Series 5 ULTRA notebooks, Ultrabooks with AMD Radeon HD7550M

Available in 13- and 14-inch, both are powered by second generation Intel Core i5-2467M processor, up to 8GB memory and boasts fast boot of just 20 seconds and wake up in two seconds.

The Series 5 ULTRA also offers up to 6.4 hours of battery life on a single charge, and with Samsung Battery Life Plus, it keeps 80 percent of the cell's original capacity in three years (or life cycle of up to 1,500 charging cycles.

Both the 13- and 14-inch are equipped with Samsung superior LCD technology with 300 nits high definition LED SuperBright display, Image Enhancer technology and anti-reflective screen.

Both models will be available in early February at S$1,298 (13-inch) and S$1,598 (14-inch).


No i7 ULV or SSD yet. May come later.

13"
14mm at its thinnest point and is extremely lightweight at 1.43kg
No AMD Radeon graphics card or built-in optical drive
500GB HDD
Ports selection - full-size HDMI, one USB3.0, two USB2.0, 4-in-1 multi SD card slot, Ethernet and webcam.


14"
20.9mm slim and weighs 1.84kg
up to 1TB storage
AMD Radeon HD7550M 1GB VRAM and integrated optical disc drive
Ports selection - full-size HDMI, VGA, two USB 3.0, one USB 2.0, 4-in-1 multi SD card slot, Ethernet and webcam.

Samsung announces Series 5 ULTRA notebooks and Series 7 Smart Station Monitors by VR-Zone.com
http://www.anandtech.com/show/5428/hands-on-with-samsungs-line-of-new-notebooks

Already released just earlier: http://www.bestbuy.com/site/Samsung...09235873&skuId=4700116&st=ultrabook&cp=1&lp=1

 

Any idea of UK pricing, im guessing more than £1000?

 

I hope the 14" does not have the same graphics problems as the samsung series 7.

Edit: I'm hoping it is also coming with an AMD Radeon HD7550m because I don't see it listed on the Best Buy or Samsung product page. Maybe it's another Best Buy only "special model"?

I also think some specs on the Best Buy website could be incorrect:
- They seem to be displaying the dimensions of the 13" (12.4"x8.6"x0.7", 3.2 pounds) instead of the 14" (according to samsung website: 13.1"x9.0"x0.9", 3.94 pounds).
- It claims 1xUSB3.0 and 2xUSB2.0 instead of 2xUSB3.0 and 1xUSB1.0 (again, this might be specs from the 13")

 

The Bestbuy model has the same number as what's on Amazon, who ship from TigerDirect. All have Intel graphics.
Samsung NP530U4B-A01US Series 5 Ultrabook - Intel Core i5-2467M 1.6GHz, 4GB DDR3, 500GB HDD, DVDRW, 14 Display, Windows 7 Home Premium 64-bit, Silver at TigerDirect.com

More pics.
Hands-on with the Samsung Series 5 Ultra: Like a Series 9, but affordable | CES 2012: Computers and Hardware - CNET Blogs

Screen is, "lovely and bright" but battery life seems average.
Hands on: Samsung Series 5 Ultra review | News | TechRadar

I doubt this will be The One, but still looking forward to reviews.

 

I went to Best Buy to check out the 14" series 5 and it sure seemed pretty nice. The screen was nice and bright (2 notches from max is easily as bright, maybe brighter, than my current laptop at full brightness), and the keyboard had a nice feel to it. But for some reason I could not figure out how to scroll without clicking the actual scroll bar. Using 2 fingers didn't work, sliding my finger along the edge didn't work, and I couldn't find any settings to turn on either. Maybe I wasn't looking in the right place...

 

How was the overall build? Was it all aluminum or plastic? I'm wondering when we'll see the version with the ATI GPU.

 

It is aluminum with plastic on the bottom.

 

Just like the Series 7.

 

I saw one at my local Best Buy and I have to admit it looked pretty good but was noticeably heavier than the other ultrabooks.

I just wished they used a better screen resolution than 1366x768, esp in the 14", and had a backlit keyboard.

