The R510's outer shell has a shiny piano-black Finish. Inside, the black is repeated on the Keyboard surround, slowly transitioning to a blood-red colour at the front.

The R510 is no lightweight, at 2.7kg. It's also pretty bulky, measuring 358 by 39 by 265mm. This is no surprise considering the R510's 15.4-Inch Screen, and it's not out of line with other 15.4-inch laptops.

At least there's plenty of space for a good-sized keyboard, which has a positive action and is comfortable to type on. There's a row of full-sized number keys topped by a row of slightly smaller function keys. The inverted-T cursor control keys double up to offer some additional controls with the Fn key, allowing you to adjust Screen brightness and volume. There's also a shortcut to Internet Explorer here, plus a second Fn key to complement the main one on the bottom left of the keyboard.

The screen is sharp and bright. Horizontal viewing angles are good, while vertical angles are slightly less so. The native 1,280x800-pixel resolution isn't as high as we'd like, but it'd be churlish to complain given the R510's price tag. The LCD has Samsung's SuperBright gloss finish, which helps to boost clarity and sharpness but causes the usual reflection problems when there's a light source behind you.

Fitted with an Intel Core 2 Duo T6400 processor with at most 4GB of RAM. Graphics are handled by the Intel GMA X4500HD module integrated in the Intel GM45 Express chipset.

The Samsung R510 is a stylish yet affordable laptop that's suitable for both work and leisure use. With a 15.4-inch screen and decent performance, it's worth a gander