the Samsung 770z5e - finally a real ultraportable gaming laptop

stateofmind

Senior member
Aug 24, 2012
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well, at least in my eyes. It really packs a lot of good features and the reviews are good

link

very good 1080p screen, very good battery performance along reasonable weight (~2.4kg including the 91Wh battery), good gaming performance, good keyboard, no throttling problems or almost none..

EDIT: seems like it's the 17.3" model. Maybe TigerDirect changed it or something
 
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Throckmorton

Lifer
Aug 23, 2007
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I had the Chronos 7 version of this, before they switched to ATIV. It's NOT a very good screen. It's MVA which has a lot of potential, but it has really bad grain/sparkle despite being glossy. I returned it because of that. It also has weird image retention. If you switch to a grey screen, like what happens when Windows gets locked, you can see an afterimage of your window outlines that lasts for a few minutes.
 

wasabiman123

Member
May 28, 2013
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I would be wary of the fact that this doesn't have an Nvidia card...and therefore Optimus, something AMD hasn't come close to matching yet.
 

Throckmorton

Lifer
Aug 23, 2007
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Yeah, the switching is really buggy and you have to set each program manually. A lot of people reported issues with the laptop not switching to the discrete graphics at all. There are no updated drivers and there probably never will be, since Samsung has discontinued these laptops after 3 months and switched to the ATIV line. You can't just install AMD drivers.

This laptop was the last straw for me with Windows notebooks, and I've decided to just buy a Macbook because of it. Poor quality, no support, discontinued after a short period of time therefore not much community to get info from...
 

wasabiman123

Member
May 28, 2013
132
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Yeah, the switching is really buggy and you have to set each program manually. A lot of people reported issues with the laptop not switching to the discrete graphics at all. There are no updated drivers and there probably never will be, since Samsung has discontinued these laptops after 3 months and switched to the ATIV line. You can't just install AMD drivers.

This laptop was the last straw for me with Windows notebooks, and I've decided to just buy a Macbook because of it. Poor quality, no support, discontinued after a short period of time therefore not much community to get info from...

:mad: If you were going to Apple tax territory you should've considered this bad boy http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16834230672 ;)
 

TheStu

Moderator<br>Mobile Devices & Gadgets
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Sep 15, 2004
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:mad: If you were going to Apple tax territory you should've considered this bad boy http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16834230672 ;)

15" Retina MacBook Pro is cheaper and has a 15% faster CPU. The GPU on the rPro has less memory but IIRC is clock much higher than a standard 650m. The Asus has double the storage though which is a BIG deal. It is a $300 upgrade on the Mac. However, if the OP is a student or a gov't contractor then the price for the rPro is $2300 with a 512GB SSD and 8GB RAM, so less than $50 more than the Asus. Oh, and the rMBP has a 2880*1800 display to the Asus' 1080p.

The 'Apple Tax' is largely a misnomer, sometimes it comes into play (*cough* Mac Pro *cough*), and sometimes it doesn't (This situation here). It isn't a hard and fast rule where you just KNOW that anything you buy from Apple is automatically 20% more expensive (or something).

Besides, with the Mac Throck is getting a decent support network with the Apple Stores (big deal, no joke.) The Asus he has to deal with their support.

Sorry OP, didn't mean to de-rail. It looks like this is the replacement for it:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16834131487
 
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stateofmind

Senior member
Aug 24, 2012
245
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76
www.glj.io
I had the Chronos 7 version of this, before they switched to ATIV. It's NOT a very good screen. It's MVA which has a lot of potential, but it has really bad grain/sparkle despite being glossy. I returned it because of that. It also has weird image retention. If you switch to a grey screen, like what happens when Windows gets locked, you can see an afterimage of your window outlines that lasts for a few minutes.

I don't understand - you had the 770z5e? or the previous model (700z5c or something)?
 

Enigmoid

Platinum Member
Sep 27, 2012
2,907
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Yeah, the switching is really buggy and you have to set each program manually. A lot of people reported issues with the laptop not switching to the discrete graphics at all. There are no updated drivers and there probably never will be, since Samsung has discontinued these laptops after 3 months and switched to the ATIV line. You can't just install AMD drivers.

This laptop was the last straw for me with Windows notebooks, and I've decided to just buy a Macbook because of it. Poor quality, no support, discontinued after a short period of time therefore not much community to get info from...

Pretty much says it all. Nothing more frusterating than buying a laptop and being unable to update drivers, games are often unplayable without them.

I had to get rid of my dell laptop because so many recent games simply arn't playable without updated drivers (and dell's last set of drivers are more than a year old).
 

Throckmorton

Lifer
Aug 23, 2007
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I don't understand - you had the 770z5e? or the previous model (700z5c or something)?

I can't remember but I believe it's this one http://forums.bestbuy.com/t5/Comput...ies-7-Chronos-780Z5E-release-date/td-p/658167

It's discontinued now after just a couple months, replaced by the ATIV laptops which are black instead of silver.

BTW the screen not only had sparkle/grain, it also had image retention similar to the faulty Macbook Pro Retina screens made by LG.
 

Throckmorton

Lifer
Aug 23, 2007
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What PC laptops have the best support in terms of drivers?


None, that's the problem. You wait and wait for a GOOD Windows laptop to come along (in my case I need a good screen for photo editing and a GPU), you buy it, and it has some stupid flaw like image retention or sparkle, then you find out it can't even run your games properly because of driver issues, and the manufacturer won't update drivers or let you use ATI/nVidia drivers, then the laptop is discontinued in a month and there is no hope for further support. This is the MO for PC manufactuers. Remember the Envy with its innovative IPS screens and powerful GPUs? Discontinued. And they had Orangegate anyway. Sony S series with IPS screens? Also discontinued, also Orangegate. Dell XPS laptops with RGBLED screens? Gone.

At least with Apple you know the product will be around for a year, and that there will be a big community to help you troubleshoot and to make noise about issues.
 

stateofmind

Senior member
Aug 24, 2012
245
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www.glj.io
91Wh, yea, but under 2.4kg including the battery (though without DVDRW)

The new MSI GE60 sounds very nice with the GTX 765M - definitely a step up from the Radeon 8870M, maybe even two steps. I'd say the MSI GE60-0ND might be more interesting if it has considerably lower price
But the battery performance is one major issue, and the screen too. We'll wait for reviews
 

wasabiman123

Member
May 28, 2013
132
1
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91Wh, yea, but under 2.4kg including the battery (though without DVDRW)

The new MSI GE60 sounds very nice with the GTX 765M - definitely a step up from the Radeon 8870M, maybe even two steps. I'd say the MSI GE60-0ND might be more interesting if it has considerably lower price
But the battery performance is one major issue, and the screen too. We'll wait for reviews

Definitely, considering the GE 40 to recommend to a friend going to college but battery life needs to be 5 hours or more when not gaming :/ Haswell better get it done :twisted:
 

stateofmind

Senior member
Aug 24, 2012
245
2
76
www.glj.io
what 17.3"? The 770z5e is a 15.6". Are you talking about the 770z7e?

and it's always in comparison to what is available and to your needs. For example, if you want a 17.3" laptop, you can get a 8/9lbs one (like most MSI/Clevo based gaming laptops) and you can get a 6lbs one that also has a much better battery - huge difference. Optimal? No. Much better? Yes.

About the GE40 - finally. Clevo also has a 13.3" coming soon, confirmed.