samsung x-50

does anybody in the u.k. or asia own a samsung x-50? i am comtemplating whether to spring for the fujitsu N3510 or wait till i can find somewhere that will ship the X50 to the U.S.A. anybody have any positive or negative feedback on it? id really like to know more about this laptop!

 

come on does anyone know anything about this laptop? or where to purchase one and have it shipped to the USA? PLEASE HELP!

 

if you're made of money... [ ]

http://www.dynamism.com/x50/index.shtml

 

This laptop is available in the UK (about £1700 for the WVM2000 version with 2GHz and 1GB), I am also interested in getting some user reviews before I go ahead and put my order.

Come on! Someone must already have this baby!!!

 

I'm also seriously considering this laptop. Any one if I will have to pay a tarif if I get someone to send me one to me in the US from the UK?

HKG852

 

I recieved mine today - I haven't had much of a chance to look at it yet though.
I bought it from pricerunner.co.uk for £1710 including tax & delivery.
Contrary to the spec on Samsung's site, it comes with 1024Mb Ram, not 512 which is handy.
Feel free to ask any questions that you have about it.

 

Hey, I am also interested in the X50 760. Now that you have yours, let me know your thoughts. Also, what company did you buy it from. I went to pricerunner and they had 3-4 resellers listed.

Did you ever find out anything about service and support on the x50?

Thanks,

Anthony

 

I have plenty of questions!!!! [} ]
How is the screen? Glossy? Build quality? Post some pictures...
How about the fan noise? does it come with any accessories?
Just tell as much as you can from your impressions with this one... I am planning to buy next week if I can get enough information...


Many thanks.

 

I'm considering this machine as well as the Asus W3V. Any benchmarks or comments on the screen would be much appreciated.

Cheers

 

<blockquote id='quote'> quote:<hr height='1' noshade id='quote'>Originally posted by mat8iou

 

I purchased my x50 from digiuk.com I seem to recall that the other 2 companies shown on pricerunner did not yet have it in stock when I looked on their websites.

The screen is regular matt finish, not glossy, but is of good quality & I am happy using it for Photoshop work. At the native resolution of the screen, everything is readable (more so than on a lot of other laptops of similar resolution that I have seen.

I've been using it for just over a week now & so far am very happy with it. I can't notice the noise of the fan at all unless I am in a completely silent room & close to the machine. The temperature of the underside of it gets quite warm, but no more so than other laptops manufactured in the past few years. There is a quiet mode, where it run slightly slower, but I haven't bothered using it at all as I can't hear the fans anyway.

In the box, there is not much apart from the computer itself & some CDs for the bundled software, some of which is pre-installed, some of which you need to install yourself if you want to use it.

Startup speed is fast & I haven't managed to use up the battery yet, when using it on 1 3/4 hour train journey, using AutoCAD with the screen at the brightest setting

Build quality is good, the only issue I have with it is the same as I had on my previous laptop (a vaio) that the coating that they use on the surface of the magnesium is quite soft & can get scratched relatively easily.

The machine is setup in a way that when it is turned off it can be booted directly to built in DVD playing software - I haven't managed to get this software to recognise the 2 DVDs that I have tried in it so far, although I haven't had much spare time to look at the settings.

The size of the screen is 15.4" not 15.1" (which I think the specs on Samsung's website said)

Generally speaking, apart from my issue with the softness of the surface finish I am very happy with it. I can see the surface getting a lot of scratches after a while, as happened to my previous laptop, but I haven't seen any light machines with a more robust coating.

That is the other point to add - it feels very light for it's size - Half of the weight of 17" laptops that oter people in my office have, which are a lot thicker.

 

Personally I'm very happy that the screen is matt finish, as I have had problems with reflections in the screens of some other laptops that I looked at - I guess it depends a bit on the environment where you will normally be using it how likely this is to ba a problem.

The quality of the keyboard is very good compared to other laptops I have had, with a reasonable depth of key travel & a good feel to it.
The layout is a lot better than many, & the only thing I have a slight issue with is the positioning of the fn ky (to access extended functions) on the far left, where I would prefer it to be in from the ctrl & alt keys, as I keep finding that my fingers need to move across one when I am using these keys.
It has separate home, end, pgup & pgdown keys on the right of the keyboard, which is good as I use them quite a lot & don't like having to press a function key to access them on some laptops.

