Samsung - Notebook 7 Spin 2-in-1 13.3" Touch-Screen Laptop - Intel® Core™ i5 - 12GB Memory - 1TB Hard Drive - Platinum Silver

It was between this and the Spectre 360 i7 8GB for me. I also considered a MacBook Pro for one hot minute (price is 3x the cost of this for similar computing power). After 3 days, here are my observations. 1. Keyboard - If you learned to type circa 1995 on a keyboard as hard as a rock like I did, you are likely also a violent typist. I need a recessed keyboard for wrist comfort, a lot of key resistance, and as much key travel as possible (Spin 7 is 1.35mm; Spectre is 1.3mm; MacBook Pro is 0.5mm). If you tend to fat finger keys, there is enough space between these that error rate is low. A lot of people prefer the Spectre's more sensitive and quieter keyboard, but that's not for me. 2. Battery - Gracious, I've never heard so many people complain about a battery before! All of the settings that suck the battery juice are maxed out when you receive this computer to show off its performance. If you fiddle with the Intel Graphics Settings, perform basic Windows 10 alterations for power (ex: turn off background refresh and auto-update for apps), and keep the keyboard backlight off when you don't need it, you jump from a puny 3 hour battery life to 7.5 hours (without the battery saver on). Spectre is widely reported at 9 hours; MacBook at 10 hours. A little longer would be convenient, but it's still acceptable. 3. Processor/RAM - Unless you're a gamer worried about framerates or doing some hardcore video editing, an i7 is a waste of money. i5 processors are only a couple of seconds behind i7s for normal, everyday function--sometimes, they're equal. The 12GB RAM is even a little much unless you like to have 10 programs open at once. Anyway, I ran dxdiag on this laptop and clocked a 2.7 GHz processor speed. (I'm not sure if this is actually means anything, but it looks important.) 4. Durability - This is not an aluminum skin, it's plastic. For people that like to drop their computers off buildings like me, this is risky. However, I heard a dirty rumor that Spectre screens break easily. I have frequently tossed my MacBook across a room--not in anger or anything, I just don't even think twice about heaving it at the laundry basket when I'm done with it and if I miss ... oh well! I have even dropped it onto a tile floor in the kitchen, knocked it down a flight of stairs, and once my dog surfed across the hardwood floors on it. That sucker is hardly even scratched on the corners--no dents! I feel like I could accidentally run over it with a car and it would just pop my tire. Anyway, I don't get that impression from the Spin 7. It's solid and doesn't make any annoying plastic rattles when I shake it or bang on it--yes, I just did--but it's like driving a car made out of metal vs. plastic. You can just *feel* the difference. 5. Misc - *Yes, the power button sticks out on the side a half millimeter or something, but after smacking it twice the average human brain begins to auto-avoid. *The speakers are on the bottom and only work well on hard surfaces--no soft carpets or beds or anything. *There's are (2) USB 2.0, (1) USB 3.0, (1) USBC, (1) full-sized HDMI, and (1) micro-SD slots. *Comes pre-loaded with a couple game apps, including the Minecraft app. *The charge cable is like 8 ft. long. The charger itself is Longwell LS-18 125V (turbo charger?)

Highs: lots of factory installed memory, BIG hard drive, upgradeable to an SSD. Touchscreen, tablet mode, and backlit keyboard. Lows: weight (there are lighter laptops out there), battery capacity is so-so, some quirks with hardware. At $799 this is an expensive machine. But...it is a solid machine. If you're using this more in the office than on the road, you'll be happy. Even on the road it's good, but true road warriors will want something lighter and even faster. Bottomline: If you like this machine, wait until it goes on sale. You'll feel a lot better about your purchase down the road. REVIEW: Pretty good laptop if you can catch it on sale. With BB Rewards and a student discount, I got it well under $600. Two strange things about this laptop: the backlit keyboard is...finicky. Sometimes it'll work, sometimes it won't. A restart sometimes does this trick, sometimes, not. I updated Samsung's own custom control panel and that helped...a little. There's a "Keyboard Backlit" (seriously, that's how they spell it) button in Samsung's Settings. And BTW, to get to those custom settings, hold down the Fn button and hit F1. Surprise! Another quirk: missing battery icon in the taskbar tray. The fix: Hold down the "Windows" key and Hit "X". That'll take you t o a menu where you can find device manager. In device manager, go to battery and uninstall two things: Microsoft AC adapter and Microsoft ACPI-Compliant Control Method Battery. Once done, go to the action menu in device manager and select Scan for Hardware changes. Windows will "re-create" the files you just deleted. If you don't see the icon immediately, try a restart. As a laptop, good size. A little heavy in a bag and if you're a daily rail or bus commuter and you have a lot of walking, you're probably going to grow to hate the weight. Surprisingly functional as a tablet. I was in the field yesterday and put this in tablet mode- worked well for what we needed including the touchscreen. And strange as it may sound, the more you use this laptop, the better it seems to get.

