Actually have one of these already. Seems solid enough. Can handle mass effect and bioshock no problems, but haven't tried the newer games. Does an excellent job with molecular modeling when you use all cores. Not surprising but even better when you can take it with you to the local caffeine purveyor.

where is the back up disk?

Product website:

http://www.samsung.com/us/computer/laptops/NP-RC512-S01US

including tab for support:
http://www.samsung.com/us/support/downloads/NP-RC512-S01US

including manual page--manual downloads as an exe--did not try downloading it yet:
http://www.samsung.com/us/support/downloads/NP-RC512-S01US

Why do they keep releasing PCs with kick-ass state of the art CPU, decent "gaming" GPU and ridiculously low-res screen? 768 horizontal resolution was commonplace 15 years ago. 16:9 sucks for everything but movies and even then, bump it up to 1080p!
In other words, I'll pass.

Added by mod so everyone will not need to correct:

jrobbs wrote:Of course, I meant vertical.

Any good for gaming? I'm looking at Call of Duty games, the newer ones.

rkriegel wrote:Actually have one of these already. Seems solid enough. Can handle mass effect and bioshock no problems, but haven't tried the newer games. Does an excellent job with molecular modeling when you use all cores. Not surprising but even better when you can take it with you to the local caffeine purveyor.

What do you think of the price?

Does this laptop have the same mouse pad issues as other Samsung laptops of late? (i.e touchy/long learning curve)

That screen just KILLS it, not that the anemic GT525 could game on anything higher anyway...

If this had a 1080p panel and some more gpu muscle then it would be a great back to school machine for college students.

So was Larry killed by the piranha or was he found dead in the flesh damping chamber? Dang it Woot overlords I'll be wondering about poor Larry all night.

jrobbs wrote:Why do they keep releasing PCs with kick-ass state of the art CPU, decent "gaming" GPU and ridiculously low-res screen? 768 horizontal resolution was commonplace 15 years ago. 16:9 sucks for everything but movies and even then, bump it up to 1080p!
In other words, I'll pass.

Of course, I meant vertical.

paulpnevada wrote:Any good for gaming?

Moderate, not a True Gaming Rig

If you try to max crysis, it won't happen, but you can play Mid to High Range

Remember is GT525M Which is pair to Low-mid profile range (example: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814130632)

It can play Starcraft 2 fine tho i believe, in mid to high setting

Mmmm looks sexy, I want it ...but I like anything Samsung.

If I didnt already have a laptop this would be my next one. The specs make it a perfect general purpose laptop. Its not an ultra portable or desktop replacement but instead its just the right size and has just the right amount of power.

I have the same processor in my Studio 15 laptop and it tends to run hot but I don't know if this laptop has the same problems.

Reviews--Best Buy:

http://reviews.bestbuy.com/3545/1814048/samsung-laptop-intel-core-i7-processor-15-6-display-6gb-memory-black-graphite-reviews/reviews.htm

CNET:
http://reviews.cnet.com/laptops/samsung-rc512-s01/4505-3121_7-34559905.html

ZDNet collection:
http://www.zdnet.com/reviews/product/laptops/samsung-rc512-s01/34559905

I got the Sumsung i5 on the Woot offering in May and have been quite happy with it.

Samsung QX410-J01 14” HD LED, Intel Core i5-460M, Aluminum Laptop with WiMax, WiDi, Edge-to-Edge Glass, 4GB, 640GB, 802.11n, Win7HP.

More here:
http://www.woot.com/Blog/ViewEntry.aspx?Id=17752

Is Samsung a good brand?

Here's a review (there don't seem to be many)

http://www.pcmag.com/print_article2/0,1217,a=263369,00.asp?hidPrint=true

My thoughts are that this laptop will handle mainstream games just fine for the next year or two, mostly the performance will be saved by the low screen resolution (although weirdly, 1366x768 seems to be becoming the standard for 15 inchers, and I could have sworn 1600x900 was fairly standard even a year ago)

Samsung's QX411 honestly seems like the better option, due to it's processor and video card being more geared to the lower resolution. The specs in this laptop would make more sense in a 17 inch, 1080p screened laptop.

