I bought this laptop couple days ago and am very satisfied with it. I thought the design might look ugly just looking at the pictures, but the design is very nice.
Anyways here are the pros and cons
Pro: nice sleek design, comfortable keyboard, good performance, reasonable graphic card, cheap price (at least based on my price), light weight, and does not get very hot
Cons: lack of bluetooth (which i hardly use), lack of some ports such as memory card reader (which again I hardly use), sound quality is not very good, arrow keys kinda smooshed together with the rest of the keypads (not really a problem), lack of hoktkeys (which means you have to hold the "fn" button to control the volume and etc)
I really think this is a decent laptop for decent price (unless they raise the price up). Even though there seems to be a lot of cons, i think those are really minor issues (at least for me) and the pros outweight the cons. So if you are look for a decent laptop for a cheap price, I recommend this product.
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Initially I was going to go for a more expensive laptop, and then I stumbled upon the Samsung q430 in a best buy as I was browsing that section of the store. Typically I'm wary of any pc's that are in the local stores as they usually get the watered down versions of laptops where you can find the better, more advanced models online.
While not on sale anymore, it was still relatively inexpensive compared to a lot of the other laptops that were no faster. icore5 2.4 GHZ processor, 4GB of memory, 500GB hard drive, 512 MB Nvidia video card, built-in SD memory card reader, DVD-burner...what's not to like!
Also, while it's easy to overlook something as simple as keyboard layout...it was one of the bigger selling points for me in finding a new laptop. I used to have a powerbook titanium G4 which had a nice keyboard layout, and even now the mac book pros have in my opinion the best keyboard design available in any laptop. The q430's keyboard is quite similar, with the raised, solid, black keys that are responsive, spaced out nicely and provide nice feedback. So once I made the decision to go with a non-mac laptop, I was hoping I could find something comparable in the keyboard area. And the Samsung q430 I think is the closest you can get to having a mac book pro keyboard on a pc laptop. I love this keyboard perhaps with the exception of a smaller than usual shift key, I love it.
If there was anything I would change about the laptop, perhaps it would be to not have a glossy screen as sometimes the reflection can be annoying. But nevertheless the screen is bright and strong when I need it to be and I notice it less and less.
Wireless works great, 3 usb ports, decent built in webcam, fairly lightweight and has HDMI out! I have even dropped it once already, transport it a lot and everything seems to be going smoothly with no issues. For the price, and even price aside, I think you can't go wrong. I truly feel this is a solid laptop, especially when coming from the world of sturdy, apple quality laptops previously.
It's a winner!
-MikeL
Best Deals for Samsung Q430 14-Inch HD LED Laptop (Aluminum surface with Black
I have been trying this laptop for two days now and I am very satisfied by it.
The Good:
1. Light for its size. I had a Dell XPS M1330 before and this feels lighter than that even though its a 14 incher !
2. Fast processor. The turbo boost on its Core i5 really makes it snappy for everyday work and also for photo and video editing. The new Office 2010 runs smoothly on it.
3. Looks expensive. The aluminium on its lid and around its keyboard give the product a distinct look.
4. Graphics management. The intel HD and nVidia 310m graphics switch seamlessly according to the programs needs. Runs 1080p HD video (native and flash) smoothly without any hitch.
5. The Keyboard is this laptop's strong point. Its chiclet style and good to type on.
6. Heat management is great on this laptop. The CPU and graphics card temperature didn't exceed 65C even after several hours of (moderate) use. The outside also felt cool.
The Bad:
1. Touchpad could have been better. The scrolling seems incosistence. (I am not sure if the touch pad or Windows 7 is to blame)
2. The battery life could have been better. It is giving me 3.5-4hrs on a charge with moderate use.
The Verdict:
Its a steal. I was looking at the Envy 14 before this but with this laptop's price, features and looks, I am glad I got it.
Honest reviews on Samsung Q430 14-Inch HD LED Laptop (Aluminum surface with Black
READ TO LEARN ABOUT SOLVING ISSUES REGARDING THE PROBLEMS ON SOME REVIEWS.
