Samsung NP700Z5A-S03US 15.6-Inch Laptop

by Samsung

Product Details

• Product Dimensions: 9.4 x 14.3 x 0.9 inches ; 5 pounds
• Shipping Weight: 8.2 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Shipping: Currently, item can be shipped only within the U.S.
• ASIN: B005KSQTAW
• Item model number: NP700Z5A-S03US
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #677 in Computers & Accessories (See Top 100 in Computers & Accessories)
• Date first available at Amazon.com: September 16, 2011

Product Description

Amazon.com Product Description

Product Description

Amazon.com Product Description

Enjoy powerful, best in class, fast performance with the latest Intel® Core™ processor and innovative ExpressCache™ technology for ultra fast processing and Internet access. An anti-reflective 15.6" SuperBright screen fits into the most compact chassis available in 15" notebooks, and AMD Radeon graphics produce sharp clear images, even outdoors, while an elegantly powerful and durable aluminum case looks good anywhere.

Features

Start up fast - FastStart

Don't be weighed down by wated time. Get your PC started in as little as two seconds with Samsung's exclusive fast start technology. Using an innovative hybrid sleep mode you get both the instant on speed and exceptional battery performance that todays PC users demand. With this combination of speed and power, you can be sure that your PC will be ready do more in less time.

* Based on stopwatch.

Go faster - with ExpressCache™

Blazing fast performance and massive storage capability is what every customer wants. With Samsungs innovative ExpressCache technology you can get the best of both worlds. By placing 8GB of solid state memory on the mother board, you get performance near that of an SSD while still having the sotrage of a standard hard drive. Start up faster, launch your favorite applications faster, do more in less time. Speed or storage on your PC? Why compromise when you can have both.

* Factory option.
* Speed will vary depending on the configuration, applications used and wireless settings.
* Only applied to the models with ExpressCache™.
* Based on stopwatch.

Latest Intel® Core™ processor

A next generation Intel® Core™ processor* delivers best-in-class performance even when heavily multi-tasking with the most demanding applications and multimedia. It dynamically allocates processing power where it's needed most using intelligent Turbo Boost technology. So you can enjoy faster web browsing, Microsoft Office tasks and music or video conversion, with much less waiting for a response.

* Specifications may vary depending on the model.

Brilliant AMD Radeon graphics

A powerful and power-efficient AMD Radeon HD6750M hybrid graphics card provides an exceptional high definition video and gaming experience in stereoscopic 3D. Its advanced image processing delivers striking imagery, true-to-life visual effects and the smoothest video playback using DirectX® 11 Evolved technology. You can also run multiple power-hungry applications simultaneously with great speed and little effort.

* Specifications may vary depending on the model

SuperBright screen

Seeing is believing. Get the best screen you can with Samsung SuperBright LED technology. The brilliant 300nit brightness screen is 36% brighter than traditional laptop screens. With more colors and better brightness you can enjoy outstanding picture quality and sharp text even when outdoors. The anti-reflective LED screen lets you enjoy images that are fine-tuned with the sharpest details and boldest colors, even when you're outdoors. Its matte surface has less mirror effect and no reflections from surrounding lights, so you can use it for longer without your eyes getting tired Every photo, every video, every website, and every document looks stunning. Brighter is indeed better.

Anti-reflective screen

The anti-reflective LED screen lets you enjoy images that are fine-tuned with the sharpest details and boldest colors, even when you're outdoors. Its matte surface has less mirror effect and no reflections from surrounding lights, so you can use it for longer without your eyes getting tired

Thin & light design - just 5.05 lbs

Weighing just 5.05 lbs(2.29kg) and only 0.94"(23.9mm) thick, the compact design is less than 1" in height to provide maximum style and portability. But even though it's one of the thinnest and lightest notebooks in its class it still incorporates comprehensive functionality for optimum performance on the move.

BatteryLife Plus - Anti-aging battery technology

A battery deisgned for the long haul, Samsung PowerPlus technology gives you more years and more hours. The intelligent battery charging uses anti-aging technology so that the battery keeps 80% of its original capacity for up to 1500 recharges. That's 5x longer than a typical battery! No more will you have to deal with a battery that cant hold its charge. Samsung batteries work as well on day one as they will on day one hundred.

Ports Information

Product Description

With stunning lines, a sleek design, powerfully fast performance, and cutting edge technology; the Samsung Series 7 is a laptop that does not know the meaning of compromise. From the blazing fast processor to innovative features such as Fast Start, you can get more done in less time. The sleek aluminum design seamlessly blends this power with an attractive and functional chassis.

