Q210 or Q310 - which should I choose?

Hi

I have pretty much decided that the new notebook I am going to buy is either a Samsung Q210 or Q310. The trouble is - which to choose?
I have been unable to see either in real life (although I have seen some of Samsung's other, bigger "Touch of Colour" laptops and they are visually pleasing), so I can only judge on images I've seen on the web plus various reviews.

I will be using the notebook for web, a little photo editing and some casual gaming. Mrs K will be using it also for web and for document authoring in Word. I believe both Q's should be well suited to these tasks.

I've listed reasons to choose each model below, but I could do with some second opinions.

Pros for Q210.
Extra portability (not really a big issue, although nice)
Extra battery life? (quite important)
Cheaper (always a good thing)


Pros for Q310.
Bigger screen thus bigger pixel size (might be easier to adjust to using since this will be replacing our old creaky desktop PC with its 17" LCD screen)
Better keyboard layout.

Any opinions, anyone?

Thanks

K

 

Hi.

Apart from the differences you have mentioned.

The Q310 has a 5 in 1 card read , the Q210 has only a 3 in 1.

The on average Q210 runs cooler on CPU and GPU than the Q310 , 5-10c

Regards

john.

 

the pixels on the Q210 are smaller (obv) i would call this a benefit as this makes the image look higher defined

i would go for the Q210, it seems much better and is one of the most powerful 12" notebooks

 

I believe the best balance solution is a small and powerful 12" laptop, and then plug a 24" external monitor + USB keyboard for when working from your desktop. That way, you get the best of both worlds: comfortable and fully featured desktop work place, plus a portable solution when needed.

That's the solution I am going for myself.

 

thats what i did before i got my desktop

 

Interesting - why would the smaller chassis run cooler I wonder? Thats kind of opposite to what you would expect, isn't it?

 

Hi.

Yeah it`s very strange, I would love to compare the cooling systems on both.

Regards

John.

 

I would prefer the extra keys on the Q310 keyboard.

John

 

You wont regret buying either one, they really are so similar that it can be very hard to tell the differences.
I'll admit that I wasnt even aware of the Q310 when I brought my Q210.
From what you've said, I think youll be happiest with the Q310.

 

Thanks for all your input. Unfortunately I'm am still uncertain. The Q310 does seem to be the best bet for me, considering keyboard layout particularly, but reading the thread regarding heat issues on the 310 has got me a bit concerned.

Argh, decisions decisions...

 

whatever decision you make will be the right one

 

Hi.

Yeah, just buy which one suits you best, the heat is not a general issue.

Regards

John.

 

There's no logical reason for the Q310 to be hotter. Some instances may be the result of the CPU being at the upper end of the permitted power spec. If you can afford the extra money, the P series CPUs should be a little cooler and give longer battery time.

John

 

Well I finally bit the bullet and ordered a Q310. I decided that there was little else out there that offered the power and portability of the Q for such a reasonable price.

In the end I've ordered the P8400, 320Gb, 9200M GS model for a very reasonable (I think) £636.

I can't wait for the parcel to arrive on Monday.

 

Thats a good buy, who did you order from?

 

http://www.oyyy.co.uk/

Already despatched - according to the email I received earlier!

 

Never heard of them, but laughed at their slogan
They seem to have some good deals too.

 

Well I've had it for one day now, and initial impressions are good. I've not done any actual benchmarking/testing so this is all pretty subjective.

I spent most of yesterday downloading some stuff, setting up the Q, and copying over files from my old PC, whose network card had just packed up so it was all via memory stick and thus time consuming as hell. No chance to try any games or anything.

So initial thoughts are.

Overall build quality seems as good as I'd hoped.

The gloss finish looks gorgeous - until you actually use the thing! Fingerprint magnet indeed - I reckon the little cloth Samsung provided will soon be threadbare! The ruby front strip on my Q is fairly subtle - more so than some others of the range that I have seen in the shops. It actually looks quite classy - honest!

Lovely keyboard - it just feels really nice to use.

The machine is really quiet.

There have been comments about the poor vertical viewing angles of the screen, and indeed this is the one slightly disappointing aspect of the Q so far. I would not go as far as to say that it is annoying or terrible, it's just adequate, but this is a shame since in other aspects the screen is great, clear, bright and with good hoizontal viewing angles, oddly.

Speakers - another aspect of the Q310 that has sometimes been criticised - are fine for laptop speakers. Not that loud, but what do you expect from something so small and light.

Performance seems good, and the battery just seemed to keep going for absolutely ages. I will have to conduct some tests over the holiday period, but at one stage yesterday evening I thought the battery was never going to run down. Very impressive.

So overall, for just over £600, which is a fairly midrange price for a notebook, this little beast feels like a quality piece of kit, and good value.

 

Nice to see you're liking it.

 

congrats, you made the right choice