Advent 5511 review

All in all, the Advent shares much with the Samsung R510 which deservedly sits as an alternative choice on our A List in the value laptop category. It shares the same size and resolution screen and also boasts an HDMI port, but is slightly heavier, and falls behind slightly on its basic specification.

Instead of the 5511's 2GB of RAM the Samsung packs 3GB, and also manages to improve on the Advent's quarter of a terabyte hard disk by a full 70GB. This doesn't make a huge difference; you won't notice the tiny 0.04 advantage we found in the 2D speed benchmarks.

Where the Samsung really pulls ahead, though, is in its design, finish and ergonomics. Whereas the Advent looks rather plasticky and, dare we say it, cheap, the Samsung has a far more polished and stylish case. Its keyboard and trackpad are also much more comfortable to use. Sure, the R510 lacks the Advent's Centrino 2 sticker, but couple its good looks with a slightly lower asking price, and the Advent finds itself just pipped at the post.

Author: Matthew Sparkes