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

So the fan on my 3 month old NP700Z5C-S01US is apparently crapping out. A vibration on the laptop started 2 days ago and just now it turned into a loud buzz. Should I contact Samsung customer support under the warranty or just go and buy a new fan? I can't really afford the time away from my computer to ship it back to the factory

 

For sure. I'm good with 1920x1200 via HDMI. Although, quite frankly, even that is more than I really need most of the time!

 

Guys, Im new to hear and I am really interested in buying this laptop. The problem is I am not sure about the model difference of the following models:
SAMSUNG Series 7 NP700Z5C-S02US Newegg.com - SAMSUNG Series 7 NP700Z5C-S02US Notebook Intel Core i7 3615QM(2.30GHz) 15.6" 8GB Memory DDR3 1600 750GB HDD 7200rpm DVD Super Multi NVIDIA GeForce GT 640M
Samsung Series 7 NP700Z5C-S03US Amazon.com: Samsung Series 7 NP700Z5C-S03US 15.6-Inch Laptop (Silver): Electronics

The model number is different but I cant seem to notice the difference in their spec. Can someone please help me?

 

I would first look inside to be sure what the problem is. Maybe something is getting loose.

John

 

Oops, retracted my comment, I misread your comment. I can't tell a difference, I didn't even know the S03US existed yet. It's not on Samsung's site either.

You're definitely better off saving money and going with the S01US model however, and putting the saved money into an SSD or something else.

 

I'm looking to buy a new laptop to replace my XPS 1530 of 4 years now. I bought the XPS 15 (2012) and suffered the same wifi issues as a majority of the people. So, I am now looking at what would have been my second choice, the Samsung Series 7. I was on their website and the most attractive spec one was the NP700Z5C-S04US, which cost about 1200. However, on the samsung site, it has no user reviews, and when I click buy now, no store options come up. Is that model new and not out yet or something?

It's this one: Specs - Series 7 Notebooks NP700Z5CH | Samsung Laptops

I would really want to buy this over the other Series 7 15'' models I see on their site. Anyone have any answers? Thanks.

 

The S04US model is the one sold at the Microsoft Store: Buy Samsung Series 7 700Z5C-S04 - 15.6 inch notebook PC with Intel Core i5 processor, HDMI, and Intel Wireless Display - Microsoft Store Online

I'd still really recommend going with the S01US model instead and upgrading the ram yourself to save the money

 

I agree!

-Matt

 

Guys i need serious help, having such a nightmare.

Decided to format the computer just to be sure it was all fresh, so i downloaded windows onto usb same way i ALWAYS do for my desktop. Boot into usb, delete partitions that are there (didnt delete samsung recovery) and installed, but when computer reboots if i dont boot back into usb to do setup yet again, it just loops. Powers up, says press f2 or f4, then shuts down and so on.

Its like the 7.5gig which i assume is the express cache thing is getting in the way. The main drive that i am installing windows to shows up as disk 1, the 7.5 as disk 0.

Cant even do f4 for recovery it does the boot loop on that.

Am i completely screwed or is there a fix for this? Am using the recovery dvd now but its just installing windows the same as my usb does so i imagine its gonna reboot and be same problem. Like its looking for windows on disk0, its not there so it reboots.

 

Sorry if I'm getting my machines mixed up (I'm on 3 forums right now...) but how about tapping ESC during boot? IIRC it should bring up a list of boot devices and you can see if the HDD is there and whether selecting it works.

If that fails, I would reinstall again. And if that fails, I would try an installation via DVD. I'm sometimes amazed that repeating an installation (even though you do the same exact steps) can result in different outcomes!

-Matt

 

Found another thread guy same problem and he was told to install from dvd not usb which i am doing at the mo, fingers crossed. Swear to god i will never format a laptop again lol.

 

It booted back up after using the dvd install, i just hope i havent messed up somehow losing the fast booting or etc that comes with the laptop. Easy software manager is installing stuf for me now, i accidentally left recovery solution ticked so that will be installed which is annoying but at least my bloody laptop started up lol.

