Earlier in the review, we said we weren't overly impressed with the connectivity on the R410 and it's worth mentioning again. In light of the fact the screen isn't particularly great, it would have been nice if Samsung provided a digital video output port. It hasn't. Instead, you get an ordinary, analogue D-Sub output, which isn't too hot by today's standards.
The R410 comes with an 802.11b/g wireless adaptor, though there isn't Bluetooth. You also get a 1.3-megapixel webcam -- great for the exhibitionist in us all -- and a pre-installed copy of Windows Vista Home Premium, which features the Media Center interface.
Performance
The R410 isn't particularly quick, but neither
is it particularly slow. It failed to run our PCMark 2005 benchmark,
but the 1.8GHz CPU should be adequate for most users and provided you
aren't doing anything particularly CPU-intensive -- such as video
encoding -- then it's zippy enough not to cause frustration.
One thing it won't handle very well is games. It scored a paltry 630 in 3DMark 2006, which is indicative of a machine that will run a mile before it'll run Far Cry.
Battery performance wasn't great, either. It lasted just 50 minutes in our BatteryEater render test, which is very poor. This, we believe, is mostly down to the battery having a relatively low capacity -- just 4,400mAh. Even an Eee PC 901 has a 6,600mAH power cell.
Conclusion
There's no denying the R410 is very good value
for money. We'd recommend it to anyone looking for a second,
semi-portable PC or to students on a tight budget. It's not very
versatile and it has its problems, but if you're a tightwad who can't
put up with the tiny screens of an Eee PC, then the R410 isn't a bad
bet.
Edited by Shannon Doubleday
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