NbC: Samsung N510 netbook unboxed
September 28, 2009 at 8:22 pm
The Samsung N510 is one of the first Nvidia ION-powered netbooks on the market. It has just seen its retail release in the UK, where it is selling for around the £400 mark. Whilst it is towards the top-end of netbook price-points, it is worth remembering that the Samsung N120 cost around £370 on launch. Not too bad considering that the Samsung N510 offers an 11.6-inch (1366 x 768) LED-backlit display, ION chipset and 7-hour battery.
The much-anticipated Samsung N510 has landed at NbC HQ and we’ve promptly done an unboxing to show you what to expect inside the box. We would like to clarify that we have the UK SKU and it seems that Samsung has been kind to us. The UK model has a 1.66GHz N280 Atom processor and 5900mAh battery. This is an improvement over the mainland European version that is sold with the 1.6GHz N270 Atom and lower capacity 5200mAh battery.
Initial impressions are mixed. We don’t like the glossy lid that is an extreme fingerprint magnet and the touchpad could have been a bit wider, given the room available. Also, the mouse rocker bar doesn’t offer much feedback. However, we do like the high-resolution matte display and keyboard feels just as solid as the Samsung N120. We also like the fact that Samsung has made it easy to access the RAM & HDD, through a large panel on the bottom. Another positive point is that the Samsung N510 doesn’t ‘feel’ much bigger than 10-inch models and at 1.4kg, it’s not too much heavier either.
We’ll be putting the Samsung N510 through its paces in the coming weeks followed by a full review. As always, if you have any questions regarding the netbook, then please do not hesitate to ask in the comments below. Check out our unboxing photos below.
September 28th, 2009 9:07 PM
Any ideas if the spec of this model will change slightly when Win7 is released in Oct?
September 28th, 2009 9:17 PM
Does this model utilize the Ion LE chipset, or the full powered version?
September 28th, 2009 9:18 PM
@ G@zz@: As the Windows 7 netbook restrictions differ from Windows XP, then there is a possibility that a W7 SKU could have more RAM (2GB?) as well as more storage space (>250GB).
It’s all speculation right now, but as the Samsung N510 will have to come with Windows 7 Home Premium (it won’t qualify to W7 Starter Edition due to the larger display size), then Samsung can beef up the specs.
September 28th, 2009 9:28 PM
@ckjy : It comes with ION LE, however I’m not sure whether it is a matter of greater/lesser power.
ION LE is DX9 compatible, DX10 would be useless considering it runs on XP. I imagine the W7 SKU of the N510 will run ION as it can take advantage of DX10.
I would be very surprised to see some 3D performance differences between the two, I believe Nvidia created the ION LE due to the cost savings it could make.
September 29th, 2009 12:25 AM
Hey Tej, great hands on!
Nice that the UK gets a decent spec upgrade.
I would go out and buy it today, but I would really like to have Windows 7 on it.
September 29th, 2009 5:43 AM
Quisiera ver las prestaciones de la pantalla o que comentarios tienen al respecto,
saben cuando llega a estados unidos?.
gracias
September 29th, 2009 11:39 AM
Hi Tej,
Just wondering what is meant by SKU? My Samsung N510 has arrived and is at my sister’s house, but is there no way of enabling DX10 on this? Would Nvidia save money by crippling the GPU through software-means?
Refer here:
http://www.liliputing.com/2009/09/the-difference-between-nvidia-ion-and-ion-le-not-much.html
September 29th, 2009 11:45 AM
Fingers crossed that the specs change Oct/Nov. If they do, then depending on price this will be my Xmas treat to me 🙂
September 29th, 2009 12:49 PM
@nuke1 – SKU is stock keeping unit. It means that the Samsung N510 has different iterations from mainland Europe to UK.
For example even the same product with different colours would have different SKUs.
September 29th, 2009 2:21 PM
With regards to your testing, I’m interested in battery life under “normal” usage (email & browsing) as well as worst case usage (movie playback from HD). I not sure if it’ll power a DVD drive while on battery but if it does that would also be nice to know. The other thing I’m interested in is HDMI out to 1080P LCD connectivity and how well it works. I hoping the US will get the the same system specs as the UK did.
September 29th, 2009 8:47 PM
I’ve been on the prowl for a Netbook which does a little bit more over the last week or two and finally come across something that fits the bill. I think the N510 would do everything I need it for and the price isn’t awful either.
However, this Windows 7 business has left me with a right dilemma. If it’s not out till late October then surely we can expect that Samsung won’t release the N510 W7 for a week or two thereafter at least? I need a netbook for a trip coming up in a few weeks time. And will there be a significant price hike? Agh. This is a frustrating state of affairs..
I would get it now and upgrade to W7 myself but the upgrade will no doubt be costly and installing to a a device with no DVD drive not so much fun.. Anybody got any advice / news?
September 30th, 2009 6:38 AM
when is the official release date, and where will be stocking them, I ordered one from play.com that said in stock, but now ive had a email saying it hasnt been released yet, does anyone know? cheers Steve.
September 30th, 2009 3:51 PM
CCL Online have stock in right now for £389.95 + p&p.
