Samsung NP510R5E-S01PH and Samsung NP530U4C-S06PH - Portables that Pack a Punch

Traditionally, Ultrabooks were expensive laptops designed for those who preferred portability over power and were willing to make compromised fast storage capacity for fast boot and wake speeds. Over time PC manufacturers have worked to make the Ultrabook less of a compromise by packing more powerful hardware in those slime cases. At the same time "Slimbooks" or "Sleekbooks" have been designed around Ultrabook specifications to bring down the price. Samsung two newest offerings in the Philippines are good examples of this.

The Samsung NP510R5E are Samsung NP530U4C both 14-inch laptops built on Samsung's slim 0.79-inch Series 5 case. Both feature powerful Intel Core i7 processors, a second discrete graphics card and 1 Terabyte of storage. Neither one features a touchscreen,

Samsung NP510R5E. The Samsung NP510R5E is the cheaper among the two at Php44,900, and offers very good kit for the money.

Quick specs:

- Windows 8 SL

- 14' WXGA (1366 x 768) LED Display 

- Intel Core i7-3537U Mobile Processor (2.0 GHz/4MB L2 Cache)

- 2GB dedicated AMD HD7670M Graphics

- 8 GB DDR3

- 1TB SATA HDD

- 1.3 MP Webcam

- Bluetooth 4.0

- 4 in 1 Card Reader

- 1 x USB 3.0 Port, 2 x USB 2.0,

- HDMI

- 4 cell battery

- 3.55 pounds

It is a very powerful, but very potable package.

The Samsung NP510R5E is not an Ultrabook not being equipped with a SSD cache drive. The SSD cache drive really only helps the laptop resume from sleep better so its absence may or may not be all that important to you.

Samsung NP530U4C. The Samsung NP530U4C is the higher end model priced at Php52,900.

Quick specs:

- Windows 8 SL

- 14' WXGA (1366 x 768) LED Display 

- Intel Core i7-3157U Mobile Processor (1.9 GHz/ 4MB L2 Cache)

- 1GB dedicated Nvidia GeForce GT620M Graphics

- 6 GB DDR3

- 1TB SATA HDD + 24GB SSD

- 1.3 MP Webcam

- Bluetooth 4.0

- 4 in 1 Card Reader,

- 1 x USB 3.0 Port, 2 x USB 2.0

- HDMI

- 4 cell battery

- 3.75 pounds

Ironically, the more expensive Samsung NP530U4C has a slower processor and less RAM, and comes with slower graphics (opinions on this do vary). It does give you a 24 GB SSD cache drive. Depending on your sense of priorities you may prefer one over the other, but Samsung NP510R5E-S01PH looks like the better deal among the two.