paulstrusted1: Samsung unveils Series 7 laptops, we go hands-on

Wednesday, 31 August 2011

Samsung unveils Series 7 laptops, we go hands-on

One of Samsung's Series 7 laptops was outed not long ago, but that PC was made for fragging, while the rest in this line of laptops is meant for more pedestrian purposes. The new members of the family come sheathed in the same silver aluminum skin, but sport a smaller 300-nit, 1600 x 900 matte display in both 15.6-inch and 14-inch versions. Those displays are surrounded by a minimalist bezel, which allowed Samsung to stuff a 14-inch panel into a 13-inch chassis. Around the sides, there are two USB 3.0 ports (and one of the 2.0 variety), Gigabit Ethernet and HDMI and VGA sockets (the latter requires an included dongle a la the Series 9).

On the inside, users can get up to a Core i7-2675QM CPU clocked at 2.2GHz, up to 8GB of RAM, Radeon HD 6750M graphics and a 750GB HDD spinning at 7,200RPM. On all but the base model, there's an additional 8GB of flash memory mounted on the motherboard that helps shave boot times down to mere seconds using Sammy's FastStart technology. A lithium polymer battery powers everything, and Samsung claims the 80Wh cell will maintain 80 percent of its original capacity for up to 1,500 charges. Prices start at $1,000, and run all the way up to $1,300 for all the fixins'. Sound good? Head on past the break for some hands-on impressions.

Gallery: Samsung Series 7 Laptops