My opinion, this laptop is a nice option for those who need the quad core speed for a lot of video processing or other heavily threaded applications. Gamers using a 15 inch, 1366x768 laptop would be better off with slightly lower specs and a slightly lower price, media enthusiasts would be better off with a 17 incher.

Here's a link to the GT 525M:

http://www.notebookcheck.net/NVIDIA-GeForce-GT-525M.43889.0.html

Overall, not a bad card that can run a good amount of games at a decent level.

jrobbs wrote:Why do they keep releasing PCs with kick-ass state of the art CPU, decent "gaming" GPU and ridiculously low-res screen? 768 horizontal resolution was commonplace 15 years ago. 16:9 sucks for everything but movies and even then, bump it up to 1080p!
In other words, I'll pass.

Probably has something to do with the fact that 16:9 is standard for laptops now, since hdtv killed off 16:10, there's no need for anything higher than 1366x768 on a 15 inch monitor since you won't notice the difference between it and 1080, and this is a midrange laptop. I do get the confusion though since your using inaccurate 15 yearold information.

I JUST got the Samsung QX410-SO2 from Woot about a week ago as well. Samsung's refurbishing process seems pretty good, mine came looking brand new and there wasn't any obvious evidence of a previous owner.

iGGz wrote:Is Samsung a good brand?

Last links for the night (and maybe for a while, furlough may be ending):

PC Magazine had them pretty highly ranked--#2 in April:

http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,2817,2384243,00.asp

In the fall 2010, PC World had them above average:
http://www.pcworld.com/article/211402/reliability_and_service_laptops.html

including the actual chart:
http://zapp5.staticworld.net/news/graphics/211081-laptopchart_800_original.jpg

I only hope I've honored NightGhost in the work tonight. For anyone else looking for quality surveys, these two magazine surveys are a good place to start. Good night y'all!

Arrgh, finally a laptop that interests me (good stats, dedicated GPU) but I just blew all my spare money on a vacation. Silly vacations getting in the way of nerdage...

Do note: no bluetooth! Not a big deal if you're ok using one of those USB ports to host a bluetooth adapter, but worth noting.

jrobbs wrote:Why do they keep releasing PCs with kick-ass state of the art CPU, decent "gaming" GPU and ridiculously low-res screen? 768 horizontal resolution was commonplace 15 years ago. 16:9 sucks for everything but movies and even then, bump it up to 1080p!
In other words, I'll pass.

You would have a hard time finding a laptop with 1080p display at this price with these specs, that's if you could even find one. 720p is perfect for a 15" screen IMHO. If this were a 26"screen, i would agree with you, but these screens are too small for 1080p Res, and would only make everything tiny and Hard on the eyes. Sure you could decrease the resolution to make everything easier to see but it would look terrible at anything other than the screens native Res.

This is an awesome deal for a Quad-Core i7, 1gb NVidia gpu, 2xUSB 3.0, WiDi, WiMAX and Blu -Ray, and you won't find anything with ALL of these specs for less than $1000, cause I've been looking for one during these past couple weeks.

In for 1! Thanks Woot!!!

unksol wrote:Probably has something to do with the fact that 16:9 is standard for laptops now, since hdtv killed off 16:10, there's no need for anything higher than 1366x768 on a 15 inch monitor since you won't notice the difference between it and 1080, and this is a midrange laptop. I do get the confusion though since your using inaccurate 15 yearold information.

You have a very big misconception of resolutions on laptops and computers. It is not the same as TV, I am unsure of where you got your information about 16:9 killing off 16:10 as FullHD aka 16:10 or 1080p is alive and well while 720 or 16:9 is slowly fading out. there is no way you can tell me that you can turn your monitor settings from 1920x1080(1080p) down to 1366x768 and not 'notice the difference between it and 1080'. There is a HUGE difference. If you don't believe me, try it now, change your monitor settings and tell me there isn't a massive difference. For one your icons will take up far less space with 1080 resolution. You are sorta correct in the fact that when displaying media like video on such a small screen there isn't a big difference, virtually anything else you do on your computer will be a vastly different experience. My netbook has the same res as this laptop, now that's just sad.

xxtypersxx wrote:That screen just KILLS it, not that the anemic GT525 could game on anything higher anyway...

