Samsung Series 7 Chronos

Like a lot of larger laptops, the Series 7 Chronos is an awkward trade-off between power and portability. While it is undoubtedly very fast, it is also quite heavy so it's more suited to use around the home.

The lid of the Chronos is made of brushed aluminium, which felt smooth to the touch and looks sleek and simple. Unfortunately this isn't carried on inside the laptop; the section around the keyboard and touchpad is made of grey plastic. This meant the join between the metal outer casing and the plastic inner casing was quite sharp which was noticeable when we rested our wrists on it while typing.

We were impressed with the quality of the screen, which was noticeably less shiny than on some laptops. This meant it didn't reflect bright lights and was easier to view from more angles. Colours were bright and clear and it was excellent for watching videos on. It also has a resolution of 1,600x900 pixels, which is high for a 15in display, so you can see lots of detail onscreen.

The keyboard and touchpad were both comfortable, while the backlit keys would be useful for typing in dimly lit rooms. Battery life was good. The Chronos lasted just under seven hours in our tests. This is somewhat academic, though, as at 2.29kg it was too heavy to carry around frequently.

The Chronos has a fast quad-core processor. When it came to 3D graphics, running a recent game at low to medium settings saw more than acceptable frame rates. However, when we turned the settings up to maximum the Chronos struggled and the frame rate dropped to unplayable levels. The 3D performance was slightly below what we expect from a laptop with such a high price.

At £1,100 the Series 7 is an expensive laptop that is not portable or powerful enough. It didn't perform as well as the Novatech nSpire 2760, which is faster and cheaper at around £800, although that laptop is even heavier, has a lower resolution screen and a smaller hard disk. While on the whole this is a well-built and fast laptop, it doesn't quite justify the price.