Exclusive first look: Samsung 'Santa Rosa' Centrino laptop

 

Gallery

By David Bayon

Posted on 8 May 2007 at 23:02

We provide a full analysis of Intel's new Centrino platform here, but the real proof of any new technology is how it performs in practice. Samsung was the quickest manufacturer out of the blocks, offering us an exclusive look at its SENS P55 notebook.

Its standard 4:3 aspect screen is something of a rarity in an increasingly widescreen world - its 15in diagonal and 1,400 x 1,050 resolution is one we don't see too often. Nonetheless, but it offers plenty of Desktop space for everyday use, and is clear and crisp.

Under the hood, Samsung has opted for Intel's T7500 processor, running at a nominal 2.2GHz. Along with the now standard 1GB of RAM and an 80GB Fujitsu hard disk, our preliminary tests gave it a benchmark score of around 1.33 under Windows XP.

As a comparison, in our recent Vista notebooks group test, a Rock notebook with the slightly higher clock-speed 2.33GHz T7600 and the same 1GB of RAM scored 1.35, so the Samsung performed much as expected. The P55 ran quietly too, although an audible exhaust fan did spin up during our multitasking tests, pumping out plenty of warm air.

The new Centrino platform brings many promised power savings, as we detail here. However, don't expect any dramatic increases in battery life: the Samsung lasted for 3hrs 18mins in our light-use tests; in line with our expectations for a 5,200mAh battery.

Besides the new processor there's also a brand new graphics chip in the form of the GeForce 8600M GS, the mobile version of Nvidia's latest mid-range desktop card (previewed here).

Our initial tests suggest it's marginally faster than the old 7600-based chips in Far Cry, and should offer a decent level of gaming, as bringing as DirectX 10 features. Again, we'll bring you more updates after more testing.

Feature-wise, a fingerprint reader on the bottom right of the body is a good security inclusion, accompanied by a TPM module. As well as VGA D-SUB and S-Video out for external displays, the P55 has four USB 2 ports, mini-FireWire and both PC Card and ExpressCard/54 slots for expansion. Finally, Bluetooth lets you communicate with mobile phones and the 6-in-1 card reader with cameras.

Samsung couldn't provide us with an exact price at the time of writing, but a slightly different model with a T7100 processor and integrated graphics was quoted as £649 (£763 inc VAT). Given this we'd put this P55 at somewhere between £750 and £800 plus VAT, which makes it a promising prospect if you want power on the move.

Specifications: 2.2GHz Intel Core 2 Duo T7500; 1GB RAM; 80GB Fujitsu hard disk; 15in 1,400 x 1,050 TFT; DVD writer; Nvidia GeForce 8600M GS graphics; VGA D-SUB, S-Video out; 802.11a/b/g WLAN; Gigabit Ethernet; PC Card; ExpressCard/54; fingerprint reader; TPM 1.2 chip; Windows XP Professional. 2.7kg.