Wow what a machine!! I may as well explain that I am not going to be carrying out advanced performance tests and benchmarks etc. This is more of a generic review on the machine. Besides, I feel that all those performance tests carried out are not going to be much help in the real world. I am not one for caring about those tests as the reality is that we are only talking of milliseconds and in the real world that’s not what really matters.So really I am just going to give my simple opinion in this piece of technological art. For all those that would like to find out the frames per second on Doom 3 and half life etc then sorry your looking in the wrong place so look elsewhere or buy a play station or Xbox.
Regarding photo shots I haven’t bothered as plenty exist already but if requested I could take some snaps.
I would also like to add that I have noticed that the majority of the reviews carried out on this forum have been by the U.S. consumers and since this machine is not available in the U.S. then I can only assume that we are not going to see many reviews on the x50. Some of the detailed reviews on this forum are extremely good and wonderful reading and I sometimes wonder if they are paid reviewers. But nonetheless extremely well constructed and insightful reviews.
I’ve been using a Compaq Presario laptop for the last 3 years and regarding specs I can inform you its well out of date, but it has been a worthy companion and never once given up on me. I have been using laptops ever since Windows 95 was launched. My very first one was a Toshiba Satellite pro and at the time it did cost the equivalent of US $7,000. I can also add to the list Compaq, Gateway, Rock, Sony.
I’m not one for giving praise for the sake of it and I can be very cruel and critical and I won’t settle for second best; I always want the best I can for my money.
It all began when I paid a casual visit to my local PC store just to catch up on things and have a browse of the latest goodies. To be honest I was pretty much amazed at how much things had changed. Especially in price (downwards) and visually in terms of design appeal.
I decided there and then that it was time to change and I walked away with a Sony Vaio FS115Z. I was willing to pay up to £2000 for a laptop as I have in the past paid in this region and more. I only kept the Sony for 1 week and decided it wasn’t for me. Yes the screen was absolutely fab but I just felt that I needed to get more. I’m not sure if it was more performance or more quality that I desired or it may have been both.
I decided to do a bit more research rather than just relying on the sales rep in the PC store and I finally stumbled upon and subsequently decided on the Acer 8104. I had the first one replaced as I had numerous little niggling problems and then used the replacement for a week or so and then decided that NO NO I’m not going to listen that overhead projector sound that the 8104 produces. Yes it really did sound like an overhead projector. The 8104 is a great piece of laptop for the money but I decided that I wasn’t going to live with the fan and to top it up I had been reading about all those poor souls that had been taken for a ride by Acer CS and I didn’t want to join them.
At the same time that I decided that I was sending the 8104 back for a refund I started to do a bit more investigation and stumbled across the Samsung X50. I ordered it and it arrived the next day and I still had the 8104 in my possession. This was a coincidence and not intentional but the positive side was that I was able to make direct comparisons on various issues such as quality, heat, screen, noise, application execution. Yes the wife thinks I’m crazy. She can’t understand why I have to make these comparisons, but it’s like women deciding on a handbag or lipstick it takes eternity. So they should understand! Anyway here is my opinion.
Build quality & weight
All I can say is that it’s the best build I have ever come across on a notebook. I can honestly say there are no creeks and noises even when I’ve tried. Yes I’ve pushed it and poked it and pressed pretty much every where. Extremely little or no flex, I’m not sure if flex is good or bad but personally I don’t like flex in something that should feel solid. To me it feels like one whole mould and that’s no exaggeration. The fit and finish is top notch. The whole body seems very well integrated & tightly put together. The only complaint I have is that the CD compartment is not a flush fit and seems a bit flimsy when ejected. In contrast the Acer 8104 had a fair few creeks when lifting and also when resting my palm on the palm rest.
I must admit at first I wasn’t sure over the looks and colour of the x50 especially when sitting it side by side to the 8104 but after a day or so the look grew on me and it began to show the Acer to be tired looking in comparison. The x50 has a fresher and more modern look.
As far as weight is concerned its definitely light for a 15.4 screen and noticeably so. I can hold it up with one hand from the palm rest corner with ease and guess what? No creaks anywhere. The actual claimed weight by Samsung is 2.37kg but I haven’t weighed it yet to verify. It’s also claimed to be the thinnest 15.4 widescreen notebook. I was very pleased with the overall dimensions and weight on the 8104 but the 8104 needs to go on a diet when you compare it with the x50. In one of the reviews someone mentioned that Samsung have been able to achieve this as they design and build their own notebooks rather than subcontract out. It certainly seems that way.
Screen
I wasn’t sure what to expect from the screen. In the ads it was claimed to be a glossy like the Sony x bright and in others it was claimed to be a low gloss. Anyway the screen turned out to be a matt high bright. It’s a lovely screen and I have no complaints. In my opinion it’s a lovely mix of the brightness of the x bright and the some of the non glossy screens. Initially I couldn’t really differentiate between the 8104 and the x50 screen but after couple of days use and opening and viewing different applications I could certainly notice the difference. Its definitely one of the best displays I have come across. Like the 8104 the native resolution is 1680x1050 but unlike the 8104 when I altered the resolution it is still very acceptable. I changed to a resolution of 1400x1050 and forgot to change back to the native resolution for about a day and that’s because it still looked very sharp. In fact the sharpness seems to remain in pretty much all the 6 available resolutions and I think this is a credit to the screen rather than the ATI x600 graphics card.
