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

I totally agree. 1600x900 on a 15" is the sweet spot for my ooooooooooolllllld eyes. I enjoyed 1920x1080 on the Sony S15, but found I had to rescale most browser pages, and otherwise did a lot of squinting. Great for programming and UI design, but hey that's what gigantic external displays are there for.

-Matt

 

Hi,
I just upgraded to windows8 and can't seem to find express cache setting anywhere..
anyone know how to access?

 

It's written for Win7, but you might check here: http://forum.notebookreview.com/sam...ache-i-want-my-expresscache-back-edition.html

-Matt

 

i'm an idiot i found it....but can't seem to reset it like windows7

 

I hope this gets confirmed soon...and I hope it is a drop in replacement for existing NP700Z5C. I love this laptop except for the screen. I don't care about higher resolution at this point, i just want better viewing angles and better color reproduction.

 

ARGH, you just reminded me of something I forgot to mention: the viewing angles on the new display are still...well, horizontal is OK (by my standards anyway) but vertical is still quite a problem. By that I mean tilting a few degrees up or down quickly washes out the image. Sorry I forgot about that. It would be really cool if we could somehow get a professional-quality read on it.

Otherwise the colors do look improved. I'm going to try and go back to Best Buy, and see if they'll let me put one of their S01UBs (oddly there's a used one on the "display-unit" table, but marked at the not-so-fabulous price of $999) next to a new S02UB.

-Matt

 

If you type into google "Samsung windows 8 upgrade" there is a link in there that allows you to download the new swupdate which downloads all the windows 8 drivers.

 

Hello, I got the Windows 8 $15 upgrade promotion code through the e-mail today, and was hesitant to pull the trigger simply because I don't want to upgrade and be left hanging because of driver incompatibility issues...
For those who did, does the upgrade migrate all system files, programs, and drivers to the newly-installed Windows 8?

Your response would be greatly appreciated.

Thank you.

 

It is probably the same with the 700Z3C I think?

 

Never mind guys, figured it out! Installed successfully.

For those interested, you can find compatibility here: SAMSUNG PC Windows 8 Upgrade

And download from the link on that page.

 

I'm using my new best buy model right now. Windows 8 is a rush, and not always in a good way

 

Anyone else have a win8 15inch yet? I've noticed the fn keys for turning on and off the keyboard backlight have a lot of delay, and is there a way to make it so the ambient light sensor doesn't control them? I remember the fn keys being kind of slow on the 14 inch as well, maybe just a flaw of samsung's drivers.

EDIT: And I should mention that now that I'm using it in daylight it seems like it only turns on when the light sensor is covered. Any way to change this setting? In Samsung's Settings it seems like it's just the default and I'm not sure if it's changeable.

 

Hey, congrats! You know, we're waiting for the detailed "first impressions" post!!!

Regarding Fn key issues, check out Dannemand's' superb thread on latency issues: http://forum.notebookreview.com/samsung/688064-how-reduce-latencies-samsung-laptops.html

I also recall that you can turn off keyboard backlight auto-dimming somewhere in EasySettings. HOWEVER, I should note that the Best Buy model I played with the other day had only a third of the expected options in EasySettings -- at the time, I attributed that to "oh, it's Best Buy" and not Win8 problems. I'd assume you have the full suite.

-Matt

 

The only settings I'm able to see are the "Settings" app that I get from looking at the magnifying glass. Then I get an option to turn the keyboard backlight from dark to bright, the problem is that it just states as a matter of fact that the ambient sensor will control the lighting and doesn't give me an option to change that or anything. It's not a huge deal in that it's not a crisis if I don't have my light on in the daylight, but the sensor can be sensitive for example if you move the screen down a little bit the lights might pop up. It would be weird for samsung to remove this feature.

What would a detailed impressions post be like? Other than the weird backlight issue, the harddrive is a little noisy sometimes (not annoying noisy but like why are you making noise when nothing's going on? noisy) but I assume it's because there's a million apps on this and they're probably always working. I returned my last acer laptop because of that issue but now I know that might just be paranoia -- the tech guys at acer told me to send it for repair, though.

I got some weird screen flickering when I first booted it up after a little while, looked like maybe a software thing, not brightness dimming but actual flickering.

