Samsung UK Announces Vista Upgrade

Samsung UK have finally made an announcement about an upgrade to Vista see http://www.samsung.com/uk/vista/order.htm. Recipients still have to pay for handling and delivery. It might be worth a look.

John

PS: Closer examination of Samsung's notice indicates that while the front page says any ..... may be eligible, the details relate only to models of the X11, R55 and R40 supplied with Windows MCE.

 

Thanks for the heads up on this John, glad Samsung finally joined in with this.

 

This news is worthy to stick.

And stuck.

 

I have stumbled across another page for the Samsung Vista upgrade offer at http://www.samsungcomputer.com/event/vista/order.html?SMSESSION=NO . This page also lists Windows XP Pro as well as Windows MCE. However, the X60 is not mentioned.

John

 

I have revisited the Vista upgrade system and at present (26 February) the following computers are listed as eligible for upgrades. This list is longer than when I previously looked and the additions are in bold. All are listed under the following options: (The pricing is because I am in UK. Other countries should see their local equivalent of basic US$ prices).
XP Home >> Vista Home Premium (£40 + delivery)
XP Pro >> Vista Business (£1.29 + del)
XP MCE >> Vista Home Premium (£1.29 + delivery)

NP-Q35C003/SEG
NP-Q35C005/SEG
NP-Q35C006/SEG
NP-Q35G001/SEF
NP-Q35T***/SEF
NP-Q35T***/SEG
NP-Q35T***/SHK
NP-Q35T***/SUK
NP-R40E000/SUK
NP-R40E001/SEF
NP-R40E001/SUK
NP-R40E002/SUK
NP-R40E003/SEG
NP-R40E004/SUK
NP-R40E005/SUK
NP-R40K003/SEG
NP-R40K004/SEG
NP-R40K006/SEG
NP-R40K006/SUK
NP-R40K007/SEG
NP-R40K008/SEG
NP-R40K009/SEG
NP-R40R***/SEF
NP-R40R***/SEG
NP-R40R***/SHK
NP-R40R***/SUK
NP-R41E000/SEG
NP-R41E002/SEG
NP-R41K001/SEG
NP-R55/W00/SEG
NP-R55CV01/SEG
NP-R55CV02/SEG
NP-R55CV04/SEG
NP-R55GV01/SEF
NP-R55GV01/SEG
NP-R55GV02/SEG
NP-R55GV02/SUK
NP-R55GV03/SEG
NP-R55T***/SEF
NP-R55T***/SEG
NP-R55T***/SHK
NP-R55T***/SUK
NP-X11CV05/SEG
NP-X11G000/SUK
NP-X11GV01/SEF
NP-X11GV01/SUK
NP-X11T***/SEF
NP-X11T***/SEG
NP-X11T***/SHK
NP-X11T***/SUK

The X60 series continues to be conspicuous by its absence. With the exception of the NP-R40K006/SUK, all the additions to the list are /SEG, wherever that is.

John

 

SEG = Germany
SEF = France
SUK = UK
SHK = Hong Kong

p.s. you can still apply for the vista upgrade if your notebook doesn't appear on the list, as long as it fits the standard criterion, i.e. bought within the correct timescale, and has an eligible version of windows pre-installed ( XP Home, MCE or PRO )

 

Please tell us how to apply.

Thanks,

John

 

Yes, please tell us. This is really important to me.

 

Good news!!

I have just revisited the Vista upgrade site and gone through the various steps. When I got to the page where the computer models were in a pull-down list, I found the list has disappeared. So I put in NP-X60/TZ01-SUK, the computer serial number, the Windows COA number and then proceeded to the next step.

So it seems that someone in Samsung decided that it was easier to let the claimants put in their model number rather than modify the list of computers.

My next challenge is to submit a copy of the invoice by email, fax or paper mail. I'm miles from home I but had the forethought to scan the paperwork before I left.

So all you Samsung owners who bought after 26th October 2006 and want to spend £14.57 to try out Vista, get your orders in before the door shuts.

