The 13.3 inch Q330 packs a Core i3 processor, switchable Intel HD and nVidia GeForce graphics into a tapered sub-2kg chassis for $1,199.
Samsung was a noticeably absent from the local laptop market some years back, but since its re-entry in mid-2009 the Korean colossus has been playing to its strengths in technology and design.
The new Q series of notebooks ticks both of those boxes. The debutante Q330 model has the travel-friendly footprint of a ‘thin and light’ ultraportable: a 13.3 inch screen, a tapered black-and-gunmetal chassis angling from 32mm to 26mm and a scale-nudging 1.97kg including the standard six cell battery.
But to ensure there’s ample grunt to go, the Q330 packs Intel’s Core i3 and i5 processors – the starting price of $1,199 gets you the 2.26GHz Core i3-350M – with nVidia’s GeForce 310M graphics and 512MB of dedicated gDDR3 memory. Users can drop back to the Core processor’s embedded Intel HD graphics when they need battery life over performance.
Buyers can option-up to a Core i5-450M, which also supports the Turbo Boost mode not found on the Core i3 to lift from 2.4GHz to 2.66GHz, and nVidia GeForce GT 330M with 1GB of gDDR3.
Standard inclusions on the Q330 include 4GB of RAM, a 640GB hard drive and DVD optical drive, USB ‘sleep and charge’ and HDMI outputs, 802.11n wireless and Bluetooth 3.0.
The six cell 4400mAh battery is rated for just under four hours on BatteryMark, while Samsung claims the 5,900mAh battery delivers seven hours running the integrated Intel HD graphics.
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