Samsung outs Ivy Bridge notebooks
Desktop replacements
Two new 15.6in laptops are inbound from Samsung, each bearing an unannounced Intel Ivy Bridge processor, a third-gen Core i7 quad-core to be (a little) more precise.
Both members of the Series 5 550P family will also arrive with 8GB of memory, DVD-RW drives and 300Mbps (2x2) 2.4GHz and 5GHz 802.11n Wi-Fi.
The two laptops' screens run to 1366 x 768 - too low for a 15.6in panel, IMHO. One model uses Intel graphics, the other comes with an Nvidia GeForce GT 650M GPU with 2GB of video memory.
Samsung also announced a 17.3in, 1600 x 900 member of the 550P family, which has a Core i7-3610QM quad-core Ivy Bridge chip and comes with a Blu-ray drive.
All three notebooks "consume 20 per cent less power, ensuring twice as fast 3D gaming and media experiences". Hmmm, not sure how you work that one out, Samsung...
The Series 5 550P machines go on sale at the end of the month. Prices are TBC. ®
COMMENTS
1366 x 768 WTF?
As a Desktop replacement?
Who are you kidding?
Ok, so you open Microsoft Office 2010 on a screen that size.
Then say goodbye to approx 20% of your vertical resolution with that silly ribbon interface.
When will you laptop makers stop trying to sell us laptops with these silly resolutions? I know the screens are cheap as chips but the CPU you put inside is the latest & greatest and costs a pretty penny. Lets have a proper screen please.
Oh, the 1600x900 is not much better.
now for the downvotes.
Can you please refuse to review kit....
....... that 99% of the folks here wouldn't buy?
Things like crappy sub-par screens will only improve for us if the tech sites get together and refuse to review kit that's not up to scratch.
Maybe the tech corps will get the message if they start getting told "No we wont review it as it's not up the standard our readership would want!"
Time for an El Reg Top 10?
As we get all sorts of top 10's from El Reg, why not give us the top 10 laptops with decent screen resolutions. Say 1600 *1200 for starters. It seems to increasingly be the factor that eliminates laptops from the list of possible replacements that one might consider.
Because if it was off to one side, you'd keep bumping your wrist into it when you type. And that's REALLY annoying. So instead, it's aligned with the space bar, where it should be between your hands when typing, thus making it less likely you'll bump into it accidentally.
