Samsung X65 (15.4" widescreen)

zero difference....both a digital video outputs, both will output the exact same infomation

HDMI however does allow full 5.1 channel audio (dolby, DTS an all that) to be output along with the digital video stream.... basically its just a means of getting HD video and sound out the same door. when you connect to a TV with HDMI its just one cable for sound and video...makes things nice and tidy.

what i am not sure of however...is whether HDMI on the laptops carrys the sound as well. i dont think it will personally, im not sure nvidias cards are capable of doing that (Ati's new ones are)

its probably more just for ease of connectivity since most new HDTV's feature HDMI as their digital video inputs and not DVI.



next question: when can i buy this? the Asus G1S can now be purchased in the UK, there are a number of sites listen them, though no stock until the 1st of june, if that can be believed.

what are my chances of being able to purchase the X65 around or shortly after that time? i dont really want to buy a fake carbon fibre, green neon lighted bling gaming machine, but it is pretty much the only other choice.

 

Some comments on the previous few posts.

1. The build quality of the X60 /plus is good and it is sensible for Samsung to continue with the design and basic appearance (but I think the black keyboard is an improvement). The chassis and display back are metal, not plastic, and therefore should not be compared to the R series. It will be even better if Samsung have managed to add a little more travel to the X65 keyboard than exists in the X60 / plus. I felt the R20's keyboard has a superior feel.

2. A locking facility on the remote would be an interesting and potentially useful feature. However the manual (relevant page attached) says that these buttons are not used. The same buttons are there on the X60 / plus.

3. The drivers and software were posts a month ago. I'm sure this notebook is in production and its arrival may be imminent. I note that Dabs is no longer listing the T7200 version of the X60 plus. This may be a sign that stocks are being run down and not replenished. Is the 8600GPU in good supply yet?

I wait with interest to see whether the X65 continues the recent trend of downward prices (eg the Q45 being less expensive that the Q35).

John

 

Thanks for the info otispunkmeyer! So I would be happy with the HDMI good to know.

But I think I lost you there ->

Is there ANY info on the x65 modells (how many different will there be actually?). Only thing I read is x65 starting around 1,5k Euros...with what equipment?

 

i was just asking when i can buy this beast........ theres a wad of cash burning my bank down as we speak, its just gagging to be spent....but samsung are being slow.

 

Hrrr, I see, same here. I´m just so curious about how the x65-modells differ in terms of price...

 

I think the X65 will have a similar price and specs to the LG R500.

the R500 costs €1499 in Germany and has

- 2.0Ghz T7300
- 15.4" WSXGA+ (1680x1050)
- 2048 MB DDR2-RAM PC5300
- 160 GB HDD SATA 5400rpm
- 256 MB NVIDIA GeForce Go 8600M GS
- ABGN Wifi
- Bluetooth integriert
- Intel Turbo Memory Robson 1GB

The advantige of the X65 will be that it is lighter and the LG advantige that it comes with 1GB Turbo Memory. I am sure the other versions of the X65 will cost more and have higher specs. 2,2 or 2,4 GHZ CPU and maybe even 200GB HDD. Anybody think Samsung will have a version with Vista Business?

 

So am I right when I assume that besides cpu, hdd and MAYBE gfx there won´t be any differences in the models´ specs?

 

Aren´t these enough differences ?
You could compare the X65 differences with the ones of series X60.
You won´t see the differences between the models from the outside,
they all look the same.

According to Samsung Germany http://presse.samsung.de/upload/dokumente/200705014_TD-Intel_Santa_Rosa.pdf (Specs of X65 on p.2)
X65 will be available with XP Pro or Vista Business.
HDD sizes will be 120, 160 and 200 GB. No word about cpu differences.
But there will be a model with WXGA and a model type with WSXGA+ (1680x1050)
GPU will be a Nvidia 8600M GS 256MB or a 8400M GS 128MB

 

one thing to add:
Fingerprint module and TPM ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trusted_Platform_Module) are also optional !

