Samsung NC10 review

Speed and stamina

Many netbooks falter when it comes to matching their portability with suitably Olympian stamina, but the Samsung holds its head up high, even against the likes of the Eee PC 1000H. Our light use battery test saw the NC10 stop just short of the seven-and-a-half hour mark, and heavy usage only dropped that to 4hrs 11mins.

And, despite sharing the same 1.6GHz Atom N270 processor and 1GB of memory as the rest of the netbook crowd, Samsung's NC10 feels nippy in use. Our subjective observations were borne out by our benchmark results, too, with the NC10 scoring 0.44 overall. This puts it slightly ahead of the S101's 0.40, the Wind's 0.38 and the 1000H's 0.31.

The NC10's display marks yet another triumph. It shares the same 10.2in diagonal, along with the familiar netbook resolution of just 1,024 x 600 pixels, but the quality on offer puts the rest of the netbook fraternity in the shade. Quite literally, too, as the sheer brightness and vibrancy on offer makes even that of Asus' luxurious S101 look dull by comparison.

Final thoughts

There really isn't a chink in the NC10's armour. Some might bemoan the lack of an SSD, but to our minds the capacious 160GB drive is more than ample. There is always the option of using the SDHC-compatible card reader if you need critical documents to be kept safe on a more shock proof medium.

Connectivity, too, is on song. Three USB ports nestle up against a VGA output and a 10/100 Ethernet socket, and while the Atheros wireless chipset lacks Draft-N, the ever handy presence of Bluetooth softens the blow.

The final all-important ingredient is that of cost, and here the Samsung dominates the competition. At just £254, excluding the VAT, the NC10 undercuts many of its competitors while bettering their specifications, battery life and overall usability. It can't boast the supermodel allure of Asus' Eee PC S101, sure, but with seven-hour battery life, great ergonomics and a much more sensible price tag, the NC10 sets the golden standard to which all netbooks must now aspire.

Author: Sasha Muller