A Nvidia GeForce 8400M GS card has been given the nod to handle graphics. It does the job just fine in everyday tasks like movie playback, image manipulation and the like, and can run some 3D games. Check the minimum requirements for your favourite title to see whether the R700 is capable of running it -- chances are it can, albeit at quite a low resolution and with detail levels set to minimum.
Speaking of resolution, the 17-inch display pumps out 1,440x900 pixels, which is low, considering the 17-inch screens on laptops like Asus' M70 fling out 1,900x1,200 pixels. The upshot with the R700 is that everything looks quite large so those with poor eyesight needn't squint, but there's not a lot of space to manoeuvre your application windows. Aside from that, the quality of the display is very good -- as you might expect from a Samsung.
The R700 has all the usual Wi-Fi gubbins, including a wireless adaptor that supports 802.11b/g. You also get a Gigabit Ethernet adaptor, a year-long warranty and a copy of Windows Vista Home Premium edition.
Performance
We'd mark the R700 as above-average in its performance, but only just. Its Penryn-based CPU and 2GB of RAM guided it to a PCMark score of 4,930, which really isn't bad considering the 2.4GHz-equipped Dell XPS M1730 racked up 5,232. As a result, the R700 should cope admirably with pretty much anything thrown at it.
Graphics performance was a little less impressive. The laptop only managed 1,943 in 3DMark 2006, which is average by today's standards. If the R700 was a car, it would be something like a Ford Mondeo -- fast, but not fast enough to really stir your loins. Expect it to run most games, but without all the fancy effects switched on. In comparison, the Dell XPS M1730 scored 5,830 in the same test.
Battery life gets marks even further down the scale, but it is a 17-inch laptop afterall. It stayed alive for 1 hour 43 minutes in our intensive Battery Eater test, and for approximately two hours during anecdotal testing. It's nothing to really write home about, but that's because you'll be at home anyway -- we can't see many people taking the R700 on the road.
Conclusion
The R700 isn't the most exciting laptop in the world, but it certainly gets on with everything you ask of it. It is well-built, has a good keyboard, and ultimately proves fantastic value for money. Laptops like the Asus M70 are better equipped, but for those on a budget, you really can't argue with this particular Samsung.
Edited by Jason Jenkins
Additional editing by Shannon Doubleday
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