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Samsung 600B5B review

Our Rating :
Price when reviewed : £790
inc VAT

A good business-oriented laptop, but not as suitable for most home users

Specifications

15.6 in 1,366×768 display, 2.5kg, 2.5GHz Intel Core i5-2520M, 4.00GB RAM, 500GB disk, Windows 7 Professional 64-bit

http://www.saveonlaptops.co.uk

Samsung’s latest laptop has much more of a business focus than its other models, but that doesn’t mean the rather sleek design would look out of place in the living room. A slightly rubberised black finish, angular edges and a sturdy hinge should mean it will survive more punishment than the average laptop, but the Core i5 processor and dedicated graphics should appeal to anyone interested in performance.

Samsung 600B5B

The Intel Core i5-2520M processor runs at a rapid 2.5GHz, some 200MHz faster than the chips we’re used to seeing in mid-range laptops. It can also Turbo Boost higher, up to a lightning-fast 3.2GHz for increased performance in certain tasks. Paired with 4GB of RAM, it sped through our multimedia benchmarks with an overall score of 56, slightly higher than the average we’ve come to expect from the base Core i5 chip. This should easily be enough for almost every task, or some heavy multitasking.

One thing that sets the 600B5B apart from other mid-range laptops is its dedicated Nvidia graphics card. Whereas most machines will use the more mainstream GeForce chipset, Samsung has opted for the business-centric NVS chip. The NVS 4200M installed here has 1GB of dedicated video memory and drivers certified to work properly with workstation-class applications such as Adobe After Effects and 3D Studio Max, but that doesn’t mean it’s well-suited to games. In our Dirt 3 test, it couldn’t manage a smooth frame rate at our default settings, producing a jerky 13.7fps. Even so, it’s capable of playing 1080p high definition video on an external display over HDMI, or 720p on the laptop itself.

Samsung 600B5B right

Thankfully, Nvidia’s Optimus technology is compatible with NVS cards as well as GeForce ones, so the 600B5B’s battery life doesn’t suffer from having a dedicated card on board. It did exceedingly well in our light-use test, managing just under eight hours on battery power alone. You should be able to get a full working day out of a single charge if you stick to basic word processing.

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Basic Specifications

Rating ***
Processor Intel Core i5-2520M
Processor clock speed 2.5GHz
Memory 4.00GB
Memory slots 2
Memory slots free 0
Maximum memory 8GB
Size 36x368x246mm
Weight 2.5kg
Sound Realtek HD Audio
Pointing device touchpad and touchstick

Display

Viewable size 15.6 in
Native resolution 1,366×768
Graphics Processor Nvidia NVS 4200M
Graphics/video ports HDMI, VGA
Graphics Memory 1,024MB

Storage

Total storage capacity 500GB
Optical drive type DVD+/-RW +/-DL

Ports and Expansion

USB ports 3
Bluetooth yes
Wired network ports 1x 10/100/1000
Wireless networking support 802.11n
PC Card slots ExpressCard/34
Supported memory cards SDXC, Memory stick Pro, MMC
Other ports eSATA (shared with USB socket), 2x USB3 port, minijack audio output, minijack microphone input

Miscellaneous

Carrying case No
Operating system Windows 7 Professional 64-bit
Operating system restore option restore partition
Software included Microsoft Office 2010 Starter edition, Cyberlink Media Suite
Optional extras none

Buying Information

Warranty one year collect and return
Price £790
Details www.samsung.co.uk
Supplier http://www.saveonlaptops.co.uk

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