The Samsung NC110 is another of the low price netbooks offered by Samsung but has been put together superbly and the materials are quite high grade. The 10.1-inch screen on the Samsung NC110 has 1024 x 600 screen resolution which is pretty much the standard nowadays, a little grainy but it’s something you can live with or may not even notice it unless you are used to the really high end monitors. Although I think they could have put in a little more work on the adjustability of the screen, it just does not go back as far as other netbooks. Even the seats on airplanes go recline back more than the screen of the NC110, but it’s just a minor detail that I had to rant about.
Along with its basic hardware set up the Samsung NC110 have all the right things it should have such as the three USB ports, a card reader and a VGA port for hooking up to an external monitor. Leaving out HDMI is the right choice cause I don’t think the unit will perform that well with anything that involves high definition. The 802.11n Wi-Fi adapter is pretty good, so you can be sure to make the most of your home’s wireless network, just make sure you are using a compatible Wireless N router.
The Samsung boasts that the NC110 10.5 hours of use I only managed about seven hours on a full charge. So maybe my test was different compared to the test they conducted on the battery, but seven hours is more than decent when it comes to battery life for netbooks or laptops. I would say its good enough to keep you from bringing a charger with you unless you spend more than seven hours in a coffee shop or in the park even. So travelling light is a definite plus that you can have when you have the Samsung NC110.
The Samsung NC110 is packed with the bare essentials to get you going with your daily netbook usage. Windows 7 Starter edition, Intel Atom processor, 1GB of memory, and an Intel GMA integrated graphics card should be enough for a lot of tweets, comments, google searches for the average daily use. But don’t expect to be playing anything more than Plants VS Zombies on it cause you will definitely fail at having any fun if you even try. The 250GB hard drive is more than what a tablet offers and should be enough for a good amount of photos and videos. The speakers are not bad, but they are not that good either, so if you are the type that is easy to please then you would not mind at all.
If you want an Ipad or a Motorolla Xoom and be able to be as mobile as possible then get those. If you want to have more productivity when writing or doing some research in the campus or coffee shop and have more sense in yourself to use a netbook, then the Samsung NC110 is not a bad choice.
The Samsung NC110 is available now from The Good Guys.
I remember when I first saw a netbook computer, I thought it was one of those children’s toys that talk back when the correct colour or shape was selected. After a closer look I realized it was a netbook. Just like me and many others the netbook didn’t really attract the attention of many serious laptop users.
But there may be life in the almost forgotten world of the netbook. Asus has decided to be smart about pricing the X101H by making it as affordable as tablet or even at lower prices. That, slim modern appearance and other features it offers over a tablet (physical keyboard, multiple connectivity and peripherals options, and spacious hard drive) make the X101H very appealing to people who are looking into getting a tablet or just a plain good old bargain.
Design
Asus has managed to give the X101H with a very nice ultra-slim white casing which is plus points for me since I love white very very much. For those who do not love white as much as I do the X101H is also available in red, black, and brown. The X101H may not be as thin as a MacBook air but it is eight grams lighter at an even 1kg. The standard set of ports are on the sides, which I think will not change in most netbooks out there. You get a VGA port, USB 2.0 port, charging jack and SD card reader on the left. The microphone/headphone jack, second USB 2.0 port, Ethernet port and Kensington lock slot are on the right.
Features
Netbooks do not have much differences when it comes to features. One of the reasons I was attracted to the X101H is because it’s white. The X101H is just like most netbooks on the market and comes with a 1.6GHz Intel Atom N455 processor, 1GB of RAM, and integrated Intel GMA 3150 graphics. It runs the usual Windows 7 Starter Edition (which strips some of the standard features out – like the ability to set your own desktop wallpaper), and comes with 320GB of storage split between two hard drives. There’s also a 0.3-megapixel webcam above the 10.1in 1024 x 600-pixel display, along with 802.11n Wi-Fi and Bluetooth 3.0.
Of course, there are bound to be some compromises to reach the price point. The Atom N455 processor chip used in the X101H is a last-gen technology that was replaced by the N550 last year. The X101H also has a smaller three-cell battery, which keeps the weight and thickness down compared to a six-cell, but also halves battery life. The keyboard is not gonna provide you with the smoothest typing experience, but almost all netbooks are like that. The 10” display is sufficiently bright with the LED backlighting it uses.
Performance
Well a netbook really isn’t gonna perform the tasks needed by a web developer, but can satisfy the needs of someone who wants to write blogs while in a café or in the park. I would suggest to go to a café and bring the charger since the battery life is not something to be amazed at in a good way. For around $399 you really do get the performance and specs that you pay for.
Conclusion
Asus did everything right and didn’t do anything extraordinary as well. For the price that is cheaper than the latest tablet the X101H is a pretty decent buy. I like it just for the color alone and I am pretty sure others will like it for the same reason and could end up on an impulse buy.
