Customer reviews from Samsung US
Samsung - Geek Squad Certified Refurbished Series 7 17.3" Laptop - 8GB Memory - 1TB Hard Drive - Titan Silver
Average customer rating
4.7
(11 Reviews)
Rating breakdown 11 reviews
5 Stars
8
4 Stars
3
3 Stars
0
2 Stars
0
1 Star
0
100%of customers recommend this product.
(
10 out of
10)
Customer Reviews for Samsung - Geek Squad Certified Refurbished Series 7 17.3" Laptop - 8GB Memory - 1TB Hard Drive - Titan Silver
Customer Rating
4
Quality hardware, poor software support from Samsung
on January 6, 2013
Posted by: abollmeyer
from TN
Expertise:Expert
This laptop is a joy to use. Many people have complained about the touchpad, but I find it comfortable to use. I bought this laptop for multimedia use, word processing, video conversion, and for a lengthy battery for when I do programming.
Overall, it's a great laptop with Windows 8 installed. There are a few quirks in the operating system itself, such as never really knowing if the 3 finger swipe will work in any given Windows 8 app (defaults included). Coming from a Synaptics touchpad on my last laptop, I had to get used to this one (an Elan touchpad). Very large, responsive, and works pretty good with gestures in Win 8.
I like the large 17.3" HD matte screen. I have so much screen real estate on a laptop now! Temperatures hover around 50C typically, and the laptop hardly ever gets warm, even under prolonged use of the battery. I do not ever hear the fan. Ever. Backlit keyboard is a nice touch, the wifi works great, and brushed aluminum frame is nice. Battery is integrated but is easily accessible by removing the back cover, which also gives you access to the hard drive. 8 GB of RAM is extremely sufficient for a Win 8 machine. This laptop has the capability to expand the memory up to 12 GB, which I may upgrade to in order to run virtual machines in the background.
The stock 5400 RPM hard drive is slow, even with express cache enabled. I've removed the DVD drive as well, as I favor an external CD/DVD drive. I moved the stock 1TB 5400 RPM drive to a hard drive caddy and put it in the optical drive's place, and installed a Seagate Momentus XT in place of the original hard drive. Much improved performance! You could also opt for an SSD. My laptop came with Windows 8 pre-installed with Secure Boot enabled. If you want to do a clean install of the machine, this becomes a hassle. You have to format a USB stick for UEFI FAT32 and extract the contents of the Win 8 ISO to the stick. I could not get my external drive to work with UEFI enabled. Also, I could not get a cloned version of the hard drive to work with Secure Boot enabled.
It was disappointing to find out that Samsung does not offer the pre-installed software on their website, including Samsung's own apps for Windows 8. This directly results in less functionality of the laptop. So if you opt for the clean install, just know, these apps aren't coming back (Samsung's Picks, S Camera, S Notes, YouCam software, etc).
I have used this laptop for almost 2 weeks now. There are sharp edges around the wrist rest, but this hasn't bothered me in the least while typing. It's a nice laptop, especially for the price. Much more functionality and features than my wife's MacBook Pro 15", which cost almost $900 more than this one, gets much hotter than this one, and is much slower than this one.
Pros: Built-in speakers, Bright display, Durable, quiet, fast, easily upgraded
Cons: pre-installed software not available from samsung, expect only drivers samsung desktop web downloads
Features
3
Performance
5
Design
4
Value
4
Written by a customer while visiting Samsung US
Customer Rating
5
High Specs-great device
on December 10, 2012
Posted by: Sconel
from Louisville
Expertise:Expert
audio is great, cpu speed is great. lcd sharp, bright awesome
Pros: Built-in speakers, Bright display
I would recommend this to a friend!
Features
5
Performance
5
Design
5
Value
4
Written by a customer while visiting Samsung US
Customer Rating
5
AMAZING!
on January 24, 2013
Posted by: NickTheGeek0987
Amazing appearance and flawless performance! The design of the laptop is pure quality.
