Dont be put off by people telling you the graphics will be bad, there is nothing wrong with intel on board graphics. Intel GMA 4500M (Integrated Graphics) cards are well suited to gaming they wont play the latest 3D graphics hungry games but anything upto a couple of years old will be fine and remeber having a good processor and plenty of memory are what really makes a laptop and trust me 2.2 Ghz and 4Mb will fly...
Samsung R530 Laptop
If you're after a great looking laptop with performance and portability, the Samsung R530 is ideal.
It makes a definite style statement with a red and black lid and stylish brushed aluminum finish inside. It feels robust, but surprisingly lightweight given its sturdy build quality.
The Samsung R530 has a decent keyboard and a 15.6-inch 1366x768-pixel resolution screen. There's a reasonable Intel Pentium processor and adequate graphics card, easily enough for web-based activities.
But connectivity is its other strong suit: 802.11n Wi-Fi, a network socket and three USB ports, plus a HDMI socket, making it perfect for people on the go.
Samsung R530 Laptop review
If you're in the market for a laptop that not only looks good but performs in a dependable fashion then the Samsung R530 is well worth considering. For mobile broadband needs, and general computing on-the-go, the R530 is also a great choice because of its excellent connectivity features that includes Wi-Fi functionality.
What are the pros?
There's plenty in it's favour, that's for sure, and with a price tag under the £500 mark whatever specification you plump for, this is a machine that represent great value for money too. Pick up the R530 for the first time and it feels solid, without being heavy or unwieldy. There's a red and black top to this machine, which adds a nice twist to the design and lots of brushed aluminium style finishing elsewhere.
Once you've flipped open the lid and fired it up, the Samsung feels reassuringly robust, from the decent keyboard through to the screen. In fact, as keyboards go this has to be one of the best models in its class and anyone who needs to do a lot of typing while they're on the move will find the R530 an ideal traveling companion. This is further complimented by the 15.6-inch screen with its 1366x768 pixel resolution, which we found ideal for watching video content or viewing photos.
Any downsides?
The Samsung stands up to close scrutiny far better than many machines with a similar technical specification, and as a day-to-day workhorse for people on-the-go it appears to have the sort of build that'll give a few years of service. Added to that the battery life is very decent, just as long as you keep power-saving settings tweaked to milk every last bit of juice out of those cells. In fact, by doing that we found that the laptop would keep going for several hours off the back of one single charge.
While the R530 feels quite chunky and able to stand up to a few knocks in transit it doesn't quite boast the bombproof feel of some pricier rivals. There's an Intel Pentium processor on-board, which is similar to many other models in this sector and while it doesn't promise a very decent performance when it comes to the delivery of graphics the Samsung actually does a very reasonable job too.
Of course, there are limitations, so don't expect this machine to replace your main computer but it does make an ideal supplemental PC. Day-to-day tasks are all doable and the R530 will cope with most popular software programs with ease.
The connectivity side of things has its ups and downs, although in our experience that is usually more to do with network coverage than any shortcomings from the machine itself. So you'll find the integrated Wi-Fi is does its job in fine fashion, there's an Ethernet port and also three USB ports for dongles, printers or MP3 players. An additional HDMI port also allows you to connect a TV for playing back movies on a larger screen.
Verdict
Overall then, the Samsung R530 represents good value, delivers consistent service even when you're out and about, while also managing to look like it's worth a lot more than it actually costs.
Sample Samsung R530 Laptop specification
- Model
- Samsung R530 Laptop
- Manufacturer
- Samsung
- Screen
- 15.6" (1366 x 768 LED HD)
- Processor
- 2.2GHz (Intel Pentium Processor T4400)
- Memory
- 4GB
- Graphics card
- Intel GMA 4500M (Integrated Graphics)
- Hard drive
- 500GB (5400rpm SATA)
- Optical drive
- DVD SuperMulti dual layer
- Operating system
- Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium
- Wifi
- 802.11 bg/n
- Ethernet
- 10/100 LAN
- Dimensions (cm)
- 37.9 x 25.5 x 2.99
- Weight
- 2.56 kg
- Battery life
- 3 hours
- Camera
- 0.3 MP
- Audio card
- 2 x 1.5W HD
Samsung R530 Laptop reviews by real users
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Read a review and saw laptop in friend hands... This is the one for those who wants performance. Just got all you need. Excellent for everything you want you get. Just made an order after few experts reviews. Great offer thanks for 3...
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i have just ordered this, cant wait
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You wont be playing any games with this laptop the on-board graphics are terrible.
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just ordered this does anyone know if this will be any good for the sims 3 as it ran on my other laptop but was very slow .. x
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I want this one but it depends on how much money i got lol :) Really good specs. If your a gamer like me you will definately want something like this.
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this laptop is so good i am getting it