 

You obviously missed my point, cause that´s exactly what i feared most: the fact that the WSXGA+ model will be the topmodel, meaning it´ll be the most expensive one of the series. Already thought so... :/ So the WSXGA+ model will be like 1800 sth Euro, I guess. Well then, my plan got ripped off before the notebook came available. Nice one. Far too expensive for me.

 

I agree. If the €1500 model has 1280x800 screen then that would be horrible. Might as well buy the R70 then. If the 1680x1050 screen costs more then €1600 at studentbook.de then I will buy the LG R500 or the Asus V1 Santa Rosa. I love Samsung but if they over price their stuff I am gone.

 

Exactly my point. Nothing to add.

 

Ok, but i would wait till there is an official presentation. Prices are not sure yet. And original prices by Samsung tend to be a lot higher than the prices in the net.... X60 Boxxer´s Samsung pricing is 2349 Eur, you could get it via internet for around 1900 Eur now !

 

Slightly ot but:
Did you guys consider getting a Zepto ?


I did a quick configuration on http://www.zepto.com
C2D 2,0 Ghz - 2 GB Ram - 160 GB HDD - Nvidia 8600 GT 512MB - 15,4 " WSXGA+ Display - Vista Business (you can also get it without any OS)
Price 1484 Euros + Shipping ~80 Euros

 

Yep, I already found out about that one on another notebook related forum and what can I say besides it´s looking nice. But: I never ever heard the name Zepto before. But further research may be worth it. But thanks for the hint anyway!

edit: Ok, now - after taking some time to have a closer look at Zepto´s site - I´m impressed. Very nice configurability!

 

What sucks about the Zepto is that it has bad battery life. I rather get a GS and more run time. Under 2 hours is just not enough with the 6 cell and the 12 cell might be available later but then I think it will make the laptop alot less portable. Maybe the Zepto 6224W (14,1") will be the one I get. But with Zepto I will wait for some reviews.

 

Right, I already wondered about the battery times. Ok the 8600GT is nice, but I´m old fashioned with games anyway (Quake 3, Fallout, Homeworld, System Shock, Thief, etc.) which simply means I don´t plan to get a desktop replacement in terms of 3D-power. But 2 hour runtimes a real sluppy.

 

I would expect the X65 version(s) to come in at no higher prices than the X60 series models they are replacing (and possibly a bit lower consindering that the Q45 is (at least in UK) less expensive than the Q35).

I would be surprised if the X65 in Europe with the 1280 x 800 resolution display since that dropped out of the previous range.

One unknown is whether it is launched with only XP, only Vista or either. Samsung seem to look on this model as primarily a business computer but the good GPU is more appropriate to gaming than most business applications.

As for battery life, I would hope that a combination of the new Intel chipset and some good power management by Nvidia would give a battery life of 3 hours under light use. The X1400 version of the X60 could just manage 3 hours.

But when is it coming? Something seems to be delaying the arrival.

John

 

:s how can the X60 with the x1400 be that bad? After reducing the voltage of the CPU with NHC and underclocking the graphics card I can get almost 4 hours out of the X60 pro with a x1600 (studentbook edition). Way over 5h with the 9 cell. I was expecting something similar from the X65. I dont think the 8600M GS will use that much power. Even the G1s with a 8600M GT can get 2.5 hours it seems.

 

Good view. Actually I was just thinking of that 1280x800 resolution as being obsolete for highend notebooks anyway, but since the pdf specs don´t clearly say so, I feared for the worst.
All in all 3 hours battery life don´t sound too good to me, of course 2 hours sound even less good. I´m still getting familiar with these days notebook tech and I´m mostly amazed, but one thing still sucks big time as it seems: battery.

 

Battery life is best (for a given size of battery) if you have a low voltage CPU, integrated graphics and a small screen. The X65 won't tick any of these boxes. The Santa Rosa chipset has better power-saving tweaks than its predecessor, but I don't know how will the GPU can be throttled back.

John

 

Yeah, sure, actually I was surprised about how weak battery technology in notebooks still is. I do know the basics: facts like the stronger the gfx, the more power it drains, and so on...

