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Samsung Q330 review

Our Rating :
Price when reviewed : £560
inc VAT

Improves on the original, but only just; we still want to see 4GB of RAM, but the Q330 is still an excellent ultra-portable laptop.

Specifications

13.3 in 1,366×768 display, 2.0kg, 2.53GHz Intel Core i3-380M, 3.00GB RAM, 320GB disk, Windows 7 Professional 64-bit

http://www.saveonlaptops.co.uk

We were impressed with Samsung’s Q330 laptop when we first saw it last year; the 2kg ultra-portable had a great design and excellent battery life, but it wasn’t completely flawless. With only 3GB of memory and a 32-bit operating system, it wasn’t as future-proof as other similarly priced laptops. Samsung has addressed some of these issues with the latest model.

Samsung Q330

Externally, there is very little to separate the new Q330 from its predecessor. The black lid now has a carbon-fibre effect finish, but thankfully the excellent keyboard remains unchanged. Typing on the full-size Chiclet-style keys was comfortable and precise. The touchpad is still on the small side, which forced us to increase the cursor speed in Windows so we could span the desktop in one motion.

To avoid redesigning the motherboard layout for the existing chassis, Samsung has opted to stay with an original Core i3 processor rather than use a newer Second Generation Sandy Bridge chip. The dual-core i3-380M runs at 2.53GHz, which should be powerful enough for most tasks, but it can’t increase its clock speed through Turbo Boost for increased performance like a Core i5. The chip does show its age in our new multimedia benchmarks, with an overall score of 46, but during everyday use it still felt responsive when running several programs simultaneously.

The operating system has been updated to the 64-bit version of Windows 7 Professional, finally adding support for memory configurations of 4GB or greater. Oddly, though, Samsung has decided not to upgrade the memory from its original specification, leaving it unchanged at 3GB. If you want more memory, you’ll need to perform the upgrade yourself – you’ll just need to remove a panel on the bottom of the laptop.

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Basic Specifications

Rating *****
Processor Intel Core i3-380M
Processor clock speed 2.53GHz
Memory 3.00GB
Memory slots 2
Memory slots free 0
Maximum memory 8GB
Size 26x329x231mm
Weight 2.0kg
Sound Realtek HD Audio
Pointing device touchpad

Display

Viewable size 13.3 in
Native resolution 1,366×768
Graphics Processor Intel GMA 3150
Graphics/video ports VGA, HDMI
Graphics Memory 384MB

Storage

Total storage capacity 320GB
Optical drive type DVD+/-RW +/-DL

Ports and Expansion

USB ports 3
Bluetooth yes
Wired network ports 1x 10/100
Wireless networking support 802.11b/g/n
PC Card slots none
Supported memory cards SD, SDHC, MMC
Other ports minijack audio output, minijack microphone input

Miscellaneous

Carrying case No
Operating system Windows 7 Professional 64-bit
Operating system restore option backup and recovery software
Software included Microsoft Office 2010 starter edition
Optional extras none

Buying Information

Warranty one-year RTB
Price £560
Details www.samsung.co.uk
Supplier http://www.saveonlaptops.co.uk