Shoppers on a budget don't need to search far and wide for an affordable and stylish laptop. Not when you can pick up the Samsung RV511-AO1 for $549. This 15-inch notebook has plenty to offer home users and students, including a spacious island-style keyboard, long battery life, and a software package that's actually useful. This Intel Core i3-powered machine also has an attractive design, roomy 500GB hard drive, and high build quality. The question remains, how well does it stack up against other mainstream notebook competitors?
Design
Encased in silvery plastic, the 15.6-inch Samsung RV511 has a clean metallic look. The laptop's lid sports a finely ribbed surface with horizontal lines running across it. This washboard-like treatment is both attractive and defeats fingerprints. (Slight digression: The lid is also fun to scratch like you're a DJ.) Measuring 15 x 10 x 1.4 inches and weighing 5.4 pounds, the RV511 is easy to move from room to room and light enough to take on short trips.
Opening the notebook reveals the same smooth, pleasing, silver hue, paried with a glossy black center area that houses the keyboard. Two stereo speakers sit hidden within a slim rectangular grille located above the keyboard, and to the right of that is a large circular power button, ringed by cool blue light. The only indication of the laptop's low price is its bland black plastic underside, but even that area looks cleaner than other notebooks. Bottom line: Samsung knows design.
Keyboard and Touchpad :
The RV511's black, island-style keyboard is comfortable and has a good amount of spacing between keys. While flat, the square-shaped chiclet keys have a pleasing non-slip surface, and provide quiet but tactile feedback. Samsung also includes a number pad. Our only complaint is that the right Shift key is a bit small.
We really like the RV511's touchpad; measuring 3.5 x 2.2 inches, it's large and quite responsive. Using multi-touch gestures was a breeze, whether were zooming in and out of photos or scrolling down web pages. You can also use three fingers to flip through pictures. Two discrete mouse buttons--what we like to see--provided firm yet soft clicks.
Display and Audio :
The Samsung RV511's 15.6-inch widescreen has a standard resolution of 1366 x 768 pixels, sharp enough to display 720p HD video. We wish the viewing anglers were wider, but this panel is certainly fine for the price. When we streamed the HD trailer of Green Lantern, hues were well saturated and contrast high with deep black levels.
Equipped with two stereo speakers and enhanced audio processing courtesy of SRS Labs, the RV511 can fill a small room with sound but isn't the loudest 15-inch notebook. "Magic" by LadyHawke was tinny at max volume. The HP Pavilion G6t (review coming soon), got much louder when we played the same tracks on each laptop.
Ports and Webcam
The RV511 has the standard array of ports for a mainstream machine. On the laptop's left are two USB ports, HDMI, a 4-in-1 media card reader, Ethernet, and headphone and microphone jacks. On the left side sits the Super Multi Drive to burn DVDs and CDs, an additional USB connection, plus a Kensington lock slot.
Above the screen is the RV511's 0.3 megapixel Webcam. The image quality for both video chats and still shots was about average; recorded footage was bright enough but blocky. However, the camera waked up and captured pics quickly.
Heat
After playing a Hulu video for 15 minutes, we logged temperatures of 90 degrees on the RV511's touchpad, 92 degrees in the keyboard's center, and 93 degrees on the notebook's underside. While below what we consider uncomfortable--95 degrees-- it was slightly warmer than the average temp for mainstream laptops in the same spots (88, 90, 94). Things really heated up by the RV511's vent on its left side, reaching a toasty 107 degrees there. We could feel the RV511 heating up on our lap during use, so you'll probably want to use it on a desk--or think twice about wearing shorts.
[Via]
Design
Encased in silvery plastic, the 15.6-inch Samsung RV511 has a clean metallic look. The laptop's lid sports a finely ribbed surface with horizontal lines running across it. This washboard-like treatment is both attractive and defeats fingerprints. (Slight digression: The lid is also fun to scratch like you're a DJ.) Measuring 15 x 10 x 1.4 inches and weighing 5.4 pounds, the RV511 is easy to move from room to room and light enough to take on short trips.
Opening the notebook reveals the same smooth, pleasing, silver hue, paried with a glossy black center area that houses the keyboard. Two stereo speakers sit hidden within a slim rectangular grille located above the keyboard, and to the right of that is a large circular power button, ringed by cool blue light. The only indication of the laptop's low price is its bland black plastic underside, but even that area looks cleaner than other notebooks. Bottom line: Samsung knows design.
Keyboard and Touchpad :
The RV511's black, island-style keyboard is comfortable and has a good amount of spacing between keys. While flat, the square-shaped chiclet keys have a pleasing non-slip surface, and provide quiet but tactile feedback. Samsung also includes a number pad. Our only complaint is that the right Shift key is a bit small.
We really like the RV511's touchpad; measuring 3.5 x 2.2 inches, it's large and quite responsive. Using multi-touch gestures was a breeze, whether were zooming in and out of photos or scrolling down web pages. You can also use three fingers to flip through pictures. Two discrete mouse buttons--what we like to see--provided firm yet soft clicks.
Display and Audio :
The Samsung RV511's 15.6-inch widescreen has a standard resolution of 1366 x 768 pixels, sharp enough to display 720p HD video. We wish the viewing anglers were wider, but this panel is certainly fine for the price. When we streamed the HD trailer of Green Lantern, hues were well saturated and contrast high with deep black levels.
Equipped with two stereo speakers and enhanced audio processing courtesy of SRS Labs, the RV511 can fill a small room with sound but isn't the loudest 15-inch notebook. "Magic" by LadyHawke was tinny at max volume. The HP Pavilion G6t (review coming soon), got much louder when we played the same tracks on each laptop.
Ports and Webcam
The RV511 has the standard array of ports for a mainstream machine. On the laptop's left are two USB ports, HDMI, a 4-in-1 media card reader, Ethernet, and headphone and microphone jacks. On the left side sits the Super Multi Drive to burn DVDs and CDs, an additional USB connection, plus a Kensington lock slot.
Above the screen is the RV511's 0.3 megapixel Webcam. The image quality for both video chats and still shots was about average; recorded footage was bright enough but blocky. However, the camera waked up and captured pics quickly.
Heat
After playing a Hulu video for 15 minutes, we logged temperatures of 90 degrees on the RV511's touchpad, 92 degrees in the keyboard's center, and 93 degrees on the notebook's underside. While below what we consider uncomfortable--95 degrees-- it was slightly warmer than the average temp for mainstream laptops in the same spots (88, 90, 94). Things really heated up by the RV511's vent on its left side, reaching a toasty 107 degrees there. We could feel the RV511 heating up on our lap during use, so you'll probably want to use it on a desk--or think twice about wearing shorts.
[Via]
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