bestbuy NP700Z5B S01UB

Picked this up last weekend ... 1 tb hard drive with 8 gb ssd on motherboard ( express cache ) and 6490M at $999.

Over at samsung they seem to let you register a np700z5b w01ub ( but not s01ub ) ... not sure what difference if any there is.

I am just trying to figure out the issues with this machine and graphics stuff.

Sorry I am not understanding very well the issues with updating to the latest AMD video display drivers. Could someone please clarify for me ... has samsung done something to prevent one from updating the drivers yourself? Will windows update not show you when updated drivers are available?

Should I think about returning it within bb 14 day period and waiting for ivy bridge version?

Thanks in advance!

 

The differences between the machines are that this new version, the S01UB, has 2 GB more RAM, and a 1TB hard drive instead of the 750 GB hard drive from the W01UB. This new version also has a backlit keyboard. At first I didn't think this had the express cache, and I thought you were confusing it with RAM, but after taking a closer look at the page and reading a customer review, I see that you're absolutely right, this has an 8GB iSSD, which the other model was lacking. This was a major thing that held me off from buying the previous model, so I'm really glad they decided to add it.

One problem with the cheaper Series 7 model was not addressed, though. The graphics card is the 512MB 6490M instead of the 1GB 6750M found in the $1,250 version. I would've preferred that upgrade over the RAM, 250 GB more hard drive space, and backlit keyboard upgrades, but this is a really good laptop for $1,000, and I'll definitely pick it up if it goes on sale for $850- $900. I was going to wait for Ivy Bridge and Windows 8, but if I'm getting a normal laptop instead of an ultrabook which can't have a dedicated graphics card, Ivy Bridge isn't as important to me.

 

I noticed on the product page on best buy its listed that it uses an a/b/g/n wireless card where as all the others are just a b/g/n. I would assume based on this that samsung swapped out the wireless card in this one but would just like for someone to confirm this. My only reservation on pulling the trigger on one of these series 7's has been the wireless issues and this would definitely end my hesitation if it turns out its a better card.

 

Never mind about my graphics card complaint, Samsung made a new version that is exactly what I want:

Samsung NP700Z5A-S09US Series 7 15.6" Notebook PC - Silver in PC Notebook Computers | JR.com

It has half as much hard drive space (although it's likely the 500 GB hard drive is 7200rpm, whereas the 1 TB drive is probably 5400 rpm) and a Core i5 processor instead of an i7, but I'm absolutely fine with that since the graphics card is exactly what I want, and I don't think I'll ever come close to needing the processing power or hard drive space of the BestBuy version. No tax from J and R for me either, so whenever this goes on sale at all, I found the laptop I want for sure now.

 

does anyone else have major keyboard issues with this model? The only way a key registers is if i press it hard and exactly in the middle. limits me to about 10 words a minute. Its a nice laptop but the keyboard renders it useless. Would get my money back if i didn't have proprietary info on here now.

Whole laptop ruined over a $5 keyboard....

 

I actually just purchased one of these around 2 weeks or so ago. Havent had a single issue except the finish. Anything you touch has a finger print! but over all its a sexy piece of machine :-D

 

Samsung Series 7 NP700Z5AH - 15.6" - Core i7 2675QM - Windows 7 Home Premium 64-bit - 6 GB RAM - 750 GB HDD - NP700Z5A-S04US - Best Buy For Business

Better GPU in this one. Only has 6Gb of RAM though.

 

I have this same issue, but only with the z key. Honestly, not a huge deal since very few words contain the letter Z, and it only slows down the undo shortcut.
But it would be nice to find a fix for it.

 

Proprietary info? You can always wipe the drive before a return.