John

 

I too noticed this, and have filed a claim for an XP Pro to Vista Business 32bit update. Strangely the number they ask you to call gives you another number in the Netherlands to fax the details to and a PO box to send it to. I have faxed my details, but they say to allow 4-6 weeks for delivery

So far I have gone back to the site and retrieved the order details:

Order Number : XXXXXXX
Order Status : COA validated
Shipping Date :
Carrier : Standard
AWB# : ​

Cost is £14.57 in the UK as John pointed out.

I will post back if I get any updates or the DVD arrives.

 

I filed the application for my Q35 Vista upgrade several weeks ago and it has been sitting as "validated". Somewhere I had read that delivery would be by the end of April. Maybe they are coordinating issue of the Vista upgrades with the posting of the Vista drivers?

John

 

Ditto, filed mine (XP Pro -> Vista Business 32-bit).
I emailed my recipt to the Netherlands address.

 

Looks like its moving along ...

Thank you for submitting your Windows Vista Business 32-bit CD/DVD OEM. Your validation is now complete and we will be processing your order. You should receive your order within 4-6 weeks and receive email confirmation when your order is shipped. At any time you may also go to https://upgradeweb.moduslink.com/vista or email us at [email protected] to check on your order.
If you do not receive your order within the time frame specified, please notify us prior to May 1, 2007 for English language versions of the product and June 1, 2007, for non-English language versions of the product so that we may investigate and ship your order. After those dates we may not be able to process your request.​

4-6 weeks then

 

I've not had any email confirming that validation has been completed (perhaps zapped by a spam filter somewhere) but the moduslink website shows the order status as "COA validated", which I assume is the last process before despatch.

John

 

John, where did you find the computer serial number?

 

Switch off your computer, close it and turn it upside down. There is a label on the bottom with the Samsung logo in the top left corner and a bar code in the bottom right corner. Above the bar code it says "Model : NP-xxxxxxxxxxx" (the x's represent characters) and below the bar code is says S/N : xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx (15 characters on my X60 plus). BTW, S/N means serial number.

To avoid the inconvenience of having to look on the bottom of my computer, and to have a record of this information, I photographed both the Samsung and Windows stickers, so I can now get the info on screen.

Also, your Windows COA are the numbers above the bar code above the windows key number.

Does this help?

John

 

Very helpful, thanks a lot, John.
Another question, I noticed I should also submit a scancopy of the invoice, but what is the UK email address.

 

The email I received as confirmation of my order through the upgrade website gives this address:

EMEA
Software Upgrade Program Samsung
PO Box 252
7300 AG Apeldoorn, The Netherlands
Email: [email protected]
Fax: 31-55-543 3946

You should have received the same information but I agree that it is difficult picking out the right bit from all the addresses on the email. I believe that EMEA stands for Europe, Middle East and Africa so, if you didn't know that you wouldn't be sure which address to use.

John

 

Strange, I did not get this email.

 

That email should have arrived immediately after you placed the order through the www. Do you have a reference number and can you check the order status on the upgrade website?

John

 

Ahh I didnt realise that EMAE was Europe, I rang the phone number for the UK further down the email which gave a fax number for the Netherlands, which I faxed my order note to. Havent checked if my status has changed, will try when I get home to see how they are doing.

On a side note, I wanted to get Vista Business > Ultimate upgrade, but when I searched the price it was £110! Almost as much as the OEM Ultimate DVD. More expensive than I was expecting, thats for sure!

 

Slight update

Order Number : 3000272
Order Status : POP/COA validated
Shipping Date :
Carrier : Standard
AWB# :​

Proof Of Purchase I assume. Hopefully get the DVD soon

 

Interesting, there's no mention of POP on the status of either of my orders although I sent scanned docs to the email address provided.

I have sent an email enquiring the status.

John

 

£14.57 has been taken, but I haven't got any email from it.
I checked my order status
Order Number : xxxxxxx
Order Status : COA validated
Shipping Date :
Carrier : Standard
AWB# :

By the way, I haven't email them my scancopy of invoice yet.