Product Description

Amazon.com Product Description

Enjoy powerful, best in class, fast performance with the latest Intel® Core™ processor and innovative ExpressCache™ technology for ultra fast processing and Internet access. An anti-reflective 15.6" SuperBright screen fits into the most compact chassis available in 15" notebooks, and AMD Radeon graphics produce sharp clear images, even outdoors, while an elegantly powerful and durable aluminum case looks good anywhere.

Features

Start up fast - FastStart

Don't be weighed down by wated time. Get your PC started in as little as two seconds with Samsung's exclusive fast start technology. Using an innovative hybrid sleep mode you get both the instant on speed and exceptional battery performance that todays PC users demand. With this combination of speed and power, you can be sure that your PC will be ready do more in less time.

* Based on stopwatch.

Go faster - with ExpressCache™

Blazing fast performance and massive storage capability is what every customer wants. With Samsungs innovative ExpressCache technology you can get the best of both worlds. By placing 8GB of solid state memory on the mother board, you get performance near that of an SSD while still having the sotrage of a standard hard drive. Start up faster, launch your favorite applications faster, do more in less time. Speed or storage on your PC? Why compromise when you can have both.

* Factory option.
* Speed will vary depending on the configuration, applications used and wireless settings.
* Only applied to the models with ExpressCache™.
* Based on stopwatch.

Latest Intel® Core™ processor

A next generation Intel® Core™ processor* delivers best-in-class performance even when heavily multi-tasking with the most demanding applications and multimedia. It dynamically allocates processing power where it's needed most using intelligent Turbo Boost technology. So you can enjoy faster web browsing, Microsoft Office tasks and music or video conversion, with much less waiting for a response.

* Specifications may vary depending on the model.

Brilliant AMD Radeon graphics

A powerful and power-efficient AMD Radeon HD6750M hybrid graphics card provides an exceptional high definition video and gaming experience in stereoscopic 3D. Its advanced image processing delivers striking imagery, true-to-life visual effects and the smoothest video playback using DirectX® 11 Evolved technology. You can also run multiple power-hungry applications simultaneously with great speed and little effort.

* Specifications may vary depending on the model

SuperBright screen

Seeing is believing. Get the best screen you can with Samsung SuperBright LED technology. The brilliant 300nit brightness screen is 36% brighter than traditional laptop screens. With more colors and better brightness you can enjoy outstanding picture quality and sharp text even when outdoors. The anti-reflective LED screen lets you enjoy images that are fine-tuned with the sharpest details and boldest colors, even when you're outdoors. Its matte surface has less mirror effect and no reflections from surrounding lights, so you can use it for longer without your eyes getting tired Every photo, every video, every website, and every document looks stunning. Brighter is indeed better.

Anti-reflective screen

The anti-reflective LED screen lets you enjoy images that are fine-tuned with the sharpest details and boldest colors, even when you're outdoors. Its matte surface has less mirror effect and no reflections from surrounding lights, so you can use it for longer without your eyes getting tired

Thin & light design - just 5.05 lbs

Weighing just 5.05 lbs(2.29kg) and only 0.94"(23.9mm) thick, the compact design is less than 1" in height to provide maximum style and portability. But even though it's one of the thinnest and lightest notebooks in its class it still incorporates comprehensive functionality for optimum performance on the move.

BatteryLife Plus - Anti-aging battery technology

A battery deisgned for the long haul, Samsung PowerPlus technology gives you more years and more hours. The intelligent battery charging uses anti-aging technology so that the battery keeps 80% of its original capacity for up to 1500 recharges. That's 5x longer than a typical battery! No more will you have to deal with a battery that cant hold its charge. Samsung batteries work as well on day one as they will on day one hundred.

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

15 of 15 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Initial thoughts, December 12, 2011

By 

Sean - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Samsung NP700Z5A-S03US 15.6-Inch Laptop (Personal Computers)

Just received mine and finished going through setup. Not too much crapware installed. Nice option during setup to set partition sizes.

Out of the box Windows Experience Index: 5.9.

Processor: 7.5
RAM: 7.6
Graphics: 6.1
Gaming Graphics: 6.1
Hard disk: 5.9

I wish the arrow keys were a bit larger - maybe 3/4 size (if not full size) instead of the 1/2 size that they are (on the other hand, I need to remember that the numeric keypad does double duty with full size navigation keys). I would have preferred to have power connection in the rear rather than the side.

