Samsung Series 7 Gamer

There has been a tiny inundate of big-screened gaming mega laptops recently, timed to coexist with the let go of Nvidia's ultimate graphics and Intel's newest processors. Ivy Bridge Core i-series CPUs proposed in quad-core configurations initial , nonetheless midrange dual-core and ultrabook processors will follow soon. Systems display off these new processors and graphics have mostly been really costly and, incidentally, considerably good.

Samsung's behemoth Series 7 Gamer is a of a new line of laptops is to Korean wiring giant, evidently an answer to products from the likes of Origin, Alienware, and Asus.

Big-boned and full of high-end components, the Series 7 Gamer comes in usually one, $1,899 configuration. The great headlines is that there's a lot of beef in this laptop: a quad-core Core i7-3610QM processor, 16GB of RAM, Nvidia GeForce GTX 675M graphics, a 750GB hard drive, and a 1,920x1,080-pixel-resolution 17-inch display that's flat-out gorgeous.

Yes, it's complicated (9 pounds). Yes, it's costly (nearly $2,000). Yes, it's a little ugly. However, it's a of the best-performing laptops we've ever seen, at a cost that's not that unreasonable. Samsung's access in to Personal Computer gaming laptops is a success, nonetheless it's a surprisingly massive and adorned product for a firm that's been creation smooth and minimal laptops otherwise.

With its lid closed, the big, black, glossy participation of the Samsung Series 7 Gamer blends in with the "gamer gear" look of so many other competing products. There's nothing on the aspect that screams anything unique.

The back lid, with its scarcely mirrored covering and slim lines, recalls the midrange R array of Samsung's laptops more than the new Apple-like looks of the Series 7 Chronos , Series 5 Ultra , or Series 9 . Incidentally, whilst this laptop is moreover technically a "Series 7" by name, it bears no family likeness whatsoever to any Series 7 we've ever seen before. This might as well have been called a Series 8.

The differences expand to the interior: glossy cosmetic around the club on top of the set of keys showcases the orator grille and a few LED-enhanced circles. The left round provides volume control, the correct is a power button, and the center "Turbo" round lights up when the Series 7 Gamer is set to Game Mode (Intel Turbo Boost is practical to the quad-core Core i7 processor in this mode). There are moreover a few LED-lit hold controls for toggling audio mute, the Wi-Fi antenna, and set of keys backlighting.

To the correct of these illuminated circles is a earthy dial doorknob that emerges from the side, suggestive of the volume dial on an HP Envy or an old-school home audio system. The doorknob controls the Series 7 Gamer's energy/screen modes: a "Green Mode," "Library Mode" (which seems to automatically tongue-tied audio, but not sufficient else), "Balanced Mode," and "Game Mode," that optimizes the display's liughtness and difference and triggers a flattering ridiculous and overdramatic animation and "cyber-effect" that, presumably, is meant to make you feel similar to your laptop just remade in to a Serious Gaming Machine. It's a step partial of growing counterfeit gun turrets from the speakers, but maybe there are some hard-core gamers out there that will suffer it.

The Series 7 Gamer has a huge, lot of space set of keys with adjoining number pad, backlit, and -- lo and spy -- it's an out-of-date tapered-key affair. Nearly no a creates keyboards similar to this anymore; even Lenovo did divided with its out-of-date ThinkPad keyboards. It looks unusual on this Samsung, but the fact is...it's a great keyboard. Keys have lots of travel, concave surfaces crater your fingertips perfectly, and a quarrel of function buttons on top of the number keys doesn't obtain in the way. we consternation if this laptop could have been done any slimmer by giving it a shallower keyboard, but the bottom line here is you'll be comfortable. Even better, the ordinarily used WASD keys are illuminated in mature orange instead of colorless blue.

The hold desk pad underneath has a smooth, matte aspect and a prosaic button-bar next it. A blue LED frame demarcates the symbol frame from the desk pad and provides your eye with a concentration region when in attendance to the screen, as you can see the club in your marginal vision. we instruct we could say the hold pad's responsiveness was as great as the keyboard's, but that's a typical complaint with Windows laptops. Most gamers will use a mouse, anyway.

Game Mode has a little animated icon that launches a dedicated settings panel: credentials services and antivirus programs can automatically be set to Limited/Silent, and a few other minimal adjustments similar to hold desk pad on/off may be toggled. A few preset animations may be choosen is to Game Mode transformation. It all pales next to the customizations on an Alienware or the Razer Blade , but the easy-access launcher is rather helpful.

What creates a gaming laptop a gaming laptop? A phenomenal shade can't hurt. The 17.3-inch glossy display on the Series 7 Gamer has 1,920x1,080-pixel fortitude and looks in a positive way fantastic, large and bright, with abounding colors and glorious far-reaching observation angles. Blacks are blacker than on many laptops. It all creates for a great observation experience, either examination Blu-rays or personification games. The screen's so great and large that streamed media similar to Netflix videos are held to look similar to pixelated disappointments by comparison.

Stereo speakers and a subwoofer underneath offer up loud, absolute sound for gaming, and even for movie-watching. The audio experience isn't head and shoulders on top of the competition, but it earns points for perfect volume. To attend to 5.1- and 7.1-channel audio, you'll must be block in surround-sound headphones or link up to an outmost orator set or receiver.

Even the 2.0-megapixel Webcam is top-notch. Samsung preinstalls CyberLink YouCam software, but the 1,920x1,080-pixel-resolution camera had more jam-packed colors and improved light attraction in my office-based unintentional testing than I'm used to saying in a laptop.