Pros: Built-in speakers, Bright display, Inexpensive, Durable, Realistic color
I would recommend this to a friend!
Features
5
Performance
5
Design
5
Value
5
Written by a customer while visiting Samsung US
Customer Rating
5
This product has great features
on February 25, 2013
Posted by: MNSHVT124
Expertise:Expert
I replaced my 10 yr old desktop with the Samsung Series 7 Notebook. I was looking for a laptop that would incorporate both personal and professional life. This is the laptop. It is quick and has a lot of storage.
It took me a bit of time to get accustomed to the flat mouse pad. Otherwise, I love it.
What I am unhappy about is Windows 8. It seems more focused on personal/entertainment and less on professional/business. Not happy with a no Start button and other features are unsatisfactory.
Pros: Bright display, Durable, quick and easy to navigate
I would recommend this to a friend!
Features
4
Performance
5
Design
5
Value
4
Written by a customer while visiting Samsung US
Customer Rating
4
good price, great screen, good for gaming, good for photo editing
on December 1, 2012
Posted by: aulat
from California
Expertise:Intermediate
I got this laptop mostly for photo editing it's way cheaper then buying a mac and as far as i can see has a better screen then there IPS panels, plus the screen is matte and it renders over 70% of adobe 1998 color gamut which is nice for a TN panel. (and it does NOT have the issues that the IPS panels do with displaying reds and violets). This laptop plays most games at high settings just fine. I have NOT noticed if it gets really hot while playing games, though I am using a cooler when I do play. Battery life could be a bit longer but it's not bad. The speakers are great for a laptop.The hard drive is slow, If you have issues with the slow hard drive (5400rpm) you could always switch it out for an SSD though it may void the warranty if you do that. The touch pad is a bit sensitive but once you get use to it, it's fine. Nice and Thin for a 17inch does not feel bulky or heavy. Has a great look to the style of the laptop. bulit in camera could be nicer. as for windows 8 it's still a work in progress but i'm not docking the laptop for it.
Pros: Built-in speakers, Bright display, Durable, Realistic color, Lightweight, nice style, great screen
Cons: slow hard drive (5400rpm), upgrading is limited, built in camera could have been better
I would recommend this to a friend!
Features
5
Performance
4
Design
5
Value
4
Written by a customer while visiting Samsung US
Customer Rating
5
Powerful Laptop
on December 27, 2012
Posted by: Redgtosamurai
Stylish and powerful, this laptop will see me thru work and my personal life.
Pros: Built-in speakers, Bright display, Inexpensive, Durable, Realistic color, Lightweight
I would recommend this to a friend!
Features
5
Performance
5
Design
5
Value
5
Written by a customer while visiting Samsung US
Customer Rating
4
Great Laptop
on April 4, 2013
Posted by: Nxs269
Expertise:Intermediate
This thing is quite nice! plug in an SSD and thats the best thing you can do!
i knocked off 2 stars because i personallu do not like the placement of the mousepad.
i knocked off 2 stars because i personallu do not like the placement of the mousepad.
Pros: Built-in speakers, Bright display, Realistic color, Lightweight
I would recommend this to a friend!
Features
5
Performance
5
Design
3
Value
5
Written by a customer while visiting Samsung US
Customer Rating
5
Series 7 Chronos - Bought the Right Laptop
on April 8, 2013
Posted by: GrownupGeek
from Los Angeles
Expertise:Expert
I am very pleased with the visuals. Great keyboard, mouse took a little bit of getting used to - much more sensitive than my last laptop, but that was not a negative, just an adjustment. Audio is very good and the matte screen is perfect. I bought this particular model for its memory and the 17" screen. I use Windows 8 in desktop mode, so not really taking advantage of its features as others might. All the apps I want I already have loaded in Google Chrome which I access from the task bar. Might even switch from an iphone to a samsung galaxy this year.
Pros: Built-in speakers, clear display easy on the eyes
Cons: super sensitive mouse
I would recommend this to a friend!
Features
5
Performance
4
Design
5
Value
4
Written by a customer while visiting Samsung US