Samsung N210 review
in Laptops
Verdict
A welcome redesign and impressive battery life should continue Samsung's run of netbook success
Review Date: 5 Mar 2010
Reviewed By: Sasha Muller
Price when reviewed: £261 (£307 inc VAT)
Features & Design
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Value for Money
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Performance
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| Details | |
|---|---|
| Part Code | NP-N210-JA01UK |
| Review Date | 5 Mar 2010 |
| Price ex VAT | £261 |
| Price inc VAT | £307 |
| Overall rating |
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| Features & Design |
|
| Value for Money |
|
| Performance |
|
| Warranty | |
|---|---|
| Warranty | 1yr collect and return |
| Physical specifications | |
|---|---|
| Dimensions | 265 x 189 x 29mm (WDH) |
| Weight | 1.330kg |
| Travelling weight | 1.6kg |
| Processor and memory | |
|---|---|
| Processor | Intel Atom N450 |
| Motherboard chipset | Intel NM10 |
| RAM capacity | 1.00GB |
| Memory type | DDR2 |
| SODIMM sockets free | 0 |
| SODIMM sockets total | 1 |
| Screen and video | |
|---|---|
| Screen size | 10.1in |
| Resolution screen horizontal | 1,024 |
| Resolution screen vertical | 600 |
| Resolution | 1024 x 600 |
| Graphics chipset | Intel GMA 3150 |
| Graphics card RAM | 64MB |
| VGA (D-SUB) outputs | 1 |
| HDMI outputs | 0 |
| S-Video outputs | 0 |
| DVI-I outputs | 0 |
| DVI-D outputs | 0 |
| DisplayPort outputs | 0 |
| Drives | |
|---|---|
| Capacity | 250GB |
| Hard disk usable capacity | 233GB |
| Spindle speed | 5,400RPM |
| Internal disk interface | SATA/300 |
| Hard disk | Samsung HM250HI |
| Optical disc technology | None |
| Optical drive | None |
| Battery capacity | 5,900mAh |
| Replacement battery price inc VAT | £0 |
| Networking | |
|---|---|
| Wired adapter speed | 100Mbits/sec |
| 802.11a support |
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| 802.11b support |
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| 802.11g support |
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| 802.11 draft-n support |
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| Integrated 3G adapter |
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| Bluetooth support |
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| Other Features | |
|---|---|
| Wireless hardware on/off switch |
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| Wireless key-combination switch |
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| Modem |
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| ExpressCard34 slots | 0 |
| ExpressCard54 slots | 0 |
| PC Card slots | 0 |
| USB ports (downstream) | 3 |
| PS/2 mouse port |
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| 9-pin serial ports | 0 |
| Parallel ports | 0 |
| Optical S/PDIF audio output ports | 0 |
| Electrical S/PDIF audio ports | 0 |
| 3.5mm audio jacks | 2 |
| SD card reader |
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| Memory Stick reader |
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| MMC (multimedia card) reader |
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| Smart Media reader |
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| Compact Flash reader |
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| xD-card reader |
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| Pointing device type | Touchpad |
| Audio chipset | Realtek HD Audio |
| Speaker location | Front edge |
| Integrated microphone? |
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| Integrated webcam? |
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| Camera megapixel rating | 0.3mp |
| TPM |
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| Fingerprint reader |
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| Smartcard reader |
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| Carry case |
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| Operating system and software | |
|---|---|
| Operating system | Windows 7 Starter |
| OS family | Windows 7 |
| Recovery method | Recovery partition, burn own recovery discs |
| Software supplied | None |
| Battery and performance tests | |
|---|---|
| Battery life, light use | 9hr 9min |
| Battery life, heavy use | 5hr 50min |
| Overall application benchmark score | 0.30 |
From around the web
Accountants everywhere should note that largely by fitting a high capacity, expensive battery, alongside good build quality and design, that Samsung continues to dominate the netbook market. There are far too many poor, cheap netbooks around, and I look forward to seeing the next version of the Samsung 1366 x 768 11.6" screen netbook, I could be tempted (especially if I could get it with XP).
By stokegabriel on 5 Mar 2010 ![]()
stokegabriel - Why would you want xp over win 7? The latter is so far ahead of XP in every single imaginable way that it makes XP look like a hand-held calculator.
By ralphuk100 on 6 Mar 2010 ![]()
Win 7 starter!
ralphuk100 - the nicest part of XP is that it runs XP programs. The Samsung's flavour of 7 (starter) won't allow you XP Compatibility mode.
Personally, I use HFSLIP to slipstream hotfixes and nLite to remove garbage to make my XP install just how I like it. No frills. I don't want to even notice the OS. Can't do that with Win7...
By Woodnag on 6 Mar 2010 ![]()
XP
Anyone know whether it will be available with XP? I need to buy a few netbooks for work, and they've got to have XP - our VPN doesn't work with Windows 7. I've bought NC10s in the past and would happily go for Samsung again, but Windows 7 is no use.
By davidbryant4 on 8 Mar 2010 ![]()
VPN and XP
@woodnag and @davidbryant4:
i've just bought one of these with Win7 on it, and set my VPN client prog to run in "WinXP sp3 compatibility mode" which worked fine. Good work-around that may work depending on what VPN system you're using. Win7 is much better, even the 'starter' version that comes with the N210. Fast, stable, clean; what's not to like.
By Leaps on 9 Apr 2010 ![]()
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