This review is from: Samsung Series 3 NP305E5A-A03US 15.6-Inch Laptop (Silver) (Personal Computers)
Pros: 1.5 Ghz Quad core processor with Turbo Core (2.4 Ghz) 4 GB of RAM Multi in 1 card reader BRIGHT, vibrant, matte finish screen Full sized chiclet keyboard 500 GB HDD Bluetooth Discrete class graphics processing unit with 512 MB RAM with HDMI capable of 7.1 audio output Light Mostly ingerprint resistant Webcam and digital microphone array Easy access hardware upgrades 3+ hour battery life on “full” charge Real, fully functional restore disc set Can be easily and safely overclocked
Cons: Some keyboard buttons are a bit small, placement makes editing your typing a chore sometimes Touchpad gets in the way when typing HDD is 5400 RPM instead of 7200 Frame around keyboard and screen is not fingerprint resistant Battery configuration is slightly annoying Restore disc set is one part aggravation 3 USB instead of four, no 3.0 Optical drive will not read all types of recordable media Bloatware is partially necessary
———-
Indepth: 1.5 Ghz Quad core processor with Turbo Core (2.4 Ghz) can be overclocked to 2.4 for base speed and 2.6 for Turbo Core…and it’s stable! (The free k10stat program is required, but not included.)
4 GB of RAM, with one slot unoccupied. Throw in a second stick 4 GB and max out the system to 8 with ease. (This upgrade should be a priority. The full 8 gigs really make a difference.)
Multi in 1 card reader (You’d be amazed how much you’ll use it. Can also be used to make your spare SD cards function as a ReadyBoost device. (creates a cache to help with HDD read times speed up)
BRIGHT, vibrant, matte finish screen with no glare, no gloss to grab fingerprints. Beautiful.
Full sized chiclet keyboard with numeric pad, really comes in handy since the Fn key isn’t always needed.
500 GB HDD is spacious, even with their recovery partition. They even give you partition software that makes it simple and easy to customize your PC.
Bluetooth works amazingly well. Grabs a hold of all the signals I’ve sent it’s way.
Discrete class graphics processing unit with 512 MB RAM is more than enough power to run Source engine games such as Left 4 Dead at 1366×768 with everything maxed out in the graphics settings, along with 2-4x AA and 16 AF! Even Sega’s Sonic Generations and Activision’s War For Cybertron can be run at 1024×768 to 1366×768 with medium graphics quality and look gorgeous, with no drops in frame rates.
Lightweight. Not a back breaker if carried in backpack, or shoulder bag. Weighs 5 pounds, even!
Easy access hardware upgrades with ONE panel and screw to remove. So easy. HDD, RAM and optical drive access in one spot!
Real, fully functional restore disc set…with a catch. The Windows disc is factory made and comes in the box. The drivers/software disc must be made by the user, through an easy to use wizard interface.
Battery configuration is slightly annoying because of the 80/100 setting. When charged all the way to 100%, the overall life span will diminish like all batteries of this type. You have to go into the BIOS to fully unlock the battery, plus settings in Windows. A real hassle. If you leave it locked at 80% (factory, out of the box setting) it’s supposed to ensure long life of the battery.
Restore disc set is one part aggravation because the optical drive is picky about which brands it’ll use. Philips will not work. Maxell and Verbatim will. Of those that won’t, it won’t even read them or detect their presence.
Bloatware is partially necessary to get full functionality, such as enable/disable of: wifi, touchpad, backlight, print screen key, you get the idea. Without it, many important things will not work. At all.
All in all, this is a very powerful system for under $400.00. As is, it’s a fantastic multimedia machine. With the mods I made (maxed out RAM, overclocked CPU, Blu-Ray I added) this is a hearty HTPC, with medium to high gaming, that is easily a desktop replacement PC that’s portable!
I highly recommend it. Fantastic machine.
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This review is from: Samsung Series 3 NP305E5A-A03US 15.6-Inch Laptop (Silver) (Personal Computers)
I am a computer person. I do my research before I purchase anything and usually know exactly what I am getting for my money. I found this beautiful little machine and grabbed one for $399 while they were at Best Buy. I was completely surprised by the performance of this little beast. First of all, the laptop is beautiful, light, feels well built, and has a battery that lasts 4-5 hours even while streaming video over wifi. What really blew me away however was how strong the AMD processor and graphics capabilities are for a notebook at this price point. Since the video card shares system memory I bought another 4GB stick of DDR3 Ram for about $30 and installed it in the second slot (A nice feature) that starts empty on this laptop. I can run World of Warcraft on high with consistent 60fps everywhere, or even on ultra with up to 60fps in dungeons and 20-30fps everywhere else. I was also able to run The Old Republic for several hours at a time on medium settings with 30fps. This is a fantastic laptop for the price point, and for the mobile gamer or MMO person it gets the job done. The screen is very clear and resolution looks great, plus the HDMI port is a nice plus. Bluetooth built in is a feature usually found on more expensive laptops and makes uploading photos from your smartphone an absolute breeze.
