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Samsung R50 (Pentium M Processor 740 1.73GHz, 512MB RAM)

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List price as of Nov 22, 2005:
S$2499

Product Summary


Average

5.7

out of 10

View score

The good: Plays DVDs and multimedia files without bootup; good-quality build; slim; good battery life.

The bad: Screen not bright enough; weak performance.

The bottom line: The Samsung R50's traditional understated design goes well with a professional image. However, despite the inclusion of the dedicated graphics card, the weak performance of the machine limits its use to light computing work.

Read full review of the Samsung R50 »

 

Average User Rating

from 5 users


Excellent

7.6

out of 10
 

How would you rate this product?

 
 

CNET Asia Review

By Darius Chang, CNET Asia
Nov 22, 2005

Unlike Samsung's first notebooks the X1 and Q30, there is a distinct lack of novelty in the R50. Using a tried-and-tested design, it seems this machine chooses to focus on what's under the hood instead. Unfortunately, the average performance doesn't give much credence to that effort.

Design
Made from plastic, the silver exterior feels sturdy and well-made. With a footprint of 357 x 261.8 x 33.9mm, this desktop replacement is relatively slim for its category. But carrying this laptop for long distances can be an issue as the 2.89kg heft weighs down the shoulder.


The traditional design is a far cry from previous avant garde Samsung notebooks.
Most of the ports are easily accessed from the sides with the battery taking up most of the rear. The speakers are located on the palm rest. Though this could be a move to maximize every inch of available space, audio quality suffers as the hands tend to cover the speaker grill during typing. Moreover, listening to music with the screen closed would muffle the sound output.

There is only one dedicated button which starts up Samsung's proprietary media player. Volume control and brightness levels require two keys to be simultanously pressed for effect. The full-sized keyboard and touchpad are responsive and comfortable to use.

Features
Our test unit came with a Pentium M 740 1.73GHz processor and 512MB of RAM. Now standard on almost all notebooks are USB 2.0 ports, FireWire and Wi-Fi connectivity. Numbering four, this notebook is generous with the USB slots for peripherals. This laptop uses the contemporary but soon to be replaced PC Card slot, which is incompatible with the future ExpressCard standard.


This laptop presents a professional look.
External displays can use either VGA or S-video present in the R50 and driven by the dedicated ATI Radeon X300 graphics chips with 128MB of video memory. Though not one of the highest performers, the video card is adequate for most gaming titles and graphics-intensive work. Internally, visuals are shown on its 15.4-inch transflective display. This LCD technology is adopted because it uses enviromental light and lamps to illuminate the display, the drawback being that the screen is highly reflective. If the internal lamps are powerful enough, the reflections can be removed. However, the R50's display does not have the illuminating power to completely overcome this shortcoming.

The internal DVD writer cannot be upgraded as the unit does not use a modular system. One of the key features of this notebook is its multimedia capabilities. Using Samsung's Instant AVS software, DVDs and CDs can be played without booting into the OS. Movies, music and even photos can be displayed in this manner. A nice touch and rarely seen function is that this software can access media files from memory cards and even the harddisk. Coupled with the S-video output, the Samsung R50 can adequately double as an entertainment setup.

Performance And Battery Life
With its Pentium M 740 1.73GHz processor and 512MB RAM, the R50 runs on the latest Centrino 533MHz FSB platform. The unit manages a rather low score of 124 on MobileMark 2002 benchmark test. Compared with the Fujitsu LifeBook N3510 and the Samsung X50 which scored 237 and 207, respectively, this laptop's performance is below average.

BAPCo MobileMark2002 performance rating (longer bars indicate faster performance)
Samsung R50
(Pentium M processor 740 1.73GHz; 512MB RAM; 533MHz FSB)
124
Samsung X50
(Pentium M processor 740 1.73GHz; 512MB RAM; 533MHz FSB)
207
Fujitsu LifeBook N3510
(Pentium M processor 1.4GHz; 512MB RAM; 533MHz FSB)
237

With a runtime of slightly over 3 hours, the R50 has a respectable battery life for a desktop replacement.

BAPCo MobileMark2002 battery life in minutes (longer bars indicate longer battery life)
Samsung R50
(Pentium M processor 740 1.73GHz; 15.4-inch screen)
184
Samsung X50
(Pentium M processor 740 1.73GHz; 15.4-inch screen)
238
Fujitsu LifeBook N3510
(Pentium M processor 740 1.73GHz; 15.4-inch screen)
147

Service And Support
Samsung notebooks have a one-year international warranty. On its support Web site, you can download user manuals, drivers and software patches. However, there is no knowledge database nor comprehensive FAQ for self-diagnosis. There is no telephone technical support and only a hotline number is given for basic enquiries. In case of hardware failure, the unit should be brought to a service center for repair. It is unfortunate that the number of service centers, of which there's only one location in Singapore, is found lacking. Overall, there is much room for improvement when it comes to Samsung's technical support.

 

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Samsung R50 (Pentium M Processor 740 1.73GHz, 512MB RAM)
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User Reviews

Perfect

Apr 28, 2008

Rating: 10 out of 10 (Perfect)
Pros: Performance, battery, quality
Cons: Graphics
Opinion:
Good screen. Very good performance. I have used it for video editing and it works very well! 3D games work quite well, integrated graphics are enough for MOST GAMES.
After two years of use no problems at all. Durable and reliable.
Regards

 

very bad customer service

Mar 15, 2007

Rating: 2 out of 10 (Terrible)
Pros: big screen, nice colours
Cons: unstable, some keys on the keyboard are not working
Opinion:
This laptop died on me just after a few months i got it. It had this auto shut-down whenever i switched on the notebook. (I am quite sure my notebook is virus free) I brought it to their service centre but they insisted it had no fault. After days of trying, it still happened, so I brought it back, and was told that some chip /board was spoilt and they have to import it in. they took about 2 months + (can u believe that?) to import the chip and repair my notebook. They have bad customer service attitude and the repair service is hopeless.

After all those watiting, now the notebook is still unstable and it dies on me occassionally. :(

 


Good performance notebook

Nov 2, 2005

Rating: 8 out of 10 (Excellent)
Pros: 
Cons: 
Opinion:
Bought this at COMEX 05. Comes with great specs, nice screen. But noticed one dead pixel after just one week of usage. AV Snow function is good, but unstable at times. Good sound quality and clear graphics. Overall a good buy!

 

See all user opinions »

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