Tag Archives: Samsung Series

Linux

Taking stuff apart

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Last Saturday, I took apart an old and broken laptop of mine: a Sony Vaio VGN-TZ31XN. That was once a top of the line executive laptop. I bought it in 2009 when the model had just been discontinued and superseded by a new one, so it wasn’t too expensive.

The laptop had an 11″ 1366×768 screen, a 1.2 ghz Core2duo, 2GB of ram and 120 GB hard drive. The reason I paid 1000 Euro for such lowly specs is that it had a weight of 1.25 kg, doing about 6 hours on a battery charge.

Impressive piece of tech

I’ve been wanting a new laptop since I started to bump into performance issues during 2011. 2 GB of ram is not sufficient in a time of HTML5 – there are web pages which eat several hundreds mbs of ram. And unfortunately the Linux desktop isn’t getting lighter either (it’s part of why I decided to help Will and Klaas with Klyde for hackweek). And I’ve been doing some light video editing lately as well as more image editing. So when the screen of my laptop finally gave beginning of last year, I simply ordered my new Samsung Series 9. That Series 9 was actually more expensive than the Sony (prices have gone down since then). It is a step forward, but it is sad that it took the IT world over 5 years to finally eclipse what Sony did in 2007. And not even on every level – my Sony included a DVD burner, 3-antenna wifi, TWO card readers, mini-PCI-express, 120 GB spinning rust, FULL ethernet and VGA ports, Firewire and a removable battery in barely 100 gram more!

Opening up

When you open up the Sony, it becomes apparent how they managed to cram so much functionality (essentially everything a ‘normal’ laptop offers) in such a thin enclosure: they must have worked with the assumption of an unlimited budget. Seriously, it is clear why this laptop was over 2K: the target user group seemed to be entirely unwilling to compromise on features. This thing is far more complicated inside than modern ultrabooks. My Samsung S9 is mostly battery inside: it has a single, laptop-wide motherboard with 2 boards (wifi and mSATA) attached to it.

Nothing compared to the Sony: taking it apart reveals a square motherboard, a battery-power related board inside a casing, wifi board (the usual), blue-tooth board (tiny), audio board (2 chips & capacitors, audio in/out, 2 speakers, microphone all attached), 2xUSB+card reader board, touchpad board (the touchpad itself also has logic, of course), quick function keys board, 2 more small board I can’t identify. Then the DVD burner has its own internal boards (2) and one on the outside, apparently to interface between the mobo and the dvd burner. Oh, and of course, memory is separate and can be replaced. The webcam also has its own 4 cm long/half wide/double sided board.

Crazy, huh? All that is connected via a

From: http://blog.jospoortvliet.com/2013/04/taking-stuff-apart.html

Computers

Digital Storm x17: It's a more portable gaming option

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Even the untrained eye can spot a Digital Storm laptop from across the room, thanks to the company’s insistence on slapping its huge logo across the lid of each system. The overbranded, gaming-oriented x17 is no different: There’s also a large logo on the wrist rest. That said, at just 8.8 pounds sans accessories, it is actually one of the lightest 17.3-inch gaming laptops we’ve seen.

Our review model, which costs $1777 as configured, packs a third-generation Intel Core i7-3610QM processor, 16GB of RAM, and an AMD Radeon HD7970M graphics card. The system also features a 750GB hard drive, built-in Bluetooth, an 802.11n Wi-Fi adapter, and a DVD-RW optical drive. The x17 runs a 64-bit version of Windows 7 Home Premium.

Performance

In PCWorld’s WorldBench 7 benchmark tests, it scored 99 out of 100. This means it’s only one percent slower than our reference machine, a desktop PC with a second-generation Intel Core i5-2500K processor, 8GB of RAM, and a 1TB hard drive. While this is an acceptable score for a desktop replacement—the Dell Inspiron 17R-1316MRB scored just 86 on WB7—it’s a little low for a gaming-oriented desktop replacement. The Alienware M17x R4 and the Samsung Series 7 Gamer both scored decently higher on WB7, with scores of 146 and 123, respectively.

The x17’s performance is just about what you’d expect on individual tests. It starts up in 35.6 seconds, which is about 10 seconds slower than the aforementioned gaming laptops. It manages 15.6 frames per second in our Web Performance tests (just a little slower than the Alienware and the Samsung), and it scores only 2006 in the PCMark 7 Office Productivity tests, compared with the Alienware’s 4549 and the Samsung’s 2513.

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Source: FULL ARTICLE at PCWorld

Computers

Samsung Series 7 All-in-One review: Beautiful design, but average performance

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Samsung possesses one of the better design aesthetics in the industry, and it shows in the design of the 23.6-inch display model of the Series 7 All-in-One. This $1000 PC will draw many an admiring look, and its Core i5 CPU helps it deliver smooth everyday performance and wonderful movie viewing. But gameplay is strictly low-res, and as with most all-in-ones, you’re paying a lot for the form factor.
 
One of the first things you’ll notice about the Series 7 is that the power button is on the front. Most all-in-ones force you to hunt for it. Fortunately, the LED that back-lights the button is relatively low-key and shouldn’t bug you when you’re watching a movie or listening to music.
 
The bezel surrounding the display and most of the PC is black, while the attractively styled base and edge trim are silver. Unlike some all-in-ones we’ve seen recently, the base/stand doesn’t block access to the surface it sits on. You can fit stuff underneath, including the keyboard, when you’re not using it, and you can easily reach the desk or table area behind it.
 
The keyboard and mouse that Samsung ships with the Series 7 are wireless and are styled to match the all-in-one. The short-throw keyboard has a decent feel, but bangers might not like its relatively weak tactile feedback. The heft of the mouse is slightly above average, primarily because of the battery inside. To most users it will feel solid but not heavy.
 
The Series 7 comes with plenty of ports. On the left, hidden behind a flip-open panel are an SD-Multi slot, two USB 3.0 ports, and headset and microphone jacks. On the back are a Kensington lock port, a power jack, ethernet, three USB 2.0 ports (one of which is occupied by the keyboard/mouse wireless dongle), an HDMI input and output, and a DisplayPort jack. The right side houses a DVD-RAM burner.
 
Samsung’s manual for the Series 7 describes such options as a TV tuner, a TV antenna jack, and a Blu-ray drive. Alas, those are available only on international models. Apparently, we don’t watch TV or high-definition movies on disc here in the United States. Who knew? You can add easily a TV tuner via USB, at your own expense. 

Components and performance

 
Our test unit, Samsung’s model DP700A3D-A01US, featured an Intel Core i5-3470T, 6GB of DDR3-1600 memory, and a 5400-rpm, 2.5-inch, 1TB, Seagate ST1000LM024 hard drive. This configuration registered a 62 on our PCWorld Labs’ WorldBench 8 test suite—a decent mark, but nothing to write home about. It seemed to handle most tasks smoothly and responsively.
 
The integrated Intel HD 2500 graphics core, on the other hand, is hopeless for anything other than extremely casual games. Nothing even moderately ambitious will look good at the 800-by-600-pixel resolution you’ll need to use to achieve tolerable frame rates. The other configuration available in the United States—the $1700 DP700A7D-S03US—boasts a 27-inch display and discrete graphics in the form of an AMD Radeon HD 7850M. That setup should perform significantly better with A-list games.
 
Our test system …read more
Source: FULL ARTICLE at PCWorld