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Real MBP contender - Samsung 7

Jrv said:
People buy Macs because they want Macs. There really is no foreseeable loss in sales for Apple. There are and have always been MUCH more powerful laptops for a cheaper price than what Apple offers, but people, including myself, opted for the Macbooks because we wanted Macbooks.
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No there hasn't, not without sacrificing form. The MBP 15 has the unique distinction of being the most powerful machine under an inch, by about 2 cores and 25% graphics power. MBP's lead in this department is staggering actually, you won't find a more powerful laptop until the 1.4 inch HP DV6t/W520. And those two aren't exactly a step up either, with only marginally faster graphics. The first real step up is the P151HM chassis, which comes in at 1.7 inches.

vents on the belly. Another great lap-warmer in time for winter.
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Not sure what you mean by that. My MBP gets plenty warm on the bottom. If the vents meant better cooling, Apple should've just put some damn vents. Maybe we wouldn't see temperature threads pop up every few minutes.

You can tout specs all you want but I promise you it will be nowhere near as polished as the MBP. Specs and smooth operating are two different things.
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Build quality and feel is one of the remaining factors. The Samsung series 9 had great build though. Samsung is one company that doesn't shy away from build quality when push comes to shove. If Acer made this, I wouldn't even bat an eye.

What's with all the ignorant OS posts? Apple gets Windows converts like me because they make great machines. As aforementioned, they're one of the most powerful laptops given their form. Razer tried it, and only ended with a dual core. Dell tried it, dual core and crap build. HP tried it, thicker and weaker graphics.

Apple MBPs are the only computers on the market that provide medium/high end CPU and GPU, build quality/finish, AND design/thinness. Many bought the MBP because there's simply not a better machine in its class, not because it's Apple. The combination of performance, size, styling, and quality [as well as the attention to details (e.g. trackpad, backlit keyboard, etc)] simply cannot be found on another machine. I don't think any well informed user "here" blindly buys Apple products without merit.

Until October.

The LG P330 should be out by then too. IPS screen and 555m in a 13 inch? MBPs falling behind the curve.
 
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Many a MB killer has come and gone. For this price I wouldn't be too quick to judge the build quality of this thing based on the pics.
 
How many?

HP's Envy? The Envy 14 was a great contender, but once the 1600x900 Radiance screen went, so went it. The Dell XPS 15z? Not only was it a dual core with craptacular graphics, but it "looked" cheap from the beginning. Razer? Maybe. Pricing more than the MBP is pretty bad. And still only a dual core.

What other "MBP killers" are you referring to that offers the same combination of performance and design? None. This is the first one.
 
I've been reading your posts 2hvy4grvty and its refreshing to see someone who is not blinded by Apple bias.

I'm in the same camp as you ... not totally thrilled by Mac OSX, but find the Macbook Pro to be alluring since it does offer the perfect blend of performance, design, and build quality.

I have high hopes for the Samsung Series 7 and I'm excited to see what the reviews will say, but I have a very strong feeling that it will fall short in a couple of areas.

1. I have a feeling that the trackpad is going to be very disappointing. Its weird that PC manufacturers can't seem to get this one right ...

2. Battery life - Unless Samsung is going to do some extra optimization for battery life (like Asus and Acer do for their laptops), I don't see this laptop getting more than 5 hours of battery life on moderate use.
 
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2hvy4grvty said:
How many?

HP's Envy? The Envy 14 was a great contender, but once the 1600x900 Radiance screen went, so went it. The Dell XPS 15z? Not only was it a dual core with craptacular graphics, but it "looked" cheap from the beginning. Razer? Maybe. Pricing more than the MBP is pretty bad. And still only a dual core.

What other "MBP killers" are you referring to that offers the same combination of performance and design? None. This is the first one.
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Why ENVY was a contender?
I think it still is
17-series is a very nice competitor
i7 quad, SSD, 8Gb RAM, hi-res screen, backlit keyboard, great graffic card
I'm really concidering this one vs MBP 17
I need desktop replacement notebook and really torn between ENVY and Mac
It seems they addressed cooling issue on HP
What's else is there on MBP i'd be missing if i went with PC?
OS is a wash for me

Price of comparably equipped is big difference
$1600 vs $2600
 
Well yeah, up until recently, Apple really produced nothing but overpriced PCs. But with the unibody, Apple created a new niche for itself, and in it it remained king (albeit with no competition to speak of). It no longer was an overpriced PC, since there was no PC alternative.

Apple built a superior machine, that's why a lot of us bought it; that's why Apple is seeing GROWTH in the market, because a lot of people are realizing that the best PC for their needs is... not really a PC at all. I don't see how so many people can be ignorant to that idea.

Anyway, I don't expect the rated 9 hour battery life. 6-7 hours will be well within reach though, and I fully expect Samsung to hit that mark. Samsung [and maybe Sony] are two manufacturers that pay just as much attention to details as Apple. There's a reason the GSII is the best smartphone in the market.

