New Samsung notebooks pack Core i5, Touch of Color
updated 06:05 pm EST, Fri January 8, 2010
Samsung R430, R480, R530, R580, R780 official
Samsung at CES has refreshed its R series notebooks to reflect newer technology. The R430, R480, R530, R580 and R780 all now use the same "Touch of Color" gradient color scheme from the company's TVs and Blu-ray players. Most of them also use Intel's mobile Core i3 and i5 for a significant leap in peformance.
The flagship of the group is the R780, a 17-inch desktop replacement with a full-size keyboard and numberpad. It runs on a 2.26GHz Core i5 and uses NVIDIA's brand new GeForce GT 330M to drive its 1600x900 display. Samsung also gives it 4GB of RAM and a 500GB hard disk. Samsung ships it now for $929.
Beneath it, the R480 and R580 have 14- and 15.6-inch displays respectively but share the same 1366x768 resolution and internal hardware; they use 2.13GHz Core i3 processors and either GMA 4500 integrated video (on the R480) or a dedicated GeForce GT 310M (R580). Both also have 4GB of RAM and 500GB hard drives; they will cost $829 and $949 but won't ship until March.
The R430 and R530 run on legacy hardware to trim their prices. Either uses a 2.2GHz Core 2 Duo and GMA 4500 video while also shrinking the disk space to 320GB. Either still preserves the same screen size as its higher-end R480 or R580 sibling, and by using the older components drop to prices of $670 and $929. Both should be available today.
