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

Update: If you are having problems loading website pages, then try uninstalling your web browser and reinstalling it, making sure you clean the registry after the uninstall. After reinstalling google chrome, the problem has not came back so far, and I've been surfing the internet for about the last two hours.

Also, when I am gaming the fans become really loud. Should I invest in a laptop cooler to place underneath for heavy gaming sessions? It isn't so loud for Portal 2, but it gets loud for more demanding games such as Left 4 Dead 2 and Deus Ex on normal graphic settings. Any of you guys have really loud fans as well? I heard they were supposed to be pretty silent...

 

If you guys are having issues with a recessed trackpad, it's definitely not by design. Mine is flush around all four corners so you guys should definitely get yours replaced under warranty.

As for the web page rendering issue, it's clearly a software problem but I'm not sure what would be causing it as I'm not an expert in that area. It could be a combination of the extensions you guys are using or something. But I'm not sure.

 

My trackpad is recessed on lower right corner just like hanime's. I thought that was "scroll scope" feature of the trackpad (mentioned at Samsung's specs). Ofcourse Samsung never really mentioned what scroll scope was in the first place so that's an assumption. Looks like your trackpad should be rotated 180 degrees, probably a mistake while you laptop was assembled.

As per the rendering, I have incomplete rendering 50% of the time I load a page. And sometimes I have reload multiple times to make sure it fully renders. I did try uninstalling and reinstalling, cleaning up the cache and all other settings but nothing helped up until now. I will try uninstalling + registry cleaning to confirm :|

Update: Take a look at the trackpad, there seems to be a horizontal slope on the bottom edge of the trackpad towards the lower right corner

 

Re the website rendering issue. I was having the problem with FF and chrome.

Yesterday I did a recovery using SRS6 back to factory spec. I then uninstalled the samsung progs support center, easy fileshare, help desk, and also the cyberlink power dvd/power2go progs. Then I reinstalled FF 17.0 and it's been 24hrs now with no issues at all.
I'm thinking one of those progs was causing a conflict. Hope that helps someone.

 

How exactly do you do a SRS6 recovery? I never heard of that before... is it the Recovery app by Samsung? Do I have to reinstall all of my applications when I restore back to factory specs? This website rendering issue is really getting on my nerves.

 

Yes, it's the built in samsung recovery app. You may not even need to do that, just uninstall the programs like i did, but i wanted a 'fresh install'.

Basically restart the laptop and tap the f4 key will boot you into recovery. Make sure you back up all your files etc before this, everything will be lost in the reinstall.

Recovery prog will start, choose recover and make sure the earliest recovery point is selected. Make sure all other options are set to off then click recover. It will take 15 mins or so then you will have a fresh install. Delete the programs i mentioned then reinstall firefox. I'm on day 2 now with no errors. Thats pretty good considering i was having the problem several times every day.

Good luck!

 

I managed to get rid of the rendering issue by simply creating a new user account in chrome and later deleted my previous account. So far no rendering issues

 

Well I tried deleting all of the Samsung Bloatware and still no luck. I may have to go along with the recovery. I've never backed up anything before, so do I need an external hard drive to put the backed up files in? Or will the hard drive automatically keep the backed up files so they can be recovered after everything is resset? I don't own any external hard drives.

 

Did the same thing almost two weeks ago. So far haven't had the rendering issue on chrome since.

Sent from my SPH-L710 using Tapatalk 2

 

Why not try this fix first, it's much easier and may work for you. I don't use chrome so I couldn't use it -

1 - Click the Chrome menu on the browser toolbar (3 horizontal lines).
2 - Select Settings.
3 - Click Show advanced settings.
4 - In the "Users" section, click Add new user.
5 - The confirmation dialog Appears, choose a picture and enter a name for the new Chrome user.
6 - Click Create.
7 - A new window for the user Appears, with the picture you've chosen for the user in the top corner. Here, you can sign in to your Google Account with Chrome to associate the account with the user. Once signed in, all your bookmarks, apps, extensions, theme, and browser settings will Appear in the new user you just created.
8 - Now that you have all your stuff in the new user, you can simply go back to the settings and delete the first user.
9 - If all goes well, the problem should not return.

