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Samsung R610 review

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Verdict

The R610 embraces the credit crunch: Blu-ray, a 1080p display and dedicated graphics crammed into a tiny budget.

Review Date: 30 Apr 2009

Reviewed By: Sasha Muller

Price when reviewed: £557 (£641 inc VAT)

Overall Rating

Features & Design
4 stars out of 6

Value for Money
6 stars out of 6

Performance
4 stars out of 6

PCPRO Recommended

Some offers just have to be too good to be true. Take a look at that price, then look at how much the Samsung R610 manages to pack in - you'll struggle to find such a well-specified laptop for so little money.

Let's begin with the Full HD display. Like the MSI EX620, the R610 touts a 16:9 ratio display, but this one packs a huge 1,920 x 1,080 resolution into its 16in frame.

Some backlight leakage along the panel's edges and muted colours give away its budget origins, but overall the quality is impressive. Blu-ray discs provide video that bursts forth from the screen, and the huge desktop makes light of working with multiple applications.

There's nothing wrong with the rest of the R610's specification either. The 2GHz Intel Core 2 Duo T5800 processor is backed up by 3GB of memory and a 250GB hard disk. It isn't the most powerful configuration here, but a result of 0.99 in our benchmarks is more than good enough. Meanwhile, Nvidia's GeForce 9200M GS chipset takes the weight off the CPU for decoding Blu-ray movies and managed 20fps in our least demanding Crysis benchmark.

Of course, packing so much into such a tight budget does lead to some compromises. The first of these is build quality. The R610 looks good thanks to its gloss-black lid and burst of red along its wristrest, but feels more insubstantial than its 2.73kg weight suggests. Compared to the likes of HP's DV7, the Samsung feels plasticky and hollow.

The plasticky build is matched with a pair of speakers whose sound quality is tinny and lightweight. Blu-ray movies, as a result, are best piped through an external pair of speakers or headphones.

Battery life, too, is mediocre: with only 3hrs 23mins of light usage and just short of an hour of heavy use, this Samsung isn't blessed with huge reserves of stamina.

The truth, though, is that at this price many will be willing to overlook the R610's shortcomings. If you want a Blu-ray-equipped laptop with a 1080p display without breaking the bank, the Samsung will fit the bill admirably.

Author: Sasha Muller

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Comments

User comments

Reviewed Spec unavailable at price

It's impossible to find this laptop at this price.

Please, PCPRO, remove it from the A-List!!

I've managed to get my hands on a R610(v) for £410 but the specs don't match. Its got 2GB ram rather than 3, and a display 1366x768 which is a big step down from 1920x1080!

By GAZZAT5 on 11 Aug 2009

paul.rothwell@rothwell-son.co.uk

My son and I share a subscription for your mag.
I'm wondering how much Samsung are paying you to bull up their laptops?!

I agree with GAZZAT5 that the Samsung R610 should be removed from the A-List albeit for slightly different reasons!! I would go further and say that all Samsung Laptops should be rubbished for the abysmal rendition on their display panels.

It is by no means easy to view new laptops in operation before purchase to check the quality of their displays and no doubt many rely on you to be absolutely accurate.

By PARROT2 on 13 AUG 09

By parrotface2 on 13 Aug 2009

Finding the 1080 model!

If you use the search terms:
samsung r610 1080
in froogle, then you'll find links to the correct laptop (at least it worked today!). Why manufacturers insist on having the same model number but with different specs is beyond me! I've had much trouble buying acer laptops in the past because of this too.

By wigsta1 on 23 Aug 2009

Special Group Test Deal - Nothing new

About 5 years ago I bought a Mesh PC, which was a group test winner in a PC Pro group test. I initially looked to by the system on the Mesh website, but couldn't find the same spec or price. I called Mesh, they admitted this was a special deal submitted for the group test. Only customers who had seen the review would know about it. On the upside, I got a good deal from Mesh, thanks to PC Pro. Perhaps PC Pro should check if manufacturers are offering these special deals to the public, by trying to buy the PCs themselves.

By aprogers on 4 Sep 2009

Availability

@aprogers - it was part of PC Pro's testing rules that it had to be available. Usually the 'rules' were printed in each magazine in the labs section. Maybe they no longer strictly stick to it.

The first paragraph of the review almost seems to suggest it's a con, without outright saying it!!

@parrotface2 - I have found no problems with the display on the model I was able to get hold of, besides it not being the spec on review (full hd).
The biggest annoyance i have with the laptop is the keyboards space key has to be hit dead centre, and that it has a Shiny wrist pad which gets horribly uncomfortable after a hour or so of use.

By GAZZAT5 on 14 Dec 2009

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