Samsung NP300E5E-A01US Overview

Among budget laptops, what catches attention on the Samsung NP300E5E-A01US is its surprisingly svelte design. The device is made of plastics, but the back of the 15.6-inch LCD panel has brushed aluminum appearance. It’s silver colored, just like the palmrests and area around the black chiclet-style keyboard and comfortably large trackpad.

The hardware hidden inside the 1-1.25″ thin case consists of an ultrabook-class Intel Core i3 1.9GHz dual-core processor, 4GB of system memory for multitasking and work without RAM-related worries, expandable to 8GB, a conventionally-sized 500GB hard drive, and a classic-capacity six-cell battery. It hasn’t been specified which i3 CPU model is inside, but judging from the clock speed it’s most likely the i3-3227U ultra-low voltage dual-core chip. It’s the only i3 chip in the current lineup at 1.9GHz.

Samsung’s NP300E5E-A01US, like other full-size notebook in its class, sports a built-in DVD burner for old-school backups and movie and music playback. The webcam has a 1.3MP sensor and is capable of capturing 720p HD videos, so your online interlocutors will have a good picture while chatting with you. The laptop also has three USB ports (unfortunately at 2.0 speed instead of 3.0) for peripheral connectivity, HDMI and VGA outputs for hooking up to external displays, and a media card reader which reads various types of cards. For Internet connectivity, the Samsung features Wi-Fi and Gigabit LAN, accompanied by Bluetooth 4.0 interface for easy pairing with your smartphone or other devices.

While going through specs sheets of the Samsung Series 3 laptop PCs, we have found and liked the fact that this model has an anti-reflective display for easier use in bright environments. In terms of screen resolution, there are no surprises. It’s a mediocre one with 1366×768 pixel count. It’s also good to see that bezels around the LCD screen are fairly thin.

The price for the system is $379.99, a modest one considering the included decent i3 processor and nice design.

As an alternative configuration to the NP300E5E-A01US model, there’s the NP300E5E-A02US with a full-voltage (and full performance) i3 and a 750GB hard drive for about $430.

Samsung NP300E5E-A01US Specifications

• Display: 15.6″ at 1366×768 resolution, 220cd/m2 brightness
• Processor: Intel Core i3 at 1.9GHz, most likely the 3rd Generation Intel Core i3-3227U dual-core, 3MB cache
• Graphics: Intel HD, probably HD 4000 series
• Memory: 4GB DDR3 1,600MHz, expandable to 8GB
• Storage: 750GB 5,400rpm HDD
• Optical drive: DVD writer
• Webcam: 1.3-megapixel, 720p capable
• Audio: stereo speakers, 1.5W each, SoundAlive audio technology
• Network: 802.11b/g/n wireless, Gigabit Ethernet LAN, Bluetooth 4.0
• Input: chiclet keyboard with numberic pad, multitouch trackpad
• Ports and Slots: 3 x USB 2.0, 1 x HDMI, 1 x VGA, 3-in-1 media card reader
• Battery: 6-cell 48WHr lithium-ion
• Dimensions: 1-1.25 x 14.8 x 9.8 inches
• Weight: 4.9 lbs
• OS: Windows 8
• Warranty: 1-year