Otherwise fairly standard for what you'd expect with these. I can go into more detail with anything anyone wants to ask. I played like 5 minutes of starcraft 2 last night, ran very smoothly at native res and all settings at high. A little lower framerate on ultra probably still playable but I preferred high.

 

As far as "impressions" it's really up to you -- I think the two major questions are probably "how does the 640m perform?" and "any indication it's a better screen?" But neither of those are critical questions. The GPU should perform the same as it does on the S01US (except now the OS is Win8, so perhaps Optimus is a bit better/worse), and the display is really such a subjective matter -- without data from somewhere like NBC, it could be 10x better or 10x worse than the previous panel and we'd still have no clear consensus among owners (FWIW I'm basing that last claim on the orangegate issues experienced by HP DV6 and Sony S15 owners).

-Matt

 

Oh, and haha, a random noise from my CD drive just now. More windows 8 madness? Who knows.

 

I picked up Best Buy's new 15" NP700Z5C-S02UB yesterday after I returned the first model i got a little less than a month ago. Seems to run great. The optical drive makes more noise than the other one did but it doesnt make any difference. Loving it so far and getting used to Windows 8 fairly quickly. I have noticed the "right click" on the trackpad seems much more responsive.

 

So one thing that's interesting. If I go to starcraft 2 through windows 8 UI or through tabbing to it, I get OK framerates around 30 fps. If I go through the desktop interface, I get like 80. Maybe a win8 compatibility thing?

 

I'm staring to think the wildly swinging FPS -- sometimes I'm at 40 fps, sometimes 80, and it makes no difference what's happening in the game -- is related to throttling. Is that an issue that can be tackled or a flaw of the laptop?

 

I can't get Windows 8 to install in UEFI =\ after the computer should reboot, I get a black screen - ACTUALLY black, I don't think the LCD backlight is on? (because this laptop has terrible black levels)

Switched UEFI back off and now I guess it's working. I hope the UEFI vs BIOS boot time difference isn't significant.

 

I can't get Windows 8 to install in UEFI =\ after the computer should reboot, I get a black screen - ACTUALLY black, I don't think the LCD backlight is on? (because this laptop has terrible black levels)

Switched UEFI back off and now I guess it's working. I hope the UEFI vs BIOS boot time difference isn't significant.

edit: This touchpad is terrible. Every time I click the bottom left, the touchpad registers ANOTHER click as I lift my finger off. messing up all these menus and setup screens.

 

It has ExpressCache, right?

 

It boots up and shuts down very quickly with express cache, yes.

I can't get EA's Origin games to install.

I'm wondering if this is all windows 8's fault.

 

I don't recall if you tried any Steam games (Origin seems a bit more temperamental IMHO). If so, can you comment on them? Also, any kind of error message(s) with the Origin installs?

The framerate issue you described is indeed strange. I'm far from an authority on whether the Z5C throttles but I'm pretty sure I've not heard anyone here complain about it, at least with Win7. Maybe you can run GPUz or Afterburner and log some temp and usage data.

-Matt

 

I tried steam -- I downloaded batman arkham asylum demo and it wouldn't run.

I really doubt there's throttling -- my 14 inch one ran most things like a dream including crysis 2. My bet is that windows 8 has serious compatibility issues with a lot of stuff right now. It'll probably be resolved over time, but not sure I want to wait. I might just get another acer timeline u m5 (returned my last one due to harddrive clicking), it's on sale with a 100 dollar gift card at newegg, and it can play starcraft 2 decently which is mostly the only thing I insist on gaming with no matter what on pc, lol.

This seems like a really decent computer other than this software crap I'm running into with win 8.

It is a very nice screen. Runs pretty cool. After maybe an hour of gaming you might won't feel uncomfortable anywhere on the keyboard, a little warm on the left side. Sound is great. It seems more lightweight than the previous generation somehow -- not even sure how. And I haven't really had any wifi problems, although I did get 3 bars instead of 4 a few times but hasn't really negatively impacted me. I did get varying download speeds at times but I was browsing while at the same time.

Like I said I think this laptop's main problems are windows 8, it's exteremly solid. Kinda regret not snatching the win 7 version of this one even though it would've been pricier, lol.

