Samsung X460

I take you got the Euro version? It should work i think even the NC10 had a 3g option. Check Trusted Reviews.

 

Side to side it's very good.

The problem is that there is a very narrow sweet spot for viewing in regard to vertical viewing angles. In fact, even at the sweet spot, you can start to see that the very top and bottom of the screen are losing contrast; the black levels become very poor. You don't notice it much if you are doing word processing, browsing or other stuff with a light background. You notice it easily with a dark background or darker video scenes. It's possible my panel is defective, but I've seen panels like this before on stand alone computer monitors. I think Samsung had a reputation for compromising vertical viewing angles for ultra bright displays.

 

I think the screen could be better in this respect too, but my main gripe is it's slightly low resolution at this price point.

Has anyone found a way to use the sim card slot yet? I can't find any mention of it anywhere, and no programs or drivers which talk of an internal modem....

 

Sorry, no, but it worked great with my Nokia 3G phone as a tethered bluetooth modem.

Mine is due to ship from Samsung repair today. I hope my Vista startup BSOD are resolved.

 

How long has it been?

 

Not long. I kept it a little longer so I could compile some screenshots of the BSOD. I sent it in last Tuesday, the 17th. Basically, they give you an order number. You bring the notebook with no batteries or accessories to a local UPS store. Give UPS the number, they pull up a work order and then do all the packing and shipping for you by 2-day service. So, they got it Thursday and shipped it back the next Monday. I think I recall seeing they worked toward 5 business day turnaround, so this was well under that. They told me they send a receipt of all work that was done. I really hope it's more than a factory install of Vista. I tried restores, recoveries and fresh installs with no luck.

So far, support has been decent. Phone is usually answered within a few minutes and the reps have a reasonable grasp of English if not native speaking. Far better than HP support, which I deemed as people hired to prevent you from getting any support.

 

Lol at the HP support comment. Haha Dell is the same thing as well.

Anyways, That was FAST! That's great usually you hear about guys taking a month to get there notebook back so that is impressive. You must be excited to get it back.

 

Not very encouraging when the first time I turned it on, it crashed. This time to a frozen black screen.

No notes of any kind were included, so I called to see if they could tell me what was repaired. I was told it passed all testing so they re-imaged the hard drive and assumed it was corrupted. Given the extensive notes on all the reformats, restores and fresh installs I did, even on a 2nd hard drive, I'd have expected a little more before they simply returned it, even if it meant keeping it a few days.

Time will tell.

 

Sorry to hear about that, So you have to send it back AGAIN?

 

Only if it keeps happening.

 

It's going back today. In addition to the black screen crash the first time I started it, it did the same thing again, plus two blue screen crashes. The blue screens made crash dumps and generated an error report in the Windows problem history, so they should have some information to go on. If it crashes for me 4 times in a dozen startups in one day, certainly they can keep it a few days and reproduce it. If they can't fix it other than to reformat again, hopefully it will be replaced eventually.

Support was decent again. I got transferred to tier 2 support and "executive" support pretty quickly and everyone was helpful.

 

I think i have the same problem with Vista installed, when I go to battery the screen dims after about 2 mins. Once I touch the pad or hit a key I get full brightness and as long as I am doing something it stays that way, but as soon as I stop it dims again. I assume it's to conserve battery. Does anybody know how to change/disable this function.

Thanks

 

The auto-dimming is the Samsung battery manager at work.

There should be a battery manager icon in the system tray through which you can adjust some of the default settings.

John

 

Yup, you can change the dimming time in the advanced settings of each power saver profile as well.

Mine just came back from Samsung yesterday. So far, so good. I'm considering selling it and picking up the N120 when it comes to the USA. That would solve all my issues with the NC10 and be almost ideal for my needs.

 

Anybody upgrade the drive in the 460 yet? I have a 460 and an OCZ Vertex 120 sitting at home waiting for me to play. Any issues? Should be a snap but just want to know ahead of time!

 

Just note that there is a ribbon connector adapter between the drive and the chassis. Not a big deal, but not a simple plug-in setup like most.

 

Thanks,

I have tried that but I can not find anywhere to ajust the dimming function...can you let me know where it is exactly....

 

Page 172 in the manual -- it's done in BIOS

 

I bought a X460-44G from Newegg, a good deal with current $300 rebate. Ordered 4PM EST on Monday from CA it arrived on Wed with standard shipping, double boxed, great condition, wow. I must have a new UPS guy, this one didn't just throw it and leave!!

