Lenovo IdeaPad U260 and Samsung SF510-A01 Laptops - Samsung SF510-A01 Laptop

The Samsung SF510-A01 is a 15.6-inch retail laptop that gives mainstream customers plenty of value for its price.  Excellent design and features make it one laptop that is hard to pass up.  The SF510-A01 is available for $629.99, and it comes with a one-year warranty.

The SF510-A01 has a 2.4 GHz Intel Core i3-370M processor.  It's not the most high-end or powerful processor from Intel, but it gives the laptop enough juice to perform most common daily tasks.  You can surf the net, view multimedia, do some casual gaming, and more.  You can also run multiple applications at once without too much trouble thanks to the processor's multiple cores.  Extra multitasking help comes via 4 GB of DDR3 SDRAM.

The additional core features of the SF510-A01 are of the standard variety for its class.  There's a 500 GB hard drive for storage.  Graphics are supported by an Intel Graphics Media Accelerator 4500MHD card.  The integrated graphics are good enough for light gaming and watching videos, but this is not a gaming laptop by any means.  Battery life is impressive for a laptop of its size, with the included battery rated at around seven hours of usage.  Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium Edition 64-bit is the pre-installed operating system.

While the core features are somewhat standard, the Samsung SF510-A01 comes with plenty of extras.  There's a DVD drive and an integrated webcam and microphone.  For fast data transfers with other devices, you get a 4-in-1 media reader.  Internet connectivity is supported by 802.11n Wi-Fi and embedded 4G WiMAX technology.  As an added perk, the SF510-A01 comes with Intel Wireless Display.  This allows you to stream media content to a television wirelessly.  You must purchase a NETGEAR Push2TV adapter for the feature to work, however.

The SF510-A01 is very easy on the eyes, thanks to its ivory exterior that meshes nicely with the dark brown metallic interior.  There's also a thin chrome accent around the sides to give the laptop some added flair.  The SF510-A01 is large, measuring 13.7 inches wide by 9.7 inches deep by 1.1 inches thick and weighing 4.7 pounds.  The 15.6-inch display offers an unimpressive resolution of 1,366 x 768, but its graphics are satisfactory.  The integrated speakers offer good volume levels and are suitable for watching movies and listening to music.

The keyboard is very large and comfortable to type with.  Wide, flat keys are used, and you also get a separate number pad.  Above the keyboard are dedicated media controls.  The touch pad is equally as big, and supports multi-touch gestures.  The SF510-A01's connectivity options are decent.  Overall, there are three USB 2.0 ports, a VGA port, a HDMI port, an Ethernet port, and microphone and headphone jacks.

The Samsung SF510-A01 is the total package as far as mainstream laptops are concerned.  It does have some omissions, such as Bluetooth, but its attractive design, performance, and feature set present a solid overall choice for those in need of a computer for their everyday needs.