New Samsung Series 7 NP700Z7C-S01US Laptop i7 3615QM 650m Review!

[jadbox]

More screenshots from the current owners would be appreciated.
Everyone likes pictures, especially those that have 2 laptops.
Side by side comparison would be great!

Ill take pictures of whatever anyone wants to see......just need to know haw to post the pic lol

[bensmith0212]

I got my laptop and have been using it for several hours and I must say it is blazing fast and the cooling is pretty good. For the people that ask about the viewing angles, to me, it is pretty good. Overall great laptop.

[lordbaldric]

My concern is that the 90w power brick isn't enough. Every other laptop that I know of with a quad I7 and a similar level graphics card has a 120w adapter. Just the CPU and GPU is 45w + 45w = 90w. Then you have the screen and the drives and what not.

I remember when the model right after my version of the XPS 16 came out with a quad CPU and a 90w adapter, problems developed with the laptops throttling due to lack of power, and Dell eventually had to give people beefed up power bricks.

[paulnelson88]

My concern is that the 90w power brick isn't enough. Every other laptop that I know of with a quad I7 and a similar level graphics card has a 120w adapter. Just the CPU and GPU is 45w + 45w = 90w. Then you have the screen and the drives and what not.

I remember when the model right after my version of the XPS 16 came out with a quad CPU and a 90w adapter, problems developed with the laptops throttling due to lack of power, and Dell eventually had to give people beefed up power bricks.

I've pushed the system very hard and it doesn't get very hot. I'm sure Samsung matched the amp draw right. My Asus G75 power supply went belly up.

[devsk]

This laptop is da BOMB. Great matte screen. Very bright for me. I use it two notches below the max. brightness and it is still very glaringly bright. No glare though! THANK lord!

Its thin!
Its light! Coming from the brick of Envy 17...
Its solidly made! It doesn't feel clumsy and fragile like the Sony SE series.

No fan noise! Envy 17, DV7, Sony SE were very noisy compared to this.

Keyboard does not miss keystrokes. But it still not great to type on if you are a speed typist like me. The keys are too small and I hate chiclet style keys.

Mostly stays cool. The underside does get a little warm. Warmer than I would have liked but cooler than most laptops I have used. Its definitely slightly warmer than Envy 17 I had. Better than DV7. Much better than any Dell I have used.

Clickpad is awesome! Very very smooth without any driver updates. As smooth as the MBP. Way way better than the Envy 17 and Sony SE.

Sound awesome! Way better than Envy 17(good) and DV7 (crap) and Sony SE(ultra crap). I was really impressed with the sound.

And 8GB of SSD drive for hibernation. Way faster resume from hibernation compared to normal HDD. If you have your own SSD, that would be even faster than this.

Battery life is great for me. I get around 7 hours with my normal developer activities and web browsing etc. I used to get around 6 from Envy 17, 3-4 from DV7. This is great battery life for laptop this size.

Did I say great screen! Apologies to glossy screen enthusiasts: this will look dull to you. But its a great matte screen if u ever used one.

I just can't take my eyes (and hands) off this thing. Its just a thing of beauty!

Now the cons (all known I guess):

Why no bluray? 1500$ and no bluray?
No 2nd HD.
Warmer than expected underside.
Keyboard is not great for developers.
No sysrq key on the keyboard. WTH!
Lot of junk installed (easily fixable).

[OC-Freak]

The version we get here in Norway cost ~2220$ USD and has bluray reader. Else the specs are the same.

And yes it's that expensive here, it includes 25% sales tax though.

Cheapest Asus G75VW cost ~2100$ without bluray reader as another example.

[agrimm1]

Just got mine in the mail today and spent a few hours installing a SSD/adding a 2nd hard disk caddy. I now have the 1TB disk that came with this thing syncing my movie collection (installed in the old odd bay) and a spanking fast Samsung 830 loading the OS/photoshop/cool programs. Short notes I took as it would have been impossible to take pictures while working.
1) Physical HDD replacement is a breeze once you get the hang of removing the plastic on the bottom of the unit.
2) Use a sturdy piece of plastic to pop the tabs holding the bottom plate on
3) removing the ODD requires the removal of 4 screws and temporarily rerouting 2 sets of cables.
4) If you plan to make several changes to the internals of the laptop put them in one at a time. Keep the bottom removed and place the laptop on a large mousepad or equivalent, be very gentle with the laptop in this configuration as the bottom really does add the majority of the rigidity found in this laptop.
5) This thing looks great but the aluminum on the deck of the unit can attract smudges and fingerprints, very hard to spot though.
6) Quiet, Quiet,Quiet. Haven't tried skyrim or CSS yet but I have only heard the fans kick on like 2-3 times in 5 hours of modification/usage.
7) This is the best laptop keyboard I have ever had. The Illumination has several levels and is excellent, the keys have a comfortable amount of space between them and I think they feel great.
Enjoy guys this really is a helluva laptop I'm glad I decided to purchase this thing!

[Arai]

Agrimm can you tell me how much FPS you're getting in CSS.
Everything maxed out / the best possible image the game can deliver.

And if you got CS:Go (beta) that would be awesome as well.

[klezmer41]

How about good backpacks or messenger bags that fit this. Anybody find any good options?

[NinjaEpisode]

Has anyone been able to determine the max memory on this? Is that single chip on the bottom an 8gig chip or is the memory split between two slots, with the other being located someplace we've not seen in pictures yet?