Review: Samsung QX412 Notebook
In the paraphernalia that accompanies the Samsung QX412 14-inch notebook, it is claimed to have a “blazing fast processing speed and video recreation” thanks to its second generation Intel Core i5 2410 processor. What they are trying to say is that if you want a small, mobile superfast notebook, this one’s for you.
So does it live up to its hype? Loaded with Windows 7 Home Premium and 320GB of memory, this unit – with the backing of the aforementioned processor – certainly does live up to its claimed speed aspect. Loading videos was very fast, and downloading detailed pics from both my phone camera and compact shooter was done at a pretty fast rate of knots (considering my home laptop is a three-going-on-four-year-old Toshiba Satellite – which still does what I need it to – it doesn’t take much to impress!).
Due to time restraints, we were not able to fully test the alleged battery length of nine hours, however, it was switched on for just over six hours and it didn’t run out. To be fair, we didn’t tax the engine room that much – it would be interesting to see how long the battery life was if we had watched a couple of movies. Mind you, it does have one of those caveats attached about the nine hour battery life in that said length of time “varies depending on configuration” – almost a get out of jail free card if the power is sucked out faster than they are claiming.
One of my bugbears on a notebook/laptop/netbook is the screen. Too often manufacturer’s spruik how clean and bright their screens are, only to be let down when putting a unit through its paces. Happily the XQ412 comes up trumps in that the screen is indeed bright, crisp and with sharp colours. However, being plastic it is a little hard to keep clean when smudged.
It’s not all bouquets with the unit however. If you don’t mind tinny sounds and are not super fussy on the look, then it is probably money well spent. While playing a couple of YouTube clips and a short videofrom a news site, the sound wasn’t anything to write home about. Also, with the unit I had, the outside and bezel were black, while the facia with the keyboard was silver. I prefer an overall colour as opposed to two-tone.
It’s RRP comes in just under $1,400, which isn’t too bad when it comes to value for money. Overall, a tidy unit that does most of what it claims and would suit those on the go who want something compact enough to fit in a bag, but with enough oompf to speed things along.
Pros: Nice and compact, Excellent screen, fast processing
Cons: Sound not great, finishing could be better
3.9 Shacks out of 5