I don't think Samsung's trackpad will be in the same neighborhood as Apple, not for a long time. It's already confirmed a "glass trackpad" though, so hopefully glide characteristics and responsiveness is similar. I don't think it'll have all the multi-touch capabilities just quite yet though.

Anyway, to update on pricing a little bit:

http://www.anandtech.com/show/4716/samsung-releases-series-7-laptops

$1150 for a 2675QM, 6750m, 750GB 7200 RPM + 8 GB smartcache SSD, 6 GB of RAM, and 1600x900 screen. Seems awesome. Hopefully I'm missing something on the $1300 model though... $150 for 2 GB of RAM sounds a bit off.

Samsung just needs to nail the screen quality, build "premium feel", and trackpad/keyboard. And maybe avoid throttling/overheating issue as with the Acer 3830TGs, and they've got the laptops to beat for quite a while.

@above: Because the Envy 17 is 50% thicker than a MBP 17. Thinness is one of the main reason to go Mac. It [along with performance offered] is one of the main trump cards Apple has over just about every PC on the market.
 
I've been saving for a long time for a MBP 13''. I am near my goal, and expected to buy the base MBP 13'' on its next revision. After this Samsung announcement, I am not so sure: the 14'' laptop appears to be fantasticly priced. Let us look at what the Samsung Series 7 14'' laptop offers that the MBP 13'' does not:

- Higher clock (2.4 GHz, instead of the MBP's 2.3 GHz; negligible difference)
- More RAM (6 GB, instead of the MBP's 4)
- More HDD Space (750 GB, instead of the MBP's 320 GB))
- Faster HDD (7200 rpm, instead of MBP's 5400 rpm)
- Dedicated GPU (AMD Radeon HD 6490M)
- 8 GB of SSD (for commonly and recently used tasks)
- 2 USB 3.0, 1 USB 2.0, 1 Ethernet, 1 VGA and 1 HDMI ports, while the MBP offers 2 USB 2.0, 1 Thunderbolt, 1 Ethernet and 1 FireWire 800 ports.
- Lighter overall (1.9 Kg, instead of the MBP's 2.04 Kg)
- Bigger screen (14'', instead of the MBP's 13'', but in a 13'' chassis nevertheless)
- Higher resolution (1600*900, instead of the MBP's 1280*800)
- Matte Screen (instead of the MBP's Glossy screen)
- Lower price (1099$, instead of the MBP's 1199$)
- Silence fan button (Overheat button? :confused: :D)

Even features like the backlit keyboard which were traditionally attributed to the MBP appear on this laptop. Multitouch gestures are also a possibility, from my readings.

I find it hard to believe that this laptop will have as much battery life as the MBP. Not only due to software, but also due to space constrains (dGPU + DVD Drive = not much space for battery). However, if this is not the case, I believe we will have a very serious contender to beat the MBP. Even if battery gets compromised, it might still be a fantastic deal. And I am not even talking about the 15'' models, which are almost copies of the MBP 15'' for around 1000$ less.

I'll wait a bit to see how this goes. There have been several laptops that were announced as MBP-killers and ended up flopping. However, that doesn't mean this does not look very promising. I will be looking very seriously at this laptop (and at Samsung) for my future laptop choice. Asus also has some very fine laptops at very attractive prices, and OS X isn't, from my point of view, enough to compensate for all these differences. I feel that not only Windows 7 is a mature enough OS, but also that if it wasn't, one could always use Linux instead.
 
8 GB is not an SSD that you can control, I'm positive it'll function as with the Z68 boards, as a smartcache, similar to a hybrid drive. Think of it as a severely optimized Momentus XT.

Also, as of right now anyway, USB 3.0 is far superior to Thunderbolt. And Samsung didn't cheap out on them either, offering two USB 3.0 ports.
 
AndreyATC said:
Why ENVY was a contender?
I think it still is
17-series is a very nice competitor
i7 quad, SSD, 8Gb RAM, hi-res screen, backlit keyboard, great graffic card
I'm really concidering this one vs MBP 17
I need desktop replacement notebook and really torn between ENVY and Mac
It seems they addressed cooling issue on HP
What's else is there on MBP i'd be missing if i went with PC?
OS is a wash for me

Price of comparably equipped is big difference
$1600 vs $2600
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With the # of HP laptops that I have seen inexplicably die, during and shortly after warranty period expires.... I will never buy an HP computer... never never never...
 
hawk1410 said:
Those are really good contenders to the MBPs, HPs Envy series sucked, Dell XPS 15z also sucked. These are just amazing.
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Are you kidding. I maybe the biggest anti- Wind'ohs and Intel Machead, but the 14in Envy at one point had like 350nit 1600x900 res display(I think it was called radiance glow option), which is suppose to be actually nice to use(per what people have been saying).
 
coldmack said:
Are you kidding. I maybe the biggest anti- Wind'ohs and Intel Machead, but the 14in Envy at one point had like 350nit 1600x900 res display(I think it was called radiance glow option), which is suppose to be actually nice to use(per what people have been saying).
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At some point, and for that short while it was a impressive machine but they ran out of those displays quickly and replaced them with disappointing 14in 720p bright view displays. After that the Envy was pretty much dead. And they really screwed up with the latest gen, it still has a bad display and on top of it it is pretty underpowered with a 6630m. The Vaio SA is a much attractive laptop with a higher res display, and a much smaller chassis. The latest envy was nowhere close to MBPs. These samsungs will not have the quality of a MBP, they just won't. But i still feel these are awesome and they are definitely gonna become the new college favorite.
 
