Hands-On With the Samsung Q310-34P

Sexy, sexy, sexy. That was our first thought upon getting our paws on the Samsung Q310-34P, the consumer-end sister machine of the Samsung X460. The 13.3-inch thin-and-light notebook weighs 4.8 pounds, and sports a black, glossy lid and base that unfortunately draws lots of fingerprints and smudges. Still it’s quite the eye-catcher with an equally glossy black base that features a dash of red. For $1,349 you get the following specs:

• 2.2-GHz processor
• Windows Vista Business operating system
• 3GB of RAM
• 320GB, 5400-rpm HDD
• Intel GMA X4500 graphics
• ExpressCard/34
• 7-in-1 memory card reader
• 3 USB 2.0
• VGA
• HDMI
• 802.11a/b/g/n Wi-Fi
• DVD +/-RW with LightScribe

Upon firing up the machine, we were impressed with Vista Business’ relatively snappy boot time; it took “just” 48 seconds to load, which is about 12 seconds shorter than many Vista machines. The 1280 x 800 display isn’t nearly as bright as the X460′s, but should suit everyday users just fine. The keyboard gets the job done without too much flex, but the touchpad is a bit on the small side and features mushy mouse buttons. It should be noted that the keyboard has a Silver Nano, anti-bacterial coating designed to keep the cooties at bay. In terms of performance, the 2.2-GHz Intel Core 2 Duo P8400 engine and 3GB of RAM made for remarkably snappy performance; Windows and menus opened quite briskly. The 6-cell battery is rated at 6 hours of battery life, but our LAPTOP Battery Test (surfing the Web until the notebook’s endurance is drained) saw the Q310-34P last 4 hours and 41 minutes on a charge–that’s over 30 minutes better than the typical thin-and-light notebook. The Samsung Q310-34P is certainly off to a fine start. Check back shortly for a full review.