New Samsung Series 7 Laptops Arriving Soon Discussion

[chen]

Can hardly wait for its release and a NBR website full review. Will have to wait to see how well it handles the heat, how quiet the cooling fans are, and how long the battery will last with the NBR battery test. It looks like a winner so far from the specs and numbers.

[Malkyne]

Hmmm, I may have finally found the replacement for my aging (but beloved) ASUS U6V. That 14" model is pretty darn close to what I'm looking for. And for way under my budget, too. I almost feel guilty spending so little. I wonder if they'll allow any configuration before shipping?

[lovelaptops]

You really think you'd get the components of a $2300 MacBook Pro at a $1150 price point if the case was made out of magnesium composite or titanium? Part of the appeal of this machine is its price point. It wouldn't be nearly as tantalizing in my opinion if it cost $1850, even if the case was made out of unobtanium.

Plastic is underrated anyway. Plastic casing can be plenty solid and durable if made right, is light weight, and lets you save your money for faster internal components.

Bravo, well put! Dirty little secret: "plastic" is a catch-all for any of millions of polymers created by modern science many of which are stronger, more durable and far more "high tech" than garden variety aluminum or magnesium. The highly prized "carbon fiber" used on some high priced notebooks is, by another name: plastic! Calling the casing "plastic" tells you nothing about its durability, weight or structural rigidity. Also, aluminum easily scratches and dents while plastic is more likely to stay new looking for years. Metal is also a "heat sink," causing the exteriors of metallic notebooks to be hotter than non-metallic.

I agree that Samsung likely used plastic in part to save cost, but the cost difference is not as much as you might imagine - look at all the $700-$900 aluminum notebooks out there now. I think the other considerations noted above may have been equally or more important in the choice of materials.

I'm just so ecstatic that Samsung is finally going to knock Apple on it's ahss and no patent court in the world can claim they copied the design!

[MGS2392]

Bravo, well put! Dirty little secret: "plastic" is a catch-all for any of millions of polymers created by modern science many of which are stronger, more durable and far more "high tech" than garden variety aluminum or magnesium. The highly prized "carbon fiber" used on some high priced notebooks is, by another name: plastic! Calling the casing "plastic" tells you nothing about its durability, weight or structural rigidity. Also, aluminum easily scratches and dents while plastic is more likely to stay new looking for years. Metal is also a "heat sink," causing the exteriors of metallic notebooks to be hotter than non-metallic.

I agree that Samsung likely used plastic in part to save cost, but the cost difference is not as much as you might imagine - look at all the $700-$900 aluminum notebooks out there now. I think the other considerations noted above may have been equally or more important in the choice of materials.

I'm just so ecstatic that Samsung is finally going to knock Apple on it's ahss and no patent court in the world can claim they copied the design!

Notebook manufacturers should do what firearms manufacturers do, and call it polymer I agree though, plastics, when the correct type is used, can provide greater durability, shock absorption, and weight. I'd take a plastic (on the outside, though admittedly Mg alloy on the inside) Thinkpad over an aluminum MBP any day.

[taelrak]

Bravo, well put! Dirty little secret: "plastic" is a catch-all for any of millions of polymers created by modern science many of which are stronger, more durable and far more "high tech" than garden variety aluminum or magnesium. The highly prized "carbon fiber" used on some high priced notebooks is, by another name: plastic! Calling the casing "plastic" tells you nothing about its durability, weight or structural rigidity. Also, aluminum easily scratches and dents while plastic is more likely to stay new looking for years. Metal is also a "heat sink," causing the exteriors of metallic notebooks to be hotter than non-metallic.

I agree that Samsung likely used plastic in part to save cost, but the cost difference is not as much as you might imagine - look at all the $700-$900 aluminum notebooks out there now. I think the other considerations noted above may have been equally or more important in the choice of materials.

I'm just so ecstatic that Samsung is finally going to knock Apple on it's ahss and no patent court in the world can claim they copied the design!

I don't think it's really a "secret." I never really got why people prize "carbon fiber" in laptops so much--outside of computing, carbon fiber (or whatever people tend to call "carbon fiber") has always been just another cheaper synthetic substitute for higher-quality materials. Why people suddenly started marketing it as high-end material for laptops (and why consumers suddenly started believing it) is beyond me. Makes as much sense to laud it as it does to praise polyester

Not that aluminum is any better really. I doubt anyone will dispute that good plastic can be more durable than aluminum. For me, the draw of aluminum over most plastics used in laptops is not longevity or durability (both of which are fairly irrelevant for my purposes), but rather texture and aesthetics.

