The Samsung Q430 is the South Korean gadget giant’s latest affordable laptop, packing performance and features into something cheap and small. Does it live up to its rivals when it comes to quality, usability and battery life, or is it left wanting? Join us after the break in this part of our Samsung Q430 review to find out.
Read the rest of our Samsung Q430 review
Samsung Q430 review
Samsung Q430 review: Portable power
Samsung Q430 review: Speed and media skills
The Samsung Q430 features a 14-inch screen, which is great for portable use. As with every other model in Samsung’s current laptop range, the Samsung Q430 offers a 1366 x 768-pixel resolution. Although we’ve seen higher resolutions, it works well on a screen of this size, with text and icons proving a good size. Image quality is also good, with crisp, clear graphics in place.
Unsurprisingly, there’s a Super-TFT coating on the Samsung Q430, which offers mixed results. Colours are reasonably bright, but it’s also a reflective panel, showing fingerprints and reflections when used in the sunshine.
The Samsung Q430 has a keyboard that emulates the style found on Sony VAIO and Apple MacBook laptops. The keys stick out through individual holes in the chassis, and as a result there’s a little more space between each key, making it easier to type at speed.
The Samsung Q430’s keyboard is every bit as good as that found on the much more expensive Apple MacBook Pro. The keys are firmly attached and move quietly, and they offer enough travel to be comfortable for long periods of time. They’re also responsive, making it easy to touch type.
The lid on the Samsung Q430 is finished in a brushed dark grey plastic, and it looks like metal. The effect is great – it’s a lot more hardwearing than the previous generation Samsung Q series, and it’s also easier to keep clean. The inside also features a brushed finish, although with plastics that are much lighter in colour.
Apart form the plastics on the bottom of the Samsung Q430, which flex slightly under pressure and feel a tad cheap, we’re very impressed with this machine, and it’s more than tough enough for withstanding daily use.
The Samsung Q430 is a fully featured machine when it comes to ports.On the left-hand side, you’ll find both VGA and HDMI ports for hooking up external displays, and there’s also a USB port and an Ethernet connection. There are another two USB ports on the right-hand side, along with a DVD rewriter.
One of the USB ports also includes the increasingly popular Sleep-and-charge technology, allowing other digital devices to be charged, even with the Samsung Q430 is turned off. Samsung has fitted an SD card reader on the front of the chassis, making it easy to access files from other devices.
Other features on the Samsung Q430 include Bluetooth 3.0, a feature that’s still relatively new in the laptop world. With speeds that are around eight times quicker than older Bluetooth 2.0 technology, it means there’s no longer a huge penalty for transferring files wirelessly.
You’ll also find 802.11n Wi-Fi, letting you access home and office networks. Both of these impact on battery life, however, with a couple of hours taken off the overall run time when the wireless antennas are activated.
Dim the display slightly, turn off the Wi-Fi and Bluetooth, and you’ll be able to get the Samsung Q430 to run for around six hours between charges - slightly behind the Acer Aspire 4810T.
Overall then, there’s little to criticise when it comes to the build of the Samsung Q430. Solid and dependable, this compact machine offers excellent value for money, and feels like it’s worth a lot more than it actually is.
Read the rest of our Samsung Q430 review
Samsung Q430 review
Samsung Q430 review: Portable power
Samsung Q430 review: Speed and media skills
