September 2009 – joho.se

Netbooks have been up ‘n comers for a while now, and the markets is beginning to look both interesting and flooded at the same time. Some manufacturers are putting out new models before the previous model has been noticed by its intended audience.

As with any piece of IT equipment, there are a few things that you want in a netbook. You want low weight, high battery capacity, and reasonable power (CPU). If you can couple that with a nice monitor, decent harddisk performance, and compatbility with both Windows and Linux, you have a pretty solid piece of equipment. If you have ever used a computer before, there’s one other component that must be spot on; this is the keyboard. Getting all of these things to work together in a balanced fashion is a somewhat tricky issue.

Enter the Samsung N120 featuring a 10.1″ WSVGA 1024 x 600 screen, Windows XP Home, Intel Atom N280 (1,60 GHz, 533 MHz, 512 KB) CPU, and weighing in at a mere 1,28 Kg. It also features WLAN-a/b/g/n and 3G/HSPA (depending on factory configuration).

Performance, weight, color (black or white), pre-installed software, and overall feel is great. But what really makes this netbook stand out is the keyboard and its battery capacity. If you, like me, have been using computers and their keyboards for a long time, you know how important the keyboard is. You need to be able to type reasonably without having to re-learn new key positioning. I’ve tried a few other netbooks, and with the exception of the N120, I had to re-adjust my finger placement quite frequently.

There’s nothing exciting about the Samsung N120 (hey, it’s a computer); and the boring conclusion to this post is that it simply works. It works very very well.

(you can also, without any issues, install for example Ubuntu Linux and have a dual-boot environment)

You need a small 10.1″ netbook? Buy the Samsung N120.

Some other reviews:
www.liliputing.com/2009/05/samsung-n120-review.html
www.pcworld.com/article/167370/at_last_a_netbook_worth_buying_samsungs_n120.html
www.notebookreview.com/default.asp?newsID=5206