NbC: Samsung N510 Review

Conclusion

The Samsung N510 presents two firsts for the company. It is their first 11.6-inch netbook along with being its first model equipped with the Nvidia ION chipset. We really like the 11.6-inch form factor, Samsung has managed to squeeze this larger panel into a chassis not too much bigger or heavier than some 10-inch netbooks. The extra real estate provided by the 1366 x 768 resolution display is welcome and not too small to cause discomfort over longer periods.

The display size and resolution are perfectly suited to benefit from the extra graphical power that Nvidia ION brings. The N510 is the first netbook we’ve tested with ION and I have to say I’m in love, it handled most tasks we threw at it with aplomb. I’m absolutely convinced that the extra dimension that ION provides for video decoding (including flash video) and gaming is essential for anyone wanting to use their netbook for multimedia purposes.

All of the above does come at the cost of battery life, but all things considered, getting four and a half to five hours use out of the N510 should still be good enough for those users willing to trade-off the multimedia benefits. Combine this with a netbook that has superb build quality, a matte display, one of the best keyboard we’ve used, easy upgrading potential, responsive touchpad as well as a feature-rich spec sheet (including HDMI) and surely there’s little to fault here?

Well there are a few points we should mention. The display is not the best we’ve seen, whilst it does go bright enough, you need to use it consistently above 75 percent brightness under most lighting conditions. Colour saturation also wasn’t great. Apart from that the glossy lid is a fingerprint magnet that’s especially pronounced given the black finish and the keyboard has a small right shift key that could frustrate some users.

The biggest hurdle that Samsung faces with the N510 is the price. Here in the UK the RRP is £399, although you can find it for around the £380 mark. Considering that these SKUs are still only shipping with Windows XP you might start to feel short changed for what is a premium-priced netbook. A Windows 7 version is planned for the UK market, but we heard it was meant to land in early December but still can’t see it listed. We also don’t know whether this new W7 SKU will be priced higher than the current XP model.

The Samsung N510 also faces stiff competition with the Compaq Mini 311c (HP Mini 311) that also has ION but comes with a 1.6GHz N270 Atom instead of the N280 Atom on the N510. The Mini 311 is priced around £315, which is £65 cheaper than the N510. Then next month, Asus will launch the ION-powered Eee PC 1201N that comes with a dual-core 1.6GHz Atom 330 processor. This 12.1-inch model will have the same RRP as the N510 (£399) but will come with Windows 7 Home Premium. Battery life may not be as good as the N510, but given how keenly priced the competition is, Samsung would do well to take a good look at the price point.

Despite concerns on price, the Samsung N510 is still a mighty fine netbook. However, you may want to wait for the Asus Eee PC 1201N release before laying down your hard-earned cash. If not for anything else, the price should come down once there’s some true competition in the market.