When it said "WiDi", I had to look that up. When you pronounce it, it sounds like "Why Die?". Kinda deep, a little dark, somewhat prophetic.

Actually it's just a wireless display technology, but I'm going to make out my Will just in case...

beeftinkle wrote:i know its also used by many OCers. but a 525m really will not run any new games, you will be lucky to run sc2 on low ; / and 525m cannot handle 3d/directx10 or 11, SEE the post above the guy above couldnt run oblivion.... on low.... thats equal to a 2002/3 game

Why do you act as if it's being marketed as a competitor to a $1400+ gaming laptop? You really don't know what the hell you're talking about if you think the GT525M is barely more powerful than integrated graphics or something. It can run plenty of games in medium-high settings thanks to the strong processor and low res screen it's paired with. Try researching bench results before you start ranting and making yourself look like a fool.

lx0xllx0xl wrote:Why do you act as if it's being marketed as a competitor to a $1400+ gaming laptop? You really don't know what the hell you're talking about if you think the GT525M is barely more powerful than integrated graphics or something. It can run plenty of games in medium-high settings thanks to the strong processor and low res screen it's paired with. Try researching bench results before you start ranting and making yourself look like a fool.

Can I give this man a +1? ...wait, you don't have a rating system here? Bah!...

lx0xllx0xl wrote:Why do you act as if it's being marketed as a competitor to a $1400+ gaming laptop? You really don't know what the hell you're talking about if you think the GT525M is barely more powerful than integrated graphics or something. It can run plenty of games in medium-high settings thanks to the strong processor and low res screen it's paired with. Try researching bench results before you start ranting and making yourself look like a fool.

+1

And here are some videos of Crysis 2 and a bunch of popular games within the last year or two running on the Geforce GT525M card: LINK

Again, this laptop is a solid good deal if you are looking for an all purpose laptop to work and play.

**Linux warning, Windows only users ignore this*

Just a heads up for those of you that plan on using a Samsung laptop on Linux. I'm currently using the QX410-S02 (14 inch / i5 core) laptop running Linux Mint as my primary OS, but there are some shortcomings in the drivers for the particular trackpads that Samsung uses (Elantech) in these laptops.

While in Linux, they're very sensitive and you are very likely to mess up your typing by bumping the trackpad due to it jumping around. Also, the side scroller doesn't work either unless you download a patch. (Results may vary installing it)

Do yourself a favor also, remove all of the WiDi, Samsung, and various other things that come pre-installed on your laptop too and either format it or thoroughly uninstall everything. There is no reason for all of those applications to be running.

mcdull wrote:I always picked the 5400rpm hard drive for laptop if I could choose between 5400 and 7200, even when I bought new ones to replace the old ones.

5400rpm consumes less power compared to 7200rpm of the same series, so the laptop gets longer battery time which is important to many laptop users.

5400rpm also generates less heat so it's more comfortable to use and the fan won't go into "jet engine" mode as often.

Only if the work involves a lot of disk loading, e.g. video processing, the difference between 5400 and 7200 is significant.

However, I have to say 1366x768 is very low for a 15". Even my 12" Dell and HP got 1280x800 (though I connect it to a 27" to use when at home)
I guess the audience of this laptop is for old people who need everything look bigger.

7200RPM laptop drives don't take more than 1 watt more power than 5400RPM laptop drives, which really is insignificant. Don't believe me? Look at the spec sheets and independent reviews.
I have put a 750GB 7200RPM laptop drive in my Asus netbook and it only runs a few degrees warmer than before. Boots to windows in half the time.

7200RPM drives or SSD ftw.
That being said, you could upgrade this laptop to have a 750GB 7200RPM drive for about $90 (the Western Digital Scorpio Black is the fastest), then sell the drive that came with this laptop for $60-70. There you go, and no it won't void the warranty.

kaplanfx wrote:Why do they put a 5400rpm HD and a 1366x768 (low res) screen, in a seemingly otherwise nice laptop? It couldn't cost more than 50 bucks more to NOT cripple the machine with those features.

If Samsung had included a better screen and a faster drive then they wouldn't have unsold merchandise to liquidate on w00t. Be grateful.

I am hearing alot of people put down this computer, and from my experience these specs are great for the price. (Screen resolution is fine, processor is great (4 cores / 8 threads! @ 2.0 ghz) I have a laptop with similar specs that i've been using for a year (for digital video and photography post production and as my daily internet computer) and haven't had a complaint.

The lower resolution screen is fine you're a casual user. I purchased the lower res option to save money. I don't understand why you need any higher resolution than that. on a 15" screen icons and text are smaller, and a higher res screen will use more battery life. If you're that concerned with gaming or any kind of visual arts, why would you be using a laptop screen in the first place?! If i need more screen real estate for adobe premier I'll plug in a 2nd monitor. The processor is a lot better than my 640. I have a 7200 HD and 8 gigs of ram. if you could upgrade those cheaply you'd have a great laptop for 200 bucks.

other than the HD and the ram, the rest of the specs are perfect. i'd buy this in a heartbeat and upgrade those parts if I didn't just buy mine.

roachiepie wrote:Ok for Gaming: Yes or no?