Aside from the RAM upgrade, I would also recommend a decent laptop cooler mat, as like every other laptop this thing can get a bit hot after several hours of gaming. One that props the laptop up a little allowing air to move beneath it is the best. I picked up this one at best buy for $20 and it does a great job:
[...]
All in all I paid less than $500 for the Laptop, Ram Upgrade, Cooling Pad, a nice case and a mouse for when I game. This is unbeatable and if you are considering doing any gaming at all, I would definitely recommend these AMD systems over the I3 and I5. Only when you get up to I7 do they start beating the A6 in graphics capability.
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This review is from: Samsung Series 3 NP305E5A-A03US 15.6-Inch Laptop (Silver) (Personal Computers)
Before buying this I had my doubts if I’d ever get used to or get to like this weird keyboard. However, it did not take long. The keyboard is nice. The touchpad is the best I’ve had so far yet in a laptop.
The screen resolution is amazing once you get the proprietary ATI driver installed.
I had a little trouble with this system at the start. It would boot to blank black screen in Bodhi 1.3 and the current Linux Mint. However this seems to be an issue with “new hardware” and the lag time of linux support for the chipsets related to the amd a6 3400m family. luckily google pointed me to a message board thread relating to this; setting the linux kernel boot parameter with the option “radeon.modeset=0″ made mint and bodhi installable from CD.
My summary of pros and cons is listed below.
Pro: –speed of quad cores and GPUs, as well as the internal drives and memory; amazing, especially considering the low wattage of the integrated CPU chip–a supercomputer that runs on batteries, something that could not be imagined a decade or two ago. –great value for a sub 500 usd laptop. –amazing crisp display; has hdmi output also. –great touchpad, good keyboard, and first impression makes me believe quality of components seems nice. –fits in a backpack; light and fairly compact.
Con: –bluetooth (nor wifi) cannot be turned off from bios directly or from keyboard fn buttons–needs –software to do it. haven’t figured out how to make linux do it yet. –no caps or num lock lights. –only 3 usb jacks (1 left, 2 right) –linux setup and support leaves a lot to be desired; thank goodness for message boards, google, and the kind geniuses posting on said boards. –I’m still very bothered and annoyed by not being able to shut off the RF of wifi and bluetooth with a single tap of two buttons like I was in my old laptop.
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Authors bio is coming up shortly. 
$399.99 Powerhouse? Yes. Yes, It Is.,
Pros:
1.5 Ghz Quad core processor with Turbo Core (2.4 Ghz)
4 GB of RAM
Multi in 1 card reader
BRIGHT, vibrant, matte finish screen
Full sized chiclet keyboard
500 GB HDD
Bluetooth
Discrete class graphics processing unit with 512 MB RAM with HDMI capable of 7.1 audio output
Light
Mostly ingerprint resistant
Webcam and digital microphone array
Easy access hardware upgrades
3+ hour battery life on “full” charge
Real, fully functional restore disc set
Can be easily and safely overclocked
Cons:
Some keyboard buttons are a bit small, placement makes editing your typing a chore sometimes
Touchpad gets in the way when typing
HDD is 5400 RPM instead of 7200
Frame around keyboard and screen is not fingerprint resistant
Battery configuration is slightly annoying
Restore disc set is one part aggravation
3 USB instead of four, no 3.0
Optical drive will not read all types of recordable media
Bloatware is partially necessary
———-
Indepth:
1.5 Ghz Quad core processor with Turbo Core (2.4 Ghz) can be overclocked to 2.4 for base speed and 2.6 for Turbo Core…and it’s stable! (The free k10stat program is required, but not included.)
4 GB of RAM, with one slot unoccupied. Throw in a second stick 4 GB and max out the system to 8 with ease. (This upgrade should be a priority. The full 8 gigs really make a difference.)
Multi in 1 card reader (You’d be amazed how much you’ll use it. Can also be used to make your spare SD cards function as a ReadyBoost device. (creates a cache to help with HDD read times speed up)
BRIGHT, vibrant, matte finish screen with no glare, no gloss to grab fingerprints. Beautiful.
Full sized chiclet keyboard with numeric pad, really comes in handy since the Fn key isn’t always needed.
500 GB HDD is spacious, even with their recovery partition. They even give you partition software that makes it simple and easy to customize your PC.
Bluetooth works amazingly well. Grabs a hold of all the signals I’ve sent it’s way.
Discrete class graphics processing unit with 512 MB RAM is more than enough power to run Source engine games such as Left 4 Dead at 1366×768 with everything maxed out in the graphics settings, along with 2-4x AA and 16 AF! Even Sega’s Sonic Generations and Activision’s War For Cybertron can be run at 1024×768 to 1366×768 with medium graphics quality and look gorgeous, with no drops in frame rates.
