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Laptop Samsung Np300v5a: specifications, price, reviews, review. Battery life

The Samsung NP300E5C is a 15.6 "laptop with a powerful graphics card and a dual-core processor at a very affordable price. The manufacturer positions this model as a multimedia laptop with high autonomy.

Specifications Samsung NP300E5C

  • Display - 15.6 inches with HD resolution 1366 × 768
  • Processor - Dual Core Intel Pentium B960 @ 2.2 GHz
  • System Memory - 4GB DDR3 format expandable up to 8GB
  • Video card - discrete nVidia GeForce 610M, memory capacity - 1 GB

Analysis of characteristics

Samsung NP300E5C has good specifications, despite the fact that the model itself has already been discontinued.

A dual-core Intel processor is quite enough for both web surfing and working with documents, as well as running multimedia applications and games, while multitasking is possible.

The advantage of the laptop is a discrete graphics card - it is quite enough to run most of the games, not to mention the releases released in 2012-2014. For example, the sensational GTA V and The Witcher 3 run on this laptop at minimum-medium settings without any freezes... It should be understood that the laptop was released almost 4 years ago, so it may not be enough for subsequent releases.

Samsung NP300E5C has 4 GB installed random access memory, at the same time it is possible to deliver an additional slot, increasing the volume up to 8 GB, which is enough for any daily tasks. Also, the processor architecture allows you to install not only those that need at least 4 GB of memory, but for which almost all modern games and applications are "sharpened".

User reviews and opinions

Samsung NP300E5C has quite positive user reviews on the Internet. Among the shortcomings are the lack of keyboard backlighting and strong heating, which, nevertheless, does not affect the performance in any way.

Many people praise the laptop for its powerful battery, thanks to which the laptop boasts excellent autonomy.

Some users had a problem with their graphics card. The principle of such laptops is that during normal use, the Intel video adapter built into the processor works, and when running resource-intensive applications it switches to discrete nVidia. But after a certain time of use, this switch starts to "glitch" periodically and you have to switch video cards manually through a special application NVidia.

Some advanced users complain about this model, as it is very different from that installed in other models. But this is more likely not a drawback, but a feature of this particular laptop.

General impressions

pros:

  • good filling;
  • discrete graphics card;
  • the presence of an additional numeric keypad;
  • powerful battery;
  • low cost;
  • anti-glare matte screen.

Minuses:

  • possible strong heating;
  • switching between video cards.

In general, one of the best laptops of the last generation, which has good technical characteristics, high-quality sound, but also has its drawbacks. Depending on the configuration, you may have a 3, 5 or even 7 core processor, you must admit that even now this is quite enough, if you do not play cutting-edge games, RAM is also pleasing 6 GB is enough for you not only to use office applications, but even enjoy some graphic program... However, in practice, the color rendering of the Samsung Np 300v 5a is rather weak, and the viewing angles are small, which makes it impossible to work in applications such as Photoshop, for example. I was also pleased with the battery, in general, if you change operating system from the built-in WIN 7 to a more modern one, the battery can withstand about 8 hours of uninterrupted operation, which is a very good indicator.

PRICE - about 20,000 rubles at the time of production;

Specifications

OS - Win 7

Processor - Pentium three-core, five-core, seven-core

Frequency -2000-2500 MHz;

RAM - 2..6 GB;

Screen size - 15.6 in;

Video card - GeForce GT 520MX 1024 MB;

HDD - 320 ... 1000 GB;

Battery -4400 mAh

Battery life - 7 hours;

Reviews

- A high-quality matte screen, however, the peculiarity of such a matrix is ​​that the color rendition is not the best, however, some people even like the display;

- The case is assembled poorly, constantly creaking something;

- In a year or so, the loops of the monitor may loosen;

- Smart processor;

- Different configurations have different amounts of RAM, while usually the system does not slow down, there is enough memory;

- Built-in Turbo boost function, if necessary, overclocks the processor up to 3000 MHz, this happens when a large number of windows are open;

- Quite comfortable keyboard from which your hands do not get tired;

- The lid is scratched very quickly, so try to secure the laptop from unnecessary sharp corners;

- Samsung Np 300v 5a has a sufficient number of ports;

- The opening angle of the screen is about 120 degrees, sometimes it seems a little;

- The laptop weighs more than competitors from about the same price category;

- There is no light on the webcam, signaling that the camera is working;

- The touchpad and lid of Samsung Np 300v 5a quickly get dirty, you need to carry a small cloth with you at all times;

- The sound is high-quality and loud, which many other models of Samsung laptops do not have;

- If you change the operating system to Win 8, then the battery will be enough for an average of 8 hours, on a standard "seven" maximum autonomous work equal to 4 hours;

- The microphone is located next to the cooler, when you talk on Skype, the interlocutor will hear a lot of unnecessary sounds;

Although the fan itself is practically inaudible for the user of Samsung Np 300v 5a, which undoubtedly pleases;

- The coating on the touchpad begins to wipe off over time;

- Draws old games without any problems;

- Wakes up quickly from sleep mode;

- Nice price;

- The touchpad holds a lot of gestures;

- Webcam with good image and high-quality software for her;

- Nice design of the laptop in general;

- On the keyboard, Cyrillic as well as Latin are embossed in white letters, which significantly reduces visibility;

Output

Samsung Np 300v 5a is an excellent universal laptop model that will suit those people who like to use various software and occasionally play games, albeit not the most modern ones. Of all the minuses, only the cover of the lid is very annoying, thanks to which dust constantly collects

8/10 RATING for features, price, and sound

A few weeks ago we published a preview of the Samsung i300. Then we were dealing with an early prototype, which allowed us to draw only preliminary conclusions on the smartphone, and recently we had a working sample of the model at our disposal. Accordingly, we publish an updated / final version of the review.

The need to develop the manufacturer's company, move forward and, as a result, increase the market share requires constant innovation, flexible pricing policy and strengthening positions in all price segments. These are necessary conditions for growth in any market with monopolistic competition (when the product is not standardized).

Samsung has long been perceived as a manufacturer of fashionable expensive phones with poor functionality. The company was not represented in the budget segment, but then the super-popular Samsung C100 and other models of the budget C-series appeared. For a long time, the company's lineup also lacked devices that could be attributed to the "business" segment, but even here the situation changed with the advent of Samsung D500. Now we see an increase in the pressure of the company in various price segments, and as a result - an increase in sales.