Per the specs, it's got a graphics card w/1GB of dedicated graphics RAM, so it should work fine for gaming. (Can I get this PC's big brother in a 17" for Xmas, though?)

Hey guys, this is a refurbushed notebook PC. Just the other day Lenovo and DELL were both selling their brand new 17.3-inch notebooks with the new Core i3 CPU at $499.99 only. he spes were both pretty good and comparable to this unit. For a refurbished unit, I shall consider buying only if the price is below $400 even with the Core i7 CPU. Notebooks are getting dirt cheap nowadays because less and less units are being sold after the stupid tablets became so popular.

Snakefish wrote:I've been looking for a portable solution for doing professional video editing using Adobe Premiere and After Effects. The price looks enticing. I'm a little concerned about the screen resolution though. Can anyone offer any advice as to whether this is a good buy for me?

Yes, it is. I paid $800 for a Toshiba with the same specs and it edits and scans HD video without any problems. (I substituted an SSD for the hard drive though.)

djp519 wrote: I'm not blind, I don't need giant default fonts and icons. Throw a 1600x900 pixel resolution on these 15" screens, and they'd be much better.

You're not blind and I'm not 20 anymore... I've got 1600x900 on a 17 inch and I need a magnifying glass... I can't imagine 1600x900 on a 15 inch... you silly young-uns... :-)

echase5 wrote:If Samsung had included a better screen and a faster drive then they wouldn't have unsold merchandise to liquidate on w00t. Be grateful.

There ya go... a little common sense never hurt anybody... seems like everyone trashing this laptop's specs is expecting a super high end $3000 gaming/graphics laptop for $600...

Everyone's complaining that it's only 720p, but it seems to me that's plenty when you're likely to always be within 2-3 feet of the monitor.

Anyone have that nifty chart that shows at what distances screen resolutions become noticeable?

Edit: nevermind, I was thinking backwards... The closer you sit, the more resolution matters. Of course.

MWPollard wrote:And they continue to insist that 1366 x 768 is "HD". Nevermind that any movies played on the internal Blue-ray drive will be in 1920x1080, and will only show half the detail.

720p is officially HD, so yes it is HD. They are insisting nothing.

I don't like the look of the keyboard - guess I'd need to use an external one.

If this didn't have a low-res screen I'd buy one... maybe two.

As is I can at best recommend to a friend who has an equally low-res laptop now so they won't know what they are missing.

But I can't go back!

Is spending $650 on a refurbished laptop not a real concern? I'm not particularly excited about dropping another $100 on just a 1 yr warranty through SquareTrade.


Obviously the specs for the price are fantastic all nitpicking aside. It being refurbished without a real warranty just worries me...

dcloye wrote:So, to settle the sniping about screen rez on today's Samsung deal, can anyone give me a link to a laptop with a 1080P screen native resolution for less than a grand?

Asus N53SV-B1

This is the laptop I just bought - it's got an i5 and a smaller hard drive, but the screen is higher rez and the video card is better. And it's $899. All things considered, this Samsung seems a decent deal unless you're a hard-core gamer.

They coulda put one of these in my Bucket of Candycorn, But NOOOOOO

MaxSMoke777 wrote:When it said "WiDi", I had to look that up. When you pronounce it, it sounds like "Why Die?". Kinda deep, a little dark, somewhat prophetic.

Actually it's just a wireless display technology, but I'm going to make out my Will just in case...

it's a new technology that developed by Intel. you could play your laptop's extended screen or same screen on your tv without connecting with cable or wires. However, if your tv is not equipped with Widi, then you have to buy extra widi equipment.

it is shortened for Wireless Display, something like that.

Dear Woot,

http://www.burcoinc.com/

Sincerely,
Concerned for your safety

For thoise complaining about the screen resolution, this is still only a 15" screen. I prefer not to need a magnifying glass to read text etc. More pixels on a reletively small screen is not always a good thing.

This is a lot better than my current Work Laptop that was purchased last year.

It's also cheaper (mine was refurbished also), so I would say this is a pretty good buy as long as the parts are quality and aren't going to fail a year in.

kaplanfx wrote:Why do they put a 5400rpm HD and a 1366x768 (low res) screen, in a seemingly otherwise nice laptop? It couldn't cost more than 50 bucks more to NOT cripple the machine with those features.

Answer - 5400rpm for battery life / cost - resolution isn't bad... many 30-32 inch 720p LCD TVs use it... so I think you will manage on the little monitor without issue.

It might not be popular to link to other retailers, but reviews on Best Buy seem pretty positive, though they mention two issues:

1) The lack of a support page (drivers, etc.) for it. This seems to be the case no longer; just go here. This is important because graphics drivers on some laptops are still manufacturer-only, and more importantly this thing seems to be blasted for having a ton of bloatware, so a reinstall might be in the near future.

