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The Q530 is another beautifully made laptop from Samsung, with a graphite-effect lid and silver keyboard panel that’s uncluttered by excess buttons or LED lights. Its beauty isn’t skin deep, either: inside you’ll find an Intel Core i3 350M processor with near-desktop performance, and an Nvidia GeForce GT 330M graphics chip capable of playing 3D games. You can buy a laptop with larger screen for much less than £700, but the Q530’s 15.6in display makes up for it with quality. It has a bright and even LED backlight and, coupled with a glossy finish, colours were vibrant and contrast superb: as long as you get the vertical viewing angles right. The glossy finish is reflective, which is only a problem if there are bright lights behind or above you. Below the screen sits a smart, Chiclet-style keyboard. The flat-topped keys have a matt finish that stops your fingertips sliding, but the action is a bit too light for our liking. The layout is standard, however, and there’s even a four-column numeric keypad. The touchpad is on the small side, but it’s responsive and its buttons have a comfortable, light action.
With decent performance, a great-quality display and the ability to play games, the Q530 is a tempting package, and it looks great too. However, it’s expensive; MSI’s FX600 is similarly powerful, but has a Blu-ray drive and costs £77 less. Unless you can find the Q530 for less, it can’t compete with the MSI for value.
