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Samsung 300E5A-A01 review

Our Rating :
Price when reviewed : £400
inc VAT

This entry-level laptop is a competent all-rounder at a good price

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Performance comes courtesy of an Intel Core i3-2330M processor running at 2.2GHz. It supports Hyper-threading, but not Turbo Boost, so this will be the maximum clock speed no matter what application you run. In our multimedia benchmarks, the 300E5A achieved a respectable 43 overall, which makes the laptop more suited to standard Windows tasks than serious number-crunching.

When you’re not pushing the laptop to the limit, you shouldn’t have to worry about running out of battery – the 300E5A lasted over six and a half hours in our light-use test.

Samsung 300E5A-A01

This is mainly due to Intel’s integrated graphics, which use less power than a dedicated card. It’s fine for playing high definition video – we had no trouble running 720p files on the laptop and could also watch 1080p content on an external display. However, we couldn’t play games smoothly – it could only manage 13.5 fps in Dirt 3, so you’ll have to either stick to old games or lower the resolution.

Based solely on looks, the 300E5A looks like great value for £400 – it’s stylish yet understated and has everything you could want from an entry-level all-rounder. It’s not quite perfect – performance is only average, and most games are out of the question, but if you just want a basic machine that can handle most everyday tasks, it’s a good buy.

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Basic Specifications

Rating****
ProcessorIntel Core i3-2330M
Processor clock speed2.2GHz
Memory4.00GB
Memory slots2
Memory slots free0
Maximum memory8GB
Size27x368x243mm
Weight2.3kg
SoundRealtek HD Audio
Pointing devicetouchpad

Display

Viewable size15.6 in
Native resolution1,366×768
Graphics ProcessorIntel HD 3000 Graphics
Graphics/video portsHDMI, VGA
Graphics Memory384MB

Storage

Total storage capacity500GB
Optical drive typeDVD+/-RW +/-DL

Ports and Expansion

USB ports3
Bluetoothyes
Wired network ports1x 10/100/1000
Wireless networking support802.11n
PC Card slotsnone
Supported memory cardsSDXC, 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£400
Detailswww.samsung.co.uk
Supplierhttp://www.dixons.co.uk

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