Thanks for help

 

Tell you what though, you were right about easy software manager. Untick the stuff i dont want, click install and its just sat here beside me doing the lot, not having to click a thing. Brilliant.

Once i get it connected to internet(when wifi driver is on) would it check online for updates to things like the touchpad or is that something i have to keep an eye out for manually?

 

I seem to recall you can click the "update" button and it will do a quick search for you. But I also noticed it didn't *always* find the latest drivers (maybe touchpad, or wifi). But that's great news that you're back in action. Didn't take long!

You're gonna love hearing this but: if you have any concerns at all about the new installation, I would run the recovery partition just to see how fast and efficient it is (it's insanely fast). Now that you're a pro (and know the DVD is the better option) you could re-re-reinstall Win7 in under 30 minutes! LOL

-Matt

 

*Sigh* I just got around to installing my SSD into the Samsung this morning. Just popped it out of the HP, put it in the S7, and booted from my Windows 7 USB. I formatted the partition with the old W7 install and then went to do a clean (custom) installation. And then I got the famous "Setup could not create or locate a system partition..." error. Super excited. I also experienced the boot looping issue that rheeley went through but enough playing with the bios fixed that. Any idea of what I could do guys? I'd rather not use the recovery disk or load the original system image that I backed up so I can have a clean install. I'm in class now so I'll be back at it to tonight trying to reinstall Windows. Tried Diskpart and everything.

Thanks guys.

 

@rheeley: you're not screwed, don't worry

Windows makes its 100MB SYSTEM partition on your iSSD because it thinks that's your boot drive.

I'm on my phone now and won't be able to give you a detailed fix till tonight (pretty late).

The easiest fix is to just install from DVD instead. Delete the iSSD partition while in there and format your Windows partition.

Edit: sheesh, missed the second page. Forget this post, you already got it

 

Mate use the dvd that came with your computer, recovery one. It just installs windows without all the rubbish bloat anyway that worked for me. But to get it to even install before from usb i just had to delete all partitions, then i had to unplug my usb, click the x to go back to main menu on the installer, click install again and it let me choose the drive as normal, then i replugged the usb and carried on. Odd i know.

 

What do you mean about the recovery partition matey?

 

Oh I figured that the recovery DVD included all the bloat. I had previously deleted all partitions on the SSD so I figured windows wouldn't have trouble but I guess that didn't work haha. But thanks, I'll try reinstalling from the disk tonight and let you know how it goes. I've done countless USB installations and never ran into this problem before. Weird.

 

Same mate, on my desktop its never been an issue. I think its gotta be something to do with this 8gig cache lol.

But yeah i ran recovery dvd and it literally did the normal windows setup you would do with usb, custom install, delete partitions. Only this time it works.

Then once you get windows on it gives you the option to install easy software manager which i recommend you do. Then that has the list of various drivers and programs so just tick the ones you want and off you go. Now i have a working laptop without the bloat.

Dont mind telling you i was close to soiling myself lol.

 

Oh gee I'm getting confused...*hold on*...OK, so good, you are still using the stock HDD. What I meant was the partition on the HDD reserved for recovery. If you initiate recovery from boot, it runs from that partition and takes you back to stock in a flash!

Two other thoughts (neither necessarily helpful): first, I wouldn't order either of you to read (or reread) the entire thread, but you may be reassured to know several others have gone through the same issues. In particular, there is discussion here (and I think some good links in the "mother" NP700 thread) about how to work with the 8GB cache during wipes/reinstalls. Second, this is a stretch, but I had the *exact same* problem (USB vs. DVD install) with the Sony S15 and the Asus N56VZ, and in both cases it was due to BIOS set at legacy vs. UEFI, and again, in both cases things went much more smoothly with a DVD installation.

But I prefer to say "all's well that ends well."

-Matt

 

Does anyone know if you can get a dvi dongle instead of the vga dongle for this laptop?

