Samsung unveiled this good looking machine at the Consumer Electronics Show 2013 held at Las Vegas recently, and it was definitely one of the stars of the show. The Chronos 7 is business centric, and runs Win 8 with a touchscreen. We have not seen such a business friendly device from this company for some time, concentrating as they were on churning out personal devices that became wildly popular.
Design and build
The dimensions of the Chronos are an impressive 376x249x20.9mm. Its bare metal chassis adds to its visual appeal.
It’s sturdy and slightly on the chunky side in comparison to other Ultrabooks in its size segment.
The keyboard is big and backlit and it’s extremely responsive, making typing a real pleasure. The click pad is also a good size so that you don’t have discomfort moving the cursor around.
Thanks to its big frame, the Chronos has a whole lot of ports on it: 2 each of USB 2.0 and 3.0, and HDMI and VGA outs. It has a built in 720p camera at the top of the screen for video chatting and calling. The inclusion of JBL speakers means you can expect some pretty decent sound when playing videos or music, or when you make audio visual presentations.
Screen
The display is huge: 15.6 inches to be exact. The screen is easy on the eyes, and the 10 point touchscreen is very responsive and can recognize touch inputs in an instant, and acts on them immediately as well.
Performance
It’s a mid segment Samsung laptop if you’re looking at the power angle. It is powered by an Intel core i7 CPU and has an AMD Radeon HD Graphics processor. This means that the Chronos is good for gaming enthusiasts as well. RAM is the now standard 2 GB, with on board storage at a satisfactory 16 GB.
The functioning is pretty smooth and it is capable of multi tasking without any hiccups. Launching apps is hassle free too. Navigating thru Win 8 is buttery smooth and good fun actually. Booting is also super fast: just 10 seconds; as for awakening it from sleep mode, it took only two seconds.
Battery
Samsung has stated that the battery in the Chronos will last a full 8 hours, so that means you can work a whole day without having to run for the nearest charging point.
The company has not yet revealed what price tag they are going to put on this machine. But as it’s a medium range laptop as far as the specifications are concerned, I am pretty confident that the price tag will also be medium range.
My only concern is that while a big display is always good for your eyes, the size and weight may act as a deterrent for those who like to lug their computers around wherever they go; unless of course they don’t mind the little extra weight. It will however be a fantastic replacement for those bulky desktops with all those wires running about. In short, it’s a great machine which is a pleasure to work on, and should sell pretty well when it hits the markets.