Customer Ratings & Reviews

I have exactly what I needed, it has a great processor

After more than a decade of being a laptop enthusiast/overclocker, I recently abandoned Über-expensive high performance notebooks with desktop CPUs and high end mobile graphics cards in favor of using a real desktop computer. Still needing something for email and web browsing while traveling, using a disgusting touch-screen tablet or Chromebook just made me feel sick to my stomach because I hate that kind of garbage technology. Those are glorified smartphones and I really hate using a smartphone for that. After being discouraged by the ludicrous pricing of all of the pathetic BGA notebook garbage options, I stumbled onto the Samsung Notebook 5 at Best Buy. While is it a pretty wimpy product in terms of performance, and BGA, the metal chassis, striking good looks and 1920x1080 display got my attention. It was at the edge in the price range I wanted, and everything else in this price range is flimsy plastic trash with 1366x768 display resolution. I wrestled with the idea of buying it, and finally pulled the trigger with the knowledge that I could take it back for a refund within 14 days. The performance of the AMD Ryzen 5 Mobile 2500U has a CPU-Z benchmark score that falls in between the i7-2600K and the i5-7600K. Like most laptops, the BIOS is almost worthless in terms of options. I was pleased to see that I had an option to disable Secure Boot and disable the TPM module. I did both immediately. I cannot find any way to manipulate CPU voltage, power limits or clock speeds. (That was one of the first things I tried to do to get a little better performance from it.) The Radeon Vega 8 Mobile isn't impressive, but it seems to be as good or better than the Intel integrated graphics that everything else in this super-low price range would have. The GPU memory runs no faster than the shared DDR4 memory speed. MSI Afterburner and Sapphire Trixx will not allow manipulation of the GPU core clock or voltage. That was the second thing I tried after looking for a way to better tune the CPU. AMD seems to have intentionally locked the APU down as tight as a gnat's posterior orifice. It appears the motherboard has 4GB or DDR4-2400 soldered to it, with one slot populated by a 4GB DDR4-2400 SO-DIMM. The WiFi/BT card is permanently soldered to the motherboard. There is an available M.2 slot. I tried one of my 960 Pro NVMe drives in that slot, but it appears to not support NVMe (PCI-e) storage. I will have to try an M.2 SATA SSD in that slot. The 1TB HDD is fine for file storage, but it's sluggish... as anyone should expect a HDD to be. Battery life using the high performance profile with all power saving features disabled looks to be in the 6 hour range. With the power saver profile, one can probably squeeze between 6 to 8 hours from it. I generally never run on battery, so it's not something I can speak to precisely. That's what the task bar tray icon shows when I hover over it. I really hate clickpads (touchpads without buttons) but have to admit that this one is the best I have ever used. It's not nearly as spastic as the others I have used. It offers much better cursor control than any other clickpad I have used on a Windows notebook. I would prefer a touchpad with buttons, but I generally use a wireless mouse and avoid using touch-based input devices whenever possible. I forced myself to use it 2 days with the buttonless clickpad and tolerated it as well as I could ever hope to. In summary, it's a decent buy for under $600. I would absolutely recommend it on that basis for anyone looking for a nice looking, well-built entry-level consumer notebook that will do a great job of web browsing, email and watching videos on YouTube or Netflix for the lowest price possible. If you expect to do anything more demanding than this, then expect to at least double the price for an entry level BGA gaming trashbook. Adjusting my expectations to match the price, I think I am going to keep it and use it for the purpose I intended when purchasing it. Most of all, I am really pleased with the 1080p screen and chassis build quality. Those are what attracted me to in to begin with, and those will ultimately be the reasons I decide to keep it. I am not willing to use a system with a lower display resolution and there is nothing better I can find in the sub-$600 price range. Kudos to Samsung for making this truly decent very low-priced option available.

Having had my previous Samsung laptop for 7+ years, I headed to Best Buy when a new machine was needed and purchased a new Samsung model. After 6 weeks of use, I'm as pleased with this one as I was with its predecessor. It's fast, lightweight and has sufficient power for the tasks I need to accomplish. Also, for the quality and features it brings, this model was very reasonably priced. While this one may or may not last for 7 years, I highly recommend Samsung laptops to everyone.