Lightweight. Not a back breaker if carried in backpack, or shoulder bag. Weighs 5 pounds, even!
Easy access hardware upgrades with ONE panel and screw to remove. So easy. HDD, RAM and optical drive access in one spot!
Real, fully functional restore disc set…with a catch. The Windows disc is factory made and comes in the box. The drivers/software disc must be made by the user, through an easy to use wizard interface.
Battery configuration is slightly annoying because of the 80/100 setting. When charged all the way to 100%, the overall life span will diminish like all batteries of this type. You have to go into the BIOS to fully unlock the battery, plus settings in Windows. A real hassle. If you leave it locked at 80% (factory, out of the box setting) it’s supposed to ensure long life of the battery.
Restore disc set is one part aggravation because the optical drive is picky about which brands it’ll use. Philips will not work. Maxell and Verbatim will. Of those that won’t, it won’t even read them or detect their presence.
Bloatware is partially necessary to get full functionality, such as enable/disable of: wifi, touchpad, backlight, print screen key, you get the idea. Without it, many important things will not work. At all.
All in all, this is a very powerful system for under $400.00. As is, it’s a fantastic multimedia machine. With the mods I made (maxed out RAM, overclocked CPU, Blu-Ray I added) this is a hearty HTPC, with medium to high gaming, that is easily a desktop replacement PC that’s portable!
I highly recommend it. Fantastic machine.
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|Absolutely Fantastic Machine,
I am a computer person. I do my research before I purchase anything and usually know exactly what I am getting for my money. I found this beautiful little machine and grabbed one for $399 while they were at Best Buy. I was completely surprised by the performance of this little beast. First of all, the laptop is beautiful, light, feels well built, and has a battery that lasts 4-5 hours even while streaming video over wifi. What really blew me away however was how strong the AMD processor and graphics capabilities are for a notebook at this price point. Since the video card shares system memory I bought another 4GB stick of DDR3 Ram for about $30 and installed it in the second slot (A nice feature) that starts empty on this laptop. I can run World of Warcraft on high with consistent 60fps everywhere, or even on ultra with up to 60fps in dungeons and 20-30fps everywhere else. I was also able to run The Old Republic for several hours at a time on medium settings with 30fps. This is a fantastic laptop for the price point, and for the mobile gamer or MMO person it gets the job done. The screen is very clear and resolution looks great, plus the HDMI port is a nice plus. Bluetooth built in is a feature usually found on more expensive laptops and makes uploading photos from your smartphone an absolute breeze.
Aside from the RAM upgrade, I would also recommend a decent laptop cooler mat, as like every other laptop this thing can get a bit hot after several hours of gaming. One that props the laptop up a little allowing air to move beneath it is the best. I picked up this one at best buy for $20 and it does a great job:
[...]
All in all I paid less than $500 for the Laptop, Ram Upgrade, Cooling Pad, a nice case and a mouse for when I game.
This is unbeatable and if you are considering doing any gaming at all, I would definitely recommend these AMD systems over the I3 and I5. Only when you get up to I7 do they start beating the A6 in graphics capability.
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|Wow!! a little hard to set up with Linux but awesome laptop!,
Before buying this I had my doubts if I’d ever get used to or get to like this weird keyboard. However, it did not take long. The keyboard is nice. The touchpad is the best I’ve had so far yet in a laptop.
The screen resolution is amazing once you get the proprietary ATI driver installed.
I had a little trouble with this system at the start. It would boot to blank black screen in Bodhi 1.3 and the current Linux Mint. However this seems to be an issue with “new hardware” and the lag time of linux support for the chipsets related to the amd a6 3400m family. luckily google pointed me to a message board thread relating to this; setting the linux kernel boot parameter with the option “radeon.modeset=0″ made mint and bodhi installable from CD.
My summary of pros and cons is listed below.
Pro:
–speed of quad cores and GPUs, as well as the internal drives and memory; amazing, especially considering the low wattage of the integrated CPU chip–a supercomputer that runs on batteries, something that could not be imagined a decade or two ago.
–great value for a sub 500 usd laptop.
–amazing crisp display; has hdmi output also.
–great touchpad, good keyboard, and first impression makes me believe quality of components seems nice.
–fits in a backpack; light and fairly compact.
Con:
–bluetooth (nor wifi) cannot be turned off from bios directly or from keyboard fn buttons–needs –software to do it. haven’t figured out how to make linux do it yet.
–no caps or num lock lights.
–only 3 usb jacks (1 left, 2 right)
–linux setup and support leaves a lot to be desired; thank goodness for message boards, google, and the kind geniuses posting on said boards.
–I’m still very bothered and annoyed by not being able to shut off the RF of wifi and bluetooth with a single tap of two buttons like I was in my old laptop.
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|