October 1st, 2009 4:42 PM
What are the differences between this and the hp mini 311c?
I understand that the hp mini 311c accepts up to 3gb ram, whereas the maximum for the n510 is only 2gb. Is this true?
I’m also aware that the 311c has a glossy screen and a combined mic/headphone socket, whereas the n510 has separate sockets and a matt screen.
Any other differences between the two?
October 7th, 2009 11:28 PM
When do you expect to post a full review of the N510?
October 8th, 2009 8:34 PM
It will be a few weeks yet I’m afraid. We like to be as thorough as possible in our reviews & unfortunately that takes time.
October 11th, 2009 10:23 PM
The only thing im thinking is that this unit has been released with the ION LE chipset, yet the Samsung website’s offiicial discription lists it as DirectX 10 compatible with no notes suggesting the LE suffix…
I can only presume that it will be released after Oct 22nd , with Windows 7 pre-installed but same specs, and will have the full ION chipset.
For all we know, the chip is a full ION chipset but is classified as an LE due to the software limitations posed by the OS… who knows.
October 12th, 2009 2:49 PM
I purchased last week the UK spec version of the N510 and so far it is working perfect. I personal do not see the reason to wait for the none LE version of the ION chip as this will not run DX10 games to the graphics level where DX10 will make a differenace.
My next project is to put 2 gig of ram inside along with a 500 gig hard drive and see if this makes things better also putting windows 7 on this as i use this on my desktop computer. I will report back if this works.
The things i Love about this netbook is the “power”, as i can sit in bed playing Cod 4 or maybe some Team Fortruss 2. the screen is very good and gives a very clear image. Watching videos is perfect.
The things i dont like are the loading speeds for games or moving files across from my desktop machine can get very boring.
Overall this little computer is a real fun toy, and i am trying to use this as my primpary machine as much as possible so i dont have to use my main computer or lug this around when going home for the weekend.
On the other hand its limit must be known. I have tried Crysis and yes it works JUST, it is playerable in the parts where not much is happening but overall why play a game like this on a computer where you can not turn all the eye candy on. If this netbook is to used for internet and maybe sometimes some gaming if you are bored with reading blogs then this is perfect.
Alex
October 19th, 2009 1:44 PM
I have now installed windows 7, 500 gig hard drive and 2 gig of ram. With the hard drive it needs to be the western digital as this is the only normal height 500 gig as the others will not fit.
WOW what more can i say
Windows 7 makes a huge differance to the performance, and the hard drive has helped in the load time and flawless HD playback.
Alex
October 25th, 2009 3:38 PM
Hello Folks, Have Samsung NC 10, considering upgrading. Can someone tell me if this will be able to play 720/1080p HD video (MKV files etc) and plug into my Home Cinema set up via HDMI. Currently I use an XBox 360 as my media centre, streaming files from the Samsung. Would be much better if I played them directly, will this genuinely be able to handle HD video and sound? Thanks
October 26th, 2009 11:54 AM
Robert: This netbook will play 720/1080p easy. I have had problems when trying to geting 1080p working under XP but once i moved to Windows 7 ultimate it worked perfectly. I also increased the ram to 2 gig and changed the hard drive which might have helped. I have not had time to test the HDMI out yet but this is my next test, but i can see all the options under Windows 7 to do this.
October 30th, 2009 5:24 PM
Hi guys,
I am going to buy it first stage next week. found it in white (yeaah).
@Alex: I saw some test where it says that the ram doesnt change that much, is that true?(I am planning to buy the 2go ram by the way)
How it came that the 500go HDD made such a difference?
To me the best from now wanted to wait for the dual core but honestly none one of them will be with a mat screen so….
November 4th, 2009 5:22 PM
cool netbook !
December 6th, 2009 10:37 PM
I’m sure that my next christmas present is going to be the Samsung N510 Have got already bought Windows 7 Ultimate so will that work fine ?
Any one able to advise me?
Cheers
Eddie
December 7th, 2009 9:35 AM
Ed, Load it up on 510 … it’ll work well. Don’t forget to download Adobe Flash Player 10.1 to see HD videos as well … Am sure Santa won’t mind upgrading RAM to 2GB .. t’waz additional tips 😉
December 7th, 2009 10:56 PM
Thanks Bob looking forward to chrismas already.
Have a good one yourselve
Thanks again
December 9th, 2009 5:16 AM
very nice review guys, is the keyboard a little cramped or does it just look this way in the pics?
December 10th, 2009 5:25 PM
Keyboards very nice (battery lasts forever!)
December 15th, 2009 2:40 PM
Well pleased with my N510. Upgraded RAM to 2Gb, installed 500Gb WD Scorpio Blue HDD and running Windows 7 Ultimate. This thing rocks!!
Using my Sony Ericsson C905 as a modem I connected it via Bluetooth and was surfing the web whilst travelling across London in a car! Love it 🙂
December 18th, 2009 12:18 AM
Am torn between getting one of these or the Acer Ferrari One. Not interested in looks, just want low weight plus decent performance for email, browsing and the odd video.
February 23rd, 2010 2:55 AM
alex any noticable diff in crysis with mem upgrde?