At 1.4kg and less than 20mm thick, Samsung's 13in Series 5
530U3B Ultrabook is a tiny laptop with delightfully minimalist looks that
continue beneath the lid. There are no superfluous hotkeys or LEDs here just a
Chiclet-style keyboard and an expansive touchpad.
Samsung series 5 530U3B
It looks expensive, but it's actually one of the cheapest
Ultrabooks we've seen. This is primarily because Samsung has used a traditional
hard disk rather than an SSD, combining it with 16GB of flash memory to speed
up file transfers. It certainly makes a difference to startup times; with
Express Cache enabled, the desktop loaded in 26 seconds. The mechanical hard
disk will affect battery life more than an SSD, but the 530U3B still coped well
in our light-usage test, lasting a little over five-and-a-half hours.
The energy-efficient Intel Core i5-2467m runs at a sedate
1.6GHz, but can be boosted to 2.3GHz for extra performance. Combined with its
4GB of RAM, the 530U3B scored 35 in our multimedia benchmarks, and although
that score isn't especially fast, it's more than quick enough to run most
everyday tasks.
The processor's integrated graphics is fast enough for
high-definition video at 720p on the laptop or 1080p using the HDMI output, but
it struggles with modern games; our Dirt 3 test chugged along at 12.8fps.
The processor's
integrated graphics is fast enough for high-definition video at 720p on the
laptop or 1080p using the HDMI output, but it struggles with modern games
The 530U3B has an incredibly bright display. The matt screen
finish diffuses reflections, so we had no trouble working under bright
lighting. Colours are vibrant and contrast impressive. Its viewing angles are
reasonable, too, as is the amount of screen tilt. The 1,366x768 resolution is
typical for a laptop of this size, but not as high as Ultrabooks we’ve seen
from Asus and HP.
Typing on the 530U3B is comfortable and responsive, thanks
to the springy, well-spaced chiclet-style keys. The punctuation keys are where
you’d expect them to be, and the function keys double as multimedia shortcuts
when holding the Fn key. Half-height arrow keys are a minor irritation, as is
the lack of a backlight, but in general we prefer keyboards that are easy to
use over poor keyboards with unnecessary frills.
Its large touchpad is in proportion to the 16:9 screen, with
a smooth finish that’s well suited to desktop navigation. Multitouch gestures
work well, and sensitivity is high enough that we could span the desktop in a
single swipe. We were also impressed with the touchpad, which rejects an
all-in-one design for separate physical buttons.
Its large touchpad
is in proportion to the 16:9 screen, with a smooth finish that’s well suited to
desktop navigation
Connectivity is excellent, with two USB ports, a USB3 port,
a multiformat card reader and a 3.5mm headset jack. There's also a full-size
Ethernet port, which should please anyone that doesn't want to carry an adaptor
around.
The Series 5 530U3B is exactly where the Ultrabook market
should be heading. Although Intel's specification looked great on paper, huge
prices stopped them from taking off, but here we have an incredibly thin, light
laptop that costs less than $930. It wouldn’t be fair to compare it with
Ultrabooks in excess of £1,000, but the Series 5 is an excellent mid-range
alternative.
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Info
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Price
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$930
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Details
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www.samsung.com
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Summary
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Verdict
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Exactly what we want in an is almost a perfect Ultrabook,
the Series 5 mid-range laptop
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Ultrabook
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1.6GHz Intel Core ¡5-2467M, 4GB RAM, 500GB disk, Intel HD
3000 graphics, 13.3m widescreen LCD, Windows 7 Home Premium 64-bit,
17x315x219mm, 1.4kg
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Power consumption ow
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standby, 14W idle, 32W active
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