Packard Bell EasyNote TS11-HR-040UK review

Packard Bell’s 15.6in TS11 looks similar to the 14in NS44, but the extra width allows for a numeric keypad to the right of the keyboard. It also has a more powerful Intel Core i5-2410M processor, plus 4GB of RAM and a 500GB hard disk.

As with most Packard Bell laptops, design takes a front seat, although as this model is black it avoids some of the odd colours the company is fond of. The black lid has a subtle pattern on it which is mirrored inside on the wrist-rest below the keyboard. The keyboard panel itself is finished in matt black, while the screen bezel is glossy.

The extra screen size doesn’t necessarily lead to a better image. The resolution is the same 1,366×768 as the 14in NS44, so each pixel is larger, but it’s standard for 15.6in screens. The backlight is even but not amazingly bright so colours lack punch, despite the glossy screen finish. This is highly reflective and, as vertical viewing angles are tight, you’ll have to adjust the screen’s tilt carefully to get the best picture.

The keys have a light, crisp action that touch-typists will find comfortable, but the odd conjoining of the Enter and left Shift keys with their neighbouring keys serves no practical purpose. With the inclusion of a four-column numberpad, the shortcut keys have moved to the right of the function keys, which are inverted so that they act as shortcuts unless you use the Fn modifier key. The touchpad and its single see-saw button are a decent size and very responsive.

The i5-2410M with 4GB of RAM scored 54 overall in our benchmarks. In the single-threaded image-editing test it scored 74, making it surprisingly quick for applications that just use one core. Multi-threaded applications, which use all the cores on a processor, won’t run as fast, however, but in general the TS11 should be able to handle most applications with ease.

Graphics are handled by the integrated chip, which couldn’t run our Dirt 3 benchmark smoothly. It can decode HD content with ease, however. The 500GB hard disk provides plenty of room, and an HDMI port lets you output both audio and video to a TV or surround-sound amplifier. You also get a fast USB3 port, so file transfers will take much less time if you also invest in a new external disk.

The TS11 weighs 2.6kg so it’s not ideal for carrying around with you, even though its battery lasts five hours between charges. The TS11 is good value, but the NS44 offers almost as much for £70 less. which has a slightly smaller screen and less performance, is £70 cheaper and thus we feel is far better value.