An important segment, in which the company has actually been absent until now, is the segment of smartphones and communicators. We are accustomed to the fact that Samsung announces new products, transports many smartphones from one exhibition to another, but in the end, only a small part reaches the buyer, and then with a delay. For example, the Samsung i700 appeared on the market only when it became uninteresting to the majority of buyers (it was sold exclusively at the expense of the trade mark). Any novelties in the field of smartphones from Samsung have always been perceived only as prototypes that will not go into mass production. But the company, demonstrating the development, achieved several goals: firstly, to gain experience in the development of smartphones and, as soon as the direction became clearly promising (it crossed a certain critical mass), immediately go to it with ready-made, already worked out solutions. That is why the company supported all operating systems for mobile devices (Symbian, Windows Mobile, Windows CE, Linux) in order to release devices on those operating systems that will be most in demand at the right time. Secondly, it is a demonstration of strength, which adds points to the manufacturer's image. A kind of PR company, the same as the race for the number of megapixels in cell phones(remember the recent announcement of a 7MP phone).

At CeBIT 2005 in Hanover, conversations with the company's management, product managers, it became clear that Samsung is changing its strategy in relation to smartphones. The devices will begin to appear on sale in the global market, moreover, the direction is now one of the priorities for the company. The efforts of engineers will finally be appreciated by end users who are tired of reading about prototypes that are doomed to remain "on paper." In the current product line, Windows Mobile-based I-series devices are positioned as smartphones, D-series devices include Symbian-based smartphones (Series 60), but the company positions them as regular phones (just like Nokia). As you can see, there is no room for Palm OS, the company considers this operating system unpromising.

Today we will talk about smartphone Samsung i300. By a funny coincidence, the i300 was already released by the company back in 2001 (you can see the difference in the name if you only look at the full indexes - SPH-i300 and SGH-i300, respectively). It was the era of Palm OS dominance, Palm m500 was in use then, and the first color Sony CLIEs appeared recently. It is not surprising that the Samsung i300 was based on Palm OS, there were no adequate alternatives at that time. According to user reviews of that time, the model was a revelation, one of the best smartphones on that moment. You can read a review of the model in Pen Computing magazine (article published in 2001 in English).

Before the appearance of the new Samsung SGH-i300 model, the company had experience in the production of smartphones based on the Windows Mobile for Smartphone operating system. It is about CDMA-smartphone Samsung i600, which was available only to customers of the American network Verizon. Then there was the announcement of the GSM-clamshell Samsung i250, which was eventually canceled.


For the company, the Samsung i300 is one of the key models in 2005: suffice it to say that exactly the i300 appeared on the very first slide of Samsung's Hanover presentation. The model combines an innovative wheel control built-in HDD 3 GB, QVGA-resolution screen. The device stands out from the general stream, it is really innovative (which could not be said about the i600 or the i250, which has not yet appeared). The company is positioning the device as the world's first music smartphone.

The design is atypical for Samsung - the predominance of strict lines, the absence of streamlined shapes. The rectangular shape of the body is emphasized by the round joystick. The planes of the upper and lower ends are beveled at an angle, due to which, when viewed from the sides, the device looks like an elongated parallelogram. The end pieces also follow this shape. Here is a combination of elementary figures of geometry - a rectangle, a circle, a parallelogram. A smartphone has its own face, it cannot be confused with another device.


The smartphone cannot be called too large or small for its class; rather, its dimensions are average. The model is inferior in size to the latest generation of HTC smartphones (the i300 is larger and heavier), but outperforms the Nokia N91. It would be appropriate to compare the dimensions of the Samsung i300 and Nokia N91. After all, the latter also has a built-in hard drive, it is similarly positioned.

  1. Samsung i300 - 113 x 48 x 20mm, 130g
  2. Nokia N91 - 113.1 x 55.2 x 22, 160g

The device sits somewhere between non-touchscreen smartphones and smartphones with QWERTY keyboards or touchscreens. If we compare it with the same Nokia 6681, the dimensions are comparable, and the width is smaller.



The device lies confidently in a man's hand, it is solid. Largely due to the correct proportions of length and width. Leaning to your ear, the smartphone will not cause goggles from passers-by - unlike large communicators. A small discovery based on the results of a small survey was that the female audience adequately perceives this phone, the dimensions and weight do not cause rejection. If we look at Samsung's marketing materials, we will see in one of the advertisements a girl with a guitar and a Samsung i300 next to it.


The company expects that girls are also among the core of the target audience, the device cannot be called purely masculine. In this regard, the appearance of the product in several colors is logical.


The build quality of the case is excellent, there is no backlash even under strong compression. Plastic is expensive, it is pleasant to touch it. The frame around the screen and the camera, the battery compartment are made of black glossy plastic. Fingerprints remain, but almost imperceptible, not like the Motorola MPx200. The rest of the surface parts of the case are also black plastic, but of a different texture - not glossy. And the color can vary here: in addition to black (as in the review), silver is also provided (as in the official photos and in the photos below).

An innovative control element in the model is a navigation wheel with a blue action key inscribed in it. The manufacturer deliberately draws our attention to it: the bezel is illuminated and in the dark its edge looks like a small halo.

Functionally, the wheel can be used as a normal 9-way joystick by pushing in the appropriate directions. Alternatively, the wheel can be turned clockwise or counterclockwise. By default, scrolling the wheel means moving vertically through the list. Accordingly, the faster we turn the wheel, the faster we move: this becomes relevant, for example, when several hundred songs are recorded on the phone. So, the rotation of the wheel is responsible for the following moments: vertical scrolling through the menu, scrolling through the list of tracks, contacts (in general, any lists), adjusting the sound volume, zooming the camera, scrolling through Internet pages. The solution is used in smartphones for the first time, it is very convenient, it adds an additional degree of freedom (swiping speed, a kind of analog input component). I would not be surprised if a game is included in the commercial version of the delivery - a racing simulator where the wheel will act as a steering wheel. This is just an assumption (suggestion to developers), such a step would be logical to emphasize the capabilities of the wheel.