Thx to libbrichus, org post here

 

There's another option for treating the browser issue, which may be worth investigating, i.e., reducing the cache size to a negligible amount:

How To Change Google Chrome’s Cache Location And Size

I've tried it for a few days and it seems to work. The other potential advantage is that the same approach can be used on other browsers, like Firefox.

-Matt

 

Now I have my SSD installed I want to use the 1GB hard drive as a backup. I want to get a nice caddy for it, is there any point in buying a USB 3.0 caddy? will there be a difference in speed to normal USB 2.0?

thanks

 

Yes. There is a noticeable difference: USB 3.0 can deliver up to about 150MB/s in my experience although the HDD will peak at around 100MB/s (and be half that for the slower inside tracks). However, that's still a lot faster than the ~30MB/s that USB 2.0 can deliver. However, you won't notice these speeds if you copy small files but the difference will be very noticeable when copying large files or using backup software.

John

 

OK John thanks for your help

 

During my Left 4 Dead 2 gaming session (1 hour) my cpu reached the maximum temperature of 89 degrees celsius. And the video card reached 77 degrees celsius. Is this too hot for the computer? Should I invest in a laptop cooling pad?

 

I hit about 90C and 74C on the CPU and GPU respectively while converting videos with CUDA. I think for a laptop this thin, it's normal.

On a different note, did anyone do battery benchmark for laptop on Windows 8. Plus, does the remaining battery life shown on the power plan notification icon seem to be updated very less often? In Win7, I remember seeing changes in the time within seconds after I launched demanding apps while on battery, in Win8 it takes a good couple of minutes. Is it only me? :|

 

I would consider those temperatures to be OK - inside the allowable range for the hardware (I think the CPU would start to throttle at 95C and shut down at 100C. The bigger reason to consider a cooler is if the external temperatures are uncomfortably high (eg a hot keyboard). Check the temperatures every few months. The cooling systems gradually collect dust and start to clog up.

John

 

So, I've been looking into getting this laptop recently but I'm not in a huge hurry to make a purchase. Does anyone have any news or speculation on when they think an updated version may come out? I noticed that it was about 6-7 months between the Sandybridge and the Ivybridge models coming out and it's been about that long since the Ivybridge has been out. I assume they'll make a newer version when Haswell launches, but does anyone think they will have some newer specs before then? Really, I just want one with an updated screen (1080p) and maybe a slightly better graphics card (too soon to hope for 700 series from nvidia?).

 

I wouldn't expect any updated versions to come out anytime soon. The Series 7 first came out in 2011 and the hardware they use for it today are still very good/update to our current time. But don't take my word for it, anything could happen. I would definitely invest in a Samsung Laptop with full 1080P and a 7970M/680M

@John Ratsey
Thanks for your input. I was just a little worried because the fans become very loud when gaming, but I guess that is just the laptop's way for staying more cool. I should use my headphones more often... but the chassis does not get that hot actually, just warmer than usual.

 

See here for some discussion last week on the model refresh subject.

Slim fans in thin notebooks have to spin fast in order to move much air. It's an unwanted side-effect of the trend towards anorexia.

John

 

USB 3.0 is awesome, I got an enclosure for the original 750GB 7200rpm drive that's stock and saw transfer speeds of 110MB/s compared to like 25MB/s for the same drive on USB 2.0

HoonMasta, in regards to fan noise while gaming, I barely notice it. It's easily masked by the speakers during gaming and is a low-pitched whirring noise rather than a high-pitched screech of single-fan laptops. You may have different sensitivity to the noise given off by this thing when it gets hot but I find it entirely acceptable given its performance and thin chassis. It just sounds like air passing through vents rather than a fan spinning, which I really appreciate.

My temps while gaming are usualy 87-91 on the CPU and 80-83 on the GPU so I'd say your temps are fine.

SabreFresco I don't have Windows 8 and haven't done any battery benchmarks, but I average a runtime of 7.5-8 hours during web browsing and document creation.

Side note: John you're awesome

 

Heh. Yeah I guess I am being a little paranoid about the fan and the cpu temps. I've never owned a laptop before. I guess they are just built to handle these kinds of temperatures. They definitely will wear down though over a long period of time and long gaming sessions.

