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Samsung R560 15.4in Notebook Review

Author Ardjuna Seghers
Published 12th Nov 2008
Manufacturer Samsung
Price £570.22 (Exc VAT)
as reviewed £655.75 (Inc VAT)
Latest Price Click here
Design Score 8 for Design
Features Score 7 for Features
Performance Score 9 for Performance
Value Score 8 for Value
Overall Score 8 for Overall
Samsung R560 15.4in Notebook
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Inputs are another area where little has changed from the Q310, except for placement. Unfortunately, Samsung still doesn't offer e-SATA, which is becoming ever more prevalent and essential if you want to swap large files between external drives. Digital audio connectivity in the form of S/PDIF out is another regrettable absentee, though the sorts of price driven users that might opt for the R560 are unlikely to miss such a feature.


Besides these absentees, the rest of the selection is decent. On the left is a single USB port, VGA and HDMI for video connectivity, 3.5mm headphone and microphone sockets and a 54mm ExpressCard slot. On the the front there's only the memory card reader, while the right is quite sparse, housing a LightScribe capable DVD-writer and Kensington lock slot.

On the notebook's back there are a further two USB sockets, the power socket, a Gigabit LAN port and the good old 56K modem. Wireless connectivity, meanwhile, is well taken care of by 802.11 Draft-N Wi-Fi and Bluetooth 2.0+ EDR.


Getting to usability, the touchpad is rather good. It's large enough, pleasantly textured and responsive, while the solid left and right buttons are also large and feature good feedback with a positive click. Likewise, the keyboard is pretty solid. It has large, well-shaped keys and an excellent layout, including Samsung's signature secondary function key to the right that allows one-handed adjustments of brightness and volume. If anything the key travel is little shallow, but keys do have a firm and crisp feel to them and for a notebook at this price, it's a pretty decent effort.


After using the Medion Akoya S5610 one might bemoan the lack of number pad as well, but the Medion is more or less exclusive in having this feature so it wouldn't be fair to penalise Samsung.

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Latest 4 of 9 Comments

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comment Beaky69 said on 12th November 2008

Just a couple of comments. Firstly, although a number-pad on a notebook might be advantageous for some, a major down-side is that when typing, one's hands are permanently off... more

comment BigBadDave said on 13th November 2008

Medion are sold out of 6612s.....

comment MrGodfrey said on 22nd January 2009

Thanks Ardjuna for this review, based on which (along with some other even more positive reviews) I've decided to order the R560. I nearly convinced myself the Medion S5610 wa... more

comment MrGodfrey said on 4th February 2009

FWIW, I've had the R560 a couple of weeks now. I can answer my own question: Yes there is bloatware, but it's not as bad as many others and easy enough to uninstall. I ac... more

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