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.

Key points from the review:

• Samsung has opted for a few well considered design changes. The faux-chrome trim is replaced with a thin strip of deep red that’s a nice addition. The edges have a greater curve and sculpted feel to them than the NC10. Glossy black lid finish is infused with a red glittery hue.
• The touchpad is slightly larger than NC10. A positive change.
• New glossy display will polarise opinion. Despite this, the screen is a very good one. It’s bright, has decent viewing angles and produces sharp and readable text.
• Connectivity, as you might imagine, is also identical both in composition and arrangement. On the left there’s an Ethernet port and two USB ports, while on the right you’ll find headphone and microphone jacks, another USB port, the VGA out and a lock slot. On the front, there’s the memory card reader, while above the screen is the webcam.
• Battery life lasted seven hours of general usage and eight hours of video playback.
• The keyboard hasn’t changed from the NC10 – as before it has a more or less perfect layout, while keys are large and easy to type on. Overall the N110 still has one of the best keyboards found in any netbook.
• No issues detected with heat or noise.
• Would have been nice to see the Wi-Fi upgraded to Draft-N.