Interestingly, during the development of the device, the wheel has undergone changes (take a look at the official photos and photos in the review). Initially, it was the same as in the Samsung X810 (that is, an additional action was required to press), the texture changed - it became ribbed for better grip with the thumb, the “OK” inscription disappeared from the key inscribed in the wheel.

With a longer use of the smartphone, one drawback of the wheel came to light: its rotation is cumulative, that is, the system always remembers how many degrees you turned it. Let us explain with an example: suppose the action "up" or "down" is triggered when you turn it by 30 degrees, you turned it by 29 degrees (the action, of course, did not happen, the threshold value was not passed). Then you use the wheel in joystick mode, moving in different directions, but if you accidentally turn the wheel one more degree, another action is triggered. Of course, the described drawback is not so significant (it is generally difficult to notice it, but noticing it, you quickly get used to it), but in work it translates into the fact that sometimes unnecessary movements of the joystick are observed (hit the wrong field, skipped the desired menu item). The solution to the problem at the program level is elementary - to zero the accumulated turn when switching to the normal navigation mode.

Note: As we anticipated, the company has fixed this issue, it is no longer relevant.

Let's talk about the keyboard. Transparent plastic keys are located in terraces (the inscriptions are applied on the substrate), the horizontal rows are tightly pressed against each other, but the vertical ones, on the contrary, are spaced apart. The device is well balanced, the keypad is convenient for dialing numbers and SMS, there are no problems in use. The backlighting is uniform, it is clearly visible in the dark.

A speaker for conversations and two light indicators are located above the screen, they are responsible for indicating the charge, Bluetooth operation, missed reminders and alarms, and the presence of the device in the GSM network.

Usually smartphones (not to mention phones) suffer from a lack of keys on the side ends. I don’t remember at least another smartphone with so many control elements as in the i300, the side ends are literally dotted with them, which is an undoubted plus. They have an average pressing force, in most cases they are not accidentally pressed.

On the right side there is a key for changing profiles; holding it down turns on the "airplane" mode (that is, the wireless adapters are turned off). Next is the device lock key, it must be held down for a few seconds. The camera key stands apart. Compared to the first prototypes, it was moved lower to make it easier to photograph in horizontal mode (the index finger of the right hand just rests on it). At the very bottom we see a T-flash slot covered with a rubber cap. Cards of this standard have recently received a new commercial name - microSD (accordingly, the inscription on the cap is likely to change by the time of commercial launch). The maximum capacity of this type of memory cards at the moment is 256 MB (the price is about $ 55). Hot swapping of cards is supported. If you have a built-in 3 GB disk, the size of the memory card is not so critical, but it can be used in order to optimize power consumption - not using a power-hungry hard disk when it is not necessary.



On the left side there is a Samsung headset jack covered with a flap. Next, we see the voice recorder key, holding it down starts the voice dialing program. Slightly lower is the musical key, it is responsible for calling the player, even lower - the double volume keys. As we can see, the Samsung i300 is at an unattainable height in terms of control elements - a unique wheel and an abundance of keys to which, in theory, you can assign a call to several actions (it's a pity that there is no built-in ability to independently assign programs and actions to keys).






Just a few words about music playback. As we said, the company is positioning the model as a music smartphone. From this point of view, it would be more logical to see a standard 3.5 mm headphone output (as is done in the Nokia N91) so that you can choose headphones to your taste, not being limited to standard Samsung headphones, which sound good, but are unlikely to satisfy everyone those who listen to a lot of music - with standard equalizer settings, the mids are raised, the maximum volume is not enough for comfortable use in public transport... The option of soldering the wires is possible - but this is for enthusiasts, not for ordinary users. The company is betting on Bluetooth stereo headphones. With branded Bluetooth headphones from Samsung, there are no problems, the sound quality is on high level, but we couldn't get the Samsung i300 to work with the Cellink BTST-9000D headphones, which recently came to our test laboratory.


On the upper end there is an infrared port, an eyelet for attaching a rope (it was not in the early prototypes). At the bottom there is a synchronization connector, which also serves to charge the device. The smartphone supports Plug & Play Files-to-go technology, that is, without drivers, the disk is connected via USB 2.0 to the computer as a storage device, which is convenient. Two modes can be set in the menu - ActiveSync and Mass Storage. Accordingly, in the first mode, when connected to a PC, the usual synchronization takes place, and in the second, the computer sees the Samsung i300 as an external drive, connecting it without drivers, and we get a kind of portable drive. An interesting question - what is the speed of the hard drive, but more on that in the corresponding section of the review.

We get a kind of portable drive. An interesting question - what is the speed of the hard drive, but more on that in the corresponding section of the review.

On the back there is a camera with a flash built into the metal rim, next to it is a self-portrait mirror. The battery is at the same time the back of the phone, its type is Li-Ion. Below the battery is a typical mount for SIM card... The battery capacity is not indicated in the specifications, according to the code * # 9998 * 228 # the smartphone reports a capacity of 1000 mAh, this is a normal indicator. The main intrigue since the first long acquaintance with the Samsung i300 was the battery life.

We ran our standard battery life tests. During MP3 playback with hard disk built-in player Windows Media Player with the screen off, the smartphone worked for exactly two hours. We must think that such a result upset us. However, we carried out one more test, The Core Pocket Media Player was already playing, a 16 MB buffer was set (so that the hard drive would not work all the time), the music playback time increased to 5 hours, but this figure can hardly be called acceptable either. The reading time of the book (backlighting at the minimum level, automatic scrolling of pages, the hard drive is not used) was 6 hours. In the maximum load mode, the smartphone worked continuously for an hour and a half. In general, the battery life is poor. The comparison table shows the best smartphones / communicators in terms of battery life, as well as the results of HTC Hurricane.

With 40 minutes of talks and without using other functions in the Moscow Megafon network, the device worked for a day and a half. When using a hard drive (listening to audio for half an hour, working with photos on the hard drive for an hour) and 25 minutes of talking a day, the smartphone works for one day (barely survives until the evening after morning exercises).

Looking at the phone from the rear, we find two speakers (they are directed in different directions at an angle of 90 degrees), which are designed to create stereo sound. For this, the SRS WOW XT program is used, the essence of which is to create a stereo sound effect from nearby speakers (you can read more on the company's website). We specially recorded the composition so that you could feel the stereo sound, but did not feel the stereo effect during playback.