This laptop had all the necessary components you would need. The design, processor, and graphics are the best in its price range. Considering that I was able to buy it for $649 including the $100 Amazon promotional code. The Intel i5 IMO is the best processor since it balances battery life and performance unlike i3(lacks performance) and i7(short battery life). On the graphics, It can play most of the latest games at low-medium settings only. Design...just look at the pictures. Everything else are just average for a laptop (screen, spekers, etc.) The things that bothers me is the Wireless Card and the wrong description of Amazon about having a Fast-Start feature.
Pros: Intel i5-460m, Nvidia 310m!!(laptops with dedicated graphics are worth $700+), Design (looks like a Mac)
Cons and Solutions:
*The Wireless Card is below average and as what some reviews says that it disconnects occasionally is actually true. It happened to me but I was able to solve that problem. To repair it update your driver by downloading it on wikidrivers not on samsung site
*The Samsung Fast Start Feature is not available on this laptop. I tried downloading the software but it says that this laptop does not support it. Is there anyone who can confirm this?
*Trackpad issues, not true. Mine work perfectly except for the two finger scrolling which is not important since there is a traditional scrolling at the side that works fine. Some reviews says that the mouse is too sensitive, that is because the Momentum feature is turned on. Configure your mouse settings to remove undesired features.
*Battery Life sucks! 2-3 hours of battery life on power saving mode. Wifi-on, Lowest brightness, and internet browsing. If you don't mind staying near a power outlet this laptop is fine for you.
*Issues in streaming videos like youtube during full screen, don't use the update in samsung site. Search for Nvidia 310m driver 266.58, it will solve your problems. If your too lazy too search just look for the link in the comments.
To sum it up, this laptop is worth $650-$750(considering specs and quality) based on my several months of researching and comparing. I'm telling you right now that I did the best way of knowing the worth of a laptop and this one is a really good deal if your budget is really tight. I even checked the prices during Black Friday but no deal matched the "Specifications to price ratio" of this laptop if it would remain at the $600-$650 range. I definitely recommend this laptop for Students with tight budget and desires average gaming capabilities. Btw, I owned this laptop since December 16 2010 and reliability test is still ongoing.
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I bought this yesterday while it was on lightening deal (699) with free 1 day shipping. And it arrived today at noon.
I've bought and sold (on ebay) many laptops due to my gadget addiction. So I think I know a thing or two about laptops.
For the people who are considering this. Things that I couldn't find it from other reviews.
(i) it's pretty big. The picture on amazon makes it look like 13 in notebook at best. But when you actually take it out of the box, it's pretty large. I've owned laptops from 10in to 15in laptops before. By far, this 14 in (wide) is very nice. 13 in macbook was even small for me. And 4*3 15in laptop was just not right. So this is bigger than what the pictures make you think.
(ii) Feel? Cover is blackish graphite aluminum and inside (palm rest too) is brushed aluminum. It's not too heavy (compared to macbook pro 15in, this feels lighter). This look elegant. Does this match up to Macbook pro? Probably not. I just don't like latest gen black keyboard macbook pros. Know that this samsung's bottom is plastic. Which I don't mind. If you have macbook pros, you know it's gonna get scratched up in a month. I like this computer.
(iii) keyboard: I hate thinkpad keyboard (some maniacs love it but I just can't understand that. How can you like buttons that are stiff and require more strength to type on? I never went back to Thinkpad). I love dell keyboards (that of notebooks). They give you not to soft but spring response which makes typing easier. So if you know some of the keyboards, this Samsung is in between thinkpad (talking about feeling, not the way it's made) and dell. That should clarify the feeling.
*Someone said in a review that these keyboards are rubbery and he likes it, but there is no rubbery feeling. This is as plastic as it gets. That review was kinda misleading to me.
(iv) I used it one day. Battery came at 60% (charged), so it took about 1hr to reach 100%. And it took about 2hrs to run it down to 10%. It's not great of course. But these days, schools & hotels all provide multijacks so no problem.