I am happy with the touchpad, although I had to revert to an older version of the driver, as there are problems with using the automatic scroll (dragging down the right side) in firefox, which I use as a web browser (This is an issue that affects a lot of laptops at the moment - I gues they are all using the same touchpads - definitely HPs & Dells are also affected, but it is not much of a problem if you find the older driver.
I would personally like the maximum speed setting on the touchpad to be more responsive, so that I can take the mouse from one edge of the screen to the other in a single movement, but this is again a problem with every larger screen laptop that I looked at (& everyone I know says that I have my mouse set to fast).

In appearance, the touch pad looks very neat & minimal, with the buttons being flush with the surface of the case & the pad only sunk slightly with a finish almost identical to the case that surrounds it.

The fingerprint scanner works well. You have to install the software off the CD & then it asks you to enroll fingers to use - you can use as many as you want - it checks them up to 8 times & then finalises the settings that it connects to the usename & password etc - you can also do other thing like encrypting drives with it, but I haven't had any time to look at these extended options.
I find that I have a few problems with the recognition if my finger is not approaching the scanner from the same place as it was in when I enrolled it initially - eg. if I was sittin down & then I try it stood up by the desk - I guess it sees a slightly different part of the finger - It has always worked on the second of third try though.

A few other points to mention - The overall appearance in my opinion is very nice - I'm an architect & use it for presentations to clients etc, so the appearance is an important factor - the main reason I didn't go fo Thinkpad T43s originally.

On the underside of the machine is a port for it to connect to a docking station - but as far as I can see from Samsung's web site there is no docking station avaialable - just a USB port replicator - possibly this is somthing that is planned for the future.

The firewire port is 6 pin - which is very useful for me, as it means that I don't need to take along the power supply for my Lacie Pocketdrive, as it can power itself off the firewire port - I haven't seen any other PC laptops that have 6 pin ports.

All of the ports are exposed - there are no covers to snap off or loose on any of them.

There is a card reader slot on the front that takes SD & Memorystick - I'd like it if it took CF as well, but I guess I can get an adaptor for this to fit in the PC card slot.

I'm afraid I can't manage any pictures untill Friday at the earliest, but I'll try to get some then.

 

Many thanks mat8iou! Though I am very disappointed at the screen issue, as I was expecting a glossy screen from the infosync preview:

http://www.infosyncworld.com/news/n/5882.html

What is your experience with other things like the touchpad, keyboard, finger print scanner? I would greatly appreciate if you posted some pics.

Thanks again, Emilio.

 

Regarding the screen if it's confimed that UK is getting matte finish, samsung UK and digiuk websites should update the descriptions ad their specification of SuperBright means glossy.

 

<blockquote id='quote'> quote:<hr height='1' noshade id='quote'>Originally posted by emilio

 

Yes Vaios are nice, but they always get the specs wrong their high-end powerful alptops come with 512MB of Ram and 1GB max which is a joke for the price.

About the specs in the X50 you're quite correct the Memory is shown as 512, but the retailers lists 1GB, in the screen though both the website and the retailers have SuperBright (glossy), I think it could be that in UK we're getting a model without glossy screen, which will be a pitty. I still have my hopes high to get a glossy screen.

Can you post some pictures of your laptop, I can only believe users now as Samsung gives wrong information.
http://www.samsung.co.uk/cgi-bin/ecuk/product/product_detail.jsp?prodID=NP-X50T004%2FSUK

 

oh, I missed your review while I was replying your last post, really good, many thanks! It covers most stuff that I was worried about and is nice to know the Firewire port is 6 pins as I also have a few firewire devices. Is there anything else that didn't match the samsung specs on their website? Is by any chance the DVD writer "dual"? [:I] I guess I have to wait till friday for the pics but thanks for all your help.

 

Thanks for the review mat8iou.

I will also be using the machine for some photoshop work so the 1GB RAM is much needed. I think that the weight and screen size make it ideal for for the travelling graphics designer. I think this could be the one for me.

Looking forward to the pics.

Cheers

Jay

 

Thank you for the description of the x50.
I have been looking for a loptop for over a month now and I think this will be the one.
It has all the power/features that I need/want, but one thing I would like to know is how the battery holds up. It says on the shop sites up to 4.5 hours. That usually that means if you don´t touch it, it will lasst that long. Is that the case??

Thanks!!

