Samsung N110 netbook reviewed – worthy successor to NC10

Whilst there is still little sign of the Samsung N110 making on appearance on UK shores, TrustedReviews managed to take one for a spin. The Samsung N110 is effectively a light refresh over the best-selling NC10 netbook. Its improvements include an expanded touchpad and a higher capacity 6-cell 5900mAh battery (versus 5200mAh in the NC10) that should give 9.5 hours of continuous use according to Samsung.

The design is also slightly different with a glossy lid and red trim. The other main change is that the N110 will come with a glossy display as opposed to the matte one found in the NC10. Other than that, its specs are fairly similar. The N110 is powered by a 1.6GHz Atom N270 CPU and 1GB RAM. It also has a 160GB (5,400 rpm) hard-disk drive. It also comes with Wi-Fi (b/g), Bluetooth and Windows XP Home SP3.

TrustedReviews found that the Samsung N110 to be one of the best netbooks money can buy, offering a good keyboard, strong build quality, excellent battery life and attractive styling. Whilst current NC10 owners may not have anything to compel them to upgrade, those currently in the market will have a lot to find here. Overall they scored they the N110 9/10, if you head over to the site they also have a video review up. Click through for the key points of the review. Read more

Samsung N310 reviewed – hindered by price & battery life

What Laptop has come out with the first review of Samsung’s N310 netbook. Whilst they lauded the netbooks unique design, they felt it didn’t quite sit right when looking at its price/performance ratio. At 1.2kg, portability was distinctly average, but what really hindered the overall proposition was a battery life lasting just 2 hours and 28 minutes.

Given the emphasis on battery life by most manufacturers nowadays this just doesn’t cut the mustard. Judging by today’s earlier Asus Eee PC 10008HA reviews, performance doesn’t have to be sacrificed for a sexy design. The review doesn’t state what conditions this battery life was achieved so we’ll reserve judgement until we get a chance to test the 4-cell 4400mAh lithium ion battery ourselves.

On the more positive side, they loved the pebble (chiclet) keyboard, with decent spacing between keys and a comfortable typing experience. Overall they rated the Samsung N310 7/10. Check out a summary of the review after the jump. Read more

Video comparison: Samsung N120 vs. Samsung NC10

Yesterday, we brought to you our unboxing photos of the 10-inch Samsung N120 netbook. Today, Notebook Italia has provided a couple of N120 videos. The first goes through the unboxing whilst the second compares the N120 to the best-selling Samsung NC10.

The Samsung N120 has a similar 10-inch screen with 1024 x 600 resolution as the NC10. The Samsung N120 comes with a glossy screen compared to the matter screen of the NC10. To account for the full-sized keyboard, the chassis of the N120 keyboard is slightly wider and thinner. Check out the videos after the break. Read more

Samsung N310 netbook now shipping in UK

Whilst the specifications of Samsung’s N310 netbook are average the same certainly can’t be said of its design. In a departure from normal netbook aesthetics, Samsung enlisted the help of leading designer Naoto Fukasawa to create something unique. He definitely came up trumps, creating a look that has split opinion down the middle as to whether one finds it attractive or not.

The Samsung N310 netbook comes with a textured rubber casing and with a large embossed Samsung logo on the lid. It also comes with a 93 percent chiclet keyboard and a frameless 10-inch LED backlit display.

A number of UK retailers now have the Samsung N310 in stock, ready to ship. Prices vary between £382.26 from CCL Online to the official RRP of £399.99 (Amazon, Dabs, Laptops Direct). It will be interesting to see how popular the N310 becomes. Personally, I think it could become a big seller for Samsung. Most netbooks out there look very similar, by creating something very different, it should have a sizeable market willing to pay a premium for its unique looks.

Via SammyNetbook.

NbC: Samsung N120 netbook unboxed

The Samsung N120 netbook dropped through our letterbox this morning and we thought we’d share our unboxing of Samsung’s latest netbook addition. We have a white N120 to put through its paces and initial impressions are certainly favourable.

As a quick recap, the Samsung N120 is one of the first netbooks to feature a full sized keyboard into a 10-inch netbook. Whilst this means you have a thick bezel around the screen, it doesn’t look too bad in the flesh. The speakers mounted either side of the screen go some way to making it less of an issue. Initial impressions on the keyboard itself are positive, it feels natural to type on and all of the buttons are in the right places. It’s not a chiclet keyboard, but that doesn’t mean it’s any less comfortable to type on.

