Samsung N210 laptop review

The Samsung N210, a Very best Purchase distinctive, is among the better-looking netbooks we've witnessed, using a shiny white leading, smooth chrome accents, and a at ease keyboard. Although it is not great at playing video clip, it does have pretty good speakers. In addition, it characteristics an instant-on capability that enables you to acquire online without having to watch for Windows to get started on up.

Our assessment model, priced at $379 (as of March 29, 2010), characteristics a one.66GHz Intel Atom N450 processor, 1GB of RAM, along with a 250GB challenging generate, and it runs Windows seven Starter Edition. In addition, it includes a 10.1-inch matte exhibit, 802.11b/g/n Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, as well as a built-in Webcam and microphone.

The Samsung N210 is housed in a very pearl white chassis; the prime incorporates a subtle textured pattern underneath a glossy complete. The interior capabilities a matte white finish, having a chrome accent band round the edges. Three USB two.0 ports (two on the proper and 1 around the left) can be found; one of many ports is really a sleep-and-charge plug, which enables you to cost USB devices even whilst the laptop or computer is in sleep mode. The N210 also includes a VGA out-port, an ethernet connection, and microphone and headphone jacks. The electrical power change is situated around the front, as may be the three-in-one multiformat memory card slot.

Weighing 2.82 pounds like the battery, the Samsung N210 measures 10.5 by seven.4 by one.15 inches. The six-cell battery--which is tucked under the chassis and sticks out only slightly--lasted about six hrs, 43 minutes in our battery existence checks, about an hour or two less than other netbooks with six-cell batteries. The instant-on choice is not as appealing since it seems, considering that it even now requires a minute to get started on (you could at the same time just turn around the computer).

At 93 % in the dimension of the keys on a regular keyboard, the white "island-style" (or Chiclet-style) keys are pretty straightforward to type on. The spacebar is a bit slim, however the Shift keys are huge--practically the dimensions of normal Shift keys--and the Tab key and Ctrl keys will also be rather big. Lots of netbook keyboards skimp on these non-letter keys, but I'm pleased to say that typing on the N210's keyboard is almost like typing on a full-size Chiclet-style keyboard. Even the purpose keys are a rather good size, contemplating.

The touchpad is also big for the netbook, and features a rocker instead of two unique keys. It supports multitouch gestures (these kinds of as pinching to zoom in), and is moderately delicate and responsive to explained gestures. The only problem I located with the touchpad was that its matte finish was practically just exactly the same as the surrounding finish--making it just a little difficult for me to remain around the touchpad even though I used to be flipping via Web pages. Thankfully, the touchpad is an effective dimension, so my fingers didn't slide off of it often. The rocker button is fairly slim, even though, and I typically identified myself attempting to press the table rather in the button.

The N210 capabilities a 10.1-inch, widescreen, LED-backlit matte show with a native resolution of 1024 by 600 pixels. The matte surface is actually a wonderful characteristic on a netbook, because it cuts down the probabilities of bothersome reflections (and considering that netbooks are made to be ported about, you are unlikely to be operating in perfect lighting problems in any respect times). The matte end does sacrifice somewhat color, though--a good deal in the hues on our check machine had been washed out towards the level of hunting pastel. Nonetheless, the clarity continues to be pretty decent. A purpose around the keyboard makes it possible for you to flip off the LED backlight; doing so would presumably conserve battery lifestyle, but you then could barely see the display, of course.

Stereo speakers are located on the bottom from the chassis, and are really rather loud for netbook speakers. I was able to hear an episode of Cougartown from Hulu rather properly inside a midsize Starbucks with blasting speakers. The sound was a little tinny, as is the circumstance for most tiny speakers, however the general quality was great.

Video clip playback, then again, was less than fantastic. We by now know that the Atom N450 cannot manage high-definition playback extremely effectively, but I discovered that even standard-definition playback around the N210 sometimes stuttered (only when or twice, however, inside a full episode of Lost). Full-screen playback and high-def video were dismal.

The Samsung N210 runs Windows seven Starter Edition (32-bit), the lesser model of Windows 7 that doesn't enable you to do any of the awesome stuff--such as changing your desktop qualifications or running Windows Media Player. Apart from CyberLink YouCam (for making videos) and Microsoft Works, the software program bundle includes several helpful Samsung apps: Straightforward Resolution Supervisor (for altering the show resolution from 1024 by 600 to 1024 by 768), Easy Network Manager, Samsung Help Center, and Samsung Informal Video games. You are going to discover some trialware, too, like Microsoft Workplace 2007 (sixty days) along with the Phoenix FailSafe remote theft-recovery and drive-wipe support (60 days).

The Samsung N210 is among the sleeker netbooks we have seen--the all-white design and style is professional-looking and attractive--and the keyboard is almost as very good as being a regular-size keyboard. Though this machine falls short in video clip performance, the included Samsung computer software is decent.