Samsung Series 3 NP350U2B-A03 Laptop (Core i3 2nd Gen/4 GB/500 GB/Windows 7)

Just bought this from flipkart.com last Friday(04/11/2011). Used for 3 days and here for review...nnWhen I started planning for a new laptop, I had following criterian1. Portability - should be less than 1.7kg (last one was 1.95kg)n2. Intel processor (Previous AMD used to burn my lap)n3. Budget(max 35000)nnWhen I started my search I was almost stuck with 11.6 inch atom processor laptops) as you can see that portability was my first preference. For a higher performance processor only two options I had - 1. Sony VAIO S (with core i3 it is 47K) and 2. Samsung NP350U2B-A03nnAs far my requirement goes, I use this laptop for browsing, facebook, casual photo-shopping, casual photographic raw conversion and streaming movie to my PS3. So considering that Intel core i3 was sufficient. nnOut of two laptops, Sony VAIO S was out of scope for me as it was 14K more just for brand and illuminated keys (and 2GB less RAM). Only contender left was this Samsung or other Atom 11.6" netbooks. In market there are some ultra-low power Core i3 netbooks, but difficult to find one with good bargain. nnI was little skeptical with Samsung electronic product like mobiles, laptops etc. just because it is a home appliance manufacturer. Only reason I went for this because Samsung is leading in LED/LCD panels and all of the component of a laptop is manufactured by other brand (yes even the HDD is of Hitachi made in this laptop) :DnnNow the usability, n- this is super light (though considerably sturdy) weight of 1.4kg (lesser than or equal to other brand 11.6" netbooks). n- Core i3 processor does its job well along with Intel's HD3000 integrated graphics, and scores 4.9 in Windows 7 performance index, where processor scores 6.2n- 4Gb RAM is enough for my need and 500Gb HDD is good enough for my thousands of RAW photos of 15mb eachn- The island keyboard is nice to use, some what feels like my old mac. n- Touch pad is gesture supported, so pinch zoom, two finger scroll and two finger tap right click works welln- Screen is 12.5" and bright (it supposed to be readable under direct sunlight)n- Though I prefer to stream video, but direct HDMI connection is nice to have feature (pretty common these days)nnSome cool features to mentionnn1. Fast boot (and some sort of special sleep mode)n2. Silent moden3. Battery saving moden4. Partition option (though only for first time)nnFast boot with hybrid sleep mode is nice feature, in this sleep mode, it stops all processor and HDD work, what I can guess is a negligible amount of power goes to RAM to maintain the memory. so when you switch on the laptop, it gets back to life within 7-10 seconds maximum. nnIn case of silent mode, it reduces the CPU fan speed and runs quietly, but yes processor runs in lower power and hence lower performance too.nnIn battery saving mode, when it is plugged, it charges the battery to 80% only and then runs on A/C power. According to Samsung it increase 30% recharge cycle of the battery improving the life.nnWhen it starts for first time, it asks you to create a partition or use the whole HDD as a one drive. This is cool feature that you do not have to worry about partitioning your disk later. It reserves 18GB for recovery purpose.nnOther features are normal (1.3 MP web cam etc) and works as usual. The nnSome points to mention, with this weight and size, I cannot complaint about a optical drive, but yes I would have been happy if they could provide one USB 3.0 port, hard button for wi-fi & volume. And I was little disappointed not getting a sleeve for this.nnOver all I am happy with the build quality and usability of this laptop so far. Highly recommended if you are looking for decent performance laptop(not netbook) with portability.

I am very satisfied with the notebook and no other brand can match it's price,with the same features.Its a superb machine however,my system takes time to boost and at times goes to the Bios setup.nnCons- Absence of Optical Drive and it's a bit noisy.