 

Realistically these laptops were made with having the ability to game and not to continuously game. Hence their form factors and battery life. I'm not too concerned with the wear in these laptops because they won't do anything that's detrimental to their health. I mean, Tj Max is 105 and if it's hitting 90C like a few times a month I doubt you'll experience any negative effects. Extended gaming sessions should be on a much larger laptop or a desktop.

Also, a nice feature about this specific Samsung is that if you put it on silent mode while gaming, temperatures will immediately drop from the high 80s to the 60s because it clocks down the processor and the graphics card, and caps the framerate to 30fps. It's a nice tradeoff.

 

I think I'm going to invest in a laptop cooling pad. I'm going to be gaming a lot on this notebook and I the cooling pad I am getting has received great reviews... hopefully it will be able to reduce my cpu temps from 80-90 to 70-80.

 

Actually which one were you looking at? I'm looking at getting one for a friend but they all look terrible to me to be honest.

Added air flow can only go so far in regards to temperatures though, bigger heatsinks are where the magic really happens. 10C may be a stretch.

 

In regards to the "Fn Lock" and delete key issue which also me. A work around is to use the Shift+. (numpad dot) in the numpad if you have numlock on, otherwise you don't need to press shift. Not a solution but a nice workaround. So far delete and F5 for refresh are the two keys that are affected by the Fn-Lock for me.

Good luck!

 

ARGH, you're absolutely right -- and let me add to that list the almighty F3 ("find me another please") key!

-Matt

 

That's a good tip with the Shift . workaround for delete. My issue with Fn-Lock is the delete key as well as 0 on the numpad. When I'm entering data I have to make sure FN-Lock is off otherwise I'll inadvertently emulate right click every time I hit 0.

 

I'm ordering this laptop cooling pad
Amazon.com: Cooler Master NotePal X-Slim Ultra-Slim Laptop Cooling Pad with 160mm Fan (R9-NBC-XSLI-GP): Electronics

The reviews are really good and I don't want to take the risk of opening up my laptop and applying a heatsink/thermal compound on it. I'm afraid I am going to mess with some of the internal hardware. And gaming while the cpu is 90 celsius is just too risky for me as I am going to be gaming a lot so hopefully this lap top cooling pad will get the job done.

 

I just received the Cooler Master NotePal X-Slim. Here are my first impressions:

The cooling pad is actually a perfect size for a 15.6" notebook like the Samsung Series 7 Chronos. The Laptop sits perfectly on the pad with some space still left over.

The fans on the pad are very quiet, and almost unnoticeable.

Overall I am very happy with this purchase. I recommend it for anyone who wants a cooler laptop. I will post again in a few days with heat tests while gaming to see how many degrees cooler the laptop is.

 

Sweet thanks for the quick review. It's at a good price as well. I was looking at this one from Newegg Newegg.com - Logisys Computer Wind Pal Black Laptop Cooler Pad Model NP88BK because it looks like it's got really strong air flow and quiet operation, as well as a USB hub and fan control. I like that Cooler Master as well though.

Unfortunately I have to add that I've had a poor experience with Samsung's customer support so far. I sent my power adapter 2 weeks ago and have yet to get a response and replacement. I then used live chat and they were unable to help me, telling me to contact Intelisol - their warranty center in the US. I had emailed Intelisol a week prior with no response, and have sent another email today. I'll be calling them on Monday because honestly 2 weeks without a charger is ridiculous.

 

Would installing from a cd be the same process?

 

No, installing from CD/DVD doesn't trigger this iSSD boot conflict, and should be the preferred solution for anyone who wants the most painless installation. In fact, somebody else asked that question this morning over in hanime's excellent new thread on the subject. Here is a link to my response.

 

Is it possibile to install win7 or win8 on the iSSD 16GB like in some other notebooks? anyone tried out?

 

I think most of us have 8GB iSSDs -- I'm also not sure the installation would fit on a 16GB drive. It might make more sense to (a) put a 64GB SSD in the primary slot with the OS, and (b) move the HDD into the ODD slot with a caddy.

-Matt

 

Yep but that is the "common way" , i was looking for something different... Basically is there a valid reason that will make it impossible?

 

Sounds like you're interested in a " lite" installation. The last time I tried that was a few years back with an EEE PC, but I haven't done anything like it since. Maybe some other courageous forum members can advise!

