Samsung R700 T8100 review

Samsung R700 T8100 Review

Reviewed by: Rory Reid

Reviewed on: 15 April 2008

The Samsung R700 is an exciting prospect for several reasons. Firstly, it's large and powerful enough to replace your existing desktop PC. Secondly, it's relatively inexpensive -- just £600, or £700 if you buy the slightly more advanced R700 T8100 model we've reviewed here. On top of that, it has a germ-proof keyboard, HDMI video output, and a host of other features that, on paper, make it a fantastic all-rounder.

Design
Samsung isn't a name we associate with gorgeous laptops. Its machines are good-looking, certainly, but they've always lacked that certain nous ne savons pas quoi. This applies to the R700. It ticks all the right boxes: there's a glossy black lid, metallic Samsung logo, blue LED lights and a reflective Vaseline-effect display, but the end product isn't exactly stunning. Style aficionados might want to look elsewhere.

Where the R700 excels is with its keyboard. It's phenomenally comfortable to type on, with large, well-spaced keys that have just the right amout of travel and spring. It even has the luxury of a separate numerical keypad and F function keys that are arranged in evenly-spaced banks of four. Basically, it's as close to a desktop keyboard as we've encountered on a mobile machine. The only drawback is that the Fn key at the bottom left corner of the keyboard is positioned to the left of the Ctrl key. This is just plain wrong.

The HDMI output makes it convenient to connect the laptop to an external display

Arrangement of the ports on the R700 is interesting. There are two USB ports at the rear, which are ideal for connecting semi-permanent peripherals like a printer without cable clutter, and another two ports -- one on the right and one of the left -- that are perfect for hooking up a USB memory key or anything else you may require. As these remaining two ports aren't sat side by side, it means you can connect bulbous USB peripherals without them getting in the way of each other.

Features
The Samsung R700 is mostly based on mid-range components. We don't mean this disrespectfully -- its Intel Core 2 Duo T8100 CPU -- hence the name -- is clocked at 2.1GHz, and hails from the Intel Penryn family of CPUs. Previous Samsung R700s, for reference, used a 1.6GHz Santa Rosa part, making them noticeably slower. You'll get 2GB of DDR memory supplied and that's enough to run the operating system and the vast majority of applications comfortably.

The battery has an indicator that lets you check the level of charge without having to boot into Vista

Storage is just on the right side of okay, thanks to a 250GB hard drive. It's not a fantastic amount, particularly for a machine that's designed to be the hub of all multimedia action in the home, but you can get around 300 average-sized DivX movies on the laptop and add separate storage via USB should the need arise. DVD playback is possible with the -- you guessed it -- DVD drive, which doubles as a writer for making your own DVD flicks or backing up to blank discs. Interestingly, the drive is LightScribe-capable, meaning you can flip the discs over and laser-etch designs on the label.