The Samsung i300 is one of the first smartphones with a QVGA screen (resolution - 320 x 240 pixels). Gradually, this resolution will become the standard for smartphones based on Windows Mobile. The difference with the screens of previous models is obvious - the picture looks more detailed, the fonts have become smoother, and surfing the Internet is more comfortable. The screen is physically capable of displaying 262 thousand colors, but more than 65 thousand are not supported at the operating system level. Let's compare the screen with competitors.

  1. HTC Hurricane - TFT QVGA display, 262K colors, 44.5x33 mm (-2.2 ”diagonal)
  2. Samsung i300 - TFT QVGA display, 262K colors, 40x30 mm (diagonal - 1.97 ", almost 2")
  3. Nokia 6681 - 176x208 pixels, 262K colors, 41x34 mm (diagonal - 2.13 ”)

In all cases, the claims about 262 thousand colors are a marketing ploy, the improvements for the end user are not noticeable. In reality (see the comparative photo) the Samsung i300 screen loses to the HTC Hurricane in size, but the rest of the parameters completely coincide - color rendition, good viewing angles. Unlike the HTC Hurricane model, the i300 does not automatically adjust the screen backlight depending on the sacred conditions, but there is a manual one (10 levels in total). The screen fades in the sun, but remains readable (it behaves exactly the same as HTC Hurricane, the matrix manufacturer is the same). Almost nothing is visible in the sun, if the screen backlight level is set to the minimum or the battery is very discharged (the backlight level is automatically reset to 10% in this case). At the time of release, the i300 will not have the best screen on the market, it is relatively small.

HDD

The standard diameter of the hard disk drive plate is 3.5 "for desktop PCs, and 2.5" for laptops. Mobile drives start at 1.8 ”and smaller. At one time, the appearance of 1 "drives (Microdrive in Compact Flash format) was an event, but gradually this solution was abandoned with the growth of conventional Compact Flash cards and their falling cost. With the advent of 0.85 "discs, the price dropped and the volume of 1.8" and 1 "discs increased, interest in them revived. Starting this year, we will see massive embedding of hard drives in everything from digital cameras to cell phones.


The Samsung i300 smartphone uses a 3 GB hard drive manufactured by Cornice, the real available volume is 2871 MB. According to the manufacturer's statement, the device will withstand a drop from one and a half meters, the average data transfer rate according to the manufacturer's statement is 5 Mb / s. Let's check this statement with a test in the Aida32 package, the smartphone is connected as an external drive.


As we can see, the speed is not impressive - it seems that the transfer is going through the USB 1.1 interface, not USB 2.0.

You can see the rest of the specifications of the hard drive in this file.

Bluetooth

When implementing Bluetooth, built-in Microsoft drivers with an add-on for playing music via a Bluetooth stereo headset were used.

Bluetooth capabilities the following:

  1. Internet access from a PDA or PC
  2. OBEX - file transfer (both to the device and from the device)
  3. OBEX object push
  4. Serial port - data synchronization
  5. Working with a Bluetooth headset

Camera

The camera in the device is 1.3 megapixel, the maximum image resolution is 1280x1024 pixels. In addition to the image resolution, you can set the degree of compression of the resulting images - Fine, Super Fine, Normal, Economy. In terms of the number of settings, the device is at a good average level.

The screen serves as a viewfinder - we aim at the object and shoot. At the top of the screen, icons are displayed that indicate the current shooting settings.

The device practically catches up with Nokia 6680/6681 in the quality of pictures. The detail of the pictures is practically not inferior, but the color rendition is inferior (look at how the sky is obtained in the photographs), the pictures of moving objects on the Samsung i300 are blurred. In terms of image quality, the i300 is inferior to the models Nokia N90, Nokia N70, Sony ericsson k750i, but among Windows Mobile smartphones - the pictures are the best.

All footage can be viewed in the My Items program.

Specifications (edit)

The device is equipped with 64 MB of RAM, of which 51.50 MB are available. The amount of available built-in flash memory is 18.38 MB, it is intended for storing user data - about the same figures as in HTC Hurricane.

CPU- Intel XScale PXA272, the maximum standard frequency is 416 MHz. As the practice of testing PDAs with this processor has shown, it can easily be overclocked to 520 MHz (the maximum overclocking threatens is data loss). After the device goes on the market, the corresponding overclocking utilities will appear very soon.

The huge advantage in the video performance test in the TCPMP program over the HTC Hurricane is explained by the processor frequency and the player's sharpening for Wireless MMX.

Software

Despite the fact that the device was announced on new version OS WM 5.0, it will go on sale with the old OS version, most likely there will be no upgrade. A separate article is devoted to the standard software Windows Mobile 2003 SE at QVGA resolution. Let's talk about programs that are not included in the standard set.

Picsel Viewer. This office document viewer is becoming the standard for high-end Samsung products. The program allows you to display documents very correctly, all formatting is preserved. Neither the built-in Office Mobile package in Window Mobile 5.0 nor Documents To Go on Palm OS can display documents as carefully as Picsel Viewer does.

File Manager. Performs basic operations with files - copy, delete, move. Archiving in ZIP and extracting from the archive is possible.

Program Launcher... Alternative to the "start" button. The program to run the application, the need for this utility is unclear.

SIM Manager... Everything is clear and understandable here - working with a SIM card.

Task cleaner... Task manager, closing unnecessary applications to free up memory.

Time manager... Extension of the standard calendar. Alarms, world clock, reminders.

WAP Browser- Built-in IE supports WAP sites, no need for a separate browser. Why it was necessary to install another browser for WAP is not clear.

The built-in programs lack a utility for back-up and a program for displaying a caller's photo.

Conclusion

There are no complaints about the quality of the reception. The call is very loud, it is difficult to miss it, the vibrating alert is average in strength. You can use MMF, MIDI, WMA or MP3 songs as ringing tones.

The device is expected to be on sale in October for around $ 700, which is the launch price before dropping to $ 550. The device will be successful due to positioning, the emphasis in advertising will be on the hard drive, musical capabilities.

