At initial glance, a Samsung N120 looks identical to a cranky in in in between a Samsung NC20 as great as N110 laptops. Like a N110, a Samsung N120 has a 10 in. arrangement as great as a 1.6GHz Intel Atom N270 CPU.

But Samsung’s ultimate netbook has a incomparable framework than a N110, that creates it closer to a distance of a N120. And that equates to it has room for a incomparable set of keys than most of today’s mini-laptops. Samsung additionally congested dual front-facing speakers in to a N120, which, along with a 1.5 subwoofer next a keyboard, helps yield high peculiarity audio.
Samsung managed to container these facilities in to a laptop that’s hardly any wider than a Asus Eee PC 1000HE, as great as that weighs about half a bruise less. But a Samsung N120 isn’t though flaws. The speakers aren’t unequivocally loud, as great as a SD label container is positioned so that mental recall cards will hang out right underneath your palm as we type.
The territory we reviewed has a 1.6GHz Intel Atom N270 CPU, 1GB of RAM, a 160GB tough drive, 802.11b/g WiFi, as great as a 10.1 inch, 1024 x 600 pixel display. It has a 6 cell, 5200mAh battery, weighs 2.8 pounds as great as measures 10.7? x 7.4? x 1.17?.

Design

The Samsung N120 looks a lot identical to a renouned Samsung NC10 netbook, though it has a somewhat incomparable framework that creates room for a dual things that unequivocally set this netbook apart: One of a largest keyboards you’ll find on any netbook as great as front-facing stereo speakers placed to a right as great as left of a 10.1 inch, 1024 x 600 pixel display.
The outcome is a mechanism that has a same 10 in. shade as most netbooks, though a incomparable physique than most mini-laptops. The mechanism is usually a tad wider than a Asus Eee PC 1000H, though a small reduction thick. The Samsung N120 additionally weighs reduction than a 3.2 bruise Asus Eee PC 1000H, during usually 2.8 pounds together with a 6 dungeon battery.

Left; Asus Eee PC 1000H / Right: Samsung N120
The mechanism comes in black or white, as great as a framework consists of plastic. The lid as great as palm area have been matte, that helps strengthen a mechanism from fingerprints. There have been a couple of chrome areas together with a hinges by a lid as great as dual chrome stripes along a side of a netbook.
On a left as great as right sides of a mechanism you’ll find a Ethernet as great as energy jacks as great as 3 USB ports, a VGA port, as great as mic as great as headphone jacks. Just in box we can’t find them, Samsung has printed small icons to a left as great as right sides of a set of keys to prove where any pier is. While these labels competence be beneficial during first, once we already know where a ports are, they usually appear to spawn a mechanism box unnecessarily.
If we flip a mechanism over on a behind you’ll find a RAM entrance panel. The mechanism ships with 1GB of RAM, though can be upgraded to 2GB. Replacing a tough expostulate or alternative components will take a small some-more work, as there have been a sum of thirteen screws land a box together. There’s additionally a orator opening for a 1.5 watt subwoofer.
One thing that we find to be a teenager distrurbance is a SDHC label slot, that is placed on a front of a computer, usually underneath a keyboard.
While a netbook ships with a small square of cosmetic that fits ideally in to a container to keep dirt from accumulating when you’re not regulating an SD card, that square of cosmetic is a bit shorter than a genuine SD card. In alternative words, your peep storage cards will hang out a small bit.
At a bottom of a keyboard, you’ll find a sum of 7 LEDs that let we know a standing of a WiFi, tough drive, battery, as great as alternative information. Honestly, there have been so most LEDs it’s tough to keep them true as great as discuss it what’s starting on during a glance. But they don’t have have make have make have use of of of of of of up most energy so we won’t complain.