I also like the matte effect on the chassis, it means the lid is not prone to fingerprints like some netbook models are. The other big selling point for the N120 is the 2.1 speaker system, we haven’t had a chance to test this yet, as the N120 is being charged as we speak. We will come back with a full review once we’ve put the Samsung N120 through some extensive testing. As always, if there are any questions you’d like answered, feel free to ask away in the comments section and we’ll do our best to answer them. Click through for the unboxing photos. Read more

First impressions of Samsung N120 start to appear

The Samsung N120 netbook started to ship over the last week both in the US and UK markets. The first units are now just starting to hit the hands of consumers and first impressions are starting to appear. SammyNetbook has some owner feedback from user Otacorb. He also owns as Samsung NC10 Special Edition and gives a detailed comparison between the two.

The N120 is around half an inch thicker to account for that full sized keyboard and comes with a glossy display. He says whilst he would have preferred a matte display, the N120 is not as glossy as the Aspire One. The case also has a matte finish which means much less fingerprints. He seems to be pleased with his purchase, mainly due to a very good keyboard and battery life.

The Samsung N120 is one of the first netbooks to feature a full sized keyboard into a 10-inch netbook. Samsung is also touting the 2.1 speaker system found in the N120. The netbook is powered by a 1.6GHz N270 Atom CPU and 945GSE chipset. It will come with 1GB RAM and a 160GB (5,400 RPM) hard-disk drive.

Via Portable Monkey.

Samsung N310 Netbook Promotional Video

Samsung has announced a number of new 10-inch netbooks that are due to hit retail shelves in the next few weeks. This includes the N110 netbook (refresh of the NC10), the N120 (which has a full sized keyboard and 2.1 sound system) and the N310. The Samsung N310 in many ways is probably the most interesting of them all. I say this, not because of the hardware (the specifications are not that different to the NC10), but mainly because of the love-it-or-hate-it design. No netbook released to date has caused such a chasm of opinion as to whether the design is attractive or not. Read more

Samsung N120 netbook starts shipping in US

The Samsung N120 netbook is now ready to ship from US retailer Newegg.com. Both black and white versions appear to be in stock and are being sold for $459.99. Our sources in the UK suggest that the Samsung N120 will start to hit UK retail channels next week for approximately £390.

Samsung has managed to fit a full 12-inch keyboard into a chassis that accommodates a 1024 x 600 10.1-inch display. Samsung is also touting the 2.1 speaker system found in the N120. The netbook is powered by a 1.6GHz N270 Atom CPU and 945GSE chipset. It will come with 1GB RAM and a 160GB (5,400 RPM) hard-disk drive. The official listing still suggests that it will support a maximum of 1GB RAM only, although this may be on error on their part.

Via Portable Monkey.

Netbook CPU shootout – AMD vs. Intel vs. VIA

Whilst Intel’s Atom CPU is found in the majority of netbooks released to date, it is facing competition from other vendors who are looking to jump onto the netbook cash-cow. Apart from prospective ARM processors, AMD recently launched the Athlon Neo which is found in the 12-inch HP Pavilion dv2 and is meant to be a step-up from Intel Atom CPUs. VIA also launched the Nano chip, intended specifically for netbooks and has first been seen in the Samsung NC20.

Crave looked to try to compare these CPUs against each other, however it is not a precise comparison as they effectively benchmarked three different netbooks. Fighting Intel’s corner was an Asus Eee PC 1000HE complete with 1.66GHz N280 Atom CPU. VIA’s representative was the afore-mentioned Samsung NC20 with 1.3GHz Nano U2250 CPU. AMDs benchmarks were conducted by a HP Pavilion dv2, which came with an Athlon Neo 1.6GHz MV-40 processor.

Crave ran three different benchmarking tests and unsurprisingly there was no clear winner, with each CPU winning one test each. Intel’s Atom was the fastest in the multi-tasking test, the VIA Nano won the iTunes encoding test while the AMD won the Jalbum photo-program test. Since this is not an apples-for-apples comparison I would take the results with a pinch of salt. Each netbooks configuration would affect the outcome and they each have different clock speeds. Check out the table after the break. Read more

Netbook Review Roundup 11/04/2009

Netbook Choice’s roundup of netbook reviews from around the web from Wednesday 8th Aptil to Saturday 11th April 2009.

