SAMSUNG Series 3 NP365E5C-S01US Notebook AMD A-Series A8-4500M(1.90GHz) 15.6" 4GB Memory DDR3 1600 500GB HDD 5400rpm DVD±R/RW AMD Radeon HD 7640G

Pros: I have to admit, I am very impressed. I honestly thought this laptop was going to be just powerful enough to run minimal business applications. However, when I was able to run the game League of Legends and play it unhindered, I was entirely in awe.

Cons: Does not have a supportive docking station, but it isn't a business machine either so that's not going to effect how I rate it.

Other Thoughts: Microsoft Winblows 8 kills this laptop. I put all the blame on Microsoft. I'm aware they are more interested in moving into modular computing, but when you have a guest come over and they want to setup Netflix, Microsoft gets in the way unless I use another computer with Windoes 7. And no, there are no misspellings.

Pros: New? Samsung????

Cons: How to start... As some commentators state, the screen is so grainy! my old Vostro 1310 has way a lot better screen. The body feels cheap, and the style, even with black color, is very girlish. I have owned a lot of notebooks with assorted brands (Acer, Dell, Compaq, Lenovo, Toshiba) and this was the first time I am ultra dissapointed for what I got. Don't get fool, AMD A processors are horrible (I have in my dekstop a 965BE and I love it). Got an ASUS Core i3 ultrabook for the same price and its awesome.

Other Thoughts: Don't get fooled, AMD A platform is really bad, and Samsung series 3 also.

Pros: 1. One of the best deals out there compared to similar priced i3 laptops

2. Powerful integrated GPU (BF3 720P low/med@30fps, Sleeping Dogs med@40~fps) and medium-level CPU

3. Memory expandable to 16GB

4. APU is future proof (Upgradeable to the next iteration), thus possibly supporting 1866mhz DDR3

5. You don't need Intel, no matter what everyone tells you.

Cons: 1. Trinity can't be overclocked and stays at 2.3~ghz most of the time

2. Low resolution display

3. Windows 8

4. Doesn't support 1866mhz DDR3 yet, thus bottlenecking the 7640g GPU...but it'd still be bottlenecked if it was running at 2400mhz DDR3

Other Thoughts: Present day graphics cards run off of GDDR5 memory. This GPU runs well on DDR3, that tells you what AMD is capable of.

Pros: Nice keyboard and Graphics Card. The keyboard is snappy and comfortable.

Cons: I only get a 3.5 on the Windows Experience Index for the processor. I've updated the Bios and still it stays the same. Cpu struggles with certain programs that my desktop Celeron Dual Core has no problems with.

Pros: For the price, this is a great laptop that is more than capable of gaming on medium settings. The embedded HD 7640G packs more of a punch than I expected that it would. It will start to run hot when gaming, but it'll do the job. If you have some doubts, trying looking up reviews of the A8-4500 APU and check out some benchmarks for yourself.

For things other than gaming, such as web browsing or watching movies, there are no problems. It's snappy and will run cool enough that you can keep it in your lap comfortably for extended periods. Only gaming heats it up.

The chicks dig it.

Cons: I'm not sure if I really consider this a con, but many people do not like the changes in Windows 8, and that's what you are getting. Personally, I like Win8. I recommend installing "Classic Start" if you want it to behave like Win7, however.

One definite con is the lack of any Windows 8 media. If you happen to have a Windows 8 disc, you'll be fine. You might have to use some google-fu to figure out how to obtain the win8 key that is tied to your device. You'll end up having to call Microsoft if you wish to reinstall.

While the case looks nice, it does feel kind of cheap. That's typical Samsung, for you.

Other Thoughts: You get 4 GB of RAM, but I upgraded it to 8 GB (PC3 12800). I also swapped out the hard drive for a SSD.

Pros: Cheap for the specs on paper.

Cons: Wow. Would never buy again. Regretting this purchase. Probably going to try returning it. The main reason I bought this to replace my 18-month-old Acer laptop was that I was tired of not having gigabit LAN and USB 3.0.

Imagine my disappointment to find that the "USB 3.0" ports do not provide a single lick of improvement over USB 2.0. Believe me, I know what I'm doing, I've used these same external toshiba USB 3.0 drives on other machines and seen blazing performance, but this was just pathetic. So there goes half the rationale for buying this.

Also, the combination of Samsung bloatware and lipstick-on-a-pig Windows 8 makes the performance of this machine just utterly pathetic. Is Microsoft assuming everyone has an SSD now, and tough luck if you don't?

The hard drive is actually noisy, which is something I thought was a thing of the past. And usually the hard drive is crunching away for no good or apparent reason.

Fan is quite noisy as well unless the PC is doing absolutely nothing. So overall if you're looking for a laptop that won't distract you from your work in a quiet room, this is not a good choice. I even turned on the supposed Samsung utility to reduce fan noise (yes they include one) and it didn't help at all.

Some of the Samsung bloatware was literally CRASHING upon first boot of the machine. Not a good sign.

Keyboard is annoying offset, with the "G-H" center of the keyboard not only to the left of the physical center of the machine, but also to the left of center of the trackpad. There's no excuse for that.

In Device Manager, the Realtek hardware for the SD Card Reader is showing a yellow exclamation mark. I didn't actually try to read or write an SD card, but there's no excuse for a brand-new machine reporting hardware driver problems.

In the image-based backup software that I use, when I went to burn a recovery CD, it reported that it could not find a valid USB 3.0 driver. Undoubtedly that has something to do with the fact that USB 3.0 is not running at USB 3.0 speeds.


I had my power settings and trackpad settings all configured the way I wanted them, and Lo, a Samsung "update" went and reconfigured them all back to the defaults. Thanks Samsung.

Other Thoughts: You get what you pay for. What I thought was a well-spec'd machine for the money is actually a poor performer. Maybe this would be OK for a child or student, but if you're counting on all those fancy specs to mean something...don't.

Pros: Pro if it actually is 16 GB like other users are reporting

Cons: Con if it is what the manufacturer states (8GB)

Other Thoughts: Which is it?

Pros: With base scores of: 6.7, 5.9, 6.6, 6.6, & 5.9, it's got plenty of room for improvement.

Boot up time is relatively fast and would be even better with an SSD. Desktop mode of windows 8 makes it moderately less annoying.

It has a max of 16 GB of DDR3 ram, but comes with 2 slots of 2GB.

Cons: No native downgrade option to Windows 7.

Other Thoughts: It's a reasonable computer at a reasonable price. Can be a moderate powerhouse if upgraded properly.

Grab some PC3-12800 and really let this machine shine.

Pros: Great laptop, does what i need it to do

Cons: Needs more memory from the 4gb, so i upgraded it to 16gb

Pros: powerful specs, runs fast, nice built for budget laptop, loud speakers

Cons: little on thick side

Other Thoughts: Long story short.....I had alot of trouble ordering this laptop through v.me. The rep was nice to give me a good discount for my trouble.

If you can get the START BUTTON back on Windows 8 by google for "classic start" and install the free add-on. Believe me this will make the 8 experience more like 7 again.