Initially I thought that this Laptop had the best specifications for the price. I mean Latest i5 processor, 12GB ram, 1TB hard drive. I would even say that this also had a very compact design. The screen was very sturdy; the keyboard was great with its fn toggle switch. It even ran all my applications fast. I would say it was much faster than my MacBook pro mid-2012 model. Everything was perfect with exception to the webcam which was simply horrible. it was a very bad excuse for a web cam as though Samsung just wanted to say that the laptop has a web cam. It was so bad that I rather that the computer simply didn't come with one. I was still OK with that until I started working after dark. I noticed that I was getting eye strains along with a head ache. I didn't understand what the deal was. I never had anything like that using my Mac or my Acer v5 which was a 4 years old. later that evening I thought about creating a review video about my new laptop and I pointed the camera towards the screen. It was then I noticed that the screen had gray horizontal lines moving down vertically as though I was liking at a CRT monitor from the 90s. It turns out that I only got the headache while I was working on a word document for 15 minutes and not while I was watching a movie those invisible gray stripes moving down vertically was responsible for my headache. Apparently, this laptop was designed for entertainment and not for serious work in mind. I got curious if the my macbook pro or Acer V5 had the same gray lines moving down vertically and the answer was no, they didn’t and so they didn’t strain my eyes or give me a head ache. I created a video of the gray lines. The lines are not visible to the naked eye, but it is visible on camera https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3x0VIyCtmSs

I was really worried at first. It took A LONG TIME to update the computer and all the systems. The updates kept hanging up and I had to restart multiple times. But, I finally prevailed by using the Windows troubleshooting tool. I will say this, if I didn't have intermediate level knowledge and skills with computers, it would have been returned. Once updated, it started having "black screen" issues, as well as, some of the icons on the bottom would not "respond" when you clicked them. But I worked through that. Last issue, before I purchased the laptop, I checked with BB to see if my Samsung 850 EVO SSD would fit it and they said it would. So, once the computer was updated, I cloned the HDD and installed the SSD. While installing the new SSD, I found the HDD ribbon was not "latched" into the motherboard as it should have been. That may have caused some of the issues, maybe not. But I just installed the SSD and latched it in. WOW... What a difference. If you purchase this laptop, consider purchasing the Samsung 850 EVO SSD, you will not regret it. It is amazing the difference. The boot time is seconds, literally... The speed that you can use the internet and different programs is just incredible. Here's a link to the SSD.. Oh, all the software you need (data migration and disk optimization tool) are provided by Samsung.. Takes about a total of an hour from start to finish. That includes installing the drive. (https://www.bestbuy.com/site/samsung-850-evo-500gb-internal-serial-ata-solid-state-drive-for-laptops/1662009.p?skuId=1662009)...

First, the purchase: Bought item from Bestbuy. After about 5 minutes the screen went blank. DOA. Back to store. They did not have another. Found one at another store nearby. They setup a pickup for me and I picked it up. Now the product: Compared the Notebook 7 against HP Pavilion. Both had the same $699 price.Two main differences. Samsung has 1tb hard drive, HP has 128 solid state drive. Samsung has 12gb of memory, HP has only 8gb. I chose the memory and greater drive size over the drive speed. Brought it home, turned it on and it worked perfectly. The only problem I have with it is battery life. Supposed to be 8 to 9 hours, it appears to be more like 5 hours. Because battery life on a laptop, or tablet, is important, I give it only 4 stars. I would recommend it to a friend, however I would point out the deficiency. I also have to note, battery life seems to be a problem in many other 2 in 1's.

This laptop was on sale and I discovered that it was because it was actually a close out. I bought this on a Saturday and a newer version of this laptop was put out the next day, but not on sale. Of course, I know nothing about the current model's performance, but I saw it in the store and it's a little smaller and more lightweight. I can't say if I'd have paid more for a little smaller touchscreen since this is my first one. The price increased with the newer model and it wasn't on sale, so I guess I'm not too disappointed with that aspect. I've had it only a month and I'm enjoying it so far. It's about the same size and weight of my Windows 7 laptop that I replaced. This laptop starts up much faster, the battery lasts longer and it doesn't get nearly as warm as the one I replaced. The older one got borderline hot, so I really like this about my purchase. Until I've used it longer, I won't know if the faster startup and longer lasting battery are simply because it's new or if this will be the case for a long time. I certainly hope for the latter.

Please note: I am not the most tech savvy person. Purchased Jan. 28, 2018 to use for a Microsoft Office class. (We have a Mac at home.) For me the touch pad was annoying (hard to move what I wanted and other times touch so light would send me to other places!), so bought a mouse which was more functional for me. While it worked, was pretty good. Speed was fine. First problem was after a month, it wiped out my USB where I had all my homework. I thought it was user error and was just more careful. It happened again this past Wed. Took it into Geek Squad today to ascertain where the problem was occurring. As the Geek guy was checking it out, lost internet connection, he re-started it, got different error messages, then it began to reboot itself endlessly. Needless to say, he ended up checking it in for complete servicing, so now I will be without it for at least 4 days. Might be a complete lemon....at any rate, based on my experience, I cannot recommend it.

I returned three new laptops because they claimed to be full HD. I stopped my search when I came across this laptop. It's a true full HD screen. If a bright screen is important to you, you'll be content with this laptop. I also run computer simulations and it processes them at a professional speed. It delivers on everything it promises. The one quirk is with the touchscreen. If you use Chrome, you will notice a lag in response or off-selection. However, I do not have this problem when using Edge or Firefox. The battery life goes from anywhere to 4 to 6 hours. It really depends on what you are doing with the laptop while unplugged. I did notice that when the screen brightness is dimmed by about two notches, it adds about two extra hours on the battery. Those who complain about battery life are probably using poor settings or spoiled by the hours you get with MAC.