 

You can easily use your HDMI port, e.g., about $4 at Amazon:

Amazon.com: Eforcity Black 6FT /2 Meter HDMI Male to DVI Male Cable: Electronics

Since the mini-VGA port is likely analog, I don't think there's a way to convert it to DVI without an analog-to-digital adapter.

-Matt

 

Alright guys I'm back for an update. I'm typing this on my Chronos, so your install from DVD method worked like a charm. Thanks for the help dudes!

 

Oh also a quick note: Nvidia's new WHQL 306.23 Drivers released yesterday or the day before work on the Samsung.

 

Has anyone tried playing Guild Wars 2 on this laptop? If so how's the performance? What kind of frames did you get and what were you doing when you got them, etc. Also, how hot does it get? Thanks.

 

Just realized I didn't partition my drive when I formatted so just had to redo it lol. Went fine though easy software software manager didn't come up automatically this time. Had to download a version off of Samsung website and it didn't feel as simple to use, had to manually click everything.

Was a little worried it would not pick up the right software for my laptop but seems okay thankfully. wifi strength seems a bit flakey though

 

This is taking an age to install QHotfix...when i google that it keeps on about errors and viruses. Can i assume this is a necessary fix for this possible error and not something malicious? Also do you bother installing these win 7 patches as part of easy software manager?

Thinking i shoulda just ran a windows update after installing drivers :/

 

Try the latest driver from Intel using this utility.

John

 

are you sure it works?
i get the device is not compatiable.
how did you install it??

thanks

 

It worked for me at least. I just ran it and did the express install since there was no reason to do a custom install. I didn't really do anything special.

 

Am i right in thinking that you should not run this computer on the charger and should be charging it and then running the battery down each time to conserve the battery life or is it safe to just run from charger when at home?

Also assuming the battery down to warning levels to charge or shut down, if you shut down and plug it in, how long on average should it take to recharge? Is there danger leaving it plugged in when its full?

Cheers

 

You are proposing to do the right things to wear out your battery as quickly as possible. The knowledge about batteries is dominated by the NiCd batteries of 15+ years ago and unintelligent power circuits that kept charging the batteries after they were full.

I would suggest that you read this post and the related links. Leaving the computer plugged in to the mains power will not damage the battery, particularly if you enable Samsung's Battery Life Extender option in Easy Settings.

John

 

So I just ordered the series 7. But the thing is, I got the dualcore i5 version because it was significantly cheaper. I'm having second thoughts now, so I'm asking here. How much of a difference would the i7-3615QM make? In overall use? In gaming? With the lower resolutions and with the 640M DDR5, does it matter? I got a i5-3210M.

 

Hey John I actually have a question for you about Samsung's Battery Life extender. From my understanding, leaving that off and thus allowing a 100% charge will cause the battery to reduce to about 80% capacity in 3 years or so (according to Samsung). My question is since I'm using the Battery Life Extender now, it's supposed to be able to hold a 100% charge (or close) 3 years from now if I need it to right? As in, it won't degrade down to 80% regardless of whether I use the extender or not. If it did degrade, it'd be pointless to only get 80% for the first 3 years if it's permanently stuck at 80% afterward anyway; might as well use all 100% while you can. If that's the case, of course. I hope I didn't word this too confusingly.

Also, on an unrelated topic, it appears that my sound driver crashes after I put the laptop to sleep every time but it doesn't say anything. I just become unable to play songs through WMP12 (I'll get an error) nor do I get any audio from the browser unless I do a restart.

 

I'm working with the hypothesis that most damage to the battery chemistry occurs with (i) the final stage of charging and (ii) the final stage of discharging. The more that those extremes are avoided then the more likely that you can have nearer 100% of design capacity to occasionally call on if you need it. I think that the 80% is a movable number - 80% of current fully charged capacity, not 80% of the original design. My current strategy is to use BLE when mainly connected to the mains and likely battery requirement is relatively small. I enable the 100% when I don't know when I'll next be able to charge, such as before going on a journey.