 

All those transistors leak power, and the more potent GPUs have more transistors than the CPUs.

Sony's work-around in the SZ series was a physical switch to select either the Intel IGP or the dedicated GPU. Unfortunately, the switch-over requires a reboot.

On the Q35 I found that Bluetooth stopped the CPU from snoozing and did nasty things to the battery life.

John

 

One option to improve battery life of the X65 is to get the 9 cell battery,
which is around 200 Euros. Not a cheap option of course.

I got an email from Samsung Germany about X65´s official launch.
They tell that launching date has been postponed but will be in June.
No reasons were given.

 

I heared something similar. I talked to the guys at notebook.de shop today. They cold me that they dont expect to have prices and spec. details for the X65 and P55 till the last week of June. They said until the laptops are readly available might be early July.

 

july! oh man thats ages away.

think i might just give up waiting and spend my money on something else. i do need a tripod for my DSLR, and a wide angle lens sooo

 

Early July was pretty much what I was expecting. No surprise though...

 

PDF versions of the X65 User Manuals are now available at the Samsung download site.

John

 

Thanks John !

Nothing new on the German handbook, but i saw an option for HD DVD or Blu Ray. Didn´t notice that before.

Samsung Germany is beginning to set up X65 data, a model "X65 series" could be found in the download section. But nothing to download yet.
I suppose we´re not to far from a X65 release.

 

I´m really looking forward to that release! I´m nearly through with selling my desktop machine, too. So hopefully things won´t be too expensive.

Blue Ray would be a real killer. But I guess BlueRay is only included in the top model x65...

 

It's quite likely that they won't include Blue Ray or HD at this stage but wait for the prices of the drives to come down further. Maybe in the autumn ready for watching movies during the winter.

John

 

I will buy a laptop (be it x65 or another one...) in June or July, so autumn is like a whole different world to me. But nothing is wrong with exchanging the integrated 5,25" drive with a blueray burner later when prices aren´t rediculous as they are now, I think. I don´t like the idea buying a 1500-1800 Euro machine that will be outdated in around 6 months...

 

All Santa Rosa laptops will be out dated in 6-9 Months... Penryn and Montevina is on its way.

 

Cpu- and chipset-wise, yeah, true. One can´t win against hardware-update-cycle happening every couple of months. But I was more talking about peripheral components. But - to be honest - somehow you put me in a bad mood talking about penryn and the like... grml.

 

Don´t let you get down by the cpu/chipset race. No one could actually win this one, except you buy a new machine every 2 months....
I´m having my Compaq for 5 years now and i never felt technically "outdated".
Just for now it doesn´t comply to my requirements any more.
So i get a new one and will be happy for another five years

Anyway, did you consider buying this beauty by Asus, the F3SV ?
http://www.heise.de/preisvergleich/a256780.html
Core 2 Duo T7500 2x 2.20GHz • 2048MB (2x 1024MB) • 200GB • DVD+/-RW DL • NVidia GeForce Go 8600M GS 256MB max.768MB shared memory • USB 2.0/FireWire/Modem/Gb LAN/WLAN 802.11abgn/Bluetooth • 7in1 Card Reader (SD/miniSD/MMC/MS/MS Pro/MS Duo/MS Pro Duo) • Hybrid (Analog+DVB-T) TV Tuner • FingerPrint Reader • Web-/Videokamera (1.3 Megapixel) • 15.4" WXGA+ TFT (1440x900) • Windows Vista Home Premium • Li-Ionen-Akku (6 Zellen) • 2.95kg • 24 Monate Herstellergarantie
Price in Germany 1450 Euro !!! (i´m not sure where you live, but your nick sounds German)
Seems to go well with your budget AND your requirements
(No HD DVD though)


You could see it in action here:
http://forum.notebookreview.com/showthread.php?t=125246

So don´t worry, there will be a machine that brightens you up

 

That's a good spec for the German F3SV. The British one has only the T7300 and 1280 x 800 display. The F3 also weighs significantly more than the X60 / X65.