 

I've just put some photos of my laptop on my website if anyone is interested.
You can see them at:

www.mtaylor.co.uk/ars/x50/

 

<blockquote id='quote'> quote:<hr height='1' noshade id='quote'>Originally posted by propello

It has all the power/features that I need/want, but one thing I would like to know is how the battery holds up. It says on the shop sites up to 4.5 hours. That usually that means if you don´t touch it, it will lasst that long. Is that the case??
<hr height='1' noshade id='quote'></font id='quote'></blockquote id='quote'>

I will try & leave it unplugged from the mains one evening this week & see how long it lasts doing normal work (probably web browsing & typing)
I'll let you know how long it lasts.

 

Thanks for the pics.

I think I'll get one very soon

 

This notebook is a winner, I'll order one next week..

 

I went to Selfridges in London to try it out. It was the only place I could find where they have a demo model.

It is absoloutly incredible. The build quality is amazing. The keybord is the sturdiest I have ever seen in a notebook, the screen locks down with a solid feel and it is very well protected as it does not ripple when pushed from the back.

I´m gonna order one in the next few days, but I would still be interested to hear about the battery life.

Thanks again...

 

I haven't run down the battery completely, but have used it for over 3 hours with wireless networking on for web browsing & writing emails & it still had power left.

 

Many thanks mat8iou for keeping us informed, any info on the DVD writer (dual or not)?

Cheers.

 

The X50 does have a port replicator with DVI available called the x-dock (scroll down the page):

http://translate.google.com/translate?u=http%3A%2F%2Fnotebook.samsung.de%2Farticle.asp%3Fartid%3D38FC0A21-706D-4D64-AC9C-782649043AD3&langpair=de%7Cen&hl=en&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8&prev=%2Flanguage_tools

Has anyone used the X50 with it and what resolutions are available when using DVI? I have a DVI only monitor at 1600x1200 native and am wondering if the widescreen X50 graphic drivers will support it. I also want to know if it can support 1080i through DVI for HD editing.

Thanks because this notebook seems kick ass.

 

Mat,

After a while thinking about it (between the samsung x50 and asus v6) I purchased the asus last Friday, but after 2 days of playing with it I think I will return it next week, because the fan is always on and is too noisy for my liking.

If I return it I will order the X50 as it was my original choice, How is the FAN in the X50, is it always on and if so at what RPM and how about the noise level? I wouldn't want to have to return it too.

Many thanks, Emilio.

 

<blockquote id='quote'> quote:<hr height='1' noshade id='quote'>Originally posted by lacuna

 

Most of the time I can't hear the fan at all. The only times that it comes on in normal use is if I have put the cmputer down on some a surface like a bed, where this is insulating the underside of it.
The times when the fan does come on are when I am rendering large 3D views (say after if it takes more than a minute to render) & occasionally in Photoshop. This is a lot less than in the Vaio I had previously, where it would come on almost instantly when I staqrtd panning in AutoCAD for instance.
When the fan does come on it is not that loud compared to a lot of other machines I have seen.
Also, there is a quiet mode that you can turn on with a keyboard shortcut, which will slow the machine down so that the fan will only run at slow speed - most of the time you will not notice the difference in speed with this, unless you are using very processor intensive software. I have never felt that the fan was loud enough that I needed to turn the quiet mode on anyway.

 

Thanks Mat, Asus is in the box and after your comments, I'll order the samsung one, is more expensive but I think it will be worth the extra.

 

I had the X50 for 1 day and I agree with Matt in his description, it is a great laptop.

 

Does Samsung have different specs for different countries? For example, I noticed on their website that the x-50 comes with a Mobility Radeon x700, but the one they sell on dynamism has an x600. If the price is the same, why not get it from a country that offers the x700?

 

Comes with the x600. I am pretty sure it is the same spec everywhere and if you check the spec sheet (pdf from samsung website) you can also confirm that it comes with an x600 I have seen several mistakes in specs from the Samsung website.

 

Just wondering,

Could this also be a typo?

http://asia.cnet.com/reviews/hardware/notebooks/0,39001743,39091921p,00.htm

When you get to the bottom, the graphics hardware says Mobility Radeon x700.

 

I was just wondering, how much was shipping to the states using digiuk.com and how long did it take? I'm looking at the x-50 and the Asus Z70V, leaning heavily towards the x-50.

