Samsung Series 3 NP300E5A 15in notebook

Computing for the cost-conscious

Wed 21 Mar 2012 // 07:00 UTC

Smoked finish?

The Samsung Series 3 range does standout in the sea of grey or black notebooks currently available and, to my eyes at least, the lid design resembles a huge Lambert & Butler cigarette packet of old. However, Samsung calls it a Duracase. The whole of the lid is corrugated, and it's apparently it scratch resistant.

Cigarette case?

Another reason behind this look is that it stops the lid from being a finger print magnet that so many other finishes are. The silver and black styling continues on the chassis top with the silver wrist pads and track pad being set against the black finish of the rest of the chassis top.

Benchmark Tests

PCMark 7 Results

Longer bars are better

Battery life for the NP300E5A isn’t bad with the 4400mAh (48Wh) battery giving results in Futuremark's new Powermark battery test ranging from 100 minutes for the Entertainment profile up to 232 minutes for the Productivity option. I also tested the battery run down time for DVD playback and managed to squeeze out around four and a half hours – more than enough time to watch the latest Peter Jackson epic, just.

Affordable and capable, but forget about gaming

Samsung's website favours promoting the Core i5 Series 3 model with this Core i3 version of the NP300E5A appearing pretty much exclusive to Curry’s, Dixons and PC World – so, easy enough to find when you know where to look.

Verdict 

The Samsung Series 3 NP300E5A-A01DX is a nice enough budget notebook but it exists in an incredibly cluttered market. Indeed, just about the only thing that makes it stand out from the competition is its styling and the screen's matt finish, which is certain to find favour for many tired of seeing overhead lighting and typing manoeuvres reflected in a mirror display laptop. ®