With a minimum battery life, the model cannot be called completely successful. The capabilities of the hard drive are leveled by the battery life, this is by and large the only significant drawback. The advantages of the device include controls - in this parameter Samsung i300 has no competitors, and the same built-in hard drive. The screen resolution of 320x240 pixels is also one of the pluses, but the screen size can hardly be called optimal.

Choosing a laptop costing less than $ 500, the buyer most often acts at random, hoping that he will be lucky: the purchased device will have a good screen, a comfortable keyboard, a reliable case, and a capacious battery. Yes, unfortunately, few reviews are written on budget laptops, since these devices are usually not of interest to reviewers. And reviews of such devices are usually left by novice users who have this first laptop, and therefore, they are not able to adequately assess ergonomics, performance and other parameters.

Filling the indicated gap, we would like to tell you about a cheap universal notebook from Samsung, a representative of the budget series 3 - 300E5. This is the simplest and most affordable model of the Korean company, leading its ancestry from the RV500 series, which in turn became the successor to the once popular budget R500 series. The characteristic features of these laptops are their neutral classic design, standard hardware (Intel platform, integrated or inexpensive discrete graphics), a standard set of ports (three USB, VGA, HDMI), and a standard battery. Despite the fact that Samsung models are usually more expensive than their competitors in terms of cost, they enjoy some success, mainly among novice users who prefer equipment from well-known manufacturers.

Specifications

The Samsung 300E5 is a typical general purpose laptop. It differs from analogues and other models of the same manufacturer in the main design. In our opinion, thanks to the classic color scheme and the presence of glossy elements, this is more of a home "budget" than a truly versatile laptop for work and play. For example, Samsung is releasing a model that is similar in specs and price, with a more practical body, a larger battery, and an impressive variety of configuration options. The 300E5 model considered in the review is most likely aimed at less demanding users who are guided primarily by an attractive price and a pleasant appearance, and do not take technical characteristics into account (because they are often not clear to them).

The 300E5 notebook is based on the Intel Huron River platform. (There is a less common version of the same laptop on AMD platform, which is called 305.) Most often, the devices of this series are equipped with Pentium or Core i3 processors, there are very cheap configurations with a Celeron processor, such as our A02RU, as well as configurations with a Core i5 processor (which we don't see much sense in purchasing). In addition to the integrated graphics, some configurations are equipped with low-end video cards, but not the most budget ones, for example NVIDIA GeForce GT 520MX (in the 305 model, respectively, similar in performance to the Radeon). Thus, within the framework of one series, you can choose a configuration for both work and play. But video cards of the middle class in this series of laptops, in contrast to the mass models Acer () and ASUS (), are not placed in principle.

The set of interfaces on a Samsung laptop is completely standard, and the location of the connectors is very good: two USBs on the right, behind the tray optical drive, the rest of the ports (USB, both audio connectors, HDMI, VGA, RJ45) are on the left side, at a sufficient distance from each other. I only disliked the card reader placed on the cut of the front edge, which, moreover, does not have a plug. A large L-shaped cover on the bottom allows you to easily access the hard drive and RAM for replacement. Unfortunately, there is no way to clean and lubricate the cooling fan without disassembling the entire case.

Recently, new LCD matrices of reduced dimensions have been used in Samsung notebooks. Thanks to this, the 300E5 model turned out to be 1 cm narrower than most analogs: 368 mm versus 378-383 mm in the popular 15.6 ″ budget class models. In addition, the surface of the screen is semi-matt, eliminating glare from bright light sources. True, we know from experience that Samsung's new matrices have unpleasant "features" of the image, but we'll talk about this in the corresponding section of the article.

Unlike the 300V series models, this laptop uses a standard 48.8 Wh battery. Consequently, the battery life will be at the level of 5-6 hours at low to moderate load. On the other hand, due to the smaller battery, we managed to reduce the weight of the device to a minimum - 2.24 kg, which is the level of an average 14 ″ budget notebook.

Thus, the Samsung 300E5 is a modern budget-level laptop that differs from its competitors, firstly, in the presence of an anti-glare screen, and secondly, in smaller dimensions (especially in width) and weight. A wide range of configurations are available, ranging from very simple, with a Celeron processor, and ending with fairly productive, with discrete graphics entry level and a Core i5 processor. What's the catch? In a low-cost case, designed according to the principle of maximum economy.

Case design and construction

The 300E series notebooks inherited their design in many ways from the budget Samsung models the previous RV series. The general style and contours have been preserved, the changes have mainly affected the interior. The shape of the body is plump, with rounded corners, a convex bottom, slightly raised and rounded back... At first, only one color option was produced - the classic one: a silver-black two-tone cover, a banal silver wrist pad, black back side lids, black bottom. At the time of preparation of the article, it became known about the second version, in which the silver plastic was replaced with steel gray.

The lid of the laptop, by the way, is not simple: firstly, horizontally it is divided into two parts of different colors (a rather rare solution), and secondly, it is decorated with glossy plastic in a shallow deep “rib”. The inner side of the lid is also glossy, but with a small checkerboard pattern of matte dots. Noteworthy is the very narrow, only 10 mm, frame of the screen - the result of the use of the above-mentioned LCD matrix of a special design. The lid is fixed on thin plastic hinges, which work the same as they look: the fixation of the screen is unreliable, with significant backlash, the opening angle is only 130 °.

The interior of the notebook is visually divided into three parts. The flat silver wrist rest has a simple, smooth matte finish. The platform transforms into narrow inserts that visually indicate the side faces. The touchpad is designed in a Spartan style: a flat surface to match the surrounding panel, the same flat buttons. The keyboard area is glossy black, solid, without a depression or edging, the keys themselves are matte, slightly rough. The area above the keyboard is matte black, slightly grainy, decorated with a round button with a luminous blue edging and small perforations stretching along the rounded back edge of the case. Under the perforation, as is customary, there are two speakers.

The reduced width of the case, the side edges rounded along a large radius and a decent thickness (34 mm) by today's standards lead to the fact that the case of the Samsung laptop looks massive, thick and sloppy. The second, more significant drawback is its low strength: the body easily yields to twisting and bending, creaks under strong influences, the lid dangles noticeably. The painted silver panels look cheap, the quality of the plastic doesn't seem to be high. The assembly of the device and the fit of the panels to each other are at a good level, but there are also a number of drawbacks, such as a slight backlash in the battery, a cover on the bottom that does not match in color and texture. In general, the laptop case is in the hands and visually makes a characteristic "cheap" impression. It also lacks practicality: the wrist area and the outer part of the lid hardly get dirty, but the rest of the surfaces will have to be periodically cleaned of dust and prints.