If this had a 1080p panel and some more gpu muscle then it would be a great back to school machine for college students.

What do you mean if it had...? This laptop could handle anything a college student could throw at it, save for intense graphic design, autocad, etc. It has one of the fastest mobile processors out there, 6 GB (high for many laptops), a discrete GPU, and a spacious HDD. Its plenty for all but extreme gamers (who should be using a desktop anyway).

iGGz wrote:Is Samsung a good brand?

I have had no issues with my 2 cell phones from them, the hard drives I have are excellent. I have never had a laptop from them, but I did have a monitor that developed a bad line 3 years ago. It was under warranty. I sent them an email, they immeduately issued an RMA and offered to send me a shipping label, OR to ship a new monitor to my local UPS store and i could swap it out there. I had zero down time because of that. UPS called me when it was in and i unplugged it drove to the store and swapped them out of the shipping box and i was done. Even gave me the newer model because mine was discontinued, Nd its still going strong.

No hassle, no run around. Hands down the best warranty experience I have ever had.

terminatorgir wrote:You have a very big misconception of resolutions on laptops and computers. It is not the same as TV, I am unsure of where you got your information about 16:9 killing off 16:10 as FullHD aka 16:10 or 1080p is alive and well while 720 or 16:9 is slowly fading out. there is no way you can tell me that you can turn your monitor settings from 1920x1080(1080p) down to 1366x768 and not 'notice the difference between it and 1080'. There is a HUGE difference. If you don't believe me, try it now, change your monitor settings and tell me there isn't a massive difference. For one your icons will take up far less space with 1080 resolution. You are sorta correct in the fact that when displaying media like video on such a small screen there isn't a big difference, virtually anything else you do on your computer will be a vastly different experience. My netbook has the same res as this laptop, now that's just sad.

FYI computer monitor and tv resolutions/ratios work exactly the same. But let's address a few blatant problems with your statements.

Resolution and ratios are completely different things. 1080 and 768 are BOTH 16:9. 1920/1080 = 16/9. Where do you get YOUR information? 1920 x1200 and 1400x900 are 16:10. You used to be able to get 16:10 in desktop and.laptop monitors but the rise of hdtv and 16:9 makes them impossible to find as manufactures have standardized on 16:9.

On a 15in screen quality is not at all affected by it being 768. Obviously I'd see a difference on mine as its a 25in 16:10, 1920x1200 monitor that doesn't even run 1080, and running any monitor at its non native resolution will make your screen look worse. I took care to get before they went extinct.

Your icon size changing is irrelevant. You can change that manually if you'd like. Yes it gives "more" scrren are at the expense of making things harder to see? Nit very desirable on a small screen...

can i change the shipping to 2 days?
if i can how?

720p on a 15" screen? That's almost painfully low-resolution.

My current HP Probook has a 1600x900 screen, and my Lenovo 3000-series laptop before that was 1680x1050, and neither of those were special orders.

Those of you saying that full-HD is worthless on anything less than 25 inches, think about the fact that you're probably sitting 3 or more feet from your desktop computer's screen, but only a foot or two from your laptop.

Am I right in assuming that I wont be able to add a firewire port to this laptop?
I cant find a slot for PCMCIA card. Have a Sony Mini DV handycam that I still use so need a firewire port in the laptop.

terminatorgir wrote:You have a very big misconception of resolutions on laptops and computers. It is not the same as TV, I am unsure of where you got your information about 16:9 killing off 16:10 as FullHD aka 16:10 or 1080p is alive and well while 720 or 16:9 is slowly fading out. there is no way you can tell me that you can turn your monitor settings from 1920x1080(1080p) down to 1366x768 and not 'notice the difference between it and 1080'. There is a HUGE difference. If you don't believe me, try it now, change your monitor settings and tell me there isn't a massive difference. For one your icons will take up far less space with 1080 resolution. You are sorta correct in the fact that when displaying media like video on such a small screen there isn't a big difference, virtually anything else you do on your computer will be a vastly different experience. My netbook has the same res as this laptop, now that's just sad.