Although I am not a gamer I loaded doom 3 and I couldn’t really notice any difference in the frame rate performance of the 8104 and the x50 but for certain the game looked a lot crisper and brighter on the x50. Of course die hard gamers will most probably notice a difference in the frame rate. One other point to mention is that I had to change the dpi upwards which I also did on the 8104 to make the fonts and icons more acceptable to the eye.
Keyboard/Touchpad & Fingerprint security
The key board is good. Its one of the best I’ve come across but I would rate the 8104 and the x50 equal in terms of feedback and key response. Considering how thin this notebook is the keyboard feels solid with minimal flex and less so than the 8104. The advantage for me is that the x50 has slightly bigger keys and a conventional layout. As much as I wanted to I couldn’t quite get acquainted to that 5% curve on the 8104. I made regular typing errors on the 8104 but perhaps if I had given it time I would have improved on the 8104.
The short cut functions are by way of the Fn and function keys. The x50 does also have 3 dedicated shortcut keys. One of those is for AV now which is Samsungs in built software utility for movies, photos, music and allows for the entertainment centre to be utilised without loading windows. Simply press the AV now button and you’re in without entering windows.
The touch pad could have been larger. In my opinion the touch pad on the 8104 was better but only because of its size. The beauty with this touch pad is that it seems to be ingrained into the machine and a similar colour to the body shell. One nice touch is the scroll mouse which is a touch type. It takes some getting used but a very classy addition.
I’ve not before tested anything with finger print security. The x50 comes with this new technology and the driver software needs to be installed from the accompanied system disc. For me it works with accuracy and gives a real sense of security with the knowledge that if my x50 got onto the wrong hands then it will be impossible to gain access. I tried the security cards on the 8104 and I had some fun with those. I found sometimes they worked and other times they would not remember my password. I had to carry out a system reboot for the platinum key software to recognise my password and at other times I would be asked for my password when \I had selected for it not be asked. This was one of the niggles that I had with 8104.
Noise
What I can I say? Quiet as a mouse. Fan does kick in even in battery mode but a lovely smooth sound and not even noticeable unless I deliberately listen for it. You cannot even compare the torturing 8104 overhead projector noise. The previous machines I’ve owned have only had the fan kick in under extreme circumstances and that was rare. I did own in the past one machine just like the 8104 that had a loud fan and I made that machine take a long walk after 12 months use and what a waist it was. Because of that bad experience I just knew that I wasn’t going to able to live with the 8104 long term i.e. 2-3 years.
Heat
Yes it gets hot like all the notebooks of today and especially the sonomas. In fact it gets considerably hotter than the 8104 in the underbelly. In comparison the 8104 stays cool underneath but that maybe because of its big fans working all the time. The x50 feels uncomfortable in the lap after a couple of hours use. My previous laptop got very hot ; in fact I could make toast on it if wanted to so I learnt to live with that by using a fat magazine underneath and that is also a remedy for the x50.
Battery
The claims for this battery are around 4 hours. I don’t think that is quite true. I’ve been getting around 3 hours just typing browsing internet and so on. It might improve once I’ve trained the battery but so far the battery seems weaker than the 8104. I was getting up to 3.5 hours on the 8104 under similar use. The plus side is that it seems to recharge much quicker than the 8104.
General use & feel
Superb! As I’ve said before it’s been very well put together. Samsung certainly want to make a statement in this highly competitive market and hey are not charging a higher price for the name or the specs. They have certainly kept quality in mind. Of course time will show how well the x50 wears and I cannot comment on the coating used and I don’t wish to test it either. I can however say that I caused a few minor scratches underneath the 8104 and they seemed to appear from nowhere and that didn’t give me confidence in the future durability of the 8104.
The ports and connections are top fit again. The 3 in 1 card reader seems to have proper fit for the cards whereas the 8104 seemed as if it wasn’t quite comfortable accepting the different cards.
Weight distribution whilst placed on the lap dos not feel quite correct. It tends to lean over backwards if it is at an angle but I suppose that is due to its low weight. I personally can live with that.
Sound
It’s OK and is not any louder than the 8104 but has more bass. That’s it; it’s nothing special on the sound side. I feel that manufacturers are ignoring this area and certainly an area for improvement for most notebooks.
Performance and my use for the x50
I was searching for a notebook that was portable, good-looking, and solid and that had performance. I will use it for work/small business and personal entertainment and maybe some gaming although I prefer playing on my sons Xbox. This machine fits my requirements absolutely. In fact it may have more performance than I really need at the moment but I’m hoping that the performance will last a good 2 or maybe 3 years at a push. In terms of my comparison of performance I can admit that the 8104 seemed slightly nippier but it’s not a huge difference and I can only notice the difference because I’ve used both machines side by side.
I need to mention though that my definition of performance is different to others. I need performance and stability not performance and instability. It’s no good having a Porsche if it keeps stalling. I found the 8104 to lock on me or freeze on occasions. I also found the 8104 to take much longer when shutting down and restating. So far I’ve had no system crashes & freezing with the x50 and the system setup so far appears very stable and compliant and furthermore shutting downing and restarting seems a breeze. Both machines make light work of pretty much anything I’ve been able to throw at them and the performance differential seems worlds away from my old laptop which I thought was still doing well until I used these new machines.
I decided on the x50 because of its quality feel, weight and dimensions. For me it’s a feel good factor using this machine for others the good feel factor may come from larger or glossier screens and gaming capabilities etc etc. The x50 is definitely worth a look and should be on anyone’s laptop shopping list.
Any questions just ask.
Now please excuse me because something’s toasting!!!
