The looks of the Samsung Q320 already impresses at first sight. This doesn't only apply to its looks, but also the feel of the plastic case is relatively good. Additionally, the matt surfaces present themselves as almost insusceptible for fingerprints. Apparently, Samsung has taken the critique of users and testers seriously and has refrained from using high gloss surfaces for the base unit.
It looks different for the display lid. This shows a black high-gloss finish, which is very susceptible for smudge and traces of use.

The case also shows a good stability in the test. There is practically no twisting to be noticed when lifting the laptop at a case corner, but it does creak slightly. This applies equally to the display lid so that it can be spoken of a seemingly very robust notebook.

The selection of a slot-loading drive instead of the standardly deployed optical drive usually found is appealing. The case makes an overall encased impression with this. The only weak point of the case under point pressure is found on the front left edge, directly above the audio sockets. The bottom side also proves to be very pressure resistant due to the use of high-quality plastic.

Looking closer at the workmanship, a somewhat unequal gap can be recognized in the metal-like inlays. But, apart from this, the Q320 looks very elegant altogether. In a sense, it resembles the Sony Vaio SR in this regard.

The hinges do an overall good job. A luffing after opening angle adjustments or a quivering at vibrations couldn't be established by us. However, the hinges restrict the maximum opening angle to about 120 degrees, which could prove to be a tad too little depending on the utilization.

Samsung has equipped the Q320 with a 13.4 inch display with an LED background light. This screen made by Chi Mei Optoelectronics uses a cinematic-friendly resolution of 1355x768 pixels in a 16:9 format. The screen can be easily cleaned due to its edge-to-edge design with a straight bottom edge above the hinges.

A disadvantage of this variation is an intensely reflective surface. Especially in combination with a dark background and adverse light conditions (i.e. outdoors), you have more of a mirror than of a high quality user interface. We could establish an average brightness of about 200 cd/m² in mains.

A significant disadvantage of the used display is the weak color representation. The colors look pallid and blurry. Black isn't represented optimally, either. Also, streak formations in form of a brighter stripe with a width of one millimeter along the display's bottom rim could be established.

The next weak point shows itself in the viewing angle stability. Compared with the cheaper MSI VR340, used by our Polish colleagues, much stronger image distortions turn up along the vertical axis.

The test device is equipped with a 2.13 GHz Intel Core 2 Duo P7450 processor. This belongs to the Penryn CPUs manufactured in a 45nm process and demonstrates a solid performance at moderate energy requirement. It's a good choice for a mobile laptop, which should also be suitable for basic office tasks at the same time.

The nVidia Geforce G 105M belongs to a new generation of graphic cards, which is still produced in the older 65nm process. Compared to the 9300M GS, it only has half as much shaders, but is clocked higher with 640/1400 MHz. The use of a 256 MB GDDR3 memory with a rate of 700 MHz (1400 MHz effectively) improves its performance to a certain degree.

Unfortunately, the graphic performance is limited by the 64 bit memory bus so that it quickly comes to its limits in actual 3-D prone games. In view of the form factor, which implies mobility as the focal point, it is a useable graphic solution, in any case.

Temperature

The case doesn't heat up too much under low office load so that use on the thighs seems to be unproblematic. However, the situation alters under load. The bottom side reaches up to 40 degrees Celsius and more, here. We could even note a maximum of 45 degrees Celsius for the louver area. The dedicated graphic card has quite a part in the higher heat emissions, as well.