Samsung R780 17.3in laptop

Samsung’s R780 has clearly been designed to get noticed. The glossy, deep-red chassis and slightly nauseating swirly line motif won’t appeal to those who like their laptops to be subtle, but it does make it stand out from the crowd. Personally speaking, I quite like it. That said, I also quite liked the design of Acer’s Ethos, …

[Mage]

Only 1600 x900 on 17."

Is this for people that need reading glasses but won't wear them? It's only about 104 dpi

My 8 y.o. laptop is 1600 x 1200 and 15.4" yet is lower resolution than my PMP and many mobile phones. It's about 133dpi

What happened to the dream of a 200 dpi or better paper like WYSIWG display?

Why is it nearly impossible to find a laptop with a display that can show an entire A4 document at readable quality? (You do need at least 1200 lines, 1080, the HDTV resolution is just too small).

Good review though :-)

[MinionZero]

I couldn't resist saying this...

@"Is this for people that need reading glasses but won't wear them?"

No, its for people who don't want reading glasses in later life!

(The push towards ever higher resolution is not well supported in all software (especially older software) and some icons and text can become rediculously small on higher resolutions. Whilst this view isn't for everyone, as some people don't seem to care about their eyesight enough (when they are younger) their push for always going for ever higher resolutions isn't always the best choice for eyesight).

[Marcus Aurelius]

Higher resolutionm

There is nothing stopping decrepit old fogies having larger fonts on their display. Higher resolution results in more crisp layout with less need for aliasing and all those other clever tricks.

[lglethal]

Actually im not after 1600x1200 display...

... but in a 17" machine i still do not understand why you wouldnt have at least a 1080p resolution. Especially with a machine with a Bluray player. It really does not make since to me!

HP have done this with there new DV7 line as well. The only 1080p compliant model at 17" will be the Envy 17 (in the UK at least).

If your going to include a Bluray player it should be a minium requirement to have a screen which can show the film at full resolution. Sorry Samsung until you bring out a 1080p screen - your off my selection list!

[Tom 38]

Arrow keys for gaming?

Really? wasd-at about?

I'm assuming this is a UK model reviewed, given the price in £. Given that, it's got a crappy US layout keyboard - enter key is half height and backslash/pipe key is on the wrong side of the keyboard. Also, for such a massive laptop, they still only have half height function key row, meaning 'Esc' is half height as well. No good for vim.

[Marcus Aurelius]

Just in time

I'm considering buying one of these.

I'm a little dubious about the wisdom of comparing it to a £1200 Ethos, which is 50% more, so its hardly surprising that it wins the bang for buck competion. I'm sure El Reg can compare the machine to others in its price band.

[Rairch]

erm no...

http://www.reghardware.com/Design/graphics/icons/comment/paris_hilton_32.png You still have a screw loose imho :D

Paris might like it tho...

[Anonymous Coward]

I like

samsung gear. It used to be shit but in the last 5 years have really got their act together.

I own a R700 sammy lappy and its a peach. After buying a 60 quid hi-cap battery off fleabay, i get almost 4 hours runtime when wording, surfing and media palying.

I'm having one of these in the next 6 months when the price drops a couple of hundred quid.

[twelvebore]

My personal take

Well my missus has one of these, it's a decent machine but my biggest gripe is that the inclusion of a numeric keypad shifts the main part of the keyboard to the left. This makes for a somewhat weird typing experience for a touch typist, especially in the dark.

Oh and while we're on the subject of typing in the dark, when are all >£500 laptops going to get with the 21st century and include an illuminated keyboard?

Other than that it's a decent bit of kit.

[Robert E A Harvey]

Want one

I'm typing this on a Samsung SensG910 19" laptop in a cybercafe at Seoul airport, and it is very tasty indeed. I rather think I want one.

The keyboard is slightly gimp in that there are no page up page down buttons except the old-fashioned ones on keypad 9 & 3, need numlock. Otherwise it seems fairly splendid.

Screen is 16:10, not come across that before, 19", 7200 rpm hard disk, 1000:1 contrast ratio.

I reckon big FO laptops are very cool.

[Phil 44]

Available without bluray but with 64-bit Windows 7 for £699

Great quality and value for money :)

http://www.argos.co.uk/static/Product/partNumber/5082597.htm

[Marcus Aurelius]

Even cheaper

The model from Argos you quoted is an i3 processor, not i5. It also has a GT310 video card instead of a 330. Check processor type, speed and just about everything else before comparing!

You can avoid Argos and pay about £100 less from a number of suppliers (ebuyer.com for one). (£605 is the cheapest I've found so far for the same model as the Argos version)

[Phil 44]

Good point well made

Sorry if any confusion was caused :)

[Tricky Dicky]

Only i3

The Argos model has an i3 cpu not an i5 as per the review.

[Anonymous Coward]

Sorry...I will not be buying this one

I like it a lot...and I like Samsung products in general...but the only reason I'd buy such a large display would be to obtain more active pixels. I need/want at least 1920x1200. Laptops with this pixel-count (or higher) do exist. And yes...they cost more. For me, they are worth the money. So listen-up, Samsung. Make the 1920x1200 pixel display an option for this beastie, and I'll likely buy one. (Be sure that El Reg publishes an article highlighting the availability of said hi-res display, else I might overlook its existence.)

[Tricky Dicky]

£799 - Where?

I can't find one with the spec of the review under £900

[Northumbrian]

Barbeque Rating

Please can we have temperature ratings for all laptops - i.e. how safe are our laps with these atop? I've just lost most of the advantage of my current cooling "pad" (its cooling fans have packed in - the extra passive ventilation remains) and will have once again to go on the hunt for a replacement.

I'm also supposed to be replacing this laptop, which is my main machine, and really want to know if there are powerful laptops out there which don't need you to cart around a large chunk of metal which keeps the machine just cool enough not to turn itself off, whilst wrecking the USB ports with the constant power drain.

Some of us have to use laptops on all sorts of impromptu surfaces (coffee tables, for example) and need not to burn them, or ourselves, even when doing quite demanding things with the machine.

So, standard question for all machines - will it roast chestnuts after 40 minutes in use?

[Christian Berger]

Can be bought cheaper

Just look at your local hardware store, they probably have way cheaper mirrors there.

Other than that, what's the use of a reflecting screen? You will constantly be irritated by reflections from bright objects in your background. What will be next, transparent screens?