The matte LCD in a budget laptop is definitely a significant plus. Many users dislike the strong reflections from glossy screens and are happy to opt for the few matte models so far. However, having relied on in-house matte screens, Samsung did not take into account that image quality is also of great importance. And with this, the new matte matrices have a problem: unusually small viewing angles (the screen literally "shimmers"), a narrow color gamut (our sample has about 60% sRGB), low contrast.

Colors on the screen do not look vivid, saturated, or natural. The gamma of the image is fine-tuned, but for some reason the blue curve has gone up, which aggravates the "blue" of dark shades. And the white color, on the contrary, turned out to be too warm, with a noticeable yellowish tint. I liked this screen, firstly, the good visual clarity, and secondly, the normal supply of brightness and the absence of glare. In general, working with the screen is more or less comfortable, but the image without adjustment is significantly different from the norm.

Sound

In a budget laptop, the quality of integrated audio is perhaps the very last thing. Naturally, manufacturers implement sound on a leftover basis.

The Samsung laptop has the most common audio codec - Realtek, and the two small speakers are of mediocre sound quality, with a narrow frequency range, unpleasant timbre, boomy, but a decent headroom.

Keyboard

In short, the keyboard of the Samsung laptop turned out to be quite successful. Both in terms of design and construction, and in terms of layout. To begin with, the neat, island-style Sony-style design looks good and is comfortable to use at the same time. Rough keys with large gaps prevent fingers from sliding and touching adjacent keys. There is no dangling stencil insert - the keys are located in a one-piece panel without slots and recesses. However, this panel is glossy, it will have to be constantly cleaned from dust and prints. The fixation of the keyboard base is quite reliable, however, due to the general flimsy of the case, the keyboard area on the left and right springs under strong pressure.

The keyboard mechanism is average - both in terms of the elasticity of the keys, and the depth of travel, and the noise of the click, and the fixation of the keys. The key travel is moderately tight, even across the entire field, pressing is felt very clearly, there are almost no typing errors, although the overall comfort level is not above average. For a budget laptop, which is the Samsung 300E5, the keyboard is implemented perfectly - both externally and by sensations in the process.

The keyboard layout is almost standard, with the usual size and position of the main keys. There is a digital field, reduced in width. Cursor keys are large, not separated, marked with a gray-blue outline; because of them, the size of the right Shift is reduced. I did not like that the developers removed Pause / Break and ScrLock, replacing the unnecessary Fn Lock key; the rest of the layout is quite comfortable.

It is a pity that Samsung in the new models has abandoned the color designations of the Cyrillic alphabet: now it is applied in the same color and font as the Latin alphabet. The “hot” combinations are marked in a pleasant gray-blue color, the icons are perfectly legible. However, many of these combinations do not lead to the desired actions, but call Samsung's proprietary Easy Setting utility. Of course, this utility is very interesting and useful, since it provides many necessary settings that most analogues do not have (speed optimization Windows boot, battery life extension mode, fan operating mode (quiet, normal, pulsating), image correction, sound correction, separate Wi-Fi and Bluetooth off). However, it works quite slowly and loads with a significant delay, especially immediately after restarting the operating system. In addition, an unpleasant "glitch" wanders from model to model - the laptop does not save state wireless After reboot, Bluetooth and Wi-Fi are always on and consume battery power even when not in use.

Indicators and buttons

The system operation indicators are located under the touchpad: the LEDs are displayed on the front edge, their designations are under the touchpad keys. With the lid closed, you can tell what they mean by the color of the LEDs. There are no keyboard indicators: no LEDs, and a pop-up on-screen indicator is implemented only for Num-lock and Fn-lock.

Touchpad

The touchpad of the Samsung laptop has become larger than in previous models, now it is quite large - 102 × 55 mm. The smooth surface is comfortable, but almost flush with the wrist rest.

Accidental touch detection is not accurate and errors are common. However, the software component of the Elan touchpad works with multi-finger combinations much more confidently and clearly compared to the common Synaptics touchpads. In general and Touchpad and its buttons work very well in a Samsung laptop.

Performance

Our test sample of the Samsung 300E5 laptop had the cheapest configuration possible: the Celeron B800 processor, the youngest of its generation (clocked at only 1.5 GHz), only 2 GB of RAM. Thanks to the use of cheap components, a significant reduction in the cost of a laptop is ensured - to the level of models based on AMD processors. (True, in the case of Samsung price all the same it turned out to be quite high, but the pricing policy of a particular manufacturer is to blame.) Consequently, devices in this configuration can successfully compete with models based on the AMD Brazos platform.

We're curious to know if a laptop with a Celeron B800 processor actually performs better than a laptop with an AMD E-450 or A4-3300M processor. And the second question that we would like to get an answer to is whether such a laptop is suitable for professional work.

First, let's pay attention to the results of the Windows 7 test. For comparison, let's take a laptop of a different class, but on the required platform - with an AMD E-450 processor. As you can see, the only point on which the Windows test gave a positive rating to the laptop with an AMD processor is the 3D graphics performance. But no one doubted this result, yet Intel still has little experience in developing good graphics accelerators. But according to the processor performance test AMD chip in deep minus.

Next, when evaluating the results of the PCMark 7 benchmark, we will add the data from the laptop on the AMD Sabine platform. This unit was equipped with a standard AMD A4-3300M 2-core processor @ 1.9 GHz. Logically, this processor should be much faster than the Celeron B800 in a Samsung laptop. However, according to the PCMark 7 benchmark, the performance difference between Lenovo laptops and Samsung is relatively small, between 3% and 7%. Only in the test for processing documents and web pages, the model with the AMD A4 processor turned out to be 20% more agile, and this is largely due to the more expensive 7200 RPM hard drive. But the Sony laptop, which in our review represents a large family of models with an AMD E-series processor for netbooks, turned out to be on average one third less productive than the other two devices. As you can see, the Intel platform, even with the cheapest processor, easily outperforms the AMD platform of a similar or even higher cost.