[Mitlov]

I don't think it's really a "secret." I never really got why people prize "carbon fiber" in laptops so much--outside of computing, carbon fiber (or whatever people tend to call "carbon fiber") has always been just another cheaper synthetic substitute for higher-quality materials. Why people suddenly started marketing it as high-end material for laptops (and why consumers suddenly started believing it) is beyond me. Makes as much sense to laud it as it does to praise polyester

Carbon fiber is HUGE in the sportbike and sports car industry. Very, very highly regarded there. Examples include the Lamborghini Sesto Elemento concept ("the sixth element"...self-explanatory) and the Ducati Desmosedici (carbon-fiber chassis).

[Bill Nye]

I don't think it's well suited for laptops though.

[coldmack]

My Vaio is a mix of Carbon Fiber(CF) and plastic, and I can easily say the build feels nicer than my old ibook G4 which was mostly plastic. Maybe some of it is a placebo effect, or something, but I feel the materials in my Vaio TT to be better than average notebook. Plus, at least in the auto/motorcycle industry, CF allows the machine to be lighter and just as strong.

Carbon fiber is HUGE in the sportbike and sports car industry. Very, very highly regarded there. Examples include the Lamborghini Sesto Elemento concept ("the sixth element"...self-explanatory) and the Ducati Desmosedici (carbon-fiber chassis).

It's not even in the sports car world, I see many rally based street cars(STI, EVO, S4) with CF hoods, wings, and on the seats either done from the dealer or aftermarket.

[lovelaptops]

Carbon fiber is HUGE in the sportbike and sports car industry. Very, very highly regarded there. Examples include the Lamborghini Sesto Elemento concept ("the sixth element"...self-explanatory) and the Ducati Desmosedici (carbon-fiber chassis).

I don't think it's well suited for laptops though.

My Vaio is a mix of Carbon Fiber(CF) and plastic, and I can easily say the build feels nicer than my old ibook G4 which was mostly plastic. Maybe some of it is a placebo effect, or something, but I feel the materials in my Vaio TT to be better than average notebook. Plus, at least in the auto/motorcycle industry, CF allows the machine to be lighter and just as strong.

It's not even in the sports car world, I see many rally based street cars(STI, EVO, S4) with CF hoods, wings, and on the seats either done from the dealer or aftermarket.

I'm inclined to believe that the use of fancy sounding materials - or carbon fiber or "duralumin" (Samsung 9) has more to do with marketing (who wouldn't want their laptop covered in the same material as a jet plane - but what if it's exterior stiffness may actually cause greater internal breakage in a fall than a more flexible cover, even plastic, would?) than providing any real benefit to consumers. And the CF used in Sonys is, to the best of my knowledge, just part of the compound in the sprayed-on surface of the lid and other surfaces - ie, the "paint" - rather than integral to the structural integrity of the computer. I'm all for computers that look cooler and are lighter (less weight probably saves a dropped computer more than any fancy material allegedly used for strength), but in the absence of industrial testing (even the "mil spec" tests that Lenovo Thinkpad and HP Elitebooks claim to pass are not validated by any third party), I'm for making mainstream notebooks lighter, show less finger grime, and look really cool, and let the Panasonic "Toughbooks" and the like be made for the hazardous duty - coz they sure are barkin-ugly enough to believe they're tough!

And yeah, every time I close the lid on my sony Z11 and see that carbon fiber finish with the chrome-look "VAIO" logo, I'm glad they went to the trouble to make it look better than one of those ordinary plain aluminum lid with a cutout of a white piece of fruit in the middle.

[John Ratsey]

I believe that "carbon fibre" in the notebook context means carbon fibre reinforced plastic. It's not exceptionally rigid but can take more stress than normal plastic without breaking. My first encounter with this material was in the Sony G11 where the flexibility of the thin display was quite disconcerting. However, there were no problems as a result.

My Lenovo T420s also uses a lot of this material although the main chassis is some metal alloy: Manufacturers discovered that rigid mainboards and flexible cases don't work together well - the boards start to crack. One work-around is to keep the mainboard itself very small and have other peripheral boards attached using cables.

John