John

 

hey everyone,

while i was considering the Vaio S15, i came across this laptop. i'm looking into the NP700Z5C-S01US and i plan to replace the 2 GB with 4 GB of RAM to enable dual channel. i'm curious to know...


- what is voltage and timing on the 4 GB of RAM that is soldered into the system?
- can i use 1.5V RAM or is it better to stick with Samsung 1.35V here

 

You're looking in the right direction. FYI, the price on the S01US just dipped to $1050 at Amazon:

Amazon.com: Samsung Series 7 NP700Z5C-S01US 15.6-Inch Laptop (Silver): Computers & Accessories

-Matt

 

thanks. i'm tempted to just go pick up the Best Buy version, but for the same price after tax, i can get the better video card and 8 gb of ram.

i was going to order from Amazon, but they started charging tax in PA. i may end up ordering from Newegg...

 

Just a sec...

S01US (Amazon, Newegg): 6GB, better 640m, 750GB

S01UB (Best Buy): 8GB, lesser 630m, 1TB (iirc)

Is that what you meant? Sorry about tax in PA, that sucks. I guess it's just a matter of time before we all pay up...

EDIT: sorry I can't answer your RAM question, but if you're in the mood, it's come up 2 or 3 times in this thread -- you're welcome to read the whole novel.

-Matt

 

yea, you're right about the S01US and S01UB. since i plan to game a little bit, the 640m is what i want.


in regards to RAM, i searched and found a couple posts here and here where Patriot seems to be the choice.

although i'm still interested in finding out voltage and timing for the RAM that's soldered into the system.

 

I don't know what's on the board (we need an NP700Z5C owner to check using HWiNFO) but I would point out that the system will run 1.35V RAM at 1.5V if the modules have different voltages.

John

 

As far as I've ever known, the sticks don't need to be the same size to work in dual channel mode. HWInfo also reports that it's running in dual Channel mode.
The timings reported by HWINfo64 are as follows:




The 2nd screenshot is the only thing I could find related to the soldered on-board memory. Let me know if you can point me in the direction to find more detailed information.

 

Thank you!!! Looks like timing is 11-11-11-28 and 1.5V for the removable 2 GB stick of ram.

Weird...in my experience and understanding, dual channel can only be enabled if u use the same size ram. I'm confused as to why 1st screenshot shows dual channel when it's mismatching ram sizes (4 GB + 2 GB).

 

I have a suspicion that the first image may be displaying "mobo capacity" and not "current state". At least I ran into something similar with HWiNFO and whether a drive was running as SATA II or III.

-Matt

 

yjgfikl - do u mind downloading CPU-Z and checking if dual channel is enabled on your machine?

Go to the CPU-Z.
Go to the "memory" tab.
See what is written in front of : "Channel #"


i think u can u could also check your BIOS as well...

 

ok, after another test run with the laptop at Best Buy i finally decided that this is the laptop i want. it came down to the display, but it's actually not bad and is something i can deal with. i'm coming from an HP DM4T and currently using a Dell Latitude D610.

ended up getting the NP700Z5C-S01US model for $999.97 at PC Richard & Son. they offer free shipping, but tax is added (at least for PA, not sure about other states)...so i will be paying about $1080. i hate Philly's 8% tax...if you live in Delaware and enjoy their 0% tax, then you're lucky.

anyway, they have a store in Philly but didn't have any in stock. they're gonna ship one to the store and where then i can buy it in-store. yes, i could have saved $30 if i ordered from Newegg ($1049.99 + free shipping + no tax) but felt that $30 was a trade off to buy it in store. i figured this saves me the hassle of having to ship stuff back to warehouses at my expense in case i need to return or replace it for any reason (dead pixels, faulty laptop, etc).

but then again...the same $30 could be used to buy 4 GB of RAM...

 

Fantastic! Wish I could see the look on your face the first time you view the backlit keyboard in the dark.

-Matt

 

And again:

 

Proven wrong, I am!!!

-Matt