2) Windows Update may be broken out of the box. Seems like they might have been cloning from a bad image. Either way, the Best Buy comments recommend this fix. Though I haven't tested it, the steps seem logical and reasonable (I wrote a repair tool for WU about 5 years ago, so I'm familiar with similar steps, but obviously WU has changed drastically in the last 5 years).

The only thing I'm seeing that I don't like is the lack of NVidia Optimus, the power saving technology that turns off discrete graphics when you aren't gaming. Some laptops omit it on spec sheets, while others just don't have it. Combined with the 6-cell battery, this could be annoying. (Edit: Looks like it has Optimus, according to a post here. Woot!)

Still, I'm in. I've been looking for a laptop for, oh, 5 weeks. I almost struck on one a month ago, but then I totaled my car and had to adjust my budget and timeline (it makes me sad to say, but the car was more important). The low res of the screen would have bothered me, but for everything EXCLUDING gaming and some web browsing it won't be easily noticable - I had checked screens at Microcenter. The slow HD will probably be replaced with a Momentus XT (flash/hdd hybrid drive) in the future. But I couldn't pass up the combination of decent integrated graphics, the processor I wanted, Widi, Bluray, and potential WiMax for under $700.

Cracked Rear View ... go Hootie!!!

smrtdrmmr wrote:This is BS woot! I bought this exact laptop on August 8th from you guys for $740. TOTALLY SCARED OF THE DARK NOW. I feel ripped off now

Awwwwww, poor baby

If you are sifting through all the comments here trying to figure out if you should buy it or not then I offer you this piece of advice.

No matter the brand, specs or cost of a laptop on Woot it draws comments from every side. You will learn how they suck, rock and meh - you will also learn how people who have never held one in their hands know everything about it vicariously through their cousins sisters uncle best friend Tom's neighbor. Take the comments for comments, after-all you will likely take the ones that support what you want to do to further support what you want to do - and discard the others.

At the end of the day consider these three things:

martmann4 wrote:If only there was a way to search the Internet, and perhaps an online encyclopedia...

Bonk, HelenO hits the floor, laughing riotously. Yeah, some kinf of Internet-y type research thingy would be really handy.... Someone should invent it, to save future wooters the kind of grief expressed by the OP upon encountering all of that geeky jargon!

64 Bit - Good luck! Hope you won't be needing any support from Samsung...
They will only tell you to go buy a 32

It's Samdung, so it's got to be crap! They screwed me over with my LCD TV that crapped out two months after the warranty expired for a known capacitor defect, so I will never buy Samdung.

No....WiMax does not matter. The technology will be gone before you know it.....

Some info. Eat it up.


Learn about Mobile Vid Cards

Not a terrible gaming card at all.

Also, check specs. The Nvidia cards are the exact same architecture with only clock changes all the way up to the GT550M. Not uncommon with Nvidia and a card being a lower clocked model does not always mean it failed higher speeds.

So you've got to ask yourself one question: Do I feel lucky? Well, punk, do ya?

[quote postid="4657148" user="archerman2000"]If you are sifting through all the comments here trying to figure out if you should buy it or not then I offer you this piece of advice.
At the end of the day consider these three things:

If I"m buying a Quad Core i7 laptop, I CERTAINLY am NOT getting a 15.3 screen!

WiMAX is a waste of money! Buy an aircard!

I have a 2005 desktop. Desperately need a laptop. I'm self employed ans will use it for accounting expenses. I am not a gamer. Should I get this one or wait for more inexpensive laptop? Advice appreciated

beeftinkle wrote:did you know, comparing video game systems with pcs makes no sense at all.... they run completely different and handle everything completely different, research it before saying anything.

do you know how to read?

You are a troll and a bad one at that. You are citing crap with no validation. There are better lappies for the price, got links? They weren't comparing consoles to pc gcards, just making a comment, do YOU know how to read? Each of your comments is just negative garble making you look less and less informed than you are trying to come off. Just close the browser and walk away.

Overall this isn't a bad laptop, it's not top of the line, but for this price with these specs, it isn't a bad one. The gcard would support light gaming. I can't vouch for the people saying it's running stuff on high, but I'd imagine it'd run most current games on med settings. I'd probably upgrade the RAM if I bought it, just for some better performance, especially if I was doing video/pic editing. The catch for me is the refurbness of it; not sure I can commit to the refurb...

jaymz668 wrote:+1

To that end, what's wrong with a centered actual keyboard. How much time as a percentage do people use a number pad anyway? with a desktop machine I can move the keys to be centered, not on a notebook.

when i was working as an auditor (not the IRS type), i used the number pad heavily. i'm sure there are other professions that use it heavily too. our laptops did not have number pads and we had to use a usb one. the off-center touch pad would prevent your palm from accidentally touching the pad when typing on the qwerty part of the keyboard.

i think these machines would be great for people with certain professions. unfortunately, woot's primary customers apparently use computers primarily for gaming.