At least the 14" had the dedicated Pg/Home/End row on the side.

 

Those extra keys are what's keeping me looking at the 14" even though I don't want a 14" with optical drive. It's only 4lbs, so says the specs. A year ago, 13" notebooks were 4 pounds and mostly plastic. Even the aluminum body 13" Macbook Pro is 4.5 pounds. Impressive that they can currently cram so much into such a small & light space but 3.5 pounds and below creeping into spec sheets has spoiled me with thoughts of an ultra light laptop possibly with an i7 and minimal plastic body parts.

 

I don't know why Samsung is even releasing new laptops right now when new processors come in like 3 months.

 

Maybe they can get customers to identify the bugs. In reality, some Ivy Bridge models may appear in 3 months but the full range won't arrive for at least 6 months, and once Ivy Bridge arrives, Sandy Bridge prices will get pushed down the pricing range which means better value for money for anyone who doesn't need the latest hardware.

John

 

I saw the 14" model today at BestBuy. I must admit, I liked it.

 

If it has the HD 7550M, the performance is better than the S9.

 

Looks like it's only got the basic Intel.

 

I took another look at this today at BestBuy. If anyone is interested, here's what it had inside:

Optical Drive: TSSTcorp CDDVDW SU-208AB (TSST = Toshiba Samsung Storage Technology)

Hard Drive: ST9500325AS (Momentus 5400.6 SATA 3Gb/s 500-GB Hard Drive)

 

530U4B- S01SG has the AMD HD7550M. Out since mid-Feb.

Samsung Series 5 Notebook 530U4B-S01SG

 

Different versions of the same model can have different GPUs. Many notebook manufacturers do this. Buyer beware and check the specs. Personally, I don't need the extra 3D graphics power provided by a dedicated GPU so i prefer the Intel-only hardware. There's less to cause problems and it's more frugal with power.

John

 

Hot pink version out
The SERIES 5 ULTRA (Pop Pink) | Facebook

 

Hi every body,

Yesterday I bought Samsung NP530U4B, the look of this laptop is excellent.

but I found the "AMD Radeon™ HD7550M" card is not showing into Control Panel\Appearance and Personalization\Display\Screen Resolution >> advance settings >> here Intel Graphic HD 3000 showing.
I am feeling that AMD Radeon not working or something missing.

If you have any idea, please suggest me.

thanks in Advance.

 

Hi,

I checked AMD this page and download the driver verification tool from this page.

got this error..

 

Can you please share the Samsung Series 7 Graphics problem ? I thought might be Series 5 Ultra notebook also have this error.

 

Update:
I called to service person, and he also accept that the colors display are not true type.
I found that red color display bit mixed with orange color.

Also when i checked Control Panel\Appearance and Personalization\Display\Screen Resolution >> found Intel HD Graphic Family instead of AMD Radeon.

please suggest.

 

does anyone know how to check if the 14" series 5 ultra ,
have got SATA 3 for SSD?

TIA.

 

I believe some have said Samsung are only SATA II speed capable. Need confirmation.

 

but i checked my bios setting and there's this SATA gen3 enable/disable.

anyone can confirm?

 

yes, Ultrabook 5 series have SATA gen3 option in bios, and it clearly mention to support SATA3 HDD / SDD.

 

Very good, so anybody tested the speeds?

 

i have updated my HDD of NP530U4B to a SATA III SSD.
it is indeed sata 3 supported.

i have another qns.
i realize that the expresscache seems to be using sata 2.
can i somehow turn that 16gb expresscache into a drive and store photos/documents instead?

 

You can. Just go to diskmgmt.msc and delete the unknown partition (which is HFS). Then create a NTFS partition and you can use for storage.

 

When i want the expresscache back, how do i format it ?

 

Read this thread.

John

 

Thanks john,

anyone tried to enable hibernation to this notebook?

i tried cmd>powercfg -h on
it gives me an error saying "system firmware does not support..."
and powercfg /a
shows similar under the "hibernation".

any idea?