 

I'm in the same boat. Have emailed them again. If all else fails I might FAX a printout today to be on the safe-side.

 

Might be easier just to fax them anyway. Worst they'll do it chuck it in the bin if they realise that its already been validated.

 

Email just in from the Vista upgrade people:

Thank you for submitting your Windows Vista Business 32-bit CD/DVD OEM. Your validation is now complete and we will be processing your order. You should receive your order within 4-6 weeks and receive email confirmation when your order is shipped. At any time you may also go to https://upgradeweb.moduslink.com/vista or email us at [email protected] to check on your order.
If you do not receive your order within the time frame specified, please notify us prior to May 1, 2007 for English language versions of the product and June 1, 2007, for non-English language versions of the product so that we may investigate and ship your order. After those dates we may not be able to process your request.

John

 

Ditto. Not sure if if was the oriiginal email, the followup or the FAX that did it

 

I got a response to my email about the order status. The email confirmed that the POP has been validated for one (the newer) order and requested that I resubmit the documents the POP documents for the other order (which I have just done). The web status now shows POP/COA validated for one of my two orders.

It would seem that the system for handling the paperwork isn't perfect so, if you don't have the POP validated, resend the POP.

John

 

How did you let them response to your email?
I emailed them last Friday, and emailed them again on monday, and never get their response. By the way, I emailed them my order number, and a copy of invoice, is it not enough, is that the reason that they did not response to my email?

 

I would wait at least a week after your email with the proof of purchase before following up. They must have a lot of applications to process. I submitted two separate applications about one month apart and the order numbers differ by about 0ne million.

The order website says they aim to despatch English language versions of Vista by the end of April, which is still over 5 weeks away.

John

 

Thanks, so you mean what I did is enough, I just need to wait, right?

 

Periodically check your order status at moduslink. It should change POP/COA verified and you should also get an email when this happens. If nothing changes in a week or two, resubmit the POP with a reminder.

John

 

I have just had an email from moduslink confirming validation of my second POP (resubmitted last Friday), so both my orders are showing as POP/COA validated on the moduslink website.

The confirmation emails states:

John

 

My status has been changed when I checked it online this morning. POP/COA validated, but still no email from samsung, I haven't received any email from the day I ordered it, strange, very strange.

 

You must have entered your email address correctly in order to be able to check your order status. I therefore wonder if there is an over-efficient spam filter somewhere between moduslink and your mail box. Given the amount of mail which should be coming from moduslink, I wouldn't be suprised if some spam filter decided that the site is a spammer.

John

 

Seems to be back

 

Well spotted. Same old list with no mention of the X60 and other unlisted models which have been on sale. I hope all owners of the unlisted models got the orders in during the window of opportunity. Otherwise you will have to contact customer service.

John

 

Our office has just got in 4 new X60plus laptops, they now have the old Designed for Windows XP sticker, the Windows Vista Capable has been removed!

 

I ordered my Vista a week ago Thursday. I initially forgot to include my order confirmation number in my email of the scanned invoice/receipt of my Samsung X60-plus. I resent the email later on during the day after noticing this omission with the order confirmation. Yesterday I received an email verifying that my validation was complete and to expect to receive my order within 4-6 weeks.

It has to be said the response was very quick about one week. Although I did consider faxing them the receipt/invoice for reassurance. But now there's no need.

I only just wish that Samsung would inform eligible owners about the discounted upgrade to Vista. I remember just before I purchased my X60plus I emailed Samsung to ask about whether they would offer an upgraded and they implied they had no plans to do this. This was just before Samsung announced any free upgrades to Vista.

 

On my X60 plus the "Windows Vista Capable" is on a black background as the bottom part of the "Designed for Windows XP" sticker. Do these models still have the white sticker on the underside warning about possible Vista incompatibility?

Can you check the GPU? Given Samsung's problems to properly support the X1700 they could do worse than use the X1600. Also what version of BIOS is in the current X60 plus?

John

 

I didn't get in in time which is why I noticed the list was there...

Any ideas on who in customer service is good to contact or is it just pot luck?

