Samsung Series 4: the Thinkpad X220 killer?

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penartur · #1 Post by **penartur** » Mon Apr 18, 2011 4:26 pm

Just found this thread on NBR (original article), and this Series 4 laptop looks really similar to ThinkPads, to the point it looks 'shopped (for a samsung). I wonder why did nobody noticed its thick keyboard or trackpoint and everybody keep discussing its optical drive and hdmi and usb3 etc. I never seen a Samsung laptop like this before; all i saw were glossy glamorous entertainment things with a crappy keyboard, and Series 4 is just like greeting from the 20th century. It is also worth noting that keyboard layout is nearly identical to a thinkpad one (except for Fn being on left and that consumer-laptops-type mess in the upper right corner). If the keyboard layout was identical to a thinkpad one, i'd seriously consider this over the X220.
Also, the screen bezels are even larger than "OMG, it is thinkpad-freaking-huge"

Q-Ball · #2 Post by **Q-Ball** » Mon Apr 18, 2011 8:28 pm

I still want an X320, or at least an X230 redesign to accommodate an optical drive.
The Dock is fine to carry around, I suppose, but can't they just drop in a DVD drive to actually be of use casually?

But the things that put me off of the Samsung are:
-No slice battery option (AFAIK)
-TrackPoint quality (it's blue, and it's just a solid piece of rubber)
-Keyboard quality?
-Glowy function buttons on the top left (one seems to be the wireless- blue is a really annoying colour because it's brighter than, say, red at the same power level)
-No IPS screen
-Build quality (they say it's made of metal but for some reason it doesn't look like it)

On the other hand, it does have HDMI output, USB 3.0 with all models, and it looks (at first glance) like it would take a standard 9.5mm SSD instead of the 7mm that only Intel seems to offer (so we have to put up with a lower-speed SSD in the X220)...

#3 Post by **JaneL** » Mon Apr 18, 2011 9:16 pm

Q-Ball wrote:I still want an X320

So do I!

filmbuff · #4 Post by **filmbuff** » Tue Apr 19, 2011 8:29 am

way early to speculate if the series4 is a real contender against the x220.

samsung has never really had much, if any, reputation as a business laptop, and with little info on pricing, etc. and until real-world reports by users can inform us on how the laptop performs in the field - build quality, performance & battery life, user issues, etc...that will be the truer indicator if this is a serious laptop.

the x220 is not perfect (i'd like to see a higher screen option and lament the smaller HD form factor), but it does very well in nearly all the major categories.

penartur · #5 Post by **penartur** » Tue Apr 19, 2011 3:53 pm

filmbuff, when i was creating this thread, i was thinking primarily about that strange (for samsung) appearance and exceptionally strange (for any non-thinkpad laptop for the last 10 years) keyboard. It is strange, but for some reason everybody on NBR and on this forum keep discussing Samsung's move and nobody speaks of the appearance and keyboard

miscthree · #6 Post by **miscthree** » Tue Apr 19, 2011 9:15 pm

Does anyone else think that the samsung laptops discussed here are really thick? The beveled edges help give the illusion of being thinner but one image in the slideshow shows it's true thickness..

#7 Post by **ZaZ** » Tue Apr 19, 2011 10:55 pm

The Samsung Series 9 certainly look pretty svelte and have 160° viewing angles, which means it's probably some kind of PVA panel, though they cost quite a bit more than the X220.

I'd agree a X320 with a WXGA+ IPS panel with a very palatable 133 DPI, would be just about the penultimate laptop for me anyways.

penartur · #8 Post by **penartur** » Tue Apr 19, 2011 11:30 pm

FredGarvin wrote:The Samsung Series 9 certainly look pretty svelte and have 160° viewing angles, which means it's probably some kind of PVA panel, though they cost quite a bit more than the X220.

160° means just decent TN panel. For example, only 5% of displays offered in Russia have their claimed vertical viewing angles less than 160°; and that doesn't mean we roll in PVA and IPS screens there.

More important is that Series 9 is definitely a consumer laptop, some competitor to MBA, while Series 4 are business laptops and competitors to ThinkPad and HP and Dell business lines.

miscthree wrote:Does anyone else think that the samsung laptops discussed here are really thick? The beveled edges help give the illusion of being thinner but one image in the slideshow shows it's true thickness..

That's another greeting from 20th century

Seriously, it may mean better laptop rigidness.

#9 Post by **ZaZ** » Tue Apr 19, 2011 11:47 pm

160° seems a bit of a stretch for a TN panel, at least the ones I've seen.

miscthree · #10 Post by **miscthree** » Wed Apr 20, 2011 1:38 am

Yes the 9's are slim alright..I was talking about the series 4 and 6 notebooks..

They DO look dated, penartur!

penartur · #11 Post by **penartur** » Wed Apr 20, 2011 2:06 am

FredGarvin wrote:160° seems a bit of a stretch for a TN panel, at least the ones I've seen.

Again, these are claimed specs, most of TN displays on the market have claimed vertical viewing angles in range from 160 to 170.
By the way, it depends on how are they computing that angle. AFAIK the standard way is to look for where the contrast drops below the 1/10th of the claimed contrast (that is, for the panel with claimed 200:1 viewing angle is defined as an angle between "from the top" and "from the bottom" directions where the contrast is 20:1, and color accuracy doesn't matter).