I removed some of the bloatware (Office 2007, SQL server, play camera, Samsung Magic, etc) and it is running pretty good. I have one problem. I want to use the fingerprint reader to log on either the wife (#1 user) or myself onto the same desktop. Is this possible with the Omnipass fingerprint reader software? I don't want to maintain 2 sets of user desktops if I can help it. It seemed to force me to have 2 IDs.

 

Each ID uses prints from two different fingers, perhaps you could use one from you and one from your wife?

 

Scrod have you done it yet? That was the only conclusion I could come to is using the second finger for the wife. I'll give it a try later today.

Actually, I should be the second finger, she'll use it as her main PC.

 

Nope. Sold my X460 about the time you made your post. Good luck!

 

Why no love for the X460? I think it's decent so far.

Now I have to buy something for a relative and am considering a Samsung netbook so I can tweak them the same, so many models, so many piddly differences.

 

My only real complaint was the vertical viewing angles of the screen. That wasn't enough to return it, but you can read back to see my story. I think I'd rather have Windows XP.

 

Any way I can get this laptop in Canada? It's not listed on buy.ca or amazon.ca.

 

A lot of retailers are going out of stock with the X460. Does anyone know if Samsung has discontinued this laptop? I seriously hope not, as it hasn't even been out for a year, but I don't see any of the OOS retailers refreshing their inventory. I know newegg has it, but it will be $100 tax in CA. I'd prefer to get it off TigerDirect, but they're customer service staff wouldn't tell me if they are coming back in stock.

Anyone have any insight? This is a really cool laptop that I'd love to get.

 

The X460 was quite heavily discounted so maybe Samsung are limiting the supply and putting more effort into other products. The most recent BIOS update (ver.03LZ05LY) is dated 21st April which suggests that it is still a live product.

John

 

I had not seen the X460 with T3400 yet.
It's being offered for 777,- euros, which is quite cheap compared to previous pricing.
http://www.4launch.nl/shop/product/072189/-notebook-x460-fa01nl-14-1---t3400--250gb

 

Does anybody know the status of a Vista x64 driver/software for display manager?? I've got MOST things working in x64 but the display manager will not work. Any help? Does anybody have Vista X64 running with everything working and no ??? in device manager???

(ps. the Vertex 120 is a tight fit -- had to remove a couple rubber pads -- I guess I won't need them no moving parts in the SSD and all It's blistering fast and ultra quiet! Aside from the x64 issue above so far I like this thing a lot!)

 

I e-mailed Samsung and asked them about the availability of the X460, and they replied (and actually answered my question!) by telling me that the X460 had reached its End of Life and was pretty much discontinued!

I really wanted to buy this from Tiger Direct to save money on taxes, but with it being discontinued, I went ahead and ordered it from Newegg and decided to eat the $100 tax to ensure I actually get this beauty. It shipped the same day and now I'm waiting anxiously for it to arrive. I can't wait! I've had this old pentium M laptop for nearly 5 years and am really looking forward to the upgrade!

500gb Scorpio Blue hard drive from HP is also on it's way. Its going to be an exciting weekend .

 

same. ive never been able to find it...

 

discontinued? did they even do any sort of marketing for it? seems strange to discontinue such a laptop only after 6-8months. I could have seen it selling very well if they fixed the viewing angles and the fingerprint issue

does anyone know if they plan on replacing it with anything new? a new luxury laptop to compete with the adamo and air?

 

OK, Samsung says there will 'never' be a 64bit display manager so that's a big buzzkill -- nice thing though, Win7 x32 RC installed and after update no a single unknown device!!! That's the ONLY reason I'm keeping it -- well, that and it's still a REALLY good light weight laptop. The SSD upgrade seems to be a wise move -- the performance is really nice LOVING mine so far guys!!! Any questions give a holler I'm glad to answer since I've been workig on this thing three days straight!

I also got the P-dock from newegg -- eSATA works great -- external monitor (with displayfusion pro) really looks nice -- nice $139 Hanns-G also from newegg). 3D app performance is totally fine -- even CATIA runs very well!!!

 

The new BIOS seems to make it run much hotter.

Does anyone know if it is possible to revert back to an older bios? it won't let me by trying to install the older one...

 

It can be done, with difficulty, using a DOS version of the firmware flashing program booting from a CD (or similar) with a parameter such as /NOCHECK (the details are in this forum somewhere).

For an example of an ISO file to make a bootable CD visit SamsungPC.com. Unfortunately, they have stopped producing this option for the newer models. It is also becoming hard to find the previous BIOS versions - Samsung only list the newest on their download site.

Perhaps Samsung should take note of Dell's practice of letting users easily revert to a previous BIOS, but there could be a Korean philosophy that newest is best.