Update Dec 13: The wifi antenna is giving me noticeably worse performance than my previous laptop. Working from the same chair, my 5 year old Dell D620 was getting link speeds of 36-48Mbps. This laptop is getting 5-18Mbps. Loss of 1 star.

Update Dec 14: There's no BREAK key on the keyboard! This forces you to use the mouse to enter/leave full screen remote desktop (instead of ctrl+alt+break). No ctrl+break either. The touchpad is taking some getting used to. It produces an audible click, but the force required to produce the audible is less than the force required for a mouse click to actually register with the OS - need to see if that can be adjusted. The display has an ambient light sensor near the delete/home/end/page-up/page-down keys. Using those keys causes the display to dim. Disable the sensor via the easy settings apps.

Figured out the problem with the touchpad. It has a deadzone that is about 3/4" inch long by 1/2" tall. The deadzone is located on the left half of the bottom edge. The right-half works fine for right-click. Left-click is a bad experience. No clicks are ever registered in that zone even though the pad does make an audible click.

The external power supply isn't too large. But it makes a heck of a lot of noise even though it is on the floor underneath a table. I thought I was hearing clicking of disk drive head movement. Nope, the power supply makes a staticy-clicking sound whenever I alt+tab between windows. That sound is also made when using arrows keys to move up and down lists or when using the mouse to reposition scrollbars.

The bottom of the laptop is very smooth/slick. Keeps sliding around on my legs and requires that I apply downward force with my palms. I'll need to put some textured tape on the bottom.

Starting to regret this purchase...

Update Dec 15: The deadzone on the touchpad is getting smaller. But the lower right corner of the touchpad feels like it has gotten a flat tire. It is now noticeably lower than the rest of the touchpad and right-clicks are more difficult there as there is almost no travel left for clicks.

I now understand what the other reviewer wrote about jumpy cursor. The problem is due to the deadzone. When I do full left-right sweeps on the touchpad, it is very responsive except over the deadzone. Then the cursor hiccups - it doesn't jump, it just stops moving, then starts moving again when my finger makes it to the other side of the deadzone.

I really want to like this machine (all the features are there and the form-factor is fantastic - 1600x900 in a small 15 inches), but the wifi performance and touchpad durability/performance are killing it for me. Maybe this will also turn into a review of Samsung repair service.

Got AutoHotKey to map CapsLock to Break. Search for the "How to add a Pause/Break key to a keyboard that doesn't have one?" question at superuser com.

At every new user session, there are like 4 or 5 samsung apps (battery, easy settings, harddisk, ...) that require UAC elevation when you login if using a standard Windows account. Administrative accounts are only prompted 2 or 3 times. All of these apps are scheduled tasks that are triggered by login.

And the wifi performance still stinks.

Update Dec 17: I like the display and hardware (other than the wifi and the busted touchpad). I'll buy a new router to see if wifi performance improves. The touchpad will need repair, but I don't want to part with it quite yet. The dmhkcore.exe app that provides oem fn key functionality does not work properly with standard user accounts. It needs to be terminated and then restarted with admin privileges in order for fn+(f1, f2, f3 or f12) to work correctly (the other fn key combinations do work without admin privileges).

Update Dec 20: I got a new Netgear WNDR4000 dual-band N router (the old Linksys router did G). Wifi link speed improved but is still on average lower than my old laptop from my working position (read that as: the N performance of my new laptop is slightly lower than the G performance of my old laptop). If I move about 12 feet closer to the router, then I start to see what N is really about.

Update Dec 21: I checked out the B model that was on display at Best Buy. The touchpad is the same but that one did not have the deadzone that mine has. It does have a similar flat-tire right-click area.

Update Jan 6: check out the samsung forum over at notebookreview dot com.

Update Jan 18: This laptop does not support OpenGL running on the AMD graphics card. See the forum over at notebookreview. /samsung/630666-series-7-chronos-all-:models-push-samsung-implement-fixed-mode-bios-23.html#post8247924 and /samsung/630666-series-7-chronos-all-models-push-samsung-implement-fixed-mode-bios-23.html#post8248124

Update Feb 17: OpenGL issue is resolved with just released drivers. I removed the 4GB stick and replaced with 8GB - now I have a total of 12GB. Nice.