 

Samsung X50, a review:
http://www.trustedreviews.com/article.aspx?page=3734

I found an offer in Germany (2000Euro) http://www.alternate.de/html/shop/productDetails.html?artno=PN4UA3&
which is much cheaper than the usual price here (3500 Euro).
There are also comparable in price offers in Switzerland.

Edited: if the link above doesn't work, try to search on http://www.alternate.de/

 

hmm i do think it comes with ati radeon x700. care to look at the samsung australia site
http://www.samsung.com/au/products/notebookpcs/notebookpcs/np_x50.asp?page=Specifications

Graphics Controller ATI Mobility Radeon X700
Video Memory 128MB

 

I am pretty sure that this notebook now comes with the x700 128MB
http://www.studentbook.de/x50-2100.html
There are loads of other sites including the samsung one:
http://notebook.samsung.de/article.asp?artid=811AA8EE-66D2-498E-961E-05C5EF3013CF
both pages say that the battery time is max 12 hours, can someone confirm this?

 

The X50 is released in different configurations globally. There IS an X700 version with WSXGA+ available in Germany and China. Check out these guys, (just ordered from them so will let you know how that goes) they ship internationally and can also get you most any keyboard/OS you want. http://www.notebook-shop.de/main.php?section=shop&group=240&productid=1721

 

The shop has a good variety of notebooks and options to offer but their
prices are really too high even for Germany.

 

Well for the Samsung X50 wvm 2130, thier prices are reasonable. I looked and couldnt find it for much cheaper than they sell it. Also they give you 2 batteries. For me the main issue was getting a US/UK keyboard and shipping internationally. Couldn't find anyone else to do that cheaper.

 

who actually cares about a keyboard though, I'd rather be a maverick of the pack than follow the herd....so to say.....

I mean, if you are looking at this machine, I sure hope to god that you can type without having to look down....

my two cents,
but on the other hand I can see that having your y and z not switched along with the chars above the numbers as usual maybe nice.

 

The 50 Euro cost is more than worth the convenience. If i'm shelling out almost 3k Euros for the machine i might as well make it perfect. MY 2 cents

 

If someone wants me to bring a notebook from Germany to UK next week, I could help. Will fly from Berlin to London in the end of next week and stay for a weekend.

 

you can't really compare Studentbook-prices with others ...

 

x50 seems to be a very good one. And I am about to change my notebook. I have used vaio r505 quite some time. about 4 yrs +. x50 and x20 are being considered as the replacement of my slow noisy r505.

x50 with WSXGA screen is neither available in the US where I live now or in Korea where I am from.

And I checked the price of x20 in Korea. It was more expensive in Korea than in Germany. typical Samsung....

Fortunately, I will visit Italy spring next year. So I am considering buying one in Europe.

Finally, do you know whether a visitor can get tax exempted for goods bought while visiting ? If I can get tax exempted, I may buy x50. I like x50 a lot, but it is quite expensive....

 

probablee, not sure about ur tax exemption, i have traveled across europe, and im pretty sure i even got taxed on foods and chocolate.. the stores knew we were tourists.

Also, your best options are:

Samsung X50 XVM 2130 and the Samsung X20 1860 SE
both X700 128mb
both high resolution
both light weight and thin
Widescreen vs Non Widescreen

you prolly already know this.

Anyways, i am also interested in buying an X50 XVM 2130 and im in Canada. I have already searched google for all possible reviews of it... even a german laptop forum. the one Ivar is in.

Have you seen the X50?? can you comment on the Screen?? how good are the Viewing Angles?? What kind of battery life can we expect with the 6 cell. How brite is the screen?

Thanks.. also if possible you can email me and we can talk in more depth if possible.

[email protected]

Thanks,

MysticGolem

 

If you buy in Europe (specifically in the EU) you can get tax exempt in some cases. You can always get a tax refund though (so long as the item is leaving the E.U within 90 days). Since you live in the U.S you can buy the laptop for full price and ask for a tax refund form. You present the laptop at the airport (or other port of exit) and get a refund in cash or direct deposit to account or credit card. How you handle import duties (if any) in the U.S is up to you.

Hope this helps. I'll be picking up my X50 in europe as well on my way to Mexico.

 

techanimal, but where exactly are u getting it from?? what store, wholesaler or distributor? and what country?? it seems that Switzerland has the cheapest price at roughly 1400 pounds. (GBP).

Also, i see your tax thing... hmm would be nice to get some money back ... will definately check that tax thing out.

Thanks,

MysticGolem