Bests & Worsts Reviews from Amazon

After I'd operated with a decent late 2009-vintage gaming laptop for home primary use and a netbook for my commute, and having built a gaming desktop, I found myself wanting to make some changes in how I operate my computers. I'm a systems engineer/administrator and really, really persnickity about my technology needs, and I'd already sampled the Asus Zenbook and Acer Aspire S3 - completely unusable if you're a decent typist. The HP Folio 13 seems to garner high reviews, but I have serious distrust of their support and build quality, reviews aside. In any case, I ordered the Samsung Series 5. This is a good ultrabook if you don't need it to store all the data you'll ever have - the SSD is an amazing performer, but it's small after Samsung's recovery partition is set up. If you're an advanced user, you can delete it and probably have the wherewithal to do a barebones Win 7 install from the ground up. But if you're like me and want one travel notebook and don't mind not being able to play hardcore 3D games on it, you could do a lot worse in an ultrabook. 802.11n wireless networking performance over a Verizon FiOS router/modem is quite nice and USB 3.0 improved the performance of my main flash drive. The keyboard is perfect, and Samsung chose to go with a nicely sized Elan multitouch touchpad instead of the clickpad that other ultrabooks and laptops are using to ape Mac products. I like this layout - I never have to worry about resting one thumb on a button and having it impact touchpad use. Two easily-clickable buttons, a well-customizable multitouch touchpad, and a very good keyboard without the quirky sensitivity of the Zenbook means this is probably one of the best typing ultrabooks on the market today. The only drawback: it's not backlit. I'm a good typist so normal use isn't an issue, but it's been a minor fumble to adjust the brightness in the dark. Appearance: 4 out of 5 Samsung has done a decent job of making a nice, sexy looking laptop. I dock it because the outer materials feel like plastic. I can't tell if it's metal with a plastic veneer, but it is definitely not the smooth black metallic surface of the way more expensive Series 9. However, it's not the chintzy plastic of the Toshiba Z830 or Z835. The surfaces blend well into each other and the front part of the laptop has a curve that lips upward from the bottom part. It had a lot of wow factor when I showed it to my co-workers. Moreover, Samsung proves that it knows people will be using this ultrabook in environments where lights are lit up - no glossy screen here! I could clearly see the display with the sun shining behind me on the train. The 1366x768 resolution display is perfectly fine for 720p HD video, and the integrated graphics would probably have issues with real 1080p content anyway. Portability: 5 out of 5 Okay, this should be the singular standard by which a current 13.3" ultrabook is measured. My Asus T101MT convertible netbook was 2.8lbs to the Series 5's 3.24lbs. The Asus was smaller, leading it to feel denser when it was in my light-load single-strap ergo backpack with my rooted Touchpad, papers, and small load of tech tools. I don't feel the weight difference since the Series 5's weight is well distributed for its size. I can carry it in one hand for a decent amount of time while walking around. Functionality: 4 out of 5 This is a beastly performer of a laptop, I won't lie. I timed it over three cold boots and it went from no power whatsoever to a usable Windows desktop - services and startup applications launched and running - on an average of 17.375 seconds. This is phenomenal for any machine; I've only gotten close to that on my homebuilt PC when it was fresh, and that boots off a Kingston SSD. I'm told - no direct means to confirm yet - that the SSD itself is Samsung components, as is its controller. It loses points, though, for battery life: with wireless on and connected, a hi10p h.264 MKV video playing, 9 Google Chrome tabs open (one of which is Google Docs and the other is a Java IRC session) with the screen at medium brightness, it projects battery life at 100% charge to be 4 hours, 15 minutes. While that's better than my netbook, which had a lower-voltage processor, I was hoping that throttling down to "Silent mode" would increase battery life. Also, it has noticeable heat on the bottom left hand part of the laptop. It's not as bad as it could be, but I wish there was more of a spaced-out means of letting the heat venilate. It felt OK on my leg, though, but sitting on a memory-foam sleeve caused it to heat up noticeably. Software/bloatware: 3 out of 5 There's a lot of crap on this laptop. If you're Joe Consumer, it's safe for you to uninstall Norton Antivirus and use the free, effective Microsoft Security Essentials. If you're an IT professional, you're going to tear your hair out over how much Samsung-proprietary crap is required to get basic usage out of the laptop. The brightness, volume, and wireless network switches are all function keys that won't just do their job