AmbiguousNinja said:
The Galaxy vs iPhone lawsuits took a while to heat up, I'm guessing in a month or two Samsung will be banned from selling these in a country or two...
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I highly doubt that
The fact that it's all aluminum does not automatically mean it resembles MBP to drive it into lawsuit
Looking side by side at both i can hardly see much similarity
Finish, shape, color are different
It's just closer to MBP in looks than others, but that's about it
 
GuitarG20 said:
no, he's saying that Apple computers can achieve their claimed battery numbers. I had an HP that claimed 4.5 hours battery life. I never got more than an hour and a half out of that stupid thing./QUOTE]

This. PCs seem to fail on this level on a consistent basis. In fact, it seemed as if Apple quietly revolutionized the whole "battery life" quotas with the Unibodies, as finally someone was claiming 7ish hours and people were getting 7ish hours.

OP, I think we are all aware how this one is going to end up. It is no secret that Apple hasn't been on the forefront of hardware specs, unless they released a new model everyday, they wouldn't be. In the end, the reason why most of us come back is because they work and fulfill our needs.

And perhaps that is why whenever a MBP Killer/Contender pops up, it's just another one to the long list. The MacBook Pro has been consistent, so while there's a new HP/Dell/Lenovo challenger on a monthly basis, they all seem to come and go. This seems like it will be no different.
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thegoldenmackid said:
GuitarG20 said:
no, he's saying that Apple computers can achieve their claimed battery numbers. I had an HP that claimed 4.5 hours battery life. I never got more than an hour and a half out of that stupid thing./QUOTE]

This. PCs seem to fail on this level on a consistent basis. In fact, it seemed as if Apple quietly revolutionized the whole "battery life" quotas with the Unibodies, as finally someone was claiming 7ish hours and people were getting 7ish hours.

OP, I think we are all aware how this one is going to end up. It is no secret that Apple hasn't been on the forefront of hardware specs, unless they released a new model everyday, they wouldn't be. In the end, the reason why most of us come back is because they work and fulfill our needs.

And perhaps that is why whenever a MBP Killer/Contender pops up, it's just another one to the long list. The MacBook Pro has been consistent, so while there's a new HP/Dell/Lenovo challenger on a monthly basis, they all seem to come and go. This seems like it will be no different.
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As much as I wish this were true, it isn't. Only with the most recent MBP has Apple changed their approach to battery claim. The 2010 model claimed 9/10 hours of battery life, which it obviously couldn't do. 6/7 were closer to reality. This claims 9 hours with an 8 cell, realistically 6 and a half hours is perfectly reasonable and still "extremely good".

Which MBP killer are you referring to? This is the first one as far as I can tell. Every other falls short either in specs, or in thinness. Name one. Envy? Not without the Radiance screen it's not. 15z? Laughable both in specs and durability. Razer? Maybe, but it's even MORE ridiculously priced. The list of 1 inch thick powerful notebooks is quite frankly a short list... actually, EXTREMELY short. This and the MBP. That's it.
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AndreyATC said:
I highly doubt that
The fact that it's all aluminum does not automatically mean it resembles MBP to drive it into lawsuit
Looking side by side at both i can hardly see much similarity
Finish, shape, color are different
It's just closer to MBP in looks than others, but that's about it
Click to expand...

Keyboard: Black on sleek aluminum...with backlight...pretty much identical...
Trackpad: Hmmm, badly positioned but pretty much identical...Don't now if it supports multitouch though...
Magnetic Screen Latch: Not sure how common this is but I'm guessing the Series 7 uses it.
Power button location...
Nice Optical Drive they got on that thing, looks like mine.

There are a lot of similarities as well as differences but then again an iPhone hardly looks like an SGII...
 
Ya, this is pretty boring. The hardware isn't that good looking in the photos I've seen and it doesn't run OS X. No thanks.
 
I think it looks horrible to be honest. That sort of naff quasi-brushed dark aluminium that HP also seem to so enthralled with, lovingly topped off with a black keyboard, just doesn't sit right with my eyes.

The screen also resembles something from a pre-unibody MacBook Pro.

Not for me.
 
Having used a Samsung laptop a few years ago, I wish this thing was on the market when I was looking to buy a laptop a few months ago, I would have snapped this up in a heartbeat.
 
I thought hardware implied specs.

Looks are subjective, though I like the MBP's more too.

But I honestly wouldn't mind a numpad, or at the very least, an extra row of home/end/page up/page down/insert/delete keys. And the thin bezel looks great. The off color palmrest... not so much.

The only thing Samsung could've/should've done was to be the first to remove the optical drive, before Apple did it, and either made room for a better cooling system, a second HDD, or more DIMMs.
 
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