This is a great deal on a decently powerful laptop. The only reason a star was removed, was the choice of a mechanical disk drive. This machine's performance, battery life, temperature, all are impacted negatively by using a mechanical disk drive. I purchased an SSD with it and immediately upgraded.

I wanted to replace my desktop computer with something I can use anywhere. This laptop is great and is very fast. I love it so much I bought one for a family member for Christmas.

It works very well and fast for a regular laptop. I can even play certain games in it. It processes very fast amd doesn't get too hot. My only downside is the battery life when simply doing homework on it. It doesn't last more than 2 hours even when I'm just typing

The computer was bought for work for a portable computing solution and performs well. Big screen and relatively light weight and thin!

I was reluctant to buy a Samsung but the price was right. Easy to use and is lightweight. It is great for surfing the web and for soing word processing and spreadsheets (MS Office). Fast startup with no problems so far, I would recommend highly for routine home use.

Love the size of the screen and the fact that it is light weight for the size of the laptop.

Bought it on a short notice for my son whose Asus screen started acting up! Works well for the price paid.

Awsome product. It is nice and fast, very user friendly

Bought this for a business associate, but I use it to manage his funds and accounts. It’s always a drag, since i come from an apple background. I’m certain there are tons of PCs that are more intuitive, slick and powerful, but the adage “you get what you pay for” certainly applies here. I would never buy this again and I probably wouldn’t buy Samsung. That said, I haven’t had issues with it, it’s just joyless to use. The price was fair and I can’t complain, it is perfectly average and usable and three stars is all it deserves.

Not much to say. This laptop is quality. A huge amount of memory, great speed, and thin. The only problems that I, personally, have issues with is the feel of the item. It's very metallic and never seems comforting to touch. It's always cold and has a hefty amount of weight. But those things are minor and a good case should solve the feel. Diving into the software, I don't have much experience with knowing what I want and how that should operate, so all I can say is that it all seems well and good. Fast and does what I need. With my limited amount of knowledge with computer, I doubt I have scratched the surface of this items flaws and capabilities. But all and all, I think it is a good buy at a good price.

First time with a Samsung laptop and only had it a few weeks. So far so good. Got all my software install with little difficulty. Connected up easily to the home network. Lightweight and nice screen

Lots of memory with 1 TB hard drive. 8 meg memory sufficient for most operations. Light weight and easy to transport. Soft case sufficient for protection. Great deal for the price.

I was thinking of buying a more high end laptop and decided to go with this one. It boots up and shuts down fast. The picture quality is great. So far, so good!

Very fast and reliable lap top. Wonderful graphics

I bought this laptop to do everyday things Consumer Reports lists it as a recommend. I think it works great for me . BUT.....................The BATTERY LIFE IS HORRIBLE. I have had this part happen twice now...........I will be running on the battery and the without warning the laptop will just DIE. The screen will be on "blue screen" but nothing works . I have tried C+A+D no luck. I tried repeatedly hitting the escape key or the enter key as well as the F12 key........NO Luck. The 1st time I had to wait 4 hours with the unit plugged in before anything would work. This time I checked it every 2 hours for 6 hours still nothing so I left it unplugged for 24 hours. FINALLY it came back to life and said battery was low. My other laptop is a Lenovo and truth be told ...........this has happened with that unit too.............But that unit I could just remove the battery and wait 30 second reinstall the battery and it would be fine. This Samsung unit I CAN NOT take off the battery without I suppose unscrewing the back cover........Which I'm scared to do............. So any help here would also be appreciated . Based on this I could NOT recommend this unit to a friend. Also giving this unit a 2 star just for the battery life issue as it leaves the unit a paper weight for hours.

Got it on clearance for just under $400. Downfall is the battery life. Battery only lasts a couple of hours, constantly have to charge it

System looked good. liked the touch pad and very clear video display. System was extremely slow and lagged. Wi-Fi connection dropped every 30 minutes and had to re-connect. side by side comparison with 5 yr old laptop was slower test after test. Returned laptop within 8 days.