12 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Amazing laptop but has its flaws, December 6, 2011

By 

hbaig1206 - See all my reviews

This review is from: Samsung NP700Z5A-S03US 15.6-Inch Laptop (Personal Computers)

I've used Desktop PCs for as long as I could remember and this is the first laptop I've ever purchased. However I did tons of research before I purchased this machine. So as a new laptop user, I just want to say I'm pleased I made the change to mobile computing.

The laptop has a lot pros, but it also has some cons that really stand out. The hardware itself is solid. Aluminum build with a clean brushed look on top. The keyboard is very easy to type on, but the edge of the laptop is sharp and it digs into your wrist while your typing. It's more than a minor annoyance. You'll find yourself lifting your wrist off (mainly your right wrist) to see the marks the edge leaves behind. I'm not going to lie, the edge is sharp enough to put in some pain. I suggest wearing a wrist band while typing.

Another issue that bugged me a little bit was the video graphics. If you don't optimize the graphics to play videos off the web, such as Facebook videos, the video itself will get scrambled. It will continue to play, as you'll still hear the audio, but the video will be glitched. And it just won't happen once. It will continue to happen until you go into the Catalyst Control Center and deal with the issue.

Seeing that I'm coming from a desktop PC, I really don't have much to compare the battery life to. But from using the computer for over 6 hours continuously, with WiFi on, I can say that it's sufficient enough to get you through a full day's worth of work.

The backlit keyboard is beautiful, and the display is straight up gorgeous. The "max screen" technology they added to the display really helps it stand out among other laptops. The viewing angles, however could have been a little better.

For the price of the laptop, I wish a BluRay player added instead of a DVD writer. But in the end, you'll be trading the BluRay for the newest i7 quad core processor, and a top the line graphics card. So in my opinion it evens out. Besides, who uses physical discs for anything anymore? :P

I haven't played any games on this yet so I really can't say much about the graphics itself.

Pros
Backlit keyboard
Fast start up from cold start or sleep
Sleek look
NumPad
Slot load Disc Drive instead of Tray Load
Long Battery Life

Cons
Edge of laptop digs into wrist, leaving marks
Graphics aren't set up out of the box
No BluRay Drive
Jumpy mouse

I would Recommend this item to others.

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Overall fantastic with some reservations, December 21, 2011

By 

Christopher Bennett - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Samsung NP700Z5A-S03US 15.6-Inch Laptop (Personal Computers)

There is a common issue with the space key on this laptop in that pressing it on the edge will often not register even if you press really hard. This is incredibly irritating for a touch typist, but today I solved the problem on my laptop! So if you have the same issue see my video on the quick fix over at [...]. Basically you just need to stick a square of paper between the space bar and its pressure sensor.

Also note that this S03US version is functionally exactly the same as the S01US version, with the only difference being that the first 4GB of RAM is permanently attached to the motherboard on the S03US. The S02US and S04US are likewise functionally identical. The Best Buy version (I don't know the product code) is completely different though. I have no idea why anyone would buy that one.

Among the positives for this laptop are its speedy CPU and GPU, readable resolution on the bright non-reflective 15" display, light weight, stylish form factor, really superb battery life, a great backlit keyboard (once the space key problem is resolved), and a good amount of RAM and hard drive storage.

Because the positives are so great I am giving this laptop 5 stars even though it has several negatives.

First, the space key issue. This is a quality control issue that should have never occurred, and I hope Samsung will send new space bar keys to all the people who bought this laptop. But until then, you can try the quick fix I referenced above.

The choice of DVD instead of blu-ray is odd and perplexing. However, I so rarely use even the DVD and to be honest I would probably never use blu-ray if it were included, so as strange as it is that the feature is missing, I don't mind.

I am not pleased with the choice of the broadcom wifi, which does not support 5ghz wifi. I have opened up this laptop, which is very easy (close the LCD, flip it over, remove the ten screws on bottom, then flip it back over, open the LCD and gently pry the case shell loose along the edges and then close the LCD and flip it over again and gently pull the bottom off), and replacing the broadcom wifi adapter with the Intel 6230 part should be very easy. There are only 2 antenna wires, so getting the 3 antenna version would be pointless. Also, be sure to get the one with bluetooth if you try this, otherwise you will lose bluetooth since it is provided by the broadcom wifi adapter.

The webcam camera does not work well in low light. Meh. Turn on a light, I guess.

I use the touch pad as little as possible and prefer to use a mouse. It seems to work alright for me when I need it, but I sometimes disable it while typing so I can rest my palms while typing.

Overall the negatives are not a big deal for me.