 

I hear what you're saying about the M5. While I was in Best Buy today I decided to play with it for a bit -- really, really loved the keyboard, the trackpad, the overall build and feel -- it's amazingly light. Also a great price -- if only I hadn't sworn off 1366x768 screens, it would be near the top of my list. Unfortunately I work more than I game (OK, I never game) and I really need the extra oomph that something like the Z5C offers. Of course, I also have my eye on the new Asus N56VJ, but I have a feeling that won't pan out (not clear if it's 5 or 6lbs).

I'm pretty troubled that games are not installing/running with Win8 -- is there a subforum here that is looking at that?

-Matt

 

I googled around and some people were having problems on origin and other services, other people I think said they were fine. It might be specific to the software of this unit/model -- who knows.

Yeah I had the smaller 14 inch m5 where the lower resolution didn't bother as much. I don't know that I'd get an m5 that's 15 inches that resolution is just way too low for that.

 

So Samsung's released a new software manager, it's gone from "Easy Software Manager" to "Software Update." This was probably to coincide with the release of Windows 8. I've disabled the tasks from starting on my log on like I did when i first got the laptop, and yet every time I reboot SWupdate comes up with a notification about programs I haven't installed. It's kinda annoying, and wasn't a problem with the former software version. Anyone else having this?

Also, ever since I downgraded the Realtek sound driver, I've had absolutely no problems.

 

Just a thought. Does Win 8 have a compatibility mode? If it does you might be able to use that to get Origin and other games to run. Knowing Microsoft though, I would be very surprised if it was not a failing of the system. I'm sure they will work out all of the problems with the first service pack....if you don't mind waiting for it. Windows seems to be great every other release....unfortunately Win 7 was great.
Seanno

 

Yep!

I installed Origin and The Sims 3 through that and it worked just fine. Haven't actually played the game yet though, dealing with a broken arm at the moment and the cast gets in the way. I did load the start screen and updated it just fine though.

 

For any one experiencing the no turbo boost issues after windows 8 install make sure your cpu power saving mode is disabled in bios, BTW I pick up my 512 gb 830 samsung ssd tomorrow at the post office and dragons age origins runs great on Windows 8 so far only problems I have had is with samsungs SW update tool I had to download and install allot of the drivers manually


Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I747 using Tapatalk 2

 

Hi all. Well my previous problem with turbo is sorted out, after installing the new bios, the CPU power saving was enabled, so that is why the issue with WEI. Anyway, just wondering the powershare USB 3.0, how does it working? it is works just with USB 3.0 devices or it doesnt matter? I have an old MP3 player and when the laptop is off, i plug the mp3 player in to the powershare usb, but it doesnt charge. The mp3 is turned on, but no charge and in bios the powershare is enabled. Another question, what is yours 3dmark 06 score ?

 

Thanks, bkes216. For clarification, Terran1212 asked that second quoted bit.

 

I believe UEFI is supposed to make boot times faster. I am getting well under 10s with an SSD for full boot (ie doing a reset as opposed to a win8 shutdown which is quicker still). Would be interesting to know your non-UEFI time.

Regarding the touchpad, Going in to mouse settings and playing with the touchpad options improves things hugely. Turning off 1 finger tapping may help.

 

I ended up uninstalling Easy Settings and using Samsung's Windows 8 update program which installed the newer Settings program which works fine under windows 8. Also seems a bit quicker to open and initialize.

 

Ok, cool. Thanks for the update.

Personally I am staying away from win8 (at least for now). The preview releases I tested didn't bring me anything I liked. I may do a test install, though, to help answer questions here.

 

Changing power saving mode in bios doesn't fix my high cpu usage issue. Just trying to narrow down the cause. I am using:

Win8, UEFI enabled, P03AAG BIOS update

Sounds like you are using the same but do not have any issues now?

Under the performance tab of task manager in Win8, what is your idle CPU utilization and speed?

I have 1.17GHz in power saver profile (passive cooling) and around 3GHz in any other (PLUGGED IN).

In both cases, the system and system interrupts is taking around 15% constant CPU. If I use process explore to drill down (double clicking the system process), I can see that ACPI.sys is the issue.

Would really appreciate it if other people using P03AAG and UEFI could take a look and report the results.

 

I have a new NP700Z5C-S02U with Window 8 from BestBuy, and I am trying to get SSD (Samsung 830 256Gb) installed there. Anybody had any success with that? For some reason, once I remove the original HDD, the laptop does not boot off nether Recovery Drive I created on a USB stick or a Windows 7 Recovery CD.