They DO look dated, penartur!

That's what i like in them!

sanjuro · #12 Post by **sanjuro** » Wed Apr 20, 2011 11:30 pm

Samsung's so called Thinkpad X220 killer is a good thing. It will keep the price down and improve the thinkpad specs.

It is also good think that Sammy will offer the old-fashioned selectric type keyboards instead of the chiclet kind. May be it will give more backbones to Lenovo executives against diluting the Thinkpad brand.

X320 with an IPS display would be a cool product. A problem with X300/301 was that Lenovo was competing against itself without anyone else offering comparable ultra-thin and light yet with a full range of ports. If only Sammy is smart enough to offer a X301-look alike with a decent PVA LCD that is a reasonable seller...

schmaud · #13 Post by **schmaud** » Sat Apr 23, 2011 4:14 am

filmbuff wrote:samsung has never really had much, if any, reputation as a business laptop,

That is actually only true for the US. They essentialy did not enter that market
The dell x-300 was also sold as an samsung in other parts of the world. When I got my t42, there was a competing samsung offer which had metal case, different battery option a scroll wheel an lower weight than the thinkpads.... build quality was as good as the thinkpads.
I went for the thinkpads only because of the trackpoint.

Don^t dismiss samsung on the name alone.
cheers

r.

pianowizard · #14 Post by **pianowizard** » Sat Apr 23, 2011 7:47 am

schmaud wrote:The dell x-300 was also sold as an samsung in other parts of the world.

You mean the Latitude X1?

filmbuff · #15 Post by **filmbuff** » Sat Apr 23, 2011 8:30 am

noted, something similar was mentioned on a thread in NBR, but there's more to what makes a good business laptop than just the product itself. there's the support aspect - drivers, parts availabilty, etc - and i don't mean now but when the model is out of production. we know lenovo will still stand behind supporting the x201 for the next several years even though it will end production shortly (if it hasn't already done so) and is now pushing the x220.

and when the dell aka samsung laptop was sold, which company was actually supporting it for service? if dell was handling all the support issues (except for driver updates) with their infrastructure, that only underscores my point about how good is samsung's post-sales support?

i recall reading mention that this is Samsung's second attempt with a business line and that the first go-round had 'issues'...doesn't exactly fill me with the the utmost confidence either.

if Samsung succeeds in making this a success, then more power to them. competition in the marketplace can only benefit the consumer.

schmaud wrote: That is actually only true for the US. They essentialy did not enter that market
The dell x-300 was also sold as an samsung in other parts of the world. When I got my t42, there was a competing samsung offer which had metal case, different battery option a scroll wheel an lower weight than the thinkpads.... build quality was as good as the thinkpads.
I went for the thinkpads only because of the trackpoint.

Don^t dismiss samsung on the name alone.
cheers

r.

Temetka · #16 Post by **Temetka** » Sun Jan 17, 2016 6:13 pm

The series 4 actually look like a decent business class laptop.

I might have to read some reviews and see if it's worth recommending to my clients. I traditionally recommend Dell Latitude's and Precision's because Pro Support is simply phenomenal and no OEM I have dealt with has come close to Dell's support in the enterprise.

That being said, I am in the honeymoon stage of getting to know my new (to me) X301. If I were to change anything about this machine it would be an IPS/AFFS LCD and better CPU/GPU. Other than that, it's perfect for me.

ajkula66 · #17 Post by **ajkula66** » Sun Jan 17, 2016 10:51 pm

Temetka wrote:The series 4 actually look like a decent business class laptop.

Huh...the thread is five years old and Samsung has pretty much killed its laptop range - at least for the U.S. market - in the meantime...

SkiBunny · #18 Post by **SkiBunny** » Mon Jan 18, 2016 12:22 am

ajkula66 wrote:
Temetka wrote:The series 4 actually look like a decent business class laptop.
Huh...the thread is five years old and Samsung has pretty much killed its laptop range - at least for the U.S. market - in the meantime...

Yep, so why would anyone place any value on a 10-year warranty on Samsung Pro SSD's?
In one of the more obscure Chinese dialects, "samsung" is said to translate to "sucker"

Temetka · #19 Post by **Temetka** » Mon Jan 18, 2016 4:11 pm

ajkula66 wrote:
Temetka wrote:The series 4 actually look like a decent business class laptop.
Huh...the thread is five years old and Samsung has pretty much killed its laptop range - at least for the U.S. market - in the meantime...

Wth? That's twice I've necroed something.

Oh well.

Come with me my little necro-threads. Soon our army will be complete and we can conquer the interwebs.

jdrou · #20 Post by **jdrou** » Mon Jan 18, 2016 6:53 pm

pianowizard wrote:
schmaud wrote:The dell x-300 was also sold as an samsung in other parts of the world.
You mean the Latitude X1?

Since the thread was already necrod . . .

Probably meant the Latitude X300 that was comparable to the Thinkpad X31 (minus the discrete graphics).