Samsung X460 Review

Samsung has been quietly going about its laptop business without much fanfare. Samsung X460 is a nice offering from the company in the 14″ category. The laptop bears a different look from the rest of the clan. The notebook is expensive and aimed at premium segment. Due to its light weight and small dimensions it can be termed as an ultraportable inspite of its bigger screen size.

Samsung X460 specifications :

• Dimensions : 13.3″ x 9.7″ x 1.3″
• Weight : 4lbs
• Type : Ultraportable
• Display : 14.1″ TFT active matrix with 1280 x 800 resolution
• Processor : Intel Core 2 Duo P8400/ 2.26 GHz
• RAM : 3GB DDR3 SDRAM
• Graphics : Nivida GeForce 9200M GS
• Hard Drive : 320GB SATA-150, 5400rpm
• Optical drive : DVD-Writer
• Card Reader :  7-in-2 card reader
• OS : Microsoft Windows Vista Business
• Battery : 6-cell Li-ion battery
• Approx. price : $1599

The price tag of over $1500 puts it out of reach of a large segment of users. The notebook competes with Macbook Air with its ultra thin nature. Samsung has done quite a bit of thinking in getting the configuration right and it does look much better on paper than the Macbook Air. However, Samsung did not care much about the pricing which is on the higher side for the features and specifications it sports. Also Samsung should have included more goodies to justify the higher price tag, which unfortunately is not the case.

The laptop tapers down to less than an inch in thickness at its thinnest point! Its weight is also low at just 4lbs. The looks of the notebook are different from the conventional ones. The chassis has been made out of high quality plastic. It has used both matte and glossy plastic at different sections of the notebook that gives it a professional look. The lid has been painted two-thirds red and rest black. The notebook isn’t a true ultraportable as it has a 14″ screen as opposed to 13″ or less but it small dimensions entitle it the tag.

The keyboard is plain and unimpressive considering its looks. The keyboard area gives you a monotonous feeling with its all black color including the keys. Samsung has gone with separate keys that emerge out of the case like the Macbook Air and latest Macbooks. The keys are widely spaced and typing was a pleasure. The keys have tactile feedback and overall we like this kind of keyboard layout much more than traditional one.

The touchpad is small and has the two standard keys below it. Samsung could have used a bit more space and made the touchpad more wider for comfortable use. The keys as a result are also small sized. The touchpad has a dedicated vertical scroll zone too. The touchpad has a nice touch to it but its less space is its biggest drawback.

The speakers have been included just for the sake of it and are almost useless. The volume is loud though but the sound lacks any punch. At high volumes the distortions are terrible. You would want to buy separate speakers for listening to songs or watching movies.

The display is a 14.1″ TFT screen with 1280 x 800 resolution. The display is of glossy nature which produces great images. The reflections are bearable and the display is suited for all daily tasks. The display is based on LED backlit technology that is emerging as preferred technology for next generation displays. The display has high brightness but is easy on the eyes at the same time. Overall the display is pretty good and can be used in almost all lighting conditions.

There are no fancy multimedia keys on the laptop. The only shortcuts can be achieved using the function key and F-row keys. The only two dedicated keys on the laptop are for launching the Samsung MagicDoctor utility and other one for toggling between power saver and performance boost mode. Samsung should have well left them out too as one is unlikely to use them frequently. The laptop also has a regular DVD burner and not the Blu-ray drive you would expect in a laptop supporting a price tag of above $1500.

The ports are limited due to the slim design. However, it does manage to squeeze in all the important ones. Firewire is missing and Samsung has gone for the smaller ExpressCard/34 slot. It however does feature a HDMI port which is located at the rear along with the USB ports. VGA port is also present for connecting external displays as it is still the preferred port by display manufacturers.  It also has a five-in-one card reader which is usually given a miss due to space constraints on ultraportables. Headphone and microphone jacks make up for the rest of the ports on the laptop. The laptop does not have Wireless-N capability, with the standard making it to budget laptops, Samsung should have certainly included in it in their premium segment notebook.

The performance of the laptop is great with the fast Intel Core 2 Duo processor and 3GB DDR3 RAM that has been used. The graphics have not been left unattended and Nvidia GeForce 9200M GS does quite a respectable job. But do not expect to run modern games smoothly even though the GPU has 256MB memory. You should be able to accomplish all your tasks easily on the move with this laptop. The battery life is rated at around 4.5 hours on normal usage, which is excellent.

Pros :

• Professional design
• Good display
• Wide-spaced keys
• Great performance
• Excellent battery life

Cons :

• No Firewire port
• Monotonous interior
• Expensive

Final Thoughts

The Samsung X460 is a nice offering from Samsung but is on the expensive side. A more reasonable price tag would surely have helped its cause. The design is different but refreshingly good. Display is good, typing is easy, performance is great and the battery lasts upto 4.5 hours. You can not expect more from an ultraportable. Ports are bound to be few on thin laptops but Samsung has done a commendable job to include all the important ones. A better graphics card would surely have helped in justifying the higher price tag. If you bags of money, definitely prefer this over Macbook Air, save for Mac OS X!

Rating : 4/5