Samsung N140 reviewed – battery life not class leading
December 3, 2009 at 12:24 pm
The 10-inch Samsung N140 netbook is the latest incarnation of the best-selling NC10 model. Laptop Mag has published its review of the N140 and it seems to have done the NC10 proud in most respects. However, it is let down by battery life, at least when compared to the competition.
The Samsung N140 lasted for six hours and thirty-two minutes on its 6-cell 5200mAh battery, higher than the average of 5h:21m. Whilst this is certainly respectable, competing models are now starting to deliver significantly higher battery lives. Even the company’s older N110 netbook offered an extra hour of battery life, although it is using a higher capacity 5900mAh battery.
Other (minor) negative points include a glossy lid that is a fingerprint magnet, the touchpad buttons are narrow in use and SD cards stick out from the slot. Apart from that however, the Samsung N140 wins points for its class-leading keyboard, bright matte display, large touchpad, SRS audio, Windows 7, fast CPU and value price point at $399. Click here to check out the full review.
December 3rd, 2009 7:44 PM
I use Samsung’s Battery Manager on my N140 – a Win XP version – to effectively squeeze out 8 – 9 hours or more usage-time provided I don’t load it with too many apps. WinXP has 10 – 15% more battery life than Win7 … Samsung can perhaps make up for less battery life by upgrading the battery to 5900mAh in the Win7 model.
The negative points mentioned are mostly cosmetic by nature (or minor as you put it) and don’t really interfere with good performance and a user-friendly experience. Thus far its been great. In any case, 6h:30m from the Win7 model is good enough for a full days work and at that price its a worthy pick.
December 3rd, 2009 8:15 PM
I’m with you Bob. I’m sure Windows 7 makes the difference in terms of the lower battery life performance.
December 7th, 2009 9:22 AM
Tej,
I hope we are right. Why am I saying this … well, you have to see this review. A recent test on Toshiba’s NB200 revealed exactly the opposite & how !!??
See review here: http://www.pcadvisor.co.uk/reviews/index.cfm?reviewid=3207931&pn=1
The test showed that Win7SE (Starter Edition) got it’s battery to outlast XP time by ‘more than an hour’. Am not joking … I am surprised out of my sockets .. just when you think you are out, you are pulled right back in 😉
Is it possible that Win 7 Starter can dish out a better battery life than XP .. if so then Win7HP should have similar results otherwise it’s just a case of wrong review – lil’ hard to believe when it’s pcadvisor.co.uk . Perhaps a brand new driver support has been provided for Win7 battery … but then the original test model was preloaded with XP !? Somebody needs to solve this mystery 😎 Confusions galore !!!
December 8th, 2009 10:10 AM
W7 SE achieves its battery performance by cutting out effects like Aero. W7 HP cannot be expected to match SE’s battery performance unless you disable those effects.
December 9th, 2009 1:54 PM
@Dave : Noted. I was just being a wishful thinker there. Even though Win7 is a much better version of Vista, habits die hard .. 😉
Battery Life vis-a-vis Capacities:
I think it’ll be worthwhile to give battery life its due importance.
Perhaps it’s time to compile data for sake of comparing longevity of batteries of different brands vis-a-vis respective mAh capacities used in netbooks (or notebooks for that matter). Longevity = no. of years batteries can be used and last before they die out completely.
This way netbook users will know if a higher capacity battery that gives 10+ hour battery back-up on single charge is actually “also” better in terms of longevity compared to a lower capacity battery that gives, say, 7 hours on a single charge.
As an eg., consider comparing above two discussed batteries of Samsung. Does a 5200mAh battery outlast the 5900mAh in terms of longevity .. if yes & if I am okay with 6h:32m span, I’ll be happy with the lower capacity battery cuz I can delay replacing the battery as much as possible and thereby save cost in the long term. Ofcourse, cost of maintenence of the battery will also figure in the cost somewhere.
Batteries will play a ‘very’ crucial role .. one of the main reasons why Toshiba’s NB200 scored all the way to the top. Mobile technology is what makes the netbooks cool and this depends heavily on battery lives (translate: freedom & choice to connect from anywhere).
January 11th, 2010 5:37 AM
I may have spoken a lil too early … and this is exactly my case: I am facing issues concerning battery life (on single charge) on my N140 three months down the line. The battery isn’t lasting for more than 4 hours now .. have requested Samsung India to rectify the problem. I hope Y2010 is the year of the battery.
February 4th, 2010 11:53 AM
Got a replacement battery under warranty, but the new battery will not exceed 6 hours on single charge with minimal usage. The various battery tests considering 5200mAh suddenly don’t seem very reliable or Samsung makes crappy batteries .. either way quality is questionable.