(v) cord; no one talks about this probably because they are not in the context of school. I'm doing my Doctoral next year. So length of powercord matters. It's not long. I've seen some wacky long ones to shortest (macbooks). This thing is about macbook (or pro)'s powercord. It's not long. And for students, you just need to get seats near the power outlet.
(vi) screen. it's cover to cover glass. So it looks and feels nice. I never had screen like this. But this is better. It's like iphone without cover. Think that way. iphone in INCASE and bare iphone. If you know what I'm talking about. There is difference. Shade or cover around the screen (by incase) makes screen look different. This is a plus. Very nice. Resolution is not super (my eyes are used to iphone4 or super amoled of phones). Don't expect that from this. But it's standard.
(vii) fast start (not cold boot, but from sleep to wake up; that's what samsung calls it); it's pretty fast. Definitely a plus.
(viii) Sound; is pretty big. Just watching youtube but had to turn it down.
(ix) fan noise; again something important for students who study in libraries. This thing makes audible fan noise when you install programs etc. But in normal MS word typing situation, it does not. So This unit won't make others mad in the library.
*forgot to tell you about touchpad. it's small compare to macbooks. Actually tiny. But it's ok. This thing doesn't have Bluetooth. So I again have to pay for Nano receiver mouse or something.
(x) The reason why I went Samsung this time for the first time was because Samsung makes memories and LCD/LEDs. Never owned Korean made laptops until now. Tired of Taiwan made. Sick of American made (I had multiple Dells and a HP. Don't know why I keep going back to Dell though it breaks down usually). Sorry. Time to go Korean. When Apple advertises that they make both hardware and software, it's misleading. They make body and assemble parts themselves. But you will find their harddisk is from toshiba. LCD from Samsung etc. This unit (just checked) has Toshiba hard, Atheros wireless. Both I hate. Both gave me failures before so I remember. This time the hard disk does not make as much as noise like old harddrives made by Toshiba. But you can still hear it. Wireless is so far so good. Don't know about memory and LCD. I have two LCD tvs. Samsung and Vizio. Someone said all LCDs are the same? No. It's not. That's why I wanted to try Samsung.
*i5 vs i7. I have i7 XPS Dell desktop. I can't feel the difference. All these processors, to me, don't make much difference. I bet I am not feeling difference between XP/celeron and this premium one. So don't worry about i7 and how it's better for multitasking. Also I did 1080p youtube. It take time to load but once it's loaded, there is no hiccup like in netbooks.
(xi) Windows 7 is a great OS. I've had everything from Linux, Jolicloud (same as Chrome OS; almost), Vista, XP, Apple OS X..this thing is not bad. Not bad. Start up time is fast around 20-30 sec. People; don't believe Apple never crash myth. Apple freezes all the time. Just go to mac store. "genius" appointment and see how many units they bring back to repair. If you are like some people (mac is blacktie, pc is jean), I have nothing to say. It's all about looks for some people. But you don't have to type on macbook pros to make it bestsellers. You know who are real deals? People who have macbook pro17. Most others just buy it just to try out or to feel better about themselves. (I went Mac after Vista; that thing is just a horror story isn't it. As hardware improves everything has to be faster. But somehow they make more memory consuming OS. So after 10 years, with i5 i7 processors,pc is still slow and lagging. Right? You don't feel much difference between your pc from 8 years ago and now; only thing you can feel is the hard disk size. That thing is a good. 500GB? Wow that's great. My first toshiba had 5gb hard disk) Remember, John Farve writes on a dell and became youngest speech writer for president.
Nor I suggest you buy cheap pcs. You get what you pay for. I think this unit is reasonable. I probably will sell this after 1.5 years (that's how long I keep laptops). But so far, this is not bad as a pc. it's 699 now! What? After selling this as a 4hr lightening deal, amazon dropped the price down on all pcs since yesterday. If that were the case, I "could" have gone to 15.6 in samsung. But soon I have to travel to Orlando to study and I don't regret.
This is a good buy. Buy it while it lasts (don't know about this seller, notice it's not amazon selling this now). Not bad. Not bad Samsung.