John

 

oh man, tough luck, ive been saving my money since im still just finishing up high school to get the x460, but since im short on cash and i prefer a US keyboard i want to get this from the US becuase it says it has international warranty, they wont charge extra would they?, cuz i hope i just send it in to the Samsung centre in UK...or they pay the coverage to send it overseas return...please help me decide....and i cant believe its discontinued... hopefully they will come out with an improved model with back-lit keyboard, better speakers, and screen flex fix as this is the only thing holding me back from buying this beauty...i just having hard time to decide between the X460 and Dells Studio XPS 13....any help would be greatly appreciated

P.S. added extra i would change it to 7200 RPM from 5400 RPM, unless its not noticeably that much noticeable....do you feel the diff with 7200 HHD's? or shall i stick with the 5400 RPM

 

I would also suggest that you look at the selection of Latitude E6400's in Dell Outlet. OK,the E6400 significantly heavier than the X460 but it is also much more robust. Warranty is much less of an issue (3 years by default) and it is very easy to upgrade. The E6400's speakers, however, are a disgrace and either headphones or external speakers are an essential accessory. However, the WXGA+ display option can give you more screen real estate in return for the extra weight.

That's my 2 cents. I've owned and used a number of Samsung products but I have been very impressed by my E6400.

John

 

I found a copy of the older one...on the UK site, however, it won't let me install as it says the newer one is installed.

Anything I can do about that? Is the only route the one you mention?

The temperatures are annoyingly much higher...

 

Grab a copy of that older BIOS before it disappears.

See the instructions here about how to do a downgrade.

You would have to get one of the ISO files and then edit it using an ISO file editor to change the BIOS file. This would assume that Samsung have made no significant changes to the BIOS structure. They all look the same.

John

 

i have checked out the E6400 and i say its really good, but too bulky for me lol..and its really an "outstanding look"....currently i have a Sony SZ and its beautiful, 13.3" X black screen, and the speakers are just WOW, all my friends envy my current laptop due to the volume and mobility, since its really light......but downside is the mouspad goes crazy due to electrical reasons since the palmrest is metal. Anyways..........

any other comments on my situation would be greatly appreciated

 

I replaced my X460 with a Vaio Z. I got an outlet model of the previous 540 series with low end specs for only a couple hundred more than I paid for the X460 after rebate at the Buy.com deal. I like the Vaio a lot more for my preferences, though it has its own set of quirks.

 

The link you provide is for other Samsung laptops, not the X460?

http://www.samsungpc.com/08/products/x460/firmware.html#firmware

that is the x460 previous firmware and it is not in ISO form.

Thanks for the help by the way John.

 

I know that. I haven't seen any ISO files for the current series of Samsung notebooks.

Hence the need to take an older ISO file and do some editing.

You can ask Samsung support if they have another solution. In the past I have corresponded with the support people via an email form on the (UK) FAQ page.

John

 

Thanks.

And i'm sorry

 

The reply I got was:

That's helpful isn't it!

 

It's a little narrow-minded on Samsung's part. The Dell BIOS updater is also Windows based but doesn't block a downgrade.

Perhaps, as the result of an increasing number of Samsung owners, someone will develop a Samsung BIOS downgrade utility.

John

 

Hopefully.

If you spot anything let me know, i'll keep my eyes open.

Thanks again.

 

A couple gripes about the X460:

1) the separation on the outer lid between black and (red) aluminum is poor -- a little flex in the area and it opens up a big hole!

2) the plastics in the main body around the keyboard and under the display are warped pretty badly -- looks cheap.

3) for some reason my high speed SDHC card doesn't mount on startup -- using it as a cache drive you need to unseat/reseat the card every time -- good thing the placement makes this NOT a big deal

4) DISPLAY DIMMING!!! What the hell!?! You guys are right about dimming every 30sec or so on battery -- I think you have to kill any power savings in BIOS in addition to the 'user control' setting. This one still is weird!!!

5) again, on battery it goes to SATA150 and the 3D performance of the disply goes down a _LOT_. Refer to #4 for the fix to some of this issue...

Any questions let me know!

 

Does anyone know what's going on with the samsung x series?

It seems to be discontinued but no mention if it's because it's done or they are revamping the line.

For a 6 month old notebook that I'd say is still stiff competition for even asus's new u80v and sony's new z series an update of the x460 would be very interesting.

Give it sony graphite like or aluminum finish, a better screen, a bit better graphics card while keeping the price at around $1500 and the weight where it is and it should be very competitive.

 

The X360 and X460 were heavily discounted a few months ago so I don't think they provided they expected profits. The previous X series models contained a lot of metal whereas the X360 and X460 looked very plasticky.

There are no new models showing up on the Samsung download site. Models usually get listed about a month before they start to ship.

John