know it. It'll only take 10 mins to restore to factory, and all your data will be intact.

Later, when you're setup, making an image backup of your Windows partition is a great safeguard. If it ever gets messy or you think you have malware or for whatever reason, you can just restore that image - instead of spending hours trying to figure out what's wrong. It's the way to do it!

When you're up and running, I can help you identify which bloat to uninstall. Since you got it from Microsoft, it shouldn't be bad - although the Microsoft bloat is actually the first to go on my PCs