Samsung RF711 review
A blazingly-fast processor makes the RF711 great for multimedia editing
Samsung’s laptops have always had a refined look, and the RF711 is no exception. The glossy lid has a translucent starburst effect which is eye-catching, and it opens up to a two-tone keyboard panel that reminded us of one of Sony’s Vaio designs. A silver panel above and to the right of the keyboard contains the power button as well as a networking toggle button and volume controls. Build quality is good, with little flex in the lid and none in the case.
One of the highlights is the Intel Core i7-2630QM processor, running at 2GHz. That may seem a bit slow, until you consider that the Core i7 supports Turbo Boost, which can automatically overclock the chip to a maximum of 2.9GHz. It’s also a quad-core chip and is paired with 6GB of memory, so it’s great at multitasking, and its score of 74 overall mean it’s quite capable of running most applications, including video-editing and 3D-modelling software.
There’s also a dedicated Nvidia GeForce GT 540M graphics card, which helped the RF711 to a score of 40fps in Call of Duty 4. This is fine but at the screen’s native resolution of 1,600×900, the score dropped to 32fps, which is only just playable. Support for CUDA means you’ll also benefit from speedier operations in GPU-accelerated applications such as the latest version of Photoshop.
Basic Specifications | |
---|---|
Rating | **** |
Processor | Intel Core i7-2630QM |
Processor clock speed | 2GHz |
Memory | 6.00GB |
Memory slots | 2 |
Memory slots free | 0 |
Maximum memory | 8GB |
Size | 416x276x38mm |
Weight | 2.9kg |
Sound | Realtek HD Audio |
Pointing device | touchpad |
Display | |
Viewable size | 17.3 in |
Native resolution | 1,600×900 |
Graphics Processor | Nvidia GeForce GT 540M |
Graphics/video ports | VGA, HDMI |
Graphics Memory | 1,024MB |
Storage | |
Total storage capacity | 1,000GB |
Optical drive type | DVD+/-RW +/-DL BD-ROM |
Ports and Expansion | |
USB ports | 4 |
Bluetooth | yes |
Wired network ports | 1x 10/100/1000 |
Wireless networking support | 802.11b/g/n |
PC Card slots | none |
Supported memory cards | SDHC |
Other ports | minijack audio output, minijack microphone input |
Miscellaneous | |
Carrying case | No |
Operating system | Windows 7 Home Premium 64-bit |
Operating system restore option | restore partition |
Software included | Microsoft Office 2010 Starter |
Buying Information | |
Warranty | one year collect and return |
Price | £899 |
Details | www.samsung.com/uk |
Supplier | http://www.laptopsdirect.co.uk |