-Matt

 

As Matt wrote, many of these Sammies (like my NP700Z3A) only have 8GB iSSD, and no chance to fit Win7 in there. Don't know about Win8.

But if I had 16GB iSSD (like some Series 5 models), I would definitely try and shoehorn a lite Win7 on there. My main PC is an older HP HDX18 on which I have Win7-64 Ultimate installed on a 28GB partition with 8 GB free space. And that's even an old installation with SP1 added afterwards, no major trimming and quite a few apps.

With a slipstreamed SP1 setup, trimmed with r7Lite (or similar), you should be able to squeeze it on a 16GB iSSD. No hibernation, of course (unless you can find a way to put the file on a separate drive). 256MB pagefile (if you have lots of RAM) and/or a larger pagefile on the HDD. And install games and other large apps on the HDD.

 

I'm not "actively" shopping at the moment (thank gawd), but afaik the only version in the US with Win8 (S02UB) so far has an 8GB cache. I've mentioned the German model with an i5, though, that has a 16GB cache.

EDIT: OH, you mean Win8 might fit on an 8GB iSSD. Wow. I'm getting lightheaded just thinking about it.

On a more personal note -- you guys are a special breed. I understand overclocking and I understand underclocking. I understand liquid cooling. I understand buying multiple graphics cards on a desktop and squeezing out the maximum amount of performance. I don't understand squeezing an OS that wants 30-40GB (including patches/updates) into a tiny space, when a more than adequate SSD costs less than $50.

-Matt

 

LOL

I have no problem confessing to a level of excentricity. And there is definitely a BYC aspect in this (Because You Can)

That said, I would spend $50 no problem, if it would let me add 64GB of fast SSD while preserving my 750GB 7200 rpm HDD. Of course I can get a caddy and replace the DVD drive. But now it's getting to be quite a bit of surgery, in addition to the extra expense.

I haven't even opened my Sammy yet. I WILL when the day comes I can get a fast 500 GB SSD at a low price to replace the HDD. It'll probably be around the time my Samsung warranty is up anyway.

But believe me, Win7 doesn't need or want 60 GB by far. The 28GB partition I mentioned has never been a constriction in any way: Not when I first installed Win7 on it (64 bit Ultimate), nor when I updated to SP1 (which swallows a lot), nor with the hundreds of other patches or ungodly .NET updates since. And I keep some fairly bloated stuff on there. Just run CCleaner regularly and delete \Windows\SoftwareDistribution\Download from time to time.

If I can finally find the time to re-install that old PC some day with a clean, slipstreamed SP1, it'll probably shave another 1-2 GB from it, so I don't even have to re-partition.

I bet SP1 Home Premium will install on 16GB with no trimming whatsoever. What takes up space is (1) Hibernation file; (2) pagefile (which is way too big by default); (3) large apps such as games.

I didn't mean to imply that Win8 might fit on 8GB. I very much doubt it, but I really don't know.

But again, if I could replace the iSSD with 64 GB, that would be awesome!

 

Honestly the only reason I have SSDs in my desktop and laptop are for boot times. And yet surprisingly, the boot time using Expresscache/HDD combo (my roommate) is within only 4 seconds of an SSD boot (my laptop). As far as applications go, my laptop is barely if at all more speedy than my desktop in opening games, programs, etc. as I have my desktop programs installed to the HDD and obviously all programs on my laptop on the SSD.

Basically what I'm getting at Dannemand, is don't fret about getting an SSD now and just wait for them to get cheaper because it's a pretty insignificant experience when compared to the stock setup.
One good reason to get one however is for reduced power consumption, but that's only a benefit of the nicer, far more expensive SSDs.

As for an install attempt onto the Expresscache, which is definitely a BYC thing, I don't think that it would help that much speed wise even if it would be possible. As far as I know anyway, Windows 7 requires a bare minimum of like 18GB (maybe 23GB? I don't remember) for 64 bit.

 

Two questions

1. Does the S01US have the issues with the wifi that is talked about a lot on this forum?

2. Is there a way to buy extra HD encsloures like the ones Samsung uses inside of these? they are very flimsly. Almost broke one today.

