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Samsung RC710 review

Our Rating :
Price when reviewed : £647
inc VAT

A well designed desktop replacement, but it isn't great value at this price

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Samsung has managed to fit in both a full-size QWERTY keyboard and a numeric keypad into the 17in chassis with room to spare – all the keys are well spaced apart from each other and have very springy actions. There was virtually no flex in the keyboard tray unless we pressed down with considerable force. The sizable touchpad has the same great built quality and is made of a smooth plastic that creates minimal friction for your fingers. You have to press the touchpad buttons quite far to register a click, but the noise serves as a clear indicator that you’ve pressed in far enough.

Samsung RC710 left side

Connectivity is average given the size of the laptop, with four USB ports and a multiformat card reader. Being an older model, there’s no support for USB3, but you get 802.11n Wi-Fi, Bluetooth and a 640GB hard disk.

Considering it’s possible to buy a 17in laptop for a lot less than this, it’s clear that it isn’t the big screen that’s responsible for the RC710’s high price. At this price, we’d expect the latest components and better 3D performance. If you don’t need a 17in screen, Dell’s 14z and 15R are better choices. If you do, HP’s AMD-powered HP Pavilion DV7-6101sa cost over £100 less, yet has USB3 and is almost as fast.

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Basic Specifications

Rating**
ProcessorIntel Core i5-480M
Processor clock speed2.66GHz
Memory4.00GB
Memory slots2
Memory slots free0
Maximum memory8GB
Size32x411x273mm
Weight2.9kg
SoundRealtek HD Audio
Pointing devicetouchpad

Display

Viewable size17.3 in
Native resolution1,600×900
Graphics ProcessorNvidia GeForce 315M
Graphics/video portsHDMI, VGA
Graphics Memory1,024MB

Storage

Total storage capacity640GB
Optical drive typeDVD+/-RW +/-DL

Ports and Expansion

USB ports4
Bluetoothyes
Wired network ports1x 10/100/1000
Wireless networking support802.11n
PC Card slotsnone
Supported memory cardsSDHC, MMC
Other portsminijack audio output, minijack microphone input

Miscellaneous

Carrying caseNo
Operating systemWindows 7 Home Premium 64-bit
Operating system restore optionrestore partition
Software includedMicrosoft Office 2010 Starter Edition
Optional extrasnone

Buying Information

Warrantyone year RTB
Price£647
Detailswww.samsung.co.uk
Supplierhttp://www.laptopshop.co.uk

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