GROUP TEST: High-speed laptops

Samsung RF711

Big on both features and performance, but this giant just falls short of greatness

Samsung clearly believes in the importance of first impressions. Before you open the RF711 to reveal the 17.3in display within, a subtle texture shimmers across the laptop’s huge lid, itself fastened to the chassis by ostentatious chrome-effect hinges.

Yet the RF711 can’t help looking a little ordinary against the exotic Alienware M14x or Asus’ luxurious N73SV. The plastic construction keeps weight to a palatable 3.11kg and feels sturdy enough, but the dull two-tone interior just doesn’t have the same wow factor.

This isn’t to say there’s anything lacking – on paper, at least. The RF711 clearly wants to take pride of place as an all-round powerhouse, and the specification list shows it as an entertainer. A Blu-ray reader squeezes into the RF711’s flank, while twin 500GB hard disks provide all the storage you could ask for.

Intel’s Core i7-2630QM processor pushed performance to impressive heights, while the modest Nvidia GeForce GT 540M graphics chipset racked up playable frame rates in our Medium Crysis test. With an average of 34fps, the Samsung is quite happy turning its attention to demanding 3D games. You might struggle to carry it further than the lounge, but it’s equally happy away from the mains. Thanks to the graphics-switching presence of Nvidia’s Optimus, the RF711 managed five hours of light-use battery life.

Fire up a Blu-ray movie, though, and minor faults bubble to the surface. The built-in speakers

are reasonably loud, but the lightweight sound quality lacks the oomph of its rivals. The same can be said of the display: while impressively bright, the average contrast ratio and middle-of-the-road colour accuracy simply don’t make the best

of HD movies. Colours look limp and pale, and the greyish blacks don’t give images the visceral pop of the best displays here.

It’s a shame, since many of the core aspects are handled well. The keyboard and touchpad are regular stumbling blocks, but Samsung manages them well: the Scrabble- tile keys and light, clicky touchpad buttons work perfectly, and are almost as pleasant to use as the best here.

Samsung’s RF711 is a solid all-rounder that stops short of excellence. With Asus’ N73SV delivering a far more thrilling audio-visual experience, we know which laptop giant we’d rather have on our desk.

Acer Aspire Ethos 5951G

Mighty performance, a novel touchpad and great battery, but it lacks in key areas

Acer describes its Aspire Ethos range as designed for “discriminating” users – and with a quad-core Core i7 processor, 8GB of RAM and a Blu-ray drive as standard, we wouldn’t argue with that. It looks the part, with a black brushed metal lid and backlit keyboard. While the 3.14kg Acer is a lumpen weight in a bag, the solid base and stiff lid make for a well-constructed package.

Part of the Acer’s considerable weight is due to the battery. It’s a sealed unit that Acer claims will manage three times as many recharge cycles as a conventional battery. It lasts a fair while in day-to-day use, too: in our light-use test, it powered the Acer to a table-topping 7hrs 46mins.

That stamina is matched by performance. A benchmark score of 0.83 puts the Acer at the front of the pack, and the GeForce GT 555M graphics chip earns it third place – 44fps in our Medium Crysis test is only 1fps behind Alienware’s extravagant M14x.

But the Acer’s real party trick is its removable touchpad. A latch along the front edge releases it. Prod a button on the touchpad and playback controls glow into view, alongside buttons for Acer’s Clear.fi media-centre software.

It’s a nifty idea, but the concept isn’t quite matched by the execution: whether docked or handheld, the laggy cursor control is aggravating.

The final disappointment comes when you fire up a Blu-ray movie. While we’d have hoped for a Full HD resolution beneath that 15.6in layer of Gorilla Glass, the 1366 x 768 panel feels out of place on such a powerful machine. Quality is below par, too. The 198cd/m2 brightness sees the Acer struggle in light rooms; undersaturated colours leave movies looking pale. The speakers don’t rescue matters, with a lightweight, disappointing tone.

Despite blinding performance and a great specification, the Acer is too uneven. It has innovations, but they’re not implemented well enough to truly appeal.