Samsung 7-series 17" vs. Sony SE 15.5"

I want to get a new notebook PC and I've narrowed my choice down to Samsung 7 series 17" and Sony SE 15.5". Just to make sure, I'm comparing both Samsung and Sony that have independent numeric keypads on them.


So far my impresion on Samsung 7 Series 17-inch is that I like its body design much better than Sony's. Similar to Apple, I like the way the LCD lid folds down with tight lips. I also like its brightly luminating keyboards. I like narrow LCD bezel and its thin profile. Last but not least, I love the way it uses all titanium like metal panels around the body except the side walls.

On the other hand, the deal breaker is that I'm not impressed with its LCD at all. Although I love its large 17" estate, the resolution is much lower and the screen appears to be washed out compared to Sony. Typed letters and veiwing powerpoint are much easier on eyes on Sony than Samsung.

Not to mention, I hate the sharp edged palm rest. Not only it's sharp edged but a prolong useage might cause dirt (goo) build-up between the crevice.


Speaking of Sony, although the SE has smaller 15.5" LCD, thanks to its high resolution, the screen appears to be much larger than Samsung's 17". Also, Sony has much detailed and easy to read LCD than Samsung 7 series.

However, I don't like its wobbly LCD lid. Also, it leaves much gap when the lid is closed. Also, I don't like its cooling fan design. Like all other models from Sony, it makes too much fan noise and seems to run much hotter than Samsung.

Like many others have noticed, the built-in speakers is as if someone shoved loud earphones in it. However, I'd much rather sacrifice sound speakers and to have thinner profiled notebook than well-built sound system on HP Envy with thicker, heavier body design.


Bottom line is that, my choice would've been much easier if Samsung had a higher resolution LCD like that of Sony SE or HP Envy. My 10-year old Thinkpad has better screen than the 7 series. Also, smoother palm rest would've been nice but I could always get away by placing packaging tape strips on it.
Sony has a great LCD screen that is not too small nor not too big and is well within portable size and weight. That alone is worth an admission although I don't like its overall gap prone design.

I wouldn't worry too much about the CPU speed differences between two since I'm more concern about viewing web pages and doing everyday chores.

However, these were my impressions after few visits to local stores nearby. So I wouldn't know a long term experiences on them.

So please let me know what you think about these two notebooks.

Thanks

 

I also considered the samsung 7 series except with a smaller screen. In the end I went for the Sony mostly because of the excellent screen resolution.

If viewing webpages is what you're after there shouldn't be much of a discussion. Thousands of people are using the sony with its not so great lid hinge without any problems, what makes you think that you will have an issue with it? Are you prone to breaking things? The way I reasoned it is that Im quite a careful person who doesn't usually break things, so this wasn't an issue for me.

My 2 cents

 

You may be careful with your pc but will you be with your own body?
Even so you never know what you're gonna get.
I mentioned lid hinge because it impedes exhaust heat from the vent. My previous sony had a melt down once and the speaker bezel and the heat sink had to be replaced if you know what I mean.

 

I don't know much about the Samsung 7, I think it's more powerful with a lower quality screen and that's about all I know.

The fan on the SE is usually not noticeable if you use Stamina mode which turns off the discrete graphics. I almost never use Speed mode and the laptop stays fairly cool with little noise. It definitely gets loud when running intense games or videos but you shouldn't run into this problem if you are using it for surfing/day to day tasks.

I used the SE on a train ride for 9 hours and the screen wobble never came into play, the screen's viewing angles made the trip quite enjoyable as I could see everything clearly from a cramped space. Other people on the train were not as lucky with their laptops...

SE may not be for you but check out the owners thread though. I think it's identified many of the model's problems and advantages.

Good luck!

 

Matter a fact, the previous Sony had to run on Stamina mode all the time because it overheat and was literally consuming within including the cooling fan when it was on Speed mode. The nearby plastic surroundings got warped and had to be replaced. The replacement fan lasted only few months until it started to rattle again. It ran hot and noisy even when I was streaming Youtube on Stamina mode. This was the top of the line Sony just few years back.


Samsung 7 series on the other hand is equipped with two dedicated fans, one for CPU and one for graphic components so it sould run silent even when running heavy games. Although not as detailed at viewing angles than Sony, it does have much larger viewing area that compensates low resolution. Likewise, the screen looks much better than the rest when not comparing to SE, Envy or Apple. But still, LCD and the sharp edged palm rest is the only grip I have on Samsung.

Another thing I noticed about Sony is that not only the overall structure gets wobbly, it loses lean body when the optional battery is attached on the bottom, not much different than the rest of the low cost PCs. Nevertheless, the LCD is detailed and has good viewing angle even though it suffers from color calibration.

The Powerbook Pro seems to remedy the shortfalls on two machines. However, at the price three times as much as others, I might as well get PowerMac.

 

I guess I'll find out soon enough when Diablo III is released if the SE will melt. Hope not. It's a weird little laptop at the pricepoint/size. I found that to get a better and more colour accurate screen, you have to hit another price tier. Usually moving into more pro/business style laptops.

I paid 1000 after taxes thanks to some promotions and got the battery slice free but I rarely use it. It makes the SE weigh the same as the average 15"er. Definitely a trade off, the stand-alone battery lasts long enough for my purposes.

From the sound of your post and your experiences with Sony in the past, I think you should go for the Samsung. It's worth a shot

 

it will not melt, don't worry. i'm playing Battlefield 3 on my SA (same specs as SE in a smaller 13.3" chassis) with an overclocked GPU, and my maximum GPU temperatures are 85C with a notebook cooler and with TurboBoost disabled.

 

The price point was up par with that of the latest Powerbook Pro 17". It was featherweight and portable, but that came with the cost associated with it.

In fact, it was the previous model to the Z series and it came with built-in DVD burner and better speakers. While I was watching Armargeddon, the rattling fan was beggin me to stop the pc. Likewise, the smaller screen was not a joy to watch.

Either way, I wouldn't mind the sharp edges on the palm rest as long as it has two fans that makes the floating point processing rather silent and cool to the touch.

 

Oh yea, I remember you mentioning that in the SE thread. I never got a chance to try BF3 on the PC as someone gave me the PS3 version as a gift.

Thanks!

(P.S. What's a Powerbook Pro? Old Mac?)

 

I decided to get next version of Samsung with an improved graphic accelerator so that I'll be able to maximize two fans built into Samsung series. I can already see it going.