Keyboard as great as Touchpad

The set of keys on a Samsung N120 facilities 82 keys, as great as Samsung describes it as a 97% sized keyboard. In alternative words, you’re not starting to find a netbook with a set of keys most incomparable than this. Touch typing is utterly easy, as great as there’s a full sized change pass on a right side of a keyboard, something that is apropos some-more as great as some-more usual in netbooks though that still isn’t a given.
But we did have a couple of issues with a keyboard. In sequence to have room for that incomparable right change key, Samsung squashed a arrow keys as great as a page up/down buttons in to a small dilemma of a keyboard. That substantially wouldn’t be as good tough to get used to, though any of those keys serves stand in duty. Hitting a Fn symbol as great as a left or right arrows adjusts a volume. Fn+ up/down adjusts a shade brightness. And a PgUp/PgDn keys offer as a Home as great as End keys. And since these keys have been all so tighten together, we mostly find myself brightening a shade when we wish to burst to a commencement of a sentence, as great as clamp versa.
Admittedly, partial of this complaint is due to a actuality that I’ve been switching behind as great as onward in in in between this set of keys as great as a Asus Eee PC 1000H set of keys for a past week. The Asus set of keys has a opposite layout, as great as a Home as great as End buttons have been reserved to a left/right keys, not a PgUp/PgDown keys. It’s probable that full time Samsung N120 users will get used to this pass multiple faster than we did.
I’m additionally a bit nonplussed by a couple of of a alternative Fn keys. For instance, Fn+F3 inserts a €. That’s it. There’s a total pass dedicated to a singular special impression that most Americans will frequency use. we would rsther than have changed a liughtness or volume keys to this quarrel rsther than than have a Euro key, though again may be that’s usually me.
The touchpad is far-reaching by netbook standards, as great as it’s indented a bit from a rest of a chassis, that is a outrageous alleviation over a Samsung NC10 touchpad that sits wash out with a palm wring area, creation it tough to acknowledge where a touchpad starts as great as ends though seeking though delay during it. There’s a singular vast symbol next a touchpad that we can have have make have make have use of of of of of of to come in right or left clicks. we privately cite dual graphic buttons, though we found a singular symbol comparatively easy to use.

The touchpad supports scrolling, that equates to we can place your finger over a right corner as great as pierce up as great as down to corkscrew up as great as down in most applications. Scrolling your finger along a bottom of a shade scrolls sure apps to a left or right. There is no await for multi-touch gestures.

Display

The netbook facilities a 10.1 inch, 1024 x 600 pixel silken display. It does simulate a bit of glisten when placed in splendid as great as balmy places (like outdoors). But it’s not a glossiest/shiniest shade I’ve seen.
Samsung includes a focus called Easy Resolution Manager that lets we toggle a practical shade resolution in in in between 1024 x 600 as great as 1024 x 768. While it’s unfit to essentially fist any additional pixels onto a screen, a 1024 x 768 mode fakes it by doubling up a small pixels as great as treating a shade as if it had a higher resolution than it does. The formula demeanour kind of crappy, though could come in accessible for a small applications that have a smallest shade resolution requirement.
There’s additionally an Easy Display Manager apparatus that lets we set hotkeys for behaving actions identical to adjusting a shade resolution as great as rotating a display.

Speakers

One of a things that sets a Samsung N120 detached from most netbooks is that there have been dual speakers on a front of a laptop, a left as great as right of a screen. There’s additionally a 1.5W subwoofer tucked divided on a bottom of a computer. It’s not just starting to spin your netbook in to a bang box, though a 2.1 channel speakers do yield decent audio quality. Decent, though not spectacular.
The speakers don’t get unequivocally loud, as great as they’re not starting to receptive to advice as great as plug-in speakers or headphones. But they do imitate receptive to advice a small improved than a small netbooks. The usually alternative netbook we happened to have accessible this week was my reliable aged Asus Eee PC 1000H, so we ran a rsther than stupid audio test.
Here’s what we did. we grabbed my Sony PCM-D50 digital audio tape deck as great as positioned it about 18-24 inches divided from a speakers in a on all sides identical to where your conduct would be if we were typing on a netbooks whilst listening to music. In sequence to equivocate any copyright issues, we grabbed dual songs a rope we played with in high propagandize recorded. So umm, yeah. Here’s what a Samsung N120 sounded like:
And here’s a Asus Eee PC 1000H:
To my ear, a Asus Eee PC 1000H is louder, though a audio is a bit some-more murky as great as gets a bit twisted when a volume peaks. On a alternative hand, my cat motionless to blemish during a doorway whilst we was recording a Samsung N120 audio sample, so that audio peculiarity could have been cleanser too.