If logic didn't elude you, you could have done the simple math yourself to see that 1920x1080 most certainly is NOT 16:10, it's 16:9. Here, I'll show you an easy way to compare aspect ratios:

1280/720 or 1920/1080 = 1.7778- That's 16:9

1680/1050 or 1920/1200 = 1.6 - That's 16:10

Also, he(she?) was referring to the fact that, at this screen size, a native 768 panel wouldn't look any less sharp than a native 1080 panel, unlike on a 40"+ TV.

thelightguy wrote:720p on a 15" screen? That's almost painfully low-resolution.

My current HP Probook has a 1600x900 screen, and my Lenovo 3000-series laptop before that was 1680x1050, and neither of those were special orders.

Those of you saying that full-HD is worthless on anything less than 25 inches, think about the fact that you're probably sitting 3 or more feet from your desktop computer's screen, but only a foot or two from your laptop.

Actually the break point for a laptop is around 17 inches, 18 on a desktop. Obviously not 25 which was not at all what I said. Bottom line is they have standardized on hdtv resolution for marketing reasons. This is a midrange laptop, and it has an appropriate mid range screen. And you really aren't going to notice the difference. I wouldn't even want 1920x1080 on a screen this small. 1600x900 wouldn't be bad, but it'd cost.more and you wouldn't notice a huge quality difference.

terminatorgir wrote:You have a very big misconception of resolutions on laptops and computers. It is not the same as TV, I am unsure of where you got your information about 16:9 killing off 16:10 as FullHD aka 16:10 or 1080p is alive and well while 720 or 16:9 is slowly fading out. there is no way you can tell me that you can turn your monitor settings from 1920x1080(1080p) down to 1366x768 and not 'notice the difference between it and 1080'. There is a HUGE difference. If you don't believe me, try it now, change your monitor settings and tell me there isn't a massive difference. For one your icons will take up far less space with 1080 resolution. You are sorta correct in the fact that when displaying media like video on such a small screen there isn't a big difference, virtually anything else you do on your computer will be a vastly different experience. My netbook has the same res as this laptop, now that's just sad.

I could understand failing simple maths without a calculator, but all the OSes have one built in, as well as Google.com

Seriously, stop spreading misinformation because you want to sound smart.

But is it Mac compatible? (insert sarcastic trendy mac comment here)

Ok I have one of these computers and I must say it sux. I mean the way it plays video games at 30 fps with all the graphics on high just ruins my love for down graded pixelization. Or how I can run Adobe 7 while copying a dvd makes me mad, because I used to love the hangs and stalls Adobe and I once shared. Or even the fact that, here on deployment in the desert, I only have one source of internet connection but it doubles as a hot spot. So my iPod can connect to it wirelessly and share it's internet connection. I mean I was so looking forward to having to download my apps and then sync them through iTunes. But no this thing threw all my hopes and dreams out the window and spat on them. Now I'm stuck with a system that not only plays blu-ray but does so while I'm on skype, yahoo messenger, aim, msn messenger, browsing facebook, converting a video to mp4 format, mixing on virtual dj (music videos at that) and it still has time to transfer and back up my 500gb of movies to my external hard drive for safe keepings. Damn Samgsung and this device. I beg none of you to buy this. It will only ruin the image past laptops have given you. ....be ware of the RC512....be ware of the RC5.......be ware of the R....

That resolution is just atrocious.

jk336699 wrote:can i change the shipping to 2 days?
if i can how?

As far as I know, there is no choice in shipping speed.

http://www.woot.com/WhatIsWoot.aspx#q12

The FAQ's in its entirety is under the "what is woot?" link above, or (unlikely to help in this situation), click the "write us" link above.