John

 

Quite interesting, nice stats, too, but I don´t hear any good word about the ASUS support. I used to be more into desktop PC parts and ASUS support was always crappy. So I don´t plan to get my hands on a PC part worth 1.5k Euro when it´s made by ASUS. Initially I had some brands to look at: Samsung, LG, Sony (which isn´t what it used to be I read), IBM, Apple.

I am from Germany, right. Well I now plan to go as far as 1,8K Euro budgetwise. Requirements, yes, true, but weight (thanks John for bringing this up) and screen don´t exactly look best.

I´m very positive about that.

 

For €1800 you could buy the smallest macbook pro. Seems to fit everything you want.

This new macbook is going to be real competition for the X65 if Samsung prices is too high.

 

Actually, I´d love to, but why have there always to be some major drawbacks with apple stuff:

* 2.2GHz Intel Core 2 Duo
* 1440 x 900 resolution
* 2GB memory
* 120GB hard drive1
* 8x double-layer SuperDrive
* NVIDIA GeForce 8600M GT graphics with 128MB SDRAM

Comparing this to what the x65-series brings, I can´t see the point in buying apple. Concerning typical apple design I´d love to get one, but internals over appearance. Period.

 

Compare to the X65:
* Intel Core 2 Duo (not specified, i m too lazy to search which cpu it will have)
* WXGA/WSXGA+ resolution
* Up to 4gb like Apple, but din specify how many it will come with.
* 120 GB S-ATA, 160 GB S-ATA oder 200 GB S-ATA, consider the lowest is also 120GB, nothing wrong with this right?
* Optical Drive not stated, most probably a DVD burner.
* 8600M GS GDDR3 256 MB /8400M GS GDDR3 128 MB, I am laughing over how you state that a 128MB 8600M GT will lose to a 8600M GS...

Cheers, the facts... The only thing that the X65 will win over the Apple is the Price point and the screen. For the others i think they would/can have basically the same setup.

 

Please interpret things a little more realistically and don´t add something I have not said. As colorfully marked I was only complaining over the fact of having only 128 Mb gfx memory installed on the 8600gt. The fact that the gfx is indeed a gt and not a gs is fine. But 128 Mb sucks like...
I do not know where you look at the specs, but referring to here I only can see a "8x double-layer SuperDrive", which - right - sucks again.

Exactly, two very good reasons and enough for a well based decision.

Yeah, except the two things, right? I care for what screen I´ll get or what money I have to spent in addition to get the same setup.

 

It will be interesting to see that specs the Samsung country offices choose for the X65.

I would not expect that they would include WXGA but WXGA+ would be a good option (but is not included in the gneral specs in the User Manual).

In UK we currently have two versions of the X60 plus. The more expensive version has a faster CPU and a bigger HDD.

Looking at the specs of the Q70 and M60, I would expect that the X65 would have at least a T7300 CPU and 2GB RAM and some form of 8600M GPU. However, I see two key markets for the X65: (a) Business users who want a lightweight notebook with a big, good quality display, security features and a reasonable battery life. A powerful GPU probably wouldn't be needed and business people are tending to stay with XP, or possibly Vista Business; and (b) people who want a powerful lightweight gaming machine with the best possible GPU.

So maybe the logical configuration would be: Version (a) - T7300 + 2GB + 160GB + 8400M GS + XP Pro; and Version (b) T7500 + 2GB + 200GB + 8600M GT + Vista. There could be scope to go as big as 250GB HDD.

I would also expect pricing to be not higher than the current X60 models. In UK it would be very good if a version of the X65 were to sell at below £1000. This would interest many more people.

I can see that one of Samsung's dilemmas for the configuration is the need to offer XP Pro. At the same time they don't like having too many versions.

We will have to wait and see what comes. More than likely Samsung will have some different ideas about the best configurations to offer.

John

 

I am surprised Vista Business seems to appear in so many of these high end laptops - most business users want XP Pro, and home users prefer Vista Home (with xbox streaming, media centre etc). I hope Samsung do offer this laptop with Vista Home (or even Ultimate) - given the success of the gaming laptops out there, I think there would be a lot of interest for a "consumer" friendly version!