 

Thank you, yjgfikl. Yes, I understand, I am not really considering such an upgrade for the next 12 months or so. My posts should be read entirely in the context of FullyZ's question if Win7 or Win8 can be installed on the iSSD.

And once again, the answer to that would be NO for an 8GB iSSD. But absolutely YES for a 16GB (which some or all Series 5 models have). And that's a tested fact.

I just remembered that I have a secondary 16GB partition on my old laptop which I use as DVR and for tests. I installed Win7-64 Ultimate on there no problem. It's a couple years ago, and I had to install a slipstreamed SP1 setup, as SP1 wouldn't run as a patch. No doubt 16GB is getting tight. But it runs just fine and is fully up-to-date with all patches.

As for speed, it's not gonna be fantastic. The SanDisk P4 iSSD used in these Sammies (at least in my NP700Z3A) are very slow compared to modern SSDs. But still faster than the HDD.

One thing I forgot to say: You cannot boot the iSSD directly, so there has to be a boot partition on the HDD (Win7 Boot Manager or Grub or similar).

 

That's really impressive I didn't know you could fit Windows into 16gb. Pretty sweet for those with the models with 16gb that want to do that. But yeah the P4 gets somewhere like 185MB/s I think from reading other threads. I never bothered to test it.

To bball3212, WiFi is still an issue with this laptop. It gets signal normally like any other laptop but speed drop off with distance is quite noticeable. This is an issue with all Intel 6235 mini-pci cards as far as I know. The Dell XPS 15 had the same card but they actually ended up replacing it with a different one once they started receiving complaints. It's pretty easy and cheap to swap out the wifi module in this laptop if you're willing. I posted earlier somewhere with speed numbers and distances from the router but I can't find that post. Speed drops off quite quickly anyway.

You mean the metal thing that holds the hard drive in place? I wouldn't know, but you can always check eBay. Are you swapping hard drives consistently?

 

I just picked up my Best Buy version of the NP700Z5C and I am disappointed. First the screen bleeds from the right side, or should I say darkens. Secondly the Wi Fi is real weak, my wife's laptop is farther away and she has better speeds. Third the gaming is horrible, it struggles even at the lowest resolution and settings. I guess I will go pay the piper tomorrow his 15% restocking fee.

 

Aw man sorry to hear that. The bleed/issue I know exactly what you're describing. On the wifi, you might try going into Device Manager and setting the 2.4GHz radio to auto and (I forget the other one) to 11b/11g. I saw connection speeds and throughput significantly increase after that. What games are your trying -- you're plugged in also, right? You might want to install HWiNFO64 and GPU-Z to get a better look at what's happening while you play -- sounds like some kind of throttling maybe?

Finally, if you're within the 30-day window at Best Buy under no circumstances do you let them charge you a restocking fee!!! It should be $0.

-Matt

 

Thanks for the quick reply. I play World of Tanks and MechWarrior Online. I tried turning down the resolution to the lowest setting (which looks horrible) but it got 2 to 4 frame rates better. I am plugged in but I even unplugged and it seemed about the same. If the screen didn't bleed and I could manage 30-40 FPS on low settings I would deal with the Wi Fi issue. I was willing to give up performance for form factor and looks but it seems to want to take more than I want to give.

 

Win8, right? I kind of wonder if that's an issue. Oh well -- sounds like a dud! If you have time to play with GPU-Z in the background (and remember you can squeeze a bit more juice out of the 640m with Afterburner) I'd be curious to hear what happens!

-Matt

 

I can really use some advise. I posted a few days ago, but didn't get a response. I bought from Best Buy the NP700Z5C-S01UB Windows 7 laptop from Best Buy. It was a close out model. I paid 680.00 plus tax. I have read mixed reviews. I have 5 days to return. It seems like a descent unit. Screen could be nicer. Bottom line, is it worth it for the money or wait for something better down the road. Any thoughts would be greatly appreciated.

 

Your defiantly doing something wrong then, I get 60+fps with nearly every game I've tried with this laptop. Diablo 3, Smite, LoL, and WOW all run very good on it. If you don't have the graphics turned set on max, this laptop will run pretty much every game out there with reasonable framerates.

I've had zero Wi-Fi issues with my laptop as well.