Software

Samsung packs a N120 with a form of complement utilities together with a shade resolution as great as arrangement apps we referred to above. There’s additionally a battery hold up extender module that isn’t utterly what we think.
Instead of perplexing to regulate a energy settings to give we a limit probable run time per battery charge, this apparatus essentially tries to enlarge a hold up of your battery as totalled in months, not hours. It does this by revelation a mechanism to assign your battery to 80% genius instead of 100% that theoretically helps give we during slightest a couple of additional assign cycles in a prolonged run.
There’s additionally Battery Manager focus that does yield all sorts of sum about your battery as great as energy saving settings to assistance we fist some-more hold up out of your beat (this time totalled in mins as great as hours).
There’s additionally a focus called SRS Control Panel for adjusting your audio settings, a focus for reception complement as great as module updates from Samsung, a Samsung Magic Doctor module that helps diagnose complement problems as great as a backup utility. You can find a small some-more screenshots during a finish of this review.
Performance
The Samsung N120 has a 1.6GHz Intel Atom N270 CPU as great as integrated GMA 950 graphics. In alternative words, it performs flattering most just identical to each alternative Intel Atom powered netbook out there. It can hoop light tasks identical to banishment up a web browser, present messaging client, as great as a media player concurrently though complaining. we had no complaint opening up half a dozen or some-more browser tabs in Firefox or Google Chrome. And a mechanism boots Windows XP in a important 45 seconds.
The netbook handles web video from YouTube as great as Hulu well, either in windowed or full shade mode.
The 1.3MP webcam as great as microphone worked pretty great for creation video calls over Skype. The design peculiarity was clear, though a support rate was a bit on a low side. You can check out a video peculiarity yourself by examination a new part of TechVi where we was a guest. we accessible a talk regulating a Samsung N120. And yes, we know. we incidentally pronounced a inhabitant territory of a New York Times is giveaway when we have have make have make have use of of of of of of a new Times Reader 2.0 application. we meant to contend a front page section.

Battery

This mechanism gets glorious battery hold up from a 6 cell, 5200mAh battery. While a battery doesn’t container as most extract as a 8700mAh battery that comes with a Asus Eee PC 1000HE, we was continually means to have have make have make have use of of of of of of a mechanism for about 6 hours though plugging it in.
I ran a same Battery Eater exam I’ve been regulating to examination alternative netbooks as great as a Samsung N120 lasted for 4 hours as great as twenty minutes. Keep in mind, a exam is written to put consistent aria on a battery, so it’s not surprising to see a measure around 4 hours in a exam as great as still get around 6 hours in genuine universe conditions. For comparison’s sake, a Eee PC 1000HE scored 4 hours as great as 51 mins in a Battery Eater exam as great as ran for over 7 hours underneath normal conditions.
The battery fits in to a bottom of a mechanism as great as sticks out a little, though not as most as a small alternative 6 dungeon netbook batteries I’ve seen. It gives a Samsung N120 set of keys a slight lean that helps have typing comfortable.

Verdict

The Samsung N120 isn’t a smallest or lightest netbook on a market. And it doesn’t have a loudest speakers. But it is thin, light, as great as has a small of a most appropriate sounding speakers I’ve listened on a netbook to date. And they all clear a bezel around a 10.1 in. display. In fact, a bezel isn’t unequivocally that most incomparable than th ones found on most alternative 10 in. netbooks, as great as it’s most reduction conspicuous than a outrageous bezel around a strange netbook, a 7 in. Asus Eee PC 701.
The mechanism additionally comes with a good form of software, provides glorious battery life, as great as a touchpad that’s a step up from a small touchpad on a Samsung NC10.
But these facilities do come during a cost. The Samsung N120 is accessible right right away from Amazon for $433, that is is $45 higher than a likewise specced Asus Eee PC 1000HE that is starting for $388. The Eee PC 1000HE additionally provides improved battery life, has a 1.66GHz Intel Atom n280 CPU, as great as supports 802.11n WiFi, that a Samsung N120 does not. But a Eee PC 1000HE is additionally scarcely half a bruise heavier than a Samsung N120.

After spending the poignant volume of time with Acer’s 10-inch Aspire One D150, here right away is my full examination of the pronounced netbook. The Acer Aspire One, with the 9=inch screen, served me great all these months of owning it, yet the AAO D150 incited out to be the estimable contender, not usually to Acer’s alternative notebooks yet the notebooks of the competitors, as well. Hit the mangle for the full review.