Acer Aspire One D150 @ blogeee.net

Asus Eee 1000HE @ I4U

Asus Eee 1000HE @ Notebooks.com

Emtec Gdium Liberty 1000 @ Laptop Mag

HP Mini 1000 Mi edition @ CrunchGear

OCZ Neutrino @ Laptop Mag

Samsung NC20 @ Computer Shopper

Samsung NC20 Hands-On @ PC World

Sony Vaio P-series netbook (VGN-P11Z/R) @ bit-tech

Asus Eee PC 1000HE wins Laptop Mag’s Netbook Madness

Over the last few weeks, Laptop Mag has organised a netbook faceoff featuring sixteen netbooks. Two netbooks have competed against each other vying for public votes to ensure it gets through to the next round. The netbook that has now emerged victorious is the Asus Eee PC 1000HE against the runner-up, the Samsung NC10. There wasn’t that much in it, with just over 13,000 votes cast, the 1000HE took 54 percent of the vote compared to 46 percent to the NC10.

This is probably not surprising given that the Asus 1000HE costs a similar amount to the Samsung NC10 whilst having a longer battery life. However, it would be interesting to see how the 1000HE compares against Samsung’s upcoming N110 which Samsung claims will last for 9.5 hours. Click through for a full chart of the final result. Read more

Battery life of 13 netbooks compared, MSI U115 emerges victorious

Netbook vendors and consumers are placing increasing importance on battery lives. We have seen a number of netbooks announced recently from all of the major players (MSI, Samsung, Asus and Acer) who are trying to push longer and longer lasting battery times. To take the headache out of finding out which ones last the longest, Netbook Review has undertaken the arduous task of comparing the battery life of thirteen different netbooks.

Each of the netbooks were tested with the UserBench Battery 2008 benchmark, which involves stress-testing the battery to an absolute maximum. The author claims that the results present a worse-case scenario and should be the bare minimum life expected. The app plays back a WMV video clip with the display and hard drive set to never switch off. Power management was set to “always on”. Read more

Samsung N120 official product page up, full specs revealed

Whilst Samsung announced the 10.1-inch N120 netbook a couple of weeks back, the full specifications were not released at the same time. Since then, a number of retailers have placed the N120 on pre-order which revealed a bit more about what we may find under the hood. However, Samsung has now put up the official specifications on its site.

The reason we find the N120 netbook interesting is its ability to fit in a full 12-inch keyboard into its chassis. It also benefits from a 2.1 speaker system (including subwoofer!) The specifications confirm the pre-order listings found from retailers with the netbook powered by a 1.6GHz N270 Atom CPU and 945GSE chipset. It will come with 1GB RAM and a 160GB (5,400 RPM) hard-disk drive. There will be a choice between black and white colours.

Samsung says that the maximum RAM the unit can handle is just 1GB, but I imagine this is a typo. Samsung listed the same for the N110 but then corrected the mistake later. Other features include WiFi (b/g only), Bluetooth 2.0, a 1.3MP webcam and a 6-cell battery. The N120 is just 1.2-inches in thickness and weighs 1.3Kg (2.8lbs). Click through for a full list of the specifications as well as press photos. Read more

Netbook Review Roundup 06/04/2009

Netbook Choice’s roundup of netbook reviews from around the web on Monday 6th April 2009. We have also included a few reviews that popped up over the weekend.

ASUS Eee PC 1000HE @ Future Looks

Fujitsu Siemens Amilo Mini Ui 3520 review @ Cnet UK

HP Compaq Mini 703EA @ Pocket Lint

HP Compaq Mini 703EA netbook – first look review @ What Laptop

HP Mini 2140 @ geek.com

Samsung NC20 @ Cnet

Zoostorm Fizzbook Spin @ What Laptop

Samsung NC20 netbook hits US retail

We knew that the Samsung NC20 US launch had been delayed to early April, lo and behold it has now arrived. Remember the Samsung NC20 is launching exclusively through Newegg in the US for $549.99.

The US version comes with a 5900 mAh capacity battery compared to overseas models which have a 5200 mAh rated battery. The Samsung NC20 is the first netbook to support the VIA Nano CPU and comes with 1GB RAM. The black Samsung NC20 (NC20-21GBK) on Newegg’s listing features a VIA Nano (1.3Ghz) CPU, Via Chrome9 Graphics, a 12.1-inch (1280 x 800) screen, 160GB hard-disk and 6-cell battery.

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