 

If samsung would include the LED screen, it would be perfect.

 

A 128MB GT is faster then 256 or 512MB GS.

The screen has a lower resolution but the Macbook pro screen is very good and I would say better then the x60. It is brigter and reflects less. Also LED saves alot of battery.

About the price I would also not be so sure. The smallest X65 will be cheaper. Maybe €1599 or even 1499. If it is 1499 I would think that it has a low res screen of wxga for the cheapest version. I think a X65 with comparabe specs will have a similar price to the Macbook pro. Well need to wait and see.... waiting waiting waiting. Samsung is being very slow about this.

I think you should look long and hard at the LG R500, great screen, fast and good value for money. You could buy a HD-DVD drive with the money you save. You wont find a build in blueray or HD-DVD drive in a laptop below €2000 anyway.

 

Comparing a Samsung NB with an Apple MacBook Pro isn´t a pure question of hardware specs but yes an "idealistic" approach. You´ll at first have to decide between Mac and Windows World. (Even with Apple Boot Camp running you wouldn´t have the full XP/Vista experience as Apple hardware isn´t fully compatible with Windows OS (especially battery settings are an issue). Mac OS emulation on XP also isn´t very productive. So if you have an OS you can´t fully have the other)

If you´re an "addicted" Mac or XP user you wouldn´t spend a second switching to another OS.

If you´re undecided between the OS let the machines themselves speak.
MBP´s Design is without a doubt outstanding. But a well built Samsung is also a real beauty. It´s all personal preferences.
Technical specs aren´t that different, just Apple´s prices are a lot higher comparing the CPUs. Thus your acquisition of an Apple or a Samsung also depends on your budget.

Comparing the MBP and a X65 isn´t easy. I would even call this comparison impossible as you are also talking about to different OS worlds.

If my budget would be bigger i´d buy the X65 and the MBP (with XP/Vista and a Linux distribution running on X65)
But i had to make a decision, i´ll buy the X65 as i´m more fond of Windows world (but not of Microsoft....) Plus i´m not a big supporter of MPB´s haptics. Keyboard and touchpad in my eyes are overrated. But that´s just my personal opinion.

 

hmmm I cont confirm this at all. I have only used Vista on a Macbook (not pro) but it worked perfectly since bootcamp with Vista support came out.

OSX runs perfectly on the X60 too btw. Picking is not fun. Use both on both.

 

Of course boot camp does work on a Macbook. And OSX on X60/X65. But there are limitations. And i wouldn´t want to spend around 2000 € and then be restricted by an OS emulation if i could buy a similiar machine that handles the respective OS just perfectly... Think about it.

 

X65 is on sale in Korea:
http://www.goyongsan.com/newshop/scripts/readprod_1.asp?gp_code=75573605
Price is 2,290,000 Won which are 1,837 € or 1,246 GBPs.

It´s this X65 model (NT-X65A/W221) with C2D T7500 and 1680x1050 Display:
http://www.sec.co.kr/PCS.svl?CMD=LastGenGoodsPage_001&GOODS_NO=145924&dispNo=001078&COMU=&curDepth=2&EVNT_NO=&dispNoMall=001002015&COMM_001=0000100003&SHP=&EXP_TP=2

And i´ve found a X65 Version with a 1280x768 display ! :
http://www.bb.co.kr/main/pd/pr_list.php?pd_id=671277
Price is 1,843,000 Won which are 1,478 € or 1,003 GBPs

I´m curious about the upcoming European prices. But i suppose they are similiar as Samsung Germany has announced a starting price of 1,500 €

 

I sure hope the student prices will be cheaper.... maybe even a special student addition again. Korea has 10% sales tax and in germany I would have to pay 19%.

The 1478€ one is out of the question... might aswell save 400€ and buy the R70 then. The 1850€ one is over my budget. And sorry to keep coming back to this the macbook pro is only 1799€.