 

My X60plus has the Windows XP with the black Vista Capable on the bottom but the new ones don't, they just have the old Silver Windows XP one. The white sticker on the bottom warning about Vista issues has gone as well, the ATi chip is still the X1700 and the BIOS is the same as mine - 03XD 13/11/2006.

Looks like Samsung have bailed on it being a Vista laptop.

 

I can't name anyone in Samsung customer service. In my experience someone from customer service answers the phone quickly, but getting transferred to technical support can be difficult if they are busy. I would have thought that the Vista upgrade is more a customer service issue. Maybe there is someone there who understands the Vista upgrade issues. You can tell them that some other people have got upgrades ordered while there was no fixed list on the moduslink website.

How well Vista will work on the X60 plus remains to be seen. I am assuming that my first installation will be a trial and I will then go back to XP for a few months.

John

 

This might seem silly, but I don't like Vista nor the Office 07 trial that was pre-installed on my Q35 red. Is there a downgrade option ? I'd rather have XP. I'm not convinced the Q35 is up to running vista when running multiple apps, with just 1Gb of memory, and it takes ages to hibernate/restore.

 

I've never heard of a downgrade option. Samsung are providing some choice of operating systems but not at the same price point. silver Q35 Q35T009/SUK still has XP Pro but is significantly more expensive. Uncertainty about Vista is one reason why I grabbed one of the previous red Q35s at the end of January. I get the opportunity to try out Vista at a reasonable cost and can then fall back onto XP if necessary. If I revert to XP then maybe I will try Vista again after SP1.

However, before you consider removing Vista, I suggest that you look for tweaks to improve the performance. I have my XP running on Windows 2K look-alike mode (display is optimised for performance except for font smoothing) and I'm perfectly contented. Vista will get the same treatment when I try it out.

Ans as for Office 2007 trial, I would add that to the list of bloatware to be removed. download and try out Open Office. The current version meets the needs of the majority of users.

John

 

Thought I would check for signs of life in the Samsung Vista upgrade area. Upgraders for some other manufacturers (near the start of the alphabet) have been receiving their upgrades.

I see a change in the status of my order: the status now says "Order is approved". What exactly this means is unclear to me and is not explained by the FAQ (perhaps my credit card number has been validated), but it appears to be evidence of progress.

Given that the email confirming validation said

and people who have received upgrades reported about two weeks between despatch and receipt (deliveries are through the postal system in spite of the high shipping charge), the upgrades need to be sent out very soon.

John

 

I bought my X60plus from http://www.digiuk.com which isn't on the list of computer resellers. The Laptop didnt come with any Vista upgrade offer. does this mean i cant upgrade

 

You have missed the boat! Applications for the upgrade had to be submitted by 31st March. See the second bullet here.

I also got my X60plus from DigiUK. They were not on the list of suppliers, but Samsung was. You then should have scrolled down the list of Samsung models. Unfortunately the X60 was never in the pre-defined list. There was, however a period around 8th March when the pre-defined list disappeared and applicants could enter their own details. That was how I got my foot in the door.

John

 

Today I received the Samsung Vista upgrade package.

A brief description of the contents:

1. A pink DVD with Samsung logo and marked Step 1 & 3 and titled Software DVD. In small print is:

For those not in the know, NT- is the Korean version of what is NP to the rest of the world.

So there's no trace of the X60 or X60plus!

Step 1 is to do a BIOS update with whatever was the BIOS when disc one was prepared - the last date of any content is 16 February 07, which has sunk my theory about the Samsung Vista update being delayed while they finished the drivers.

Step 2 is to run disc 2 which is the standard 02 Nov 06 Vista installation. (This upgrade is Vista Business).

Then back to disc 1 for step 3 which is the Samsung driver installation.

The package also contains a COA and product key sticker.

Anyone who wants to figure out what is on the Samsung driver disc can look in the attached zip file which contains (a) a full list of all the files on the CD and (b) an XML file which lists all the drivers on the disc.

Oh well, I will have to back up my Q35 and let it loose. The Express Upgrade documentation says it will start by formatting my hard disk.

John