Now let's look at the results of a more serious test - BAPCo SYSmark 2012, which measures the speed of performing numerous operations in popular real-world applications (mainly Microsoft and Adobe). Instead of Sony laptop, originally not intended for office work, we will take the results on the Intel platform (Core i3-2330M processor) and already mentioned on the AMD platform. We already know that with the Core i3 processor the Acer laptop will be ahead by a wide margin. But for what reason Samsung has outstripped Lenovo in a number of scenarios, we are not very clear. It turns out that the AMD A4 processor was able to bypass the cheap Celeron only in the tasks of processing audio / video / graphics and encryption / archiving. For working with documents, databases, programming, it is better to prefer a laptop on the Intel platform.

Battery life

The battery life test results for the Samsung laptop were lower than expected. Without any significant load (unhurried PDF paging) this device lasted almost 6 hours; Occasional workloads (MobileMark 2007 benchmark for notebook manufacturers) or heavy wireless usage (our own test) reduced battery life to 5 hours.

Thus, the average power consumption of the Samsung 300E5 was about 9.5 W, which is quite a lot for a configuration without a discrete graphics card. However, budget notebooks usually do not have good performance indicators and autonomy.

Noise and heat

Despite the fact that our test unit was equipped with a Celeron processor, which has a low clock speed and does not support HyperThreading, the cooling system seemed to be insufficiently efficient. No, the laptop cannot be called noisy (of course, because it has no integrated graphics). However, the temperature of the panels outside and the processor inside (according to monitoring data) turned out to be higher than expected. At rest, the processor heats up to 45-50 °, when launching 3D games - up to 70 °, during stress testing it manages to warm up to 78-80 °, which is quite a lot for a device with the usual case dimensions. The heating of the left half of the case in a Samsung laptop, like in many other budget devices, can reach an unacceptable level for work - 37 ° at the top and 45 ° at the bottom. The wrist area, however, remains barely warm - 28-32 °, even during the stress test, which has a positive effect on ergonomics.

The Samsung laptop has a correctly working "quiet" mode: when activated, the processor frequency is cut to a minimum (usually 800 MHz), the fan speed is reduced. In this mode, the processor does not heat up above 50 ° (in our configuration), but the performance is reduced by more than 2 times (depending on the processor model). However, in many cases this is not critical.

conclusions

In terms of technical specifications, the Samsung 300E5 laptop is absolutely standard: a typical budget machine in a pliable plastic case with a battery of basic capacity and the usual set of interfaces. However, this device is slightly smaller and lighter than its competitors, although it looks somewhat massive, even thick. It can interest the buyer with its classic neutral design, matte screen coating, good ergonomics of the keyboard and touchpad. However, you should not delude yourself: the level of performance of this laptop generally corresponds to its cost.

Advantages:

  • more or less interesting design;
  • good design and keyboard mechanism;
  • matte screen surface;
  • reduced dimensions and weight;
  • convenient and useful proprietary utilities.

Disadvantages:

  • the image quality on the screen is worse than average;
  • short battery life;
  • overpriced;
  • low strength of the case, inexpensive materials.

The 15.6-inch Samsung 300E 5C is sure to appeal to budget users. The matte screen of the device is perfect for both personal and professional use. The laptop has good performance, which is due to the use of the i3-2310M processor, four gigabytes of RAM, an integrated graphics chip Graphics 3000, a standard hard disk with a rotation speed of 5400 rpm. The manufacturer Samsung relies on the excellent value for money of the 3-series models. The company offers a choice of the following device options - 11.6 "(305U1A), 13.3" "(300V3A), 17.3" "(300E7A), as well as the 15.6" laptop considered in this review. Mainly processors are used to reduce the cost of devices Sandy bridge 2011 year.

Samsung 300E: case design

The case of the Samsung 300E laptop is somewhat reminiscent of the 305E7A and 355V5C-S05DE models. The body of the device is made of black or gray plastic. The only glossy panel present in the design of the device surrounds the keyboard. She seems to attract dirt to herself. The laptop's lid features a familiar fluted pattern. Pressure resistance could be at a higher level. But the device still resists bending pretty well. The same applies to the display lid. The design uses sufficiently rigid hinges, which does not allow opening the device with one hand. However, this element also prevents the lid from running out. Samsung does not offer a laptop transport lock.

Samsung 300E: connectivity

The list of used interfaces and their layout correspond to model 300E 5A-C01. The location of the connectors is clearly oriented towards right-handed users. External monitors can be connected to the device via the analog VGA port or digital HDMI. As noted by users, the manufacturer could take at least one of the three USB connectors 2.0 for standard 3.0. However, for some reason, this did not happen. The presence of a port Gigabit-LAN ​​Realtek RTL8168 / 811, as well as network adapter Wi-Fi Atheros AR9485WB-EG and Bluetooth 4.0 are good news. The 0.3MP webcam, of course, provides a quality that is far from perfect, but it is quite enough for video telephony.

Samsung 300E: accessories

In addition to the necessary components such as a 65 Watt power supply and a 48 W * h battery, the package also includes several information brochures, including a manual. quick start... The user, as is now customary, must independently create a recovery DVD disc... This can be done using software from the manufacturer Samsung Recovery Solution.

Samsung 300E: service

How to properly disassemble Samsung 300E? You can access the system memory and hard drive using the service cover at the bottom of the unit. Unfortunately, free slots and 2.5-inch bays are missing here. Any device update will require the removal of installed items. It is much more difficult to disassemble the Samsung 300E in order to clean the heatsink and fan, and besides, such actions can lead to the loss of the manufacturer's warranty. The manufacturer gives a guarantee for the operation of the device for 24 months, but this period can be increased by the seller. I / O devices in this case used exactly the same as in models 300E5A-S01 and 305E7A-S03DE. The operating system Windows 7 is installed on the Samsung 300E. Probably, the user will want to replace it with a more modern one. Drivers for Samsung 300E laptop for operating room Windows system 10 can be downloaded directly from the manufacturer's website. You can update them automatically using Windows programs Update.

