Product review: Samsung N220 netbook features a glare-free screen
Most netbooks sold today offer similar features, run on identical Atom powered processors and offer the same lightweight mobile computing options at very similar prices.
A bit newer to the game, Samsung is looking to nudge its way into a market traditionally populated by the likes of MSI, ASUS, Dell and Toshiba. And it’s a pretty forceful nudge considering the entry, the Samsung N220 Netbook (known as the N210 in the United States). It has all the same features of the competition but offers twice the battery power in nearly the same size.
We got to spend some time with Samsung’s N220 and realized early on that despite its small size and weight, it acts more like a full featured notebook than a skimpy netbook. Its build quality is surprisingly solid – not unexpected given Samsung’s reputation for designing solid consumer electronics.
One of its most striking features is a glare-free, matte screen. Most “economy class” netbooks feature cheap, high gloss screens that are so reflective as to be useless when viewed outdoors, or even in a airplane where lighting is less than ideal. The N220’s screen is decidedly not-useless in such conditions. Screen technology is Samsung’s forte and they supplied the N220 with a very readable, reasonably bright and multifunctional screen that does okay with video and text as well.
Aside from the praiseworthy screen, battery life is the biggest feature netbook buyers should look for in devices that are made for travelling. By that token, the seven hour battery life of the N220 is outstanding.
What’s more, Samsung says you can get 11 hours out of a fully charged battery, though that seems only attainable on the ultra-conservative power settings; Wi-Fi off, lowest screen brightness, one program running at a time, that sort of thing. Essentially, 11 hours with the dial set on “pathetic.” But seven hours, that’s awesome all by itself.
The Samsung N220 comes equipped with a 1.66GHz N450 Atom processor, 1GB RAM, 250GB HDD and Windows 7 Starter. Pretty standard stuff in terms of netbook hardware – upping your RAM to 2GB is highly recommended; a straightforward and relatively inexpensive upgrade that will noticeably boost performance and better enable multitasking.
For a diminutive little traveller in the sub-$500 price range, the Samsung N220’s extended battery life and a matte screen make it the better option than most competitively priced netbooks.
Final Score: 4 (out of five)
Platform(s): Windows PC
Publisher: Samsung
