Samsung N230 review

As netbooks go, the new Samsung N230 doesn’t look like anything special. It follows the template laid down by Microsoft for a netbook running Windows 7 Starter Edition, with only 1GB of RAM and, like other netbooks, it doesn’t have an optical drive or fancy new technologies such as eSATA, FireWire or USB 3.0. What it does have though is a stunning battery life of almost 11 hours.

To achieve this, Samsung has fitted a 6-cell battery that bulges from the underside of the case, adding 10mm to what would otherwise be a svelte 23mm case – there’s unfortunately no option for a 3-cell battery that’ll sit flush with the base. This has the advantage of propping the case up at an angle, making it easier to type on the chiclet keyboard.

The keys are small, but have a springy action and enough feedback to make touch-typing comfortable. The layout is pleasingly standard, with a large left Shift key, a double-height Enter key and the Control key correctly placed in the bottom-left corner. Below the keyboard is a small but wide touchpad which we found responsive. It supports multi-touch gestures, but its buttons are set flush with the case, so your thumb often hits the edge of the case instead.

We didn’t expect much from its benchmark results, and its score of 16 overall is fairly representative of netbooks. The Intel Atom N450 is a single-core processor, but supports Intel’s Hyper-Threading technology which creates a virtual second core. Even so, the N230 is only suitable for light work such as web browsing, email and word processing. Even basic photo editing will be frustratingly slow, and video encoding is out of the question.

Speaking of video and photos, the screen has a matt finish which reduces the impact of colours. As with many netbook LCD panels, we found vertical viewing angles very tight, so you have to adjust the screen’s tilt carefully. The backlight is a bit dull however, with dark patches in the corners, but once you view it square-on, colours are accurate and contrast is passable.

An integrated Intel graphics chipset provides just enough muscle to decode 720p video, but will struggle with Full HD. In any case, the 10.1in screen only has a resolution of 1,024×600, so it won’t even be able to display 720p content in all its glory. A surprisingly loud and full-bodied pair of internal speakers means you can watch movies without having to connect a set of external speakers.

There’s not even an HDMI output, so you can’t connect the N230 to an AV amplifier. Expansion is limited to three USB ports, a network port, a VGA analogue video output and two audio jacks. The LAN port only supports 100MB/s Fast Ethernet, but the wireless chip supports fast 802.11n. The one cutting edge feature is support for Bluetooth 3.0, which piggy-backs on the 802.11n wireless connection for up to 24MB/s transfers.

While the impressive battery life makes this worth considering for those who travel long distances, the poor screen lets it down. Toshiba’s NB305 lasts almost as long away from the mains, and has a far better screen, while the Dell Inspiron Mini 1012 has a larger screen resolution and a nine-hour battery life. What’s more, both are cheaper than the N230.