The SSD currently does not have any partitions and is in GPT mode. My plan was to boot off the Recovery Disk and do a fresh Windows 8 install onto the SSD

 

Though others will give you better answers, there are some check points before doing recovery...
1) Use the USB 2.0 port, not the blue USB 3.0 ports, as there is no native driver support for USB 3.0
2) Disable, under BIOS, an option that says, along the lines of, "fast Bios" or whatever that indicates faster/more rapid boot up
3) Of course, set the boot priority in appropriate order...

These are sets of obvious/no-brainer solutions to some, but hope it works!

 

Note to potential buyers wondering about fan noise...

The laptop runs very cool and extremely quiet (no fan activity at all) in normal operations, even under "High Performance" setting. "Normal" here means, many many web pages open, Youtube, video playback, web surfing, and Skype at the same time.
When I do play games, it becomes quite loud. The loudest laptop I have ever owned (previous include Samsung Series 9 2012, Thinkpad T520, T430, T60). However, this fan system seems to be a proactive rather than a reactive measure. In other words, the fan system activates not in response to heat created but rather to graphics/CPU usage. It will spin up as soon as I start gaming. It does get quite uncomfortable to my standards to listen to the noise, but this does prevent overheating fairly well. When I do turn off the game about an hour or so later, the fan deactivates completely within a minute.

It is nice to know when the fan will be activated, and it reassures me that as soon as I turn off gaming, it will be in a silent state again..

 

Any words about screen? Is it little bit better as W7 version or the same?

Sent from my HTC Sensation

 

Hi all, just bought the latest NP700Z5C-S02UB Series 7 from best buy and this seems like the place to ask. I want to swap the hdd out for a crucial m4 ssd that i have but dont see a way to make recovery discs/usb recovery drive. It has the latest recovery software v6.0.5.0 and it's not clear how to use it.
Any tips on doing this? From what i've read so far here, it's a pita to remove the base and also issues with the recovery partition etc...

I love the laptop apart from this, great improved screen, cool silent running and fast performance considering the drive it has.

Thanks for any help you can give.

 

So I don't have any problems with the new BIOS that I can see.

To the guy stuck in Turbo Mode, apparently something resets the High Performance power profile to be minimum CPU 100%! Change that back down to 5% and Turbo should start working immediately.

 

Here is how I did that:

You will need an external USB hard-drive (Mine was 500Gb). Please note the data there will be lost. Also, you will possibly need a 2.5" USB enclosure as the SSD needs to be initialised in GPT mode, not MBR

- Boot off the original HDD
- Connect the external HDD
- Start Samsung Recovery, go to Export System Image, make sure the switch to make the drive bootable is ON
- Export the system image to the external HDD
- Once that complete, shut down the laptop, open it up, remove the HDD and install the SSD.
- Connect the external HDD with the system image to the USB 2.0 connector on the right side (not USB 3 on the left)
- Turn on the laptop, go to BIOS (press F2 when it starts up), change the boot prority to have USB HDD on top
- Let it boot off the external HDD and proceed to restore the system image

Worked for me

 

Thank you!! So does that give me a fresh install that includes the recovery partition? And win8+all factory installed programs & drivers etc..?

 

There is a recovery partition created, not sure if it works, though. All factory installed programs are in place.

One thing: when I tried to do a Windows reset after migrating to the SSD (a new feature in Windows 8 that gives you a clean install), it did not work, saying some files were missing.

 

Thanks, i'm still on the fence if to keep this or not. I feel it would be a great laptop with an ssd but the thought of voiding the warranty just to install one gives me pause. Almost a perfect laptop if not for it being so difficult to change hard drives.

 

Any one figure out how to get back light on key board to work windows 8


Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I747 using Tapatalk 2

 

hmm.. i desperate again ... did a clean install on my NP700Z5C-S01UK with latest bios 003PG or what the name is, CPU Power saving DISABLED in bios and still WEI showing me CPU Speed 6.5. During the installation when i tried it the lowest one was 5.1 now is on 6.5,instead of my previous 7.5. Installed latest updates form MS, installed Samsung Easy Settings, Samsung SW Update and Samsung Support Centre. Any idea what else i have to install? thank you for help.

 

keyboard backlighting works ok for me in win8. you could try opening the newer win8 settings app (not easy settings) and changing the threshold.