with a driver - no, you have to keep a Samsung utility installed. Really frustrating. It's not as bad as HP, though, and probably better than Dell's future ultrabook offering. If you know what you're doing you can extend the life of this ultrabook greatly by removing the junk. Overall, I can't instantly recommend this ultrabook. I really would have liked to have tried an HP Folio 13 after cleaning off the bloatware, or better yet the Dell XPS 13 coming down the pipe soon. For $1100, though - about $200 more than the Folio - I think I can rest easy with this ultrabook. I may get the Folio and return whichever falls within the Amazon return period, but this is one hell of a machine that has really launched a missile at the Macbook Air in terms of design, usability, portability, and sexiness. Also, just an FYI - when I stopped playing the video and just typed this review, my battery life jumped to 5 hours 21 minutes with 86% remaining. That's with wireless on and display at medium. This is really on or close to Samsung's approximate 6 hour life span and, to me, way impressive. This is a real keeper of a machine! Edit: (2/29/12) Added a note about the keyboard not being backlit. Edit: (6/18/12) The speakers have been giving me constant problems. The right speaker simply stops working and restores itself after indeterminate and different amounts of time - five minutes, three or so days, etc. It's covered under the warranty but I don't have a portable enough laptop to use for work. I'm really not happy with this issue and would urge future Series 5 Ultra buyers to beware. Edit (8/28/12) I make this edit after traumatic experiences with Samsung support. Based on the failures I've encountered I've lost a lot of trust in Samsung as a company and am extremely, EXTREMELY wary about buying any other products. After the speaker issue above persisted, the trackpad simply failed to recognize any input on August 4th. I work in IT so I was able to do all the basics - uninstall/reinstall drivers, test external mice, play around with sensitivity, etc. When I called 1-800-SAMSUNG the rep on the phone at least didn't make me jump through hoops. He set up a repair at a depot, and while it was about 20 miles away, their hours didn't jive with my work schedule. I sent the laptop in for service on August 6th. On August 16, it came back, but no better for the wear. The sound and trackpad are fine, but whoever put it back together did so with a small divot pushing UP FROM THE INSIDE OF THE PALMREST. As in there was about a 1-cm raised pimple-like protrusion coming upwards. Moreover, the wireless network card was degraded to uselessness - I only got two bars when I was three feet from my router with clear line of sight (my wife was two rooms away and had four). I performed the usual troubleshooting, called Samsung back, and got a new ticket to send it back in, and I send it in on 8/17. On 8/20, the Samsung repair tracker shows that the laptop was received and service was again in progress. Another week passes or so passes. Yesterday (8/28) it comes back. I open it up and push the power button - nothing. Okay, maybe it's just fully discharged. I plug it in to AC power and instead of the usual orange charging light, I get a green light. Uh-oh. Powering it on, it boots normally, but the battery indicator shows "no battery connected" and if I disconnect AC power... off it goes. Since it's an ultrabook, the battery is sealed inside the unit and it isn't the kind of laptop that you can take apart without a service manual - which, of course, isn't anywhere to be found online. I called 1-800-SAMSUNG, gave them my ticket numbers, and requested that they advance-exchange the laptop: send me a new one, I send back the continually defective one. I'm given a transaction number and am sent to Executive Customer Relations. There, I'm told that their policy forbids any action on a defective laptop unless it's evaluated by a Samsung tech... the same techs who made things less useful each time I've sent it in. They can make no offers of a rental in the meantime, no offer to see what can be done. I ask to speak to a manager, and after a few minutes, none are found and they ask my info for a call back the next day. At noon the next day, rounding out a month without a laptop, I call back and am told again no supervisor is available. "They may be talking to other people or unable to assist," I'm told. "They're very busy." Not as busy as I've had to be, catching up on work due to lost time since my laptop is, well, not portable or usable anymore after each repair visit. It's out of the timeframe for me to file a chargeback on my credit card and Amazon doesn't have any options to put pressure on Samsung. I sent my story to Consumerist in hopes that it might get some kind of response. Failing that, my only real option is to start mass-mailing Samsung execs and Cc the media in hopes of prodding them into action. This laptop performed great until it had the gall to require basic repair. Don't even waste the $800 they now charge - not worth the hassle.