Samsung actually includes Linux with the N220, as the HyperSpace quick-boot feature. Although not installed on our review sample, this provides quick access to internet, email and other basic tasks without having to start Windows.
The multi-tone lid is funky
As for portability, the N220 weighs in at 1.33kg – this figure increases to 1.63kg when you include the power adaptor. Thanks to the six-cell 5900mAh (66Wh) battery, the N220 raced along for six hours and nine minutes in our standard video-loop battery test – run with brightness at full blast and an active wireless connection. This places it tantalisingly close to the Toshiba NB200, which sits at the top of our battery life leaderboard.
Samsung’s N140, which we reviewed last month, has a very similar spec and identical battery, but has the older Atom N270 processor under the bonnet. With the N220 seeing battery life gains of over 30 per cent compared to the N140, it would seem Intel’s Pine Trail is making quite a difference here.
Verdict
We’ve been impressed with Samsung’s previous netbooks, and the N220 follows suit. Having a high-capacity battery pushes the price up, and many will complain that anything over £300 shouldn’t even be called a netbook. But if you want something that’s well-designed, comfortable to use and able to be free of the mains for many hours, the N220 should definitely be on your shortlist. ®
More Netbook Reviews...
Asus Eee PC 1005PE |
Nokia Booklet 3G |
Samsung N140 |
Acer D250 Android |
Samsung N220
COMMENTS
Agree
I have used the power button on my Lenove s10e about 10 times since I bought it last april. It is always suspended to RAM. Eats about 1.5W in that state and is fully on and ready to use in under 2secs.
The power button on a netbook is an irrelevance. It might have as well been a whole here you have to plug a toothpick like those force-eject holes on a laptop. It would not have reduced from its usability.
price != netbook
huh? some would say if its over 300 quid it aint a netbook?
no...netbook is all about the formfactor/weight... not the price. my old libretto was anetbook but cost near 800 quid. my current netbook was a cheapy thing - 180 quid... but is the same size.
now, a 250 quid 15" laptop is not a netbook...its a laptop.
N120 owner
I have the older N120 and I would gladly swap it for a matt screen. However why still 1024x600? That's REALLY annoying! Up it to true x768 at least!
Also I bet the secondary PCIe slot is missing like on UK N120's (It's not on US models I believe so you can add a HD decoder card for £25. Otherwise it means soldering the slot on yourself and invalidating your warranty).
How does it handle HD BTW? I can play 720P (Just) with CoreAVC and in overlay mode with no fancy Win7 GUI on the N120. 1080P is a no go though.
That was my reaction when I first used a Macbook
But I'm surprised Apple hasn't patented that silly keyboard design!
Unimpressive and bad value for the money
Windows 7 "we are like the iPad no-multitasking joke edition", wifi card unusable under Linux (NDIS wrapper is not the answer, NDIS wrapper is the question and the answer is NO), battery performance wholly unimpressive, video performance not impressive either. All of that for 320 quid? No thanks, I'd rather pay 100 less and get a proper netbook or 100 more and get a proper laptop which has Broadcom or Intel WiFi in it.
Pine trail was supposed to be "quantum leap" as per the marketing literature. It looks like it is not a quantum leap, but a cheap "move bits around to lock Nvidia out of the market" ploy as most of us have suspected. The video performance, memory performance and power consumption improvements have quite clearly failed to materialise.
It looks like I will be keeping my S10-e with Debian and refurbishing my old faithful NC4000 also with Debian for the foreseable future (I had to replace another hinge on it on Wed).
Definite thumbs down.
