Samsung R522

Samsung quotes the R522 as weighing 2.6kg, but on our scales it came in at just under 100g lighter, which for a 15in laptop isn't bad. Battery life is also good, and if you really put the R522 through its paces, the 4,000mAh six-cell battery will manage around two hours before crying out for the mains. When we put PCmark05 in an inexorable loop with Wi-Fi switched on and the screen brightness at full whack, it lasted 2hrs 23mins. Expect around four hours under less intensive use.

Fingerprints are more than welcome on the glossy lid

As with many other Samsung laptops, the battery benefits from a quick-check indicator that means you don't have to fire the R522 up just to see how much life is left – instead, simply bash the button on the battery and it tells you roughly how much juice is left. Samsung also includes a small utility that will prevent the battery being charged beyond 80 per cent capacity. It might sound a little odd, but Samsung claims the ageing process of the battery will be slowed down if you use this setting.

Verdict

The keyboard won't suit all tastes and we were hoping for slightly better battery life, but on the whole this is a decent budget laptop from Samsung. That said, the bizarre decision to go with 802.11g wireless and the total lack of Bluetooth may be enough to dissuade some potential buyers. ®

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