Samsung 300E: touchpad and keyboard

The keyboard of the Samsung 300E is quite ergonomic. It provides good tactile feedback and has a separate numeric keypad. The location of the buttons does not cause any complaints from users. Thanks to its matte surface, the touchpad provides precise cursor positioning. Elan Smart pad supports multi-touch gestures. Beneath it are two mouse buttons that are quite responsive to clicks.

Samsung 300E: display

The 15.6-inch screen installed by the manufacturer is called AUO21EC. This component was manufactured by the Chinese manufacturer AU Optronics. The maximum resolution is 1366 × 768 pixels. This is quite consistent with the price range of the device. The aspect ratio of the screen is quite consistent with the common 16: 9 format. The display of the device has a matte surface. The device also demonstrates a good maximum brightness - 212 cells / m2. The user should be satisfied with uniform illumination and a relatively low black level of 0.6 cd / m2. Owners of the device are subjectively satisfied with the contrast and color reproduction of the device.Samsung 300E, like most laptops in this price category, is not able to cover all Adobe RGB and sRGB color spaces. However, this is only relevant to professional computer graphics users. For Internet applications and office software packages, the color rendition is quite sufficient. Matte coating Samsung screen The 300E outdoors is a big plus. The brightness of 200 cd / m2 will be enough to work with the laptop in the shade. There are no distracting reflections here, which usually appear at a certain angle of incidence of light. In order to use the device in direct sunlight, the screen brightness must be higher. The stability of the viewing angles in this case is quite typical for TN panels. The working area of ​​the laptop in the horizontal direction is quite wide. When viewed from the bottom vertical, you can easily notice the loss of contrast and color inversion.

Samsung 300E: performance

Samsung laptop 300E is based on Intel chipset HM75, which has support for Sandy Bridge and Ivy processors. Samsung 300E is equipped with Intel processor Corei3-2310M Sandy Bridge with 4GB RAM plus hard disk with a rotation speed of 5400 rpm. Graphics work is provided by the integrated Graphics 3000 chip. Such a set of components indicates that the laptop is focused mainly on using Internet applications and office software packages, and not on working with three-dimensional graphics. Alternative model Notebook 355V5C is equipped with a discrete mid-range graphics chip. The IntelCorei3-2310M processor is a dual-core solution of the Sandy Bridge generation. Thanks to the use of hippet threading technology, the device can simultaneously process up to four threads. The only thing missing is the turbo mode, since the graphics chip can change its clock frequency in the range from 650 to 1100 MHz, depending on the temperature. In all oriented tests, the processor performance is at the expected level. In the CinebenchR10 test, the laptop scores 3421 points for one core, and 7517 points for two cores.

Samsung 300E: performance characteristic

The efficiency of each individual element and the overall result were evaluated using the PC Mark7 and PC Mark Vantagec 5216 tests. The memory has a positive effect in this case, and the graphics system can be called insignificant. The overall performance of the laptop was at the expected level. However, a faster storage device could provide significant gains in efficiency.

Samsung 300E: hard drive

The Samsung 300E has a Hitachi Travelstar 5K750 hard drive with a capacity of 500 GB and a rotational speed of 5400 rpm. Test results in Crystal Diskmark and HD Tune programs for a model of this class can be called quite typical. The data transfer speed in this case was from 36.5 to 80.5 Mb / s, the access time was 18.3ms.

Samsung 300E: video

The Samsung 300E laptop uses the Graphics 3000 graphics processor, which is integrated into the central processing unit. Although the Corei3 processor does not support Turbo technology Boost, you can overclock the graphics from 650 to 1100 MHz. When creating this model, Samsung has mainly focused on users with moderate demands in terms of 3D performance. The Samsung 300E is generally on par with its counterparts with a similar graphics system both in the 3D Mark 06 and 3D Mark Vantage tests, and in the Open GL Cinebench R11.5 test. In both versions of CinebenchR10, the shading tests performed rather poorly. Considering the purpose of this graphics card, then there is no point in running game tests on it. The 300E5C will only be sufficient for gaming at the lowest settings.

Samsung 300E: noise level

The Samsung 300E seems to be quite quiet when idle. The fan sometimes turns off completely, leaving only a slight rustle of the hard drive. The noise level under load reaches 41.3 dB. Users who find this operating mode too loud can use simple setup tools and use silent mode. In this case, the maximum volume under load will be reduced to 35.3 dB. It does this at the cost of lower performance levels and lower processor clock speeds. Users did not notice any deviations in fan control.

Samsung 300E: temperature

Under light use, the surface temperature of the Samsung 300E remains within normal limits. However, in the case of unrealistic tests for several hours at 100% GPU and CPU load, the temperature can be increased up to 50 degrees. In practice, users are unlikely to experience problems. The temperature of the graphics chip and two processor cores remained in the green zone during the stress test. At the same time, the clock speed of both cores remained stable. GPU operates in the 950 MHz region. At the same time, throttling was not observed, since all 3DMark tests that were carried out immediately afterwards ended with a slight difference compared to a cold start.

Samsung 300E: speakers

In the Samsung 300E laptop, the speakers are located above the keyboard. This ensures that the sound remains undistorted even at maximum volume. However, the bass is slightly lacking, as is always the case on devices without a subwoofer. Users recommend using external speakers or quality headphones. Testing the 3.5 mm jack did not reveal any problems.

Samsung 300E: Power Consumption

In standby state, the power consumption of the Samsung 300E is 11.2W maximum. Under moderate load, this value rises to 45.1 W, and at full load, up to 56 W. Silent mode lowers the processor clock speed. At the same time, the power consumption level drops to 23.6 Wt in the 3D Mark 06 tests.

Samsung 300E: battery life

The Samsung 300E laptop is equipped with a lithium-ion battery with a capacity of 48W 8h. The battery life of the device at the minimum brightness level, the Wi-Fi module is off and the power saving mode is on is 7 hours. With high performance, maximum brightness, and wireless enabled, the battery lasts 1.5 hours.

Conclusion

The manufacturer in the 3 series decided to focus on providing the best quality / price ratio. On the positive side here, the savings have not affected key user experiences such as input devices or screen quality. The Samsung 300E display is not bright, but thanks to the matte surface, it will be enough for outdoor use. The input devices in the Samsung 300E are also well matched. At the same time, the manufacturer saved on interfaces.

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