Impressions on Hardware

My greeting on picking it up for the initial time is which it is the singular “heavy” netbook. Though the actuality which my examination section had the 6-cell battery on as great as the incomparable shade during 10-inches compared to my 9-inch AAO, we consider the greatest reason given it has spin rather heavier than we approaching is Acer’s make make make make make use of of of of of of brushed steel on the body. Still, it’s not which tough to lift around, as great as in the man-purse, it should fit snugly in to place.
The Acer Aspire D150’s box contains usually the required writings (quick guide, guaranty card, etc), AC adaptor as great as the netbook itself. The usually thing vacant from it is the tanned hide tote usually similar to the a singular which came with the 9-inch chronicle when it was released.
I’d contend it’s the flattering great built netbook, with the great pattern to boot. Only complaint is, it fails in the small areas in conditions of quality.
Keyboard, trackpad as great as connectivity
The energy symbol is placed on the right side, usually on top of the keyboard, whilst conflicting to it is the Bluetooth on/off symbol as great as Caps Lock/Num Lock light indicators.
The set of keys Acer used on this indication still has the same set of plasticky buttons which feel similar to they’re starting to tumble off any notation if we ever do any prolonged transport typing. we enjoyed regulating the set of keys for the slight enlarge in distance (nearing full size), yet I’ve found which typing for prolonged durations of time on it can means the small fingers to harm the bit. And that’s not the great thing. However, for usually typing the occasional Notepad records as great as blog posts, we felt the set of keys sufficed. Also, it’s zero the USB/wireless set of keys can’t fix.
As for the trackpad, Acer did the right thing in ditching the old, side-contained left as great as right click buttons in preference of the singular left/right symbol positioned without delay underneath the hold pad. Unfortunately, it’s the small as great slight to yield any genuine joy whilst dire as great as oftentimes it can be tough to even usually press it during all. Meanwhile, clicking with the make make make make make use of of of of of of the touchpad can be similarly hard, given it’s not as manageable as it ought to be. Still, this isn’t which large of the niggle given it can simply be solved by regulating the USB/wireless mouse. we couldn’t get myself to make make make make make use of of of of of the multi-touch functionality so we found it flattering useless.
When it comes to connectivity, the Acer Aspire One D150 has got it all–as distant as the netbook goes. It fast runs out of USB ports (as there have been usually three), as great as on top of the energy jack, it’s got the VGA-out port, audio in/out ports, multi-in-1 label reader, Ethernet jack as great as the confidence tighten container on the sides.
There’s built-in Bluetooth, yet we usually got it to work for the record send with my Nokia phone, as great as unsuccessful to do so with an additional Bluetooth-enabled cover of mine. There’s no built-in 3G procedure here, yet we can regularly insert the singular around the giveaway USB pier as great as the Wi-Fi picks up signals unequivocally well.

Using Windows XP

Booting up to Windows XP felt similar to it took longer than necessary. we reckon it’s substantially given of the requisite “bloatware” which comes pre-installed with it in the form of an antivirus program, Acer-made utilities, as great as Google Desktop. After watchful for the great 30-45 seconds to get from vacant shade to the Desktop, we will be greeted with pop-ups similar to it’s 2005 on the Internet, revelation we to refurbish this, download that, check out this, which, unnecessary to say, got unequivocally annoying. we disbelief if the normal mechanism user will even do anything alternative than click the manifest “x” outlines to tighten these pop-ups, so they will be pestered with these irritating things until the day they sense to spin them off.
But we can’t censure Acer for subjecting their business to this kind of annoyance. we theory it’s requisite things to have on machines which come pre-installed with Windows XP Home. After all, it enables them to customize the netbook to their fondness to the border which they consider will great the users.
That said, we consider the opening of this netbook with Windows XP Home Edition is usually the small bit over the normal level. Its 1GB of RAM as great as 1.6GHz Atom processor with GMA950 graphics aren’t usually the many appropriate multiple for an XP machine, yet for light tasks which the standard netbook user would be doing, it is sincerely adequate. Every once in the while, an forward pop-up would come out to disquiet the wordless assent of handling the Aspire One D150, yet it doesn’t unequivocally appear to start how rapid the netbook runs. It’s really faster than the SSD-equipped Acer Aspire One which comes with the 9-inch screen, so it would be the great ascent for those who own this sold unit.

Battery Life

One of the Acer Aspire One D150’s clever points is the battery life. For by the make make make make make use of of of of of of the 6-cell battery, the singular can run up to 5 hours of make use of on the singular full charge. we know we have. we even tested the battery hold up by regulating the Aspire One D150 for about 1-2 hours any day usually for browsing as great as sideloading of songs to my phone, as great as we was means to get 6 days of usage. Soon, we hold the battery hold up on netbooks will be so great which regulating them will feel similar to regulating cellphones all over again–2-3 hours of “heavy” make use of per day as great as you’ll be means to make make make make make use of of of of of it for about 3-4 days. One side-effect of the increasing battery life, though, is the extended charging time. Since the battery is of the higher capacity, it takes longer to entirely assign it. Also, it sticks out similar to the bruise ride during the behind of the unit.

Final Thoughts

Compared to the Acer Aspire One with the 9-inch screen, the Aspire One D150 is the estimable upgrade. With the bigger screen, built-in Bluetooth, longer battery hold up as great as improved design, it beats the aged indication over many aspects any day. However, we feel which Acer expelled this indication the small as great late, for those same facilities were already found in offerings of the competitors behind when the 9-inch indication was their usually accessible netbook. For the price, this is still value it, though, as great as any a single who still doesn’t have the 10-inch netbook will do great to put this the singular on their “netbooks to be considered” list.
Acer make an effort the singular D150 is accessible during Amazon for $329.

Last year so-called "netbooks" crept into stores _ computers that often cost less than $400, with small screens and keyboards that made them look Lilliputian next to laptops that seemed perfectly portable just months earlier.
These little computers introduced consumers to the idea that extreme portability could be combined with a low price, as long as people were willing to use the computer for getting on the Internet and not much more. Netbooks won't include a DVD drive, the fastest microprocessor or enough storage space to house endless amounts of photos and videos.
This year, because of the dismal economy and laptop buyers' increasing comfort with these miniature computers, more netbooks are headed to store shelves. Some netbooks will keep their lower-than-a-cheap-PC price, but others will cost what bigger laptops do, and include features like touch screens and metal casings as companies look to keep the category's momentum going.
At the International Consumer Electronics Show last week, Taiwan-based AsusTek Computer Inc. _ which launched its $269-to-$699 Eee PC netbooks in 2007 _ introduced a new one called the Eee PC Touch. It sports a nearly 9-inch touch screen that swivels or folds over so it can be used as a tablet-style PC. Asus expects the Touch to be available in March for $499 and plans to release a version with a 10-inch screen.
That size and price aren't far from a regular laptop. A Dell Inspiron 1525 with a 15-inch screen and more powerful processor starts at $479 through the Round Rock, Texas-based company's Web site.
Jackie Hsu, Asus' president of the Americas, said his company sold 5 million Eee PCs worldwide in 2008. He expects the market to grow this year because there are more product choices.
Indeed, larger computer makers like Dell Inc., MSI Computer, Lenovo Group Ltd., Acer Inc. and Hewlett-Packard Co. are betting on netbooks as well. Several of them introduced upcoming models at CES.
Palo Alto, Calif.-based HP, the world's No. 1 computer maker, showed an addition to its Mini netbook line, the Mini 2140, which is expected to be available in January for $499. Unlike the company's $329 Mini 1000, the 2140 includes features like an aluminum case, keyboards coated to resist wear and an accelerometer that can tell when the device is dropped and will instruct the hard drive to shut down.
Dell, the second-largest computer maker, unveiled a new netbook as well. And it is hoping to drive sales of an earlier model by temporarily cutting its price to $99. That includes a $350 rebate when buyers agree to pay for a two-year AT&T Inc. data plan that gives the computer Internet access over the air.
Retailers have high hopes for netbooks in 2009, too, if Amazon.com Inc. is any indication. Between Black Friday and Christmas, eight of the top 10 best selling laptops on the site were netbooks, said Amazon's vice president of consumer electronics, Paul Ryder.
"I think the category will continue to do better than the standard laptop category. It's still new so I think it's going to grow faster," he said.
This could present a problem for computer makers, though.
Several of them hoped netbooks would not be a replacement for an out-of-date laptop, but a companion device that people take with them while on the go. For now, though, NPD Group analyst Stephen Baker thinks the bad economy will help netbook sales and cut into sales of larger laptops. People who would have ordinarily spent $600 on a laptop might trade down and spend less to buy a netbook instead.
"The end result is that I think these are more likely to be cannibalistic, at least in the early parts of 2009," he said.
But in the long run, some analysts _ Baker included _ are skeptical about the netbook category's life span. Baker believes netbooks could fade out next year, and be replaced by even smaller devices that are also focused on getting their owners on the Internet.
Gartner Inc. analyst Ken Dulaney said the category is "slowly evaporating" and points out that while the bad economy might make netbooks more appealing in the short term, they are unlikely to win over a broad swath of consumers who require bigger keyboards and more powerful performance found in bigger laptops, known as notebooks.
"If your usage pattern really demands a notebook, you will be disappointed," he said.