Netbook Scoop

Samsung N310

Summary

What’s Special

• Designed by Japanese artist Naoto Fukasawa (to mimic the roundness of a pebble), the Samsung N310 is strikingly different and strangely compelling.  A definite attention-getter.
• Exterior has a slightly grainy rubberized feel
• The keyboard is coated with a nano-sized silver ion powder that Samsung claims kills 99% of the bacteria that come in contact
  
• Six-cell, 8850 mAh battery provides 10+ hours of real-world life
  

What’s Not So Special

• The value – you definitely pay a premium for the artistic design and specially treated keyboard.
• Inside, the N310 offers standard netbook components.  From a performance standpoint, there is nothing special at all.

Recommendation

If you are attracted to the striking appearance of the Samsung N310 and you are willing to pay an extra $50 for the good looks, then this is your netbook.  The N310 offers great quality, a comfortable keyboard and long battery life.

If you are more value concious, then you will probably be happier with the Toshiba mini NB205 (longer battery life) or the Asus Eee PC 1008HA (sleek and attractive).  Each of these offers some differentiating features at price points about $50 less than the N310.

Rating:  

Samsung N310 Keyboard

Outside

Appearance and Build Quality

The rounded corners of the Samsung N310 deceive the eye into believing that the N310 is thicker than it really is.  At 1.1 inches thick, it is only 0.1 inch thicker than the super-sleek Asus Eee PC 1008HA.

Weighing in at 2.7 pounds, the N310 is slightly lighter than other netbooks configured with six-cell batteries.

The N310 is available in fout colors: Black, Navy Blue, Mint Blue and Sunset Orange.

Display and Keyboard

The N310 features a 10.1-inch glossy screen that is mounted flush to the edges of the case. The native resolution is 1024 x 600 pixels.  However, Samsung provides a software feature that effectively increases the resolution to 1024 x 768.  While legible in this mode, everything looks oddly compressed.

The keyboard has an “island” style, where each key sits raised a good bit above the case.  Unlike the chicket-style keyboards recently introduced Asus and others, the island-style offers considerable space between each key.  I strongly prefer the island-style, where I can easily feel where one key ends and another starts.

The touchpad is adequately-sized with mouse buttons on a rocker bar below.

Webcam, Audio and External Ports

The 1.3 megapixel web camera is significantly better than the 0.3 megapixel camera configured in some netbooks.

The N310′s speakers are located above the keyboard. Sound quality is very good with the ability to generate more volume than the average netbook .

The Samsung N310 is configurerd with a typical array of external ports:

• three USB ports
• 3-in-1 card reader
• VGA-out
• Audio in/out
• Ethernet

Inside

Processor, Graphics and Storage

The Samsung N310 is powered by a 1.6 GHz Intel Atom N270 processor which is standard for most of today’s netbooks.

It is configured with 1GB of RAM. The graphics accelerator is an Intel GMA 950. The hard drive is a 160 GB model spinning at 5400 RPM. These features are typical for a netbook.

Communications

The 802.11b/g/n wireless adapter provides faster speeds, a wider range and is more reliable connections than the 802.11b/g support provided by most other netbooks.

The N310 also offers an internal Bluetooth adapter.

Battery

The six-cell, 8850 mAh  battery  provides over 10 hours of real-world use.

Operating System

The Samsung N105 is configured with Microsoft Windows XP Home Edition.

Wrap Up

If you are attracted to the striking appearance of the Samsung N310 and you are willing to pay an extra $50 for the good looks, then this is your netbook.  The N310 offers great quality, a comfortable keyboard and long battery life.