Samsung N150 Review
Pros:
Nice Island Style Keyboard, Large touchpad, Low price, Solid build quality, Matte Display
Cons:
Low battery life
Bottom Line:
The Samsung N150 is a great netbook in the $329 price range. The keyboard is excellent, the touchpad is roomy, it has an excellent matte screen and it is relatively thin. The only real complaint I can find with it is the battery life. It receives an estimated 7 hours; however, I got closer to 6 hours. Ideally I would have liked to see 2 - 3 extra hours of battery life based on the price of some of it's close competitors i.e. ASUS Eee PC 1001P. With that said, I still appreciate the Samsung N150 and it's also available in a wide array of colors to choose from as well. My demo unit is blue and it's available for only $329
Quick Product Specs:
Intel Atom N450 1.66 GHz Processor, 1 GB RAM, 160 GB Hard Drive, Windows 7 Starter (see full specs
Full Review:
Design:
The netbook is less than 1 inch tall in the front (if you count the tapering) and in the back it is a little under 1.5 inches high, so when you factor in the battery bulge of the 6 cell battery it's a relatively thin netbook. The outer shell on the lid has a soft blue matte color that is conveniently finger proof resistant. Inside the netbook we see a flat black color outlining the keyboard and screen bezel. All of the corners are rounded and tapered ever so slightly which brings it all together in a nice design package (especially for the price)
Usability:
I'm satisfied with the keyboard on the Samsung N150 and about the only keyboard I believe tops it is the Lenovo S10-3 keyboard (the combination of island style and raised edges make it the best in my book), but that isn't said to diminish what the Samsung N150 has to offer. In fact, I believe it has one of the best keyboards on a netbook priced under $350 and when it comes to netbooks I believe two of the most important components include the keyboard and the touchpad both of which Samsung excels at. Samsung's touchpad is sizable at 1.5 inches by 2.5 inches and it even includes support for multi touch gestures. I had a little trouble getting the landscape to portrait gesture to work well, but I'm certain that's because of the sticker that I left on over the touchpad (it's a demo unit and I try to remove as little stuff as possible from them).
The screen resolution found in this model is still 1024 x 600 by default; however, you can change the resolution up to 1024 x 768 and even 1152 x 864. Both of these options scrunch the text down but if you really need the screen real estate in a bind it's good to know you have it. In past reviews I have admitted I'd love to see netbook manufacturers move away from 1024 x 600 and to instead go with 1366 x 768 instead, but it's still a very slow transition. If you absolutely need a higher resolution check out my review of the Sony Vaio W just remember you'll pay $120 more for it than the Samsung N150.
Battery Life:
The Samsung N150 has a 6 cell battery that provides a manufacturer rated 7 hours battery life; however, I found this number to be more close to 6 hours of battery life and as I mentioned at the onset of this review I would have liked to see 2 - 3 extra hours worth of battery life in this netbook.
Performance:
As expected you'll get typical performance from this netbook. Sure you'll be able to play farmville, watch YouTube videos, use the MS office suite, do light video editing and just about any other tasks you can think of minus intense HD gaming and HD video viewing. I ran PC Mark 05 tests on this netbook and got 1421 which is typical of most netbooks (without Nvidia ION inside) so there weren't any surprises here.
Overall Performance:
Overall I believe the Samsung N150 is a worthy netbook in the $329 price range. The keyboard is excellent, the touchpad is roomy, it has an excellent matte screen; however, as I mentioned earlier the battery life is where it falls a few hours too short in my mind. Comporably priced netbooks over 9 - 10 hours and the Samsung N150 offers just 7 hours. I still appreciate the Samsung N150 as an entire package and it's also available in a several colors to choose from as well. My demo unit is blue and is available for only $329
Used Options:
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US $89.00
[...] Share:tweetmeme_source='netbookreviews';tweetmeme_style='compact'; Earlier this month I gave the Samsung N150 a favorable review. It's available in a plethora of colors and the next option to crop up is the [...]