[IMPRESSIONS] Sony S15 & Samsung NP700Z5C

[gadgetrants]

Background. Like many others, I'm in the market for a new laptop. I just sold my beloved Asus UL30A-X5, a 13" thin-and-light with a dual-core 1.3GHz ULV processor. I teach (in other words, Powerpoint) and do a lot of mathematical modeling (esp. in Matlab), so I need a machine that's fast and relatively lightweight (under 5lbs if possible). Other features I'm looking for:

- Discrete video GPU -> need NVIDIA (CUDA) for my programming work
- Minimum 1600x900 display resolution
- 5-6 hours battery life (out of the box if possible)
- Cool palmrest and keyboard
- minimum Ivy Bridge Corei5

I bought the Samsung first, and returned it after a week due to a trackpad defect (see below). Unfortunately I didn't take pictures of it, or do systematic battery-life testing (I have some gaming data though). I then picked up the Sony -- I've had it for about a week, and will return it too -- basically, I couldn't resist the Best Buy 30-day return policy as a no-risk trial period. There are better deals direct from Sony (e.g., free sheet battery), so I'd buy it there if it ends up "beating" the Samsung. I should also note, given random circumstances, the Samsung came with a Core i7 while the Sony came with a Core i5.

Purpose. I've been hanging out at the respective Samsung and Sony forum threads, trying to learn more about each machine and see what other owners think. Having owned both machines for a short time, I thought it might be useful to post my impressions and experiences. I think HKINGS (REVIEW: New SONY S15 vs HP DV6T) did a brilliant job comparing the S15 with the HP dv6t, and I won't be able to duplicate that feat, first because I don't have the machines side-by-side, and second because I know my "review" will be shaped by my own biases and personal tastes. However, please do not hesitate to post if I list any factual errors, or there is a thread/discussion that bears on a issue I raise that would help other owners!

Summary. I HATE wishy-washy endings like "Really, you could pick either machine and be totally happy," but I'm afraid that's the case with this particular comparson. The Sony and the Samsung are very well-matched, and weaknesses in one are well-addressed by strengths in the other. Given neither machine is clearly superior, for most owners it will necessarily come down to: (1) personal needs, (2) personal tastes, and (3) random details like which manufacturer offers a better deal, which stores have it locally to try, return policies, etc.

I offer a quick list of pros/cons here and detailed comments in the next post:

Sony SVS15113FXB	Samsung NP700Z5C-S01US
Pros - Gorgeous IPS display - Fantastic gameplay - Incredibly light - Excellent trackpad	Pros - Tank-like build quality - Excellent ergonomics/feel - Super cool palmrest/keyboard - Excellent battery life
Cons - Plasticky feel/minor build issues - Weak battery life - A bit noisy; "meh" keyboard backlight - Warm palmrest/keyboard	Cons - Runs hot during games - Poor display contrast, viewing angles - VGA adapter required - "Sharp" edge near palmrest

[gadgetrants]

Almost done...


Specs of machines compared

	Sony SVS15113FXB	Samsung NP700Z5C-S01US
CPU	Core i5-3210M	Core i7-3615QM
RAM	6GB	6GB
HDD	640GB (5400RPM)	750GB (7200RPM)+8GB cache
Display	15.5" IPS 1920x1080	15.6" TN 1600x900
GPU	NVIDIA 640M LE 1GB	NVIDIA 640M 1GB
Battery	6-cell (?) 4400 mAh	8-cell 5420 mAh
Weight	4.4 lbs (5.7 lbs w/sheet battery)	5.3 lbs
Price	$999	$1,100

Look and Feel

Sony. The S15 is thin and amazingly light. Sony describes the S15 as having a magnesium-alloy lid, but it's not entirely clear if other surfaces are made of the same material, e.g., the lid has a rough finish while the palmrest and keyboard surround are smooth. There has been a lot of speculation on the owners thread but no conclusion. Either way it's a beautiful machine and a pleasure to look at. On the black model those smooth areas do pickup fingerprints and smudges (not sure about other finishes, e.g., silver). I would describe it as "plasticky," but that's simply how it feels (see comments 516, 529). Someone else can put theirs in a blender and test its durability.

Samsung. The NP700Z5C (or Z5C for short) has an aluminum, brushed metal finish (no other colors available). The palmrest/keyboard area match the finish on the lid and are likely the same material. The finish is more fingerprint resistant than the S15. When you pick the Z5C up, it definitely has a dense, more "solid" feel than the S15. The difference in weight between the two machines is pretty clear -- however with the add-on sheet battery (I don't have one) the Sony moves up to almost 5.7lbs. and loses its weight advantage.

Build Quality

Sony. At first glance, the S15 seems carefully built. Upon closer inspection, however, there are some minor blemishes: (1) the bezel is loose in areas and at the Sony logo, it actually makes a loud clacking noise when pressed, (2) there are small bits of plastic at the seam of the bottom/sides, and (3) perhaps most importantly, the display hinge feels "tweaky", and by that I mean pulling on one corner torques or twists the display, instead of firmly pulling the whole screen. Many other things, meanwhile, are well-assembled (e.g., trackpad, keys, ports).

Samsung. In comparison, it's hard to find a "loose-end" on the Samsung. Seams and joints are clean and tight, the display hinge is well-built, and in general, it feels like it was designed to be a poor-boy's MBP. However, several owners have reported what appears to be a trackpad (or clickpad) defect: the right corner of the pad dips and sometimes sticks a bit, making the right-click difficult (see comments 627, 628, 654, 706). A work-around is to click closer to the middle edge of the pad, or use the two-finger tap. However, I've seen perfect pads in the store and a few users have reported getting perfect units (e.g., comment 969), so I sent mine back. A more "infamous" feature is that the bottom is not only plastic, but where the bottom meets the aluminum palmrest, the seam is surprisingly "sharp." (The notch near this seam for opening the lid has a sharp edge on it too. UPDATE: I checked a MBP today and sure enough those edges/corners are very similar.) Most owners who notice it note that they have adjusted their typing posture. Either way it's something I hope Samsung addresses in the next model.

Display

Sony. This one is a no-brainer: the S15 has a beautiful display. There are limitations in how it displays red, but the outcome of the never-ending debate seems to be: if you're a graphics/video person, you'll hate it, and if you're a mostly web-browsing video-watching person, you probably won't notice it. I'm in the second category, and really like it. I also really like the 1080p resolution, which with my terrible vision I thought I would hate. But raising the DPI fixed that for me. Colors are super, brightness is excellent, contrast is...hey, it's an IPS panel (right?). It just works.

Samsung. The Z5C's panel is its Achilles Heel. The 1600x900 I don't mind and can definitely live with on a daily basis. On the other hand, the poor contrast (I admit: blacks often render as dark grays) and poor horizontal viewing angles are more difficult to tolerate. FYI: there are some ICC profiles which may help but you can only put so much lipstick on a pig. Ironically, the screen is wide enough that when viewing from the center, the edges fade a bit. But I've been to Best Buy 5 or 6 times since I returned my Samsung, and EVERY TIME I look at their S01UB (a cousin to the S01US) I think, "IT LOOKS FINE." Yesterday, though, I compared the Z5C side-by-side with the 17" Z7C, which has an updated and much nicer display. My conclusion: I can live with the Z5C as long as I don't have something nicer nearby. LOL If only Samsung started swapping in a better panel like the one in the Z7C, it would be the clear winner in this smackdown for me.

Keyboard

Sony. The layout and feel of the S15 keyboard are excellent. I really like the travel of the keys, and the "tactile feedback" while typing. I'm definitely a chicklet guy. (Uh oh, that sounds vaguely...wrong... LOL). The Stamina/Speed switch is a nice option, which essentially toggles the machine between hi-power/low-power settings (esp. integrated vs. discrete GPU). I have three minor complaints. First, the overall "look" (that is, printed symbols) of the keyboard seems tacky to me (compared to the Z5C). Kind of lacking pizzaz. Second, the Fn+function keys are not well-thought-out, e.g., F8 and F11 are apparently unassigned, and F9/F10 are reserved for a special zoom function. Kinda dumb. And third, the backlight is nowhere near as nice as the Samsung: it's very leaky (for an example, skip to 3:00 of NightRush's video review; there's also an example of keyboard flex at 7:10), it takes a few clicks to access (buried in VAIO Control Center), and has only one intensity level.

Samsung. The Z5C has a gorgeous keyboard in both look and feel. Definitely my preference over the Sony. I especially liked the embedded controls for the backlight, the option to "lock" the Fn keys, and other nice functions (e.g., wifi on/off light, fan control, etc.). It's a small thing, but I REALLY LIKED the two-tone finish of the keys: light/translucent underneath and black on top (is that a MBP move? UPDATE: checked a MPB and nope the keys are solid black). It makes the backlit keyboard museum-quality IMHO.

Trackpad

No need to split hairs here. Other than the build issue I had with the Samsung, I found the two to function pretty much the same. I am a fan of the clickpad design, and had no problems switching to it. However, I will note that the Z5C seems to have better trackpad software drivers, which allow for a wider range of gestures and mappings from click/tap to macro function. Something important I learned is that the stock settings/configuration utility sucks, but the original utility (which lurks in the driver zip file) is much better.

Heat and Noise

Sony. I think when most owners here ask "how about heat?" what they mean is "how HOT does it get, and does it get dangerously hot?" I can't really answer that question -- at least, I haven't tried any stress tests on either machine (however, see kDrum's data on the Z5C). What I can describe is temperature variation during idle and normal use, plus a little bit of gameplay data (see Performance). And so: for my tastes, the Sony runs a bit warm -- idle CPU is low 50sC (the 640m LE idles around 40C). I've noticed that the right palmrest is slightly uncomfortable for me BUT I probably have sensitive paws (the left side is ice cold -- if only they matched!). I also notice warmer air coming up from the right side of the keyboard. This is improved somewhat by putting the fan into "Priority to ventilation" mode.

But guess what? This brings us to "noise". It seems that while the S15 is a pretty quiet machine, you can definitely hear the fan humming on "Priority to ventilation" and a little bit less on "Balanced" mode. In addition, the stock HDD also seems to busily spin away, quietly but within audible levels. Of course an SSD fixes that issue, but after swapping in a 128GB SSD, I found no real change in the temperature issue!

Samsung. Here, the Samsung is the clear winner. While I can't test it next to the Sony, I went back and read my earlier comments, and two frequent phrases while taking the Z5C through its paces were "dead quiet" and "super cool". I definitely remember how much I enjoyed the palmrests. Idle/low-use CPU temp was ~45C. For related impressions, see comments 532, 813, 907.

Performance

Sony. Since I've already noted the two machines have (a) different CPUs and (b) different HDD spin rates and RAM speeds, it doesn't make a lot of sense to compare them with traditional benchmarks -- the Samsung should do better. But I can still offer a few impressions here. First, I'm INSANELY impressed by the S15's ability to game (e.g., BF3 and Skyrim). With the lowly 640m LE AND DDR3, I would have expected lackluster performance, BUT I found that it handles these games at 1600x900 (to match the Z5C native res) with medium settings at around 40fps -- that is, very playable. NO, they don't play at ultra or even high settings. But this is darn good, and what's more I was shocked that GPU maxed out at 65C while CPU maxed around 75C. Very nice.

Second, of course during everyday usage the Core i5 and 6GB RAM are more than adequate. I tried some of my Matlab code, and found it ran about 4-5 times faster than my old Asus with the ULV dual-core. I also load around 20-30 tabs in Firefox, and had no problems loading, switching, scrolling, etc.

Samsung. Another performance advantage of the Z5C is the 8GB Express Cache which not only speeds up boot time but also accelerates frequently-used programs. It's true (or is it placebo?) that I found the Z5C to not only be quite zippy, but overall faster in basic tasks compared to the Sony. It's an impression I would LOVE to test with a true bakeoff.

But for most, the real question is "how does it game!??!!" While I tested the Sony a bit more systematically and extensively than the Samsung, what I found with the Z5C while running the same games (e.g., BF3, Skyrim, BFBC2, etc.) was about an extra 5-10 fps at the same resolution and game settings. So yeah, a bit better performance with the 640m w/DDR5. But at a cost: GPU temps were 80C (wow, compare that to the "weaker" Sony GPU) and upper 70sC for the CPU. Here are some screen caps of the 640m after gameplay.

Battery Life

To be continued.

704
734

Other Details/Impressions

To be continued.

[mastypk]

First of all, thanks for great post

Repu added

Look like Samsung beats Sony in all aspects only lose in screen. If Samsung 15" will have great screen like Z7C it will be my first love :P

You are missing Sound, GPU & ports etc. Add them for making this post more informative

[uditagrawal]

Great post gadgetrants I'm stuck between the vaio, chronos and pavillion myself, can't wait for you to complete it!

[mastypk]

Great post gadgetrants I'm stuck between the vaio, chronos and pavillion myself, can't wait for you to complete it!

Remove pavilion from your list. It doesn't compete Samsung/Sony anyway

[gadgetrants]

I'll definitely discuss GPU under performance! Ports are pretty much the same, though a small detail for me is that the Samsung requires a VGA adapter.

Sound is tricky -- I hear lots of owners ask about speaker quality, but unfortunately I rarely use mine. Plus it's hard to compare sound without listening to both machines side by side. But I'll see what I can come up with!

Speaking of the Pavillion: I just saw that if I ordered the dv6t (starting with regular edition) and bumped it up to Core i7, I could basically get it with a 650M for about $900 (with latest coupon). Yikes! I wish it didn't weigh 5.66 lbs.

-Matt

[uditagrawal]

Remove pavilion from your list. It doesn't compete Samsung/Sony anyway

Hmmm... The only thing is it's so much bang for the buck! Could you give me reasons as to why it doesn't compete with the sony and samsung?

[Cubic X]

The fact that the Sony S15 can't display a basic color such as red should be a deal breaker for anyone.

[Andrew Baxter]

Speaking of the Pavillion: I just saw that if I ordered the dv6t (starting with regular edition) and bumped it up to Core i7, I could basically get it with a 650M for about $900 (with latest coupon). Yikes! I wish it didn't weigh 5.66 lbs.

-Matt

Buy the dv6t, HP has a 21-day return window with no fees, you can add it to your on hands comparison here

HP competes more on price than Samsung and Sony, I think there's a bit of a premium for the Sony / Samsung name and design. Sort of like HP charges more for its ENVY 15 despite having worse specs than the dv6t-7000 Quad Edition.

Thanks for the informative comparison you're working on here.

[uditagrawal]

Buy the dv6t, HP has a 21-day return window with no fees, you can add it to your on hands comparison here

HP competes more on price than Samsung and Sony, I think there's a bit of a premium for the Sony / Samsung name and design. Sort of like HP charges more for its ENVY 15 despite having worse specs than the dv6t-7000 Quad Edition.

Thanks for the informative comparison you're working on here.

Hey Andrew, big fan of your reviews, which out of the three would you personally recommend